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John 7:25. I said to the people of Jerusalem: Isn’t this the one they are looking for to kill? During the holiday, called in the law the Table of Tabernacles, when, according to the decree of the legislator, the Jews from all around, so to speak, gathered in Jerusalem, Christ addressed his teaching to everyone, since He, without a doubt, spoke not only to the townspeople. Therefore, it is necessary for the inquisitive and prudent to investigate what prompted the divine Evangelist to represent the rest of the multitude of Jews as silent, and only the Jerusalemites to adopt such speech. What are they thinking about and thinking about within themselves that they say this? The speech is clothed in a deep image: what can we say about this? Christ, the Savior of us all, performed many signs in the city and often lived in Jerusalem. Therefore, some of the townspeople became convinced and little by little finally came to the desire to believe in Him, but did not dare to love Him openly and freely, fearing the insolence of their leaders and not out of malice, being exposed to fear of punishment. This was clearly declared by the blessed Evangelist earlier, saying that no one spoke openly “about Him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13). However, he refers to the leaders here as Jews, not daring, it seems to me, to give the name of leaders to such lost people. So, our Savior Jesus Christ openly and strongly rebelled against the madness of the rulers and very clearly exposed that they do not pay any attention to the Lawgiver, but everyone strives to do his own will and everyone was madly inclined towards murder as something that did not contain anything bad, and yet He was not subjected to anything unpleasant for this from those who would naturally put Him to death. This is what the “Jerusalemites” take as proof and confirmation of His inherent Divine power and, accepting this as a kind of addition to the previous miracles and adding to everything that preceded them, they are finally carried away by ardent aspirations to believe in Him. That’s why they say, collecting knowledge from common sense: “Isn’t this the One whom they are looking to kill?” Notice how, as if stretching out their right hand high and circling this way and that, they point to the Accuser and laugh, seeing their indomitable rage pacified not by any rational argument, but by Divine power and strength. It should be noted that only the Jerusalemites say the opposite of the rest of the multitude of Jews. I’ll tell you how it is. When the Savior Christ once proposed a beautiful teaching, the Pharisees became terribly angry at this and with undisguised insolence decided to commit murder. But to this He spoke to them, exposing them that, since they decided to commit murder, they were transgressors of the law: “Didn’t Moses give you the law? And none of you makes the law: why are you seeking to kill Me?” (John 7:19). And this saying struck the hearts of the leaders with all its might. However, the large crowd was amazed at these words and, finding them unbearable for themselves, responded with great insolence, saying: “You have a demon: who is seeking to kill You?” (John 7:20). But I think it is obvious to everyone that Christ said this when he contemplated the Pharisees already committing murder. Isn’t it clear, while some here deny and cry: “Who is seeking to kill You?” The Jerusalemites are the only ones who say the opposite to everyone else and say: “Isn’t this He who they are looking to kill?” It is well said and they are “looking for it” in order to attribute this insolence only to the bosses. So, with probability we can conclude that the rest of the Jewish people did not know about the intentions of the leaders, but the Jerusalemites, being very close to them and living in the same city, constantly meeting with them, knew, as it were, about the wicked intention poured into them in relation to the Savior Christ. And not only by the voice of our Savior is the criminal host of the Jews accused, but also by the very crowd under their control, which perished as a result of their madness and fell into the abyss. Indeed, from what has been said, one can see that she was already thirsty and, as it were, burning for faith in Christ, needing very little guidance, which, if it had been there, would have easily accepted Him who came to us from heaven. Therefore, those who received leadership are to blame for the destruction of the sheep, as the prophet Jeremiah will again testify, crying out like this: “Because the shepherds were foolish and did not seek the Lord: therefore all the flock did not understand, and they were scattered” (Jer. 10:21). John 7:26. Behold, he speaks without hesitation, and nothing is said to him They strengthen the foundations of reliability and, as it were, ascend to the clearest proof, not seeing any obstacles to the boldness of Christ. They are quite rightly amazed when they find former wicked people embraced by an unusual and unusual generosity, and they see the proud revealing a meekness that is strange to them. From here they come to reasonable assumptions. And again, because they are surprised at their kindness, and, moreover, in relation to such a subject, for which it was by no means proper to be angry, through this very thing they find themselves accusing them of the fact that it was usual for them to attack every indifferent teacher of goodness and ardently attack anyone in general who would say something contrary to them, even if it was consistent with the divine law. After all, the arrogance of the Pharisees was always terrible and their daring madness knew no bounds. Who is it, they say, who is taming them at the present moment and who has imposed chaste reason as a bridle on their former uncontrollable rage? Who thus enchanted them and, as it were, some kind of snake, always darting, directed them towards meekness? “He speaks with boldness and they say nothing to Him.” It is said not simply to “speak,” but “with boldness.” And this, I believe, is because no one would recognize the justice of ending their anger if He Whom they were looking for secretly spoke his words against them. But His words were bold and He spoke bitter accusations. This, in my opinion, is what the word “boldness” means. And not only do they refrain from anger, although they were very prone to it, but they also turn out to be slow to even speak, for “they don’t tell Him anything.” John 7:26. Did the princes truly understand food, for this is Christ? 550 You see how they, having acquired faith from solid thoughts and just conclusions, are almost indignant at the fact that the leaders, apparently, have already recognized Him, and yet do not accept Him obviously because of their fight against God, do not hesitate to dishonor the One who came from heaven and, with envious silence, even obscure His glorification. After all, if they “did not know,” they say, “truly that He is Christ,” then what makes them hold back before Him who boldly exposes them and even, apparently, introduces new laws in place of the ancient ones, since He turns out to perform healings on the Sabbath, and insults them a lot if it openly says: “Didn’t Moses give you the law, and none of you does the law?” (John 7:19). They endure this, although they were opposed to it and were accustomed to violently attack even those who did not cause them any harm. Thus, through all sorts of reasoning, little by little they acquire faith in Christ, but at the same time they assimilate true knowledge to their superiors, who have studied the sacred books before them and are more able than themselves to understand the mysteries in the Divine Scriptures. Note that the people of Judah were always ready to immediately follow their leaders, who, without a doubt, would have received salvation if they had been led by their leaders to the right. That is why they will be subjected to severe punishments, when the Savior Himself accused them, saying: “Woe to you lawyers, because you took the key of knowledge, but you yourself did not enter and hindered those who entered” (Luke 11:52). After all, the word of those who teach what is right serves as a kind of door and gateway to the knowledge of God and a path that easily leads to any virtue, and the knowledge of the shepherd can protect the flock, just as the opposite (ignorance) easily destroys and casts the flock into the abyss, even against their will. John 7:27. But this we know where it is from: but when Christ comes, no one knows where it will be from 551 But for external reasons alone and because the leaders patiently endured His reproofs, the minds of the Jerusalemites do not acquire (full and true) faith. Having quite correctly drawn up the appropriate conclusions and received true ideas about Christ through His inherent Divine power, already correctly guided to the perception of piety (the Christian religion), they, however, imperceptibly again fall into the ignorance characteristic of the Jews. After the above excellent reasoning, they apparently want to grasp the truth from everywhere and, not only due to the silence of the leaders and their unusual meekness, they go to faith, they even examine the Holy Scripture itself, called to this by sound reason, but, however, completely ignorantly and unreasonably subjecting the mystery to investigation. In fact, based solely on the fact that they know where He who speaks with boldness comes from, that is, from what village he comes and from what parents he came, they claim that He is not the One who was foretold in the law. Then they add to this: “and when Christ comes, no one knows where He comes from.” After all, it is obvious to everyone that through ignorance they had to fall into error in this too. But I think we need to explore where these thoughts came from. What, in fact, made those who spoke so beautifully about Him not consider Him to be Christ for the very reason that they knew where He was from? And why they add to this: “When Christ comes, no one knows where He comes from.” After all, as a result of this, finally, they do not achieve the truth. Isaiah has one saying about Christ: “Who can explain His generation? because His life will be taken up from the earth” (Is. 53:8). But the blessed prophet uses this saying about God the Word and says “generation” instead of “existence.” Who, in fact, is able to express in words the image of the existence of the Only Begotten? What language can explain the ineffable birth of the Son from the Father? Or what mind will be strong for this? That He was born of God and the Father, we know and believe this. But “how”, we consider this inaccessible to any mind and dangerous for research, for one should not seek the deepest and examine the most difficult, but meditate on what is commanded (Sir. 3:21-22), and unshakably believe about God, “that He truly exists and is a rewarder of those who seek” (Heb. 11:6), - and no longer seek, according to Scripture, that which is above the mind and understanding, not only ours, but also of every creature or every created rational being. Who, therefore, will explain the Only Begotten generation? for His life will spring up from the earth,” that is, the word about His existence is above everything that exists on earth, for here again it calls existence life. This led the foolish mind of the Jews astray from the straight path and deviated them from the true understanding of Christ, for they did not understand, as it seems, that the holy prophets speak of Him in two ways. Thus, when they indicate that He will appear in the flesh in this life, they expose His birth in the flesh from the Virgin: “For behold, a virgin will be with child and will bear a Son” (Is. 7:14), but they also clearly announce where He will be born: “For you too, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, you are too small to be among the thousands of Judah, from you will He come forth for Me.” (Someone) to be a ruler in Israel, and His goings forth from the beginning from the days of the world” (Mic. 5:2). And explaining, as much as possible, His ineffable birth from God the Father, or they say what we have already said above: “Who will explain His generation? Because His life will spring up from the earth” (Is. 53:8), or in the above saying they add: “and His going forth from the beginning from the days of the world,” for by coming out here means the shining of the Only Begotten, as if from the light, and before every age and day and instant, a coming forth, as it were, from the essence of the Parent into its own existence. If, therefore, the Holy Scripture shows us both, and the sacred writings speak about where Christ will come from according to the flesh, and honor in silence His unsearchable existence from the Father, then how, having thoroughly found the Jews to be very ignorant, not to say with loud laughter: one must seek out what pertains to Him not only from ignorance of the race of Christ, but also from the knowledge of who He is and from where He will appear in the flesh. John 7:28. Jesus cried out, teaching in the church and saying: You know Me, and you know where I come from 552 When the Jerusalemites quietly whispered the above words to each other, for they did not dare “to speak openly for fear of the Jews,” as it is written (John 7:13), Christ again divinely received the knowledge of what they said. And since he saw that it was appropriate to help these people, he immediately again divinely shows the power in Himself and clearly reveals that He has knowledge of everything. At the same time, He raises His voice, although He had not previously been in the habit of doing this, and again exposes them for not having a thorough understanding of the Inspired Scripture, and bases His words on something secret and difficult to understand. Then, in addition, he strongly convinces them that precisely because they foolishly thought that they should not believe, that is why they themselves should believe. The meaning of these words is this. You were surprised, he says, and quite rightly so, because I truly possess Divine power, which easily tames even the murderous hearts of the Jews. After all, they are looking to kill Me, according to your untrue and precise word, and they are putting very great effort into this. But while, he says, I should move away and evade as far as possible from those who decided to put Me to death, I, however, not at all concerned about their crazy plan, on the contrary, I speak with boldness and expose those who offend the law with My reluctance to bring them to a righteous court. And I don’t tolerate anything at all (from them for this). Once terrible, they now involuntarily become harmless, which is not the fruit of their will, but the power of My power. After all, I do not allow them, although they are furious and irritated to the point of inhuman anger, to dare to kill Me prematurely. You are quite rightly amazed at this, he says, and say that your leaders have truly learned that I am the Christ. But, following proper judgment in this and inclining to the words of the Divine Scripture, you should, for your own benefit, be more strengthened in the knowledge of Me, but you, on the contrary, were exposed to the opposite and were tempted. Due only to the fact that you know where I come from and from whom I was born, you decided, says, that I am not Christ. Therefore, know that “you also know Me, and you know where I come from,” that is, the Divine Scripture has given you to know Me and where I come from. But if you had to find out that I am a Nazarene or a Bethlehemite and that I was born of a Woman, then for this it is not at all appropriate for you to be subjected to the vice of unbelief. On the contrary, from what has been said about Me and because of My birth in the flesh, you should therefore come to the perception of the mysteries relating to Me, and not deviate only from the saying of the prophet, which indicates the ineffable birth from God and the Father. John 7:28. And I did not come about Himself, but He who sent Me is true In the form of protection, it again strikes those who persist in prolonged unbelief. Having composed the speech with considerable skill, he tries in every possible way not to seem to give the listeners a reason for just attacks on Him, but, by darkening the speech with some obscurity, thereby eliminating the excessiveness of anger and moderating the severity of excitement. Why is this, he says, after He often and clearly proclaimed that He was sent from God and the Father, they still do not believe and, as soon as they recognize His race in the flesh, they say that He is not preached in the law and foretold by the holy prophets - they even almost object like this: You are telling a lie, you came to us of your own free will, and are not ashamed to invent the name of the Father. Therefore, rejecting their slander of this kind, He adds reproof to the defense and very prudently says: “I did not come from Myself, but He who sent Me is true.” It is for you, he says, who easily dare to do anything and recklessly rush into any terrible deed, sometimes it is common to falsely prophesy and call yourself sent from God, although without the message of God. But I am not like you and I will not imitate your usual insolence: “I did not” come from Myself, I am not a self-proclaimer like you, but I came from heaven - “He who sent Me” is “true”, and not like the false lover known to you, that is, the devil, whose spirit you have received and dare to prophesy false things. So, “He who sent Me is true,” but he who encourages you to invent the words of God is not true, for a liar is also the father of lies (cf. John 8:44). And that we find it common for the Jews to prophesy false things, we can easily see this when reading prophetic speeches. Thus, the Lord of all speaks very clearly about them: “I did not send (these) prophets, but they themselves fled; I did not speak to them, but they themselves prophesied” (Jer. 23:21). And again in Jeremiah: “The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I did not send them, nor spoke to them, nor commanded them; for they prophesy to you visions and divinations and prophecies from their hearts” (Jer. 14:14). Thus, the proud Jew is exposed here in the fact that he also assimilates to Christ Himself the insolence inherent in himself against God, that is, false prophecy. Indeed, to not believe the One who proclaimed Himself sent from God and the Father, what else can be in the end, if not a loud cry that You are falsely prophesying, imitating our attitude towards us. John 7:29. You don’t know Him, but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me You, he says, just said that “When Christ comes, no one knows where He comes from.” But as soon as you consider this, correctly understood, opinion to be true, then I agree with your words about Him; true, of course, is the Father, from whom I am, but not known to you. Therefore, when you, he says, reason about My mystery in such an unreasonable, but pleasing way to you, and then, knowing who I am and where I come from in the flesh, refuse to believe, then for this alone accept faith, as soon as you find yourself not understanding where I come from. And I am from “the Father, whom you do not know,” not knowing the things that are from Him, in Whom alone we see the Father, for he who has seen the Son has seen the Father, and he who knows the Son does not not knows the One who gave birth. So, and thanks to this, all foundation is taken away from them and they are again convicted of bad-mindedness, no longer finding any pretext for unbelief, but only by their stubbornness pushing away knowledge, so that what is written may also be true: “You have seen often and did not keep it; your ears are open, and you have not heard” (Isaiah 42:20). And when he agrees with the words of the Jews: “No one knows” where it will be when Christ comes,” then he necessarily excludes Himself as God from among creatures and shows Himself to others by nature and different from everything else, to which the word “no one” should be applied, so that He, he says, does not at all not know His Parent along with those, but claims that He knows with all accuracy both Himself and Him. This is because He is God from God the Father, having some amazing and wonderful knowledge or knowledge about this that is appropriate to Him alone. I think that the Son does not know the Father in the same way as we know. After all, the nature of creatures in the contemplation of God reaches only the idea of ​​the mind, without crossing its proper boundaries and even involuntarily refusing to comprehend the hiddenness of the Divine Nature, ineffable in words. And the Only Begotten, who appeared from God the Father, contemplates the entire Parent in Himself and, depicting the essence of the Parent in His own nature, knows Him in a way that is impossible to express, for the Divine Nature is ineffable. That our affairs are not subject to the clock due to any necessity, as the Hellenes foolishly think, but by our own free will we are directed both to good and to evil; and that we are controlled by Divine gestures John 7:30. I seek therefore that the Jews may have Him: and no man lay hands on Him, for His hour has not come 553 Stung by the denunciations, the Pharisees, seeing that silence here would not be harmless for their stubbornness, but beneficial for the people, for they seemed to agree (with the people) to finally recognize Him as Christ - they turned to their usual insolence and again thirsted for murder. Having cast aside respect for the law as useless for them, not paying any attention to the decrees contained in the Holy Scriptures and not deigning to remember the commandment: “Thou shalt not kill the innocent and the just” (Ex. 23:7), they suffer the most unjust rage against Christ. But by Divine power, their enterprises again turn into a completely opposite outcome, for “the treacherous will not receive prey,” according to what is written (Proverbs 12:27). So, “they seek to seize Him,” as the Evangelist says, presenting their silence during the reproofs as voluntary and self-imposed and the ensuing anger, rejecting the idea that they were (unwittingly) restrained by Him. After all, it was precisely some of the Jerusalemites who took this as proof that Jesus is God by nature, saying: “Behold, he speaks boldly, and says nothing to Him: have the rulers really known that He is the Christ” (John 7:26). But “He who ensnares the wise in their craftiness” (1 Cor. 3:19) reveals the impudence of those who reasoned in this way to be ineffective, and confirms the quietly expressed guesses and assumptions of the people, for they are hindered by the Divine power, which puts a curb on their iniquities and allows their plans to extend only to one attempt. Also, the reason that they were unable to fulfill the intended goal was usefully indicated by the wise Evangelist, for “His hour has not yet come,” he says, here obviously calling the hour the time, namely, suffering and honest crucifixion. And from here, finally, doesn’t it become clear to everyone that Christ would not have suffered at all if he had not had the desire to suffer? After all, not through Jewish violence, but voluntarily, He ascended to the cross for us and for our sake. That is why he says, rejecting the reproach of His apparent powerlessness: “No one takes My soul from Me, I lay it down from Myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power again to take it away” (John 10:18). He, as we have already said before, did not endure the Cross for us against his will - He offered Himself as a holy sacrifice to God and the Father, purchasing with His blood the salvation of all. That is why he said in his gospel sermons: “For them I will sanctify Myself” (John 17:19). “I sanctify” he says here instead of “I bring and dedicate,” for what is sacred is what is sacrificed to God. And that He accepted the slaughter for everyone, completely free from any violence, we learn again when we listen to the speaker in the psalms to God and the Father: “You did not desire sacrifices and offerings, but you made a body for Me; I did not desire burnt offerings and (sacrifices) for sin, then I said: Here I come, in the head of the book it is written about Me - to do Your will, O God” (Ps. 39: 7-9). You see that he voluntarily allows suffering for everyone, for here, he says, I am going, and not out of necessity I am being forcibly drawn from anyone else. So, he avoids the present insolence of the leaders, preserving suffering for the appropriate time and demonstrating the most Divine insolence in everything. I consider this sufficient to explain this saying. But since some of those who are secretly taught, hearing the words “His hour has not yet come,”, out of their great frivolity, seem to be carried away by Hellenic and insane evil teaching, so that they foolishly think that human affairs are subject to hours, days and times, I also consider it necessary to say something a little about this, if our goal requires, through all kinds of reasoning, to bring benefit to the readers. For the children of the Church, brought up on the Holy Scriptures, in order to expose the Hellenic lie and completely free themselves from the false teaching that arises from this, I believe that what Paul said in the form of an accusation or wise rebuke to some who had such a mood will be enough: “You observe the days and months and times and years; I fear for you, lest I labor for you in vain” (Gal.4:10-11). And in fact, speaking without any artificiality, after all, one who is overcome by such madness will destroy his soul and turn out to be dishonoring the very Creator and Founder of us all, to whom only a wise and thorough teaching can control us. They, not having the judgment to understand this correctly, must destroy the meaning of Providence and no longer believe that the Lord of all is the guardian and manager of our affairs, but must acquire power over all times and hours, placing creation above the Creator and depriving one of the most beautiful properties of Him to whom all honor and glory and worship is due, attributing to creation what is above created and giving to creatures what is appropriate to be crowned. Creator. But their guilt does not stop there, but goes further to something much worse than this. After all, they obviously must subject the benevolent God to reproach and call the enemy of all sin the perpetrator of evil. In fact, if time was created by Him, and the hour, and the day, and the year, and yet these latter lead some, as if by necessity and force, to sometimes involuntary bad things and to falling into the troubles that arise from this, then isn’t the truth of our reasoning about this clear? And where, in this case, will finally be what was said by the wise Moses: “And God saw everything that he had created, and behold, everything was very beautiful” (Gen. 1:31). After all, one of all this is time, and in time there is an hour, a day and a year. If what the eye of Divine Nature saw as good, we begin to call it the culprit of evil, then should we not directly admit that the Lord of all turned out to be the Creator of the most shameful? I think that even now those who are subject to the errors we have just mentioned should be ashamed. But since some seem to want not only to share the Hellenic superstitions, but even to defend them, this forces us to consider from another side the inherent absurdity of this teaching, and, with the help of proper inferences, try to contrast the truth with their blasphemy. So, if, in your opinion, time and hour forcibly and compulsorily force us to direct ourselves towards good or evil, then, as it turns out, reason will be superfluous for us, directing us to every action, advising us to avoid evil and commanding, on the contrary, to strive for praiseworthy things. What, tell me, will be the benefit from this and what good fruit will come from reason, if I find myself, of course, in a suffering state and go, even against my will, to what the hour calls and time wants to force? What should follow is what they say happens to the helmsmen of ships, who despair of any hope of saving the ship if they happen to be in danger during a storm - they let go of all the ropes, even throw away the rudders, no longer relying on their skill, and thus give themselves up to the movements of the waves and rush across the sea. From what has been said, it is already clear that there will be no benefit for those who want virtue and no harm will come for those who do evil, if we have neither reward nor punishment from God for each act and receive retribution according to the quality of the deeds. In this case, tell me, won’t the hour often determine what is most beautiful, and won’t the time bring especially useful things, although I will turn out to be the perpetrator of the most shameful? And vice versa, sometimes time will not give anything good, but, on the contrary, will bring, so to speak, all the hardest things for those who have perfectly judged that doing good should be preferred. But nothing like this can happen, perhaps someone will say, but the hour and time give everyone only what is appropriate for them. Therefore, time will eventually reign over us? And we will have to learn the dignity of Providence for hours, no longer thinking about God at all? Let us not ask Him for anything through prayer, but from the hour and time? What follows from here? Let us worship the creature instead of the Creator and wickedly appropriate the glory of the Creator to what He has created. From here we can see without much difficulty that their shamefulness here and their enormous wickedness clearly turn out to be much more disgusting than their harlots who indulge in debauchery. But for the sake of benefit, I’ll say something else that comes to my mind. It is unnecessary in this case, as it seems, that Divine and human laws determine appropriate punishments for lovers of evil, and honors for those who highly value the desire to live in the most decent manner. After all, if nothing at all is in our will, but is subject to necessity, depending on the clock and inevitably and inexorably leading to both (good and bad), then would it be fair for us to recognize it as proper to praise good people, and not to such, as if as a duty, to give the opposite (blame)? Why, tell me, do the laws force us to avoid the bad and strive for the good, when there are other reins of our intentions that easily direct us wherever they please? After all, human affairs must be subject to the power of the clock, as they say and wish, without even thinking about the absurdity that results from this. And shouldn’t they, even against their will, assert that the one who has received dominion over everything that is on earth, that is, man, will turn out to be more miserable than even the dumb animals themselves and will lead a miserable life - who should have an advantage because of his nature will receive a place in the second, or rather, in the last row? In fact, if those (non-rational animals), according to their own inclinations, without any obstacle, are directed towards what is necessary for them and can be useful, and avoid what turns out to be harmful, and we will be in slavery to the harsh ruler - time and have the inevitable and cruel power of the clock hanging over us like a scepter, then don’t we find ourselves in an incomparably worse position than those in which they are? But, perhaps, he who wants to defend, or rather, lie about hours and times that were not created for anything, will be ashamed, and, rejecting the absurdity in this teaching, he will say: we do not affirm, my dear, that an hour or a time or a year rules over human affairs, but we say that there are bad hours and times, which sometimes, like stormy winds, cause us troubles. But we will object to such: O damaged minds and drunk with pure madness! How is it that you have not noticed again that you are arming your mind against the Supreme Being Himself? Will She not turn out to be a doer of evil, if there is anything bad that She has created? But this, as has already been said, we will pass over, and we will try to convince you especially of how this hour or time could cause us harm or, on the contrary, bring us joy, if God did not manage everything, as He commands and desires, according to what is appropriate for everyone, or to sadden, or, on the contrary, to delight. After all, we just heard your words that nothing of ours is in the power of the clock, but some are by nature bad (clocks) and, like the wind, swiftly rush towards us. But, I think, again there is nothing difficult to prove that this reasoning of yours is filled with extreme stupidity. Who, in fact, is not obvious that the interval of twelve hours is distributed in such a way that some (twelve hours) belong to the day, and others to the night, and night and day do not exist for one person, and do not exist for another, but come for everyone? In exactly the same way, what is bad by nature is not bad for one, but not for another, but neither for one nor for anyone else, but, on the contrary, will equally bring harm to everyone, no matter in what period of the day or night it comes. But how then is it possible, on the same day or hour, to see one person in prosperity and enjoying many joys, so that he throws brilliant feasts and gathers guests with great diligence, while others are in a completely opposite state and another is often preparing to give up his life through a painful death? On what basis, tell me, and how is it possible to see one in one state and another in another state at one hour and at one time? What would you call such an hour? Bad or good? I cannot answer, seeing both at the same time, one enjoying, and finding the other dead, dying and miserable. Shouldn’t the doctrine of the clock therefore be an ignorant fable and an invention of demonic madness? I think that everyone will agree with this without hesitation and condemn those who think so. One can, it seems, be satisfied with what has been said. But in order not to leave any pretext for idle talk and not to give the opportunity for any assumptions, I will move on to the presentation of events and will now capture the reasoning made with what undoubtedly happened. So, one day the Assyrians, having surrounded the holy city, that is, Jerusalem, intended to wage a siege. Their leader, it was Rapsak, first tried to tame the spirit of his warriors with insidious speeches, then tried to do this with threats. Blessed Hezekiah, then invested with the rank of king, did not rely on his troops, but placed the victory in the hands of the God of all, and in the most diligent prayer he called upon Him only to help himself. And God immediately listened to the righteous man and, following the prayer, showed His grace. “The angel of the Lord went out,” as it is written, “and destroyed from the camp the foreigners one hundred and eighty-five thousand” (Is. 37:36). What do you say to this, my dear? In one night, at the same hour and time, the Assyrian is destroyed by the hand of an Angel, and many Jerusalemites are saved - some find themselves in trouble, others in joy and joy. Where is the power of the hour? How is it not equally distributed for both? Does it bring joy to some and bad death to others? After all, you will not dare, although you are not shy in chatter, to call it (the hour) two-natural and multi-formed. The story of Dathan and Abiron, who, having once rebelled against the leadership of Moses and without a (Divine) calling, without fear of intruding into the rank of the Divine priesthood, with all their household descended into the depths of the earth (Num. 16:32-33), can have the same meaning for us. Thus, some end up in hell, while the rest of the crowd (of the people) are saved. After all, it would be necessary, without a doubt, if the punishment were not at all from Divine wrath, but from the hour, it should fall not only on one part of the host, but evenly embrace everyone. So, we should not consider an hour, a day, or a time to be the cause of sorrow or joy, since this relates to our own nature and to be expressed correctly, but we can receive from an hour or time both benefit and, on the contrary, harm and, handling it skillfully or stupidly, be in either a pleasant or unpleasant situation. So, for example, I can say: “There is a time for every subject” (Eccl. 3:1), as it is written, and knowing the times is very useful, and not knowing is very harmful. In winter, of course, it is not appropriate to go sailing, but it is prudent to do it in summer. So, thinking about this, we must assign control over us to the Lord of all, God. After all, if, according to the true word of the Savior (Matthew 10:29), a very small and unvaluable bird (sparrow) never falls into the net 554 without the will of God and the Father, then how can one who has been awarded such honor and exalted above all can be subjected to anything contrary to expectation or at will, if Providence does not send something from what is said according to the life of everyone? I will add to this something else that almost disappeared from my memory, although it has a very close relationship to our subject and even requires exactly the same research about itself, however, it does not present any difficulty in solving it - on the contrary, a person gifted with reason and having a mind accustomed to distinguishing between good and evil (Heb. 5:14) will understand this very easily. What is this, what are we talking about? The marriage was performed by the former Canaanite inhabitants of the country adjacent to Judea. It was Galilee. They invited the Lord, His Mother and the holy disciples to the feast, and the reason for their celebration was the conclusion of marriage. When the Lord was present here as a table celebrant along with others gathered for the feast to bless the marriage He had legalized, those who ate the meal found themselves short of wine. Then the Mother, as she still continued to have power over her Son, for the sake of the Savior’s great humility, and at the same time, knowing from greater experience about His Divine power, says: “They have no wine.” She knew that He would very easily accomplish what the state of affairs required. But the Lord says to Her: “What do I and You have, Woman? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:3-4). A God-loving mind, alien to absurd dogmas and fleeing as far as possible from Hellenic superstition, will piously understand what is said (in the Gospel). The time for My announcement has not yet come, he says, obviously through signs. As God by nature, He, of course, was by no means unaware of the time appropriate for each subject. Why? Whoever, due to his great foolishness, turns now here and now here - after all, evil is evil for many and, in the opinion of some chatterers, even Christ Himself is subject to the action of the clock - he thereby turns out to be unreasonable before us and in what he hoped to have the defense of his words, will thereby be convicted of the inherent absurdity of this teaching. And indeed, if we agree that the nature of things is subject to the action of the clock and therefore it was Christ who said to the Mother: “My hour has not yet come,” then how, tell me, not yet having, according to your vile and stupid teaching, on the part of the hour an action hastening His desire, is He the performer of the request? After all, the water immediately turns into wine. And if you think that objects should be subject to the power of the clock, then shouldn’t the Lord from the very beginning have not tried at all to do something that had no correspondence in the hour? But He turns out to be not at all concerned about this, but gave them, as it were, premature grace. Thus, the power of the hour was not an obstacle, and the time had not yet come for His announcement through miracles - this is what Christ says. So, we are free from this opinion of yours, and by hour we must understand the time itself, appropriate for each subject. And that we are independent of the need for a clock, this subject, I believe, does not require further proof. We've already covered this enough. However, in the present case, we hasten to point out that the hour in the Holy Scriptures is the time appropriate for each subject. Thus, the venerable Paul indicates the meaning of what we call the hour in his proclamation: “And (thus) knowing the time, that (the hour has come) for you to arise from sleep; the night is past and the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:11–12). You see that first he put “time”, and then added “hour”, thereby denoting one and the same thing, and not something else, for it was already time for those immersed in sins to awaken, and open their eyes to what is useful, and rise to God-loving wakefulness. John 7:31. From the people many believed in Him and said: Christ, when he comes, will do greater signs than He has done 555 It is remarkable the art with which the reasoning is conducted here, and how harmoniously the Evangelist continues his speech after that. Having said first that the Jews were looking to seize Him and, with their senselessly placed nets, to imprison Him in such a cruel and ill-timed danger, He shows the people to believe, so that the evil plans of the leaders against Him would finally become known. After all, the people were so far from wanting to rage against Him that they already form a (correct) idea of ​​Him on the basis of miracles and openly confess that it is appropriate to finally follow His teaching. Such speech, it seems, was in the mouths of the entire Jewish people and spread throughout their entire country, so that the coming of Christ was considered a great phenomenon: He must perform miracles that surpass reason, and introduce a very wonderful teaching and superior to the legal instructions. Thus, the Samaritan woman, when she came to Jacob’s spring to draw water and talked with the Savior, said: “We know that the Messiah will come, called Christ; when He comes, He will tell us everything” (John 4:25). We must attribute this “we know” here with full probability not to her alone, but, having assimilated it to the entire Samaritan and Jewish people, we will thereby find here confirmation of what we have just said. Seeing that the brilliant expectations being spread about him (the Messiah) do not exceed what has already happened, they seem to say to each other: in what, according to the law, should Christ be revealed to us? How did the word of the holy prophets declare Him? Obviously, a miracle worker and teacher of good. But we see that the one who has already come differs most greatly from both. Are there any greater signs left that can be thought of? What difficult thing was He unable to accomplish? What has not been done in a miraculous and superintelligent manner? In whom will we look for even more? Do we not see that He has already reached the limit of all miraculousness? What is expected of Christ that is not found in Him? Therefore, it is already shameful to finally renounce faith in Him, indifference is unreasonable and slowness in choosing the most beautiful is completely unnatural. May He be confessed by God, for this, even against his will, is required by the very nature of things. With full right and without departing from the truth, one could attribute such speech to the Jews. However, it should be noted that the subordinate people died due to the stubbornness of their superiors. Guided by the brilliance of what he was doing, he was already well disposed towards faith and expected only advice regarding Christ from his superiors. But they were capable of such cruelty that they tried to harm the One who was foreshadowed to be the fulfiller of great hopes and was already certified by the deeds He had accomplished. John 7:32. Hearing the bishops and Pharisees, the people murmured about Him, this 556 The people are indignant at the bosses, and quite rightly so. He spread many rumors about our Savior Christ, not because He was a wondrous miracle worker who exceeded expectations, not because He came with a teaching that was better than legal worship, but because He who had glory equal to that expected from Christ (the Messiah) was not yet accepted by the bishops and Pharisees, and was not at all inferior in anything that popular rumors attributed to him (Messiah) or what the word of the holy prophets foretold about him. Thus, they were rightly accused of being more obsessed with envy than really caring about the salvation of the people. Such an accusation, which has spread far, is not hidden from the leaders, and the people, as we see, were offended by them, having reason to be amazed at the Lord and very eager to believe Him, no longer enduring the yoke of the brutal power of the leaders, but as if trying to do what is said in the psalms: “Let us break their bonds and throw off their yoke from us” (Ps. 2:3). Having subjected the soul of the people not to the yoke of the law, but subjecting it to their own inventions, teaching doctrines, the commandments of men (Matthew 15:9), abandoning the straight and well-trodden path, they cast into abysses and ditches those for whom salvation was already prepared and who were already guided by themselves to correct reasoning. John 7:32. And the bishops and Pharisees sent 557 servants to seize Him 558 “Thou shalt not kill the innocent and the righteous” (Ex. 23:7), proclaims the law and loudly and clearly proclaims: “Do not (participate) with the majority in evil” (Ex. 23:2), and the keepers of the law kill, arrogating to themselves the interpretation of the Law of Moses and usually reproaching all others if they did not adhere to the same way of thinking. But here, not caring at all about the law and trampling upon the venerable commandments, they try to surround with nets the One who committed no sin, because, on the contrary, it was Christ Himself, who already had evidence of this through the works themselves. After all, everyone can rightly say for the godless leaders of the Jews, if they were versed in the Word of God and knew the Divine laws, without any doubt, it would have been more appropriate to address the people with proper reasoning, to refute the rumors about Him, to remove suspicion of envy from themselves, to force them to think appropriately, as soon as they believed that the people were completely mistaken, and had true ideas about Christ. After all, they would have to present evidence from the prophetic testimonies and, through the entire Holy Scripture in general, be justified from the accusations of the people and communicate a more true teaching about Christ, if they knew anything more about Him. But not finding any protection here and ashamed of the Holy Scripture as being found together with the people accusing them, they fall into shameful insolence and try to destroy Christ, since they cannot expose Him that He is mistaken. What is more intolerable than anything else is that this is not the decision of any ordinary people, but the insolence of the bishops, who had the same mood as the Pharisees, although they, as those who stood at the head of the priesthood and had an advantage in this, should have been leaders and mentors both in good thoughts and surpassed them in intentions pleasing to God. But since they found themselves without a good mind and placed the Law of God below their thoughts, they became carried away by reckless aspirations only for their own desires. So the head turned into a tail, according to what is written (Deut. 28:44), for the leader finds himself behind (the people) and, sympathizing with the wickedness of the Pharisees, makes unbridled attacks on Christ. After all, among bad people, enmity against virtuous people always turns out to be groundless and the matter of struggle here seems to be lame, not having the help of inventing any plausible reasons, but relying only on the vice of envy. Not being able to compete with the great deeds of those, nor through courage to receive equal glory with them, or to achieve everything that is better through the best, they fall into wild reasoning and recklessly arm themselves against the glory of the victors, trying to destroy that which forces them to be put to shame. The bad is always exposed by comparison with the good. Meanwhile, on the contrary, they should strive to equal themselves with equal means and try harder to think and do the same with those worthy of praise. And something cruel, apparently, was invented by the Pharisees. When they found out that the people were grumbling and were already having conversations like this: “Isn’t this He who they are looking to kill? So he speaks with boldness, and they don’t say anything to Him. Did the rulers really know that He is the Christ?” (John 7:25–26), then again, out of their characteristic cunning, wanting to ward off such suspicion from themselves, they command Him to be bound and send servants to do this. John 7:33. Jesus said to them: I have been with you for a short time, and I am going to Him who sent Me 559 Being God by nature, the Lord was not again unaware of the murderous intentions of the Pharisees and the wicked decision of the bishops about Himself. With the eyes of the Divine He beholds those already present and mingling with the crowd of those whom they have appointed as servants to seize Him. Therefore, he conducts a general speech, as it were, to all the people standing around, but also concludes, as it were, a private answer to them, and at the same time and at the same time teaches many useful things. It threatens gently, but also accuses them of neglecting what they should rejoice at. But in another respect, their enterprise, even if it is accomplished in practice, will be fruitless for them and in what way, we will now talk about this, dividing the speech into separate parts. In the words “still a little time with you,” I seem to be teaching: tell Me, he says, for what reason, finally, do you attack Me as slow (and staying too long) in this world? I admit this, I am difficult for you and others like you and not very pleasant for those who do not honor virtue, crushing the ungodly and sometimes striking the wicked with denunciations; I know that I have aroused hatred towards myself; but do not spread the net of death on Me so prematurely: I will be with you for a little while longer, I will depart with joy when the proper time for suffering comes, and I myself will not tolerate being with the wicked, it is unpleasant for Me, he says, to be treated with murderers, I will leave the wicked as God, and I will be with Mine all the days of the century, although I will seem absent in the flesh. And in the saying “I will go to Him who sent Me,” he again indicates something like this: in vain, he says, you sharpened the sword of your wickedness against Me; What are you crushing with your powerless intentions? Stop the murder arrow, it misses the target; life will not submit to death and corruption will not prevail over incorruption; I will not be imprisoned by the gates of hell, I will not be dead in graves with you, I will fly to Him from Whom I am, I will ascend again to heaven, appearing before the Angels and people as an accusation of your wickedness; then some will be surprised before the Ascendant, and others, when they meet, will say: “What are these wounds among His hands?” - and I will say to them: “(These are the wounds) with which I have been struck in the house of My beloved” (Zechariah 13:6). So again the speech was composed with great modesty and considerable meekness, and this is a model for us to follow. Therefore, Paul says that it is not fitting for a servant of God to “fight, but to be kind to everyone, teaching in meekness those who rebel” (2 Tim. 2:24-25). A God-loving mind, I believe, must be away from all noise and violent movements of anger, avoid manifestations of cowardice as from some fierce attack of waves, enjoy gentle reasoning like calm weather, and especially love to spend life in generosity, be kind to everyone, have a completely good mood and speak shamelessly with enemies. John 7:34. You will seek Me and you will not find 560 This is said mildly and with great modesty. The literal meaning of these words is not difficult to understand, but they contain some difficult and hidden secret. When He ascends, he says, to Him who sent Him, that is, to God and the Father, even if they continued to attempt intrigues and did not stop persecuting, the One who ascends into heaven itself will not be accessible to them at all. The more true and hidden meaning of these words is this: I, he says, was sent to give you life, I came to remove from human nature the death that oppresses it as a result of crime and patiently lead those who have fallen into sin to God. I appeared to communicate the Divine and heavenly light to those in darkness and, in addition, to “bring good news to the poor, to give sight to the blind, to preach remission to the captives, to call on the pleasant year of the Lord” (Is. 61:1-2). But if, through foolishness, you want to drive out the One who offered such an abundant receipt of heavenly blessings, then soon I myself will go to the One from whom I am, and you will repent and, depressed by ineffective belated regret, you will bitterly mourn for yourself - if you still want to look for the Giver of life, then it will no longer be possible to find the One you desire. Once I have withdrawn and deprived you of love, I will block you from everything useful that you will seek. We will find something similar about them in the sermons of the prophets. Thus, one of the prophets says about the Israelites: “They will come with sheep and calves to seek the Lord, and will not find Him, because I have turned away from them” (Hos. 5:6). Having not wished to choose life when He was present, and having irrationally pushed away the good that was at their fingertips, can they already be capable of accepting it? Having completely neglected to omit the convenient time, how could they have the benefits of this time? After all, only when the time has come and is still convenient should one look for what is in it and from it. When it passes and ceases, the search for the benefits inherent in this time will be unnecessary and in vain. So Blessed Paul says: “Now is the time favorable, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2), and also: “While we have time, let us do good to everyone” (Gal. 6:10). Yes, it is by no means proper for the well-behaved when time has already passed to seek the benefits inherent in it, but, on the contrary, when it begins and appears, as it were, in its very bloom. In addition to this, a lot more can be said about time from the Holy Scriptures, but, presenting this to hard-working people to explore, I will briefly mention only one more subject, although it is common among us and in common use, but has considerable benefit. As is known, when those who paint pictures on boards depict time in human form, then all other parts of the human body are drawn as anyone wants, but certainly with just such a head: from the back of the head they represent it as hairless and bald, applying light colors, and from the middle of the skull they hang long hair on the forehead, going down and below and scattering. By this very appearance they indicate that when some (convenient) time has come and, as it were, comes face to face, it is easy to grab it by the hair, and when it has already passed, how could one take it? So, it is as if covered with thick hair and the present time is easily taken, but the past is no longer there. This is indicated by the absence of hair on the back of the head, as if escaping the hand of the one who wants to grab it. Therefore, if it is not in our power to bring back the blessings of the past, let us not doze off during the present blessings, but, on the contrary, we will remain awake - and we will not foolishly try to catch what is useful when it is already useless to seek it. John 7:34. And where I am, you cannot come 561 In soft again, he removes the Jewish people from the Kingdom of Heaven, adding further words to what was said before, but investing in them a deep secret. Taking the saying in its simplest sense and without further investigation, we think that it indicates precisely that He will by no means be in their hands and will not fall into their snares, returning to the Father. After all, heaven cannot be accessible to them, and how could He who is seated with God and the Father Himself be taken by those who seek Him? The simple meaning of this saying is not deep, but it more and better corresponds to the frivolity of the Jews and their intelligence. After all, they always turn out to think earthly things. The exact and hidden meaning of this saying is as follows: I, he says, having escaped the snares of your wickedness, will ascend to God and the Father; I will precede Our worshipers, so that, having shown them a passable path leading to heaven, I may have everyone with Me. “But you cannot come where I am,” that is, you will find yourself deprived of Divine blessings, you will not participate in My glory and will be alien to co-reign with the saints who have not tasted the gift of hope, you will remain outside the Divine wedding meals, you will not see My triumph, you will not ascend to the highest abodes and will not see the beauty of the Church of the firstborn, the highest city will remain invisible to you, you will not behold abundant Jerusalem. After all, my flock will praise Me there, “but you cannot come,” for heaven will not accept the murderers of the Lord, the Cherubim will not open the gates of paradise for a people who fight against God to enter, and a person subject to wickedness towards God will in no way reject the flaming sword - it (the sword) knows only the pious, honors the lover of God and makes faith a sign of peace. We can give such contemplation to the saying, exploring everywhere the true and appropriate meaning for wise people. To this, for the sake of benefit, let us add one more small clarification, namely: those who rise to a God-loving state, they will be and celebrate together with Christ, and those who share the Jewish madness will not at all be in this position, but will be subjected to bitter punishment for their unbelief. About this, let blessed Paul, speaking before us, exclaim to those who have died to sin: “You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God; when Christ appears, your life, then you will appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:3-4), - and also presenting the discussion about the resurrection: "And we who are alive,” he says, “who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord, into the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). Similar to this, the Savior Himself appears to be saying to His disciples: thus, during supper with them, “I tell you,” He said, “I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on, until the day when I drink it again with you in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 26:29). Also, to the thief who hung with Him, who, through faith in Him at the very gates of hell, snatched for himself the grace of the saints, he said: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). So, those who honor Him with good obedience will be with Him without hindrance and enjoy benefits that surpass the mind. And those who do not refuse to oppress Him with their madness, not being sons of the bridal chamber, will go down to hell in disgrace and will be subjected to severe punishments, for they will be “cast out,” as it is written, “into outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). This truth, as if in the form of a riddle, is expressed by the Lord to the Jews in the words: “where I go, you cannot come.” John 7:35. The Jews decided to themselves: Where does this 562 want to go, since we will not find Him? food in dispersion, does the Greeks want to go and teach the Greeks? Do you notice the baseness of Jewish reasoning here too? Do you see their pathetic assumption of earthly meaning (in the saying of the Lord)? They do not say that he will ascend to heaven, although they clearly heard: “For a little while I will be with you and will go to Him who sent Me” (John 7:33), but they imagine the country of the Hellenes, as if the One who sent Him was with them, to whom He, as he announced, would go. However, through these words, apparently, the Jewish people prophesy, although not knowing what they are saying. Moved by some divine action, they bestow Christ on the land of the pagans, presenting in the form of a guess what a little later turned out to be true. After all, in fact, He had to go to the Greeks and teach them, rejecting the ungrateful mother of the Jews - Jerusalem. Note, however, that they are not talking about this in a simple way, for they not only assume something that will go into the Hellenic dispersion, but they maliciously add that they intend to teach the Hellenes, so that in this suspicion they can again find a pretext for accusing Him. After all, communicating with the dispersion of the Hellenes by going to their cities and countries turned out to be a frequent and innocent occurrence among the Jews. And explaining the law to foreigners and revealing Divine secrets to the uninitiated was not an innocent and unpunished task for them. Thus, through the prophet Jeremiah, God accuses some who did not discern this, saying: “And they read the law outside of themselves” (Am. 4:5). Therefore, they say with bitterness that “he wants to teach the Greeks,” bringing Him to justice as easily breaking the law and, from the deeds He had previously committed on the Sabbath day, believing that doing everything indifferently, even if it did not agree with the Divine laws, was ordinary for Him and meant nothing 563. John 7:37. On the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and said to you: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink 564 We must carefully examine in this saying what the wise Evangelist again mysteriously tells us, with some special expressiveness calling “great the last holiday.” Or what prompted our Lord Jesus Christ, as if for some necessary reason and the appropriate time, on this very day to turn to the Jews with the words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” After all, He could have used other words, for example: I am light, I am truth. But applying the exposition to the doctrine of faith, He used this “let him drink” as something necessary and corresponding to the speech about this holiday. In a few words I will try to express the purpose of this saying. When God established the Feast of Tabernacles, He gave Moses the following command: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles (tents) to the Lord, and you shall offer burnt offerings and sacrifices for seven days, and the first day shall be called holy to you” (Lev. 23:34–36). Then, having given regulations regarding sacrifices, he added again: “And on the fifteenth day of this seventh month you shall offer burnt offerings to the Lord for seven days, and the first day is rest, and the seventh day is rest: and on the first day take beautiful dates, and branches of a leafy tree, and the fruit of a beautiful tree, and willows, and willow branches from the stream - (to) rejoice” (Lev. 23:39, 40). Already in the second book 565 we examined in detail the passage cited in parts and made a long discussion about it, however, here too, condensed into a few words, we again recall what was said. We said that the Feast of the Tabernacle signifies the time of resurrection that is alarming for us. The taking of beautiful palm branches and the fruits of a beautiful tree, and, in addition, other things, indicates a certain repetition or return of paradise, which will again be given to us through Christ. And since we added to the last saying that everything must be taken “from the stream” and also (with the branches taken) from it rejoice, we said that our Lord Jesus Christ is likened to the stream, in whom we will truly find all joy in hope and delight - in Him we will rejoice divinely and spiritually. And that He exists and is called spiritually a stream, the wise Psalmist will testify to us, speaking as if to God and the Father about us: “The sons of men will hope in the shelter of Your wings, they will be drunk from the abundance of Your house, and You will give them a drink from the stream of Your sweetness” (Ps. 35:8-9). And the Lord Himself in one place in the prophets says: “Behold, I am sending to them like a river of peace and like a full-flowing stream” (Is. 66:12). And since the law calls the first and seventh days holy, the divine Evangelist himself called it great, in respect, as it seems, of the generally accepted custom among the Jews (to call these days that way). Therefore, the Savior, pointing to Himself, calls the very stream that is mentioned in the decrees about the holiday and which was foreshadowed in the saying of the law, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” See how the mind of the Jews deviates from the images contained in the Scriptures, and skillfully translates the types into truth. I, he says, am the stream foreshadowed by the legislator in his words about the holiday. And if the branches of willow and willow and the thick branches of a tree had to be taken from the stream, and the stream is Christ, then, obviously, in those decrees about the holiday the speech is figurative, not in its own and true sense, but containing symbols of spiritual objects that will be given to the pious through Christ. Since we have given a more extensive discussion about this, as we have already said before, in the “second book,” we will not repeat ourselves, but move on to the next one. John 7:38. Believe in Me, as the Scripture says, and rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly 566 Shows a long-lasting and ageless reward for faith and says that the believer will enjoy the most abundant Divine gifts. He will be so filled with the gifts of the Spirit that he will not only nourish his own mind, but will also be able to fill the hearts of others with them, pouring out God-given benefits onto his neighbor, like a river flow. This is what he commands to the holy Apostles in the words: “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). So the wise and holy Paul himself, wanting to become such a figure, tells us in his letter: “I desire to see you, so that I may impart a certain spiritual gift” (Rom. 1:11). You see this very well both in the holy Evangelists and in the evangelical teachers of the Church, who, pouring out the word of Divine teaching in abundance to those who go to Christ through faith, bring spiritual joy and no longer allow them to experience a thirst for knowledge of the truth, but, as if with wise sounds and a loud voice, introduce it into the hearts of those being taught. Therefore, the Psalmist, rejoicing in spirit over them, exclaimed: “The rivers have lifted up, O Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voices” (Ps. 92:3). Something great and extraordinary proclaimed the word of the saints and “their sound went out into all the earth,” as it is written, “and to the ends of the world their speech” (Ps. 18:5). God promised to show them to us through such rivers through the prophet Isaiah, He is God and the Lord of all, saying: “The beasts of the field, the Sirens and the ostriches will bless Me, because I have given water in the desert and rivers in a waterless land - (to) water My chosen generation, My people, which I have acquired - (so that through him) I may proclaim My perfections” (Is. 43:20-21). It is obvious, therefore, that the Savior refers to the “rivers” that will flow “from the belly of the believer” as the grace-filled gift for teaching and learning, which Paul mentions in the words: “To whom (one) is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:8). However, one must at the same time know that such a saying as given is literally not found in Divine Scripture - the Savior stated it in His own words, interpreting the meaning more clearly. Thus, we find one place about everyone who honors and loves God, that he “will be like a wet garden and like a spring where the water does not fail” (Is. 58:11). What he had already said to the Samaritan woman before, he now proclaims clearly. There He says: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; Whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst, but the water that I give him will be for him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (John 4:13-14). Here again, expressing the same thought, he says: “Rivers from his belly will flow living waters.” That after the crucifixion of the Savior and His resurrection from the dead, the Holy Spirit firmly settled in us John 7:39. This is the speech about Dus, whom those who believe in Him wanted to receive 567: He did not have the Spirit: for Jesus was not glorified 568 The above saying requires an astute study, and in a task difficult even for great wit, there must be a completely sufficient understanding of the deep mystery (contained here). Taking into account and looking at each of the holy prophets, everyone quite rightly encounters such a burning question: how was it that “the Spirit was not”, although so many prophets appeared who turned out to be speaking the Divine mysteries about Christ in long speeches by the Spirit (Holy)? After all, we cannot be so far removed from common sense as to think that the mind of the saints was alien to the Spirit. In this case, it will put us to shame and necessarily call us to faith that they were really and truly spirit-bearers, both the very work of prophecy and the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. Thus, Samuel says to Saul that “the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will be changed into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6). And about the blessed Elisha himself it is written: “And it came to pass, as the singer sang, that the hand of the Lord was upon him” (2 Kings 3:15). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself testifies about blessed David that he spoke secrets by the Spirit (Mark 12:36). And everyone can easily add many similar things to what has been said, through which one can very clearly see the saints as spirit-bearers. But making long speeches about such obvious subjects is unnecessary, as it seems, or (to put it) in other words, it’s even difficult. So, how “the Spirit was not” requires an exact study, since I believe that the blessed Evangelist must express the truth. God, who knows everything, must know the real truth. Therefore, it is not appropriate for us to dare to engage in things that are above us with excessive curiosity. However, as far as one can see through pious reasoning, something like this happened to us. After all, this rational animal on earth, that is, man, initially possessed incorruptibility, and the reason for this incorruption and the possession of all perfections was the indwelling of the Spirit from God into him, for “he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” as it is written (Gen. 2:7). But as a result of a certain primordial deception, having deviated into sin and then gradually going further and further in this direction, along with other benefits, he is subject to the loss of the Spirit and thus is not only subject to corruption, but also becomes receptive to all sin. Since the Creator of all things wisely and graciously deigned to “put all things at the head in Christ” (Eph. 1:10) and wished to restore human nature to its original state, he promises, along with other things, to give it again the Holy Spirit. Otherwise it would have been impossible to achieve firm constancy of goods. Therefore, he appoints a certain time for the descent of the Spirit on us and promises, saying: “In those days (obviously our Savior) I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28). When the (coming) time of this good deed brought down to us on earth the Only Begotten in the flesh, that is, man who came from his wife, according to the Holy Scriptures (Gal. 4:4), then God and the Father again bestowed the Spirit, and Christ, as the firstfruits of the renewed nature, was the first to receive the Spirit. John testified to this, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven, and remained on Him” (John 1:32). How did you accept it? It is necessary to examine in detail what has been said. Is it really like not having? We don't say that, no. The Spirit is inherent in the Son and not from outside, as it is sent to us, given from God, but is co-inherent with Him naturally, as well as with the Father, and through Him proceeds to the saints 569, distributed from the Father as appropriate to each. He is called the one who received, because he became a man and because it was necessary for man to receive. Being the Son of God and the Father, born from His essence before His incarnation, or rather, before all ages, He is not at all upset by the words of God and the Father to Him when He became a man: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You” (Luke 3:22 and Ps. 2:7). About Him who is the eternal God, begotten of God, He says that He is “born today” in order to receive us in Him as sons, for all humanity was in Christ, since He was a man. Thus, also about Him who has the Spirit, it is said that (the Father) gave Him again to Him, so that we might receive the Spirit in Him. For this reason, “he received Abraham’s seed,” as it is written (Heb. 2:16), and became “in all respects his brothers” (Heb. 2:17). Итак, Единородный принимает Духа Святаго не Себе Самому, ибо Его есть Дух и в Нем и чрез Него, как уже прежде сказали мы, но поскольку стал человеком и имел в Себе всю природу (человеческую), дабы всю ее исправить, преобразив в изначальное состояние. In addition to the above, you need to pay attention to the following. Путем мудрых рассуждений и с подтверждением словами Божественного Писания мы можем увидеть, что Христос принял Духа не для Себя, но для нас в Себе, ибо все блага приходят к нам чрез Него. Так как праотец Адам не сохранил благодати Духа, вследствие прельщения обратившись к непослушанию и греху, и вся таким образом природа его уже потерпела урон в богоданном благе, то не знающий перемены Бог Слово должен был стать человеком, дабы, приняв (Духа) как человек, твердо сохранить природе (человеческой) благо. Изъяснителем таких тайн нам выступит и сам божественный Псалмопевец, ибо он так говорит к Сыну: «Ты возлюбил правду и возненавидел неправду, посему помазал Тебя, Боже, Бог Твой елеем радости более причастников Твоих» ( Пс.44:8 ). Since, he says, “You loved” always “truth”, for You are righteous, God, who can never turn into the opposite, - “And you hated unrighteousness” - always, for hatred of evil is a property of Your nature as a truth-loving God; “Therefore God” and the Father anointed You, for, having unchangeable righteousness as the advantage of Your nature, You can never turn aside to sin which you do not know. Being such, You undoubtedly retained in Yourself, since you became a man, for humanity the holy anointing from God and the Father, that is, the Spirit. Thus, the Only Begotten became a man like us, so that in Him and the first the returning blessings and the implanted grace of the Spirit would be firmly preserved for all nature (human), since the Only Begotten and the Word that is from God and the Father communicates to us the immutability of His own nature, for human nature, due to the condemnation in Adam, cannot be constant and is very prone to changeability. If you wish to carefully examine the reason why the outpouring of the Spirit occurred not before the resurrection, but after it, then you will again learn this: Christ became the firstfruits of a renewed nature when, despite the bonds of death, he came to life again, as we have just said about this. How, then, could it be possible for those after Him to appear quickened before the Firstfruits? After all, just as a seed could not sprout from the ground without growing from its root, for its growth begins from there (from the root), in the same way it is impossible for us, who have our Lord Jesus Christ as the root for incorruption, to be grown before our Root. But then, showing the time of the descent of the Spirit on us was already approaching, He, after resurrecting from the dead, breathed on His disciples, saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). And indeed, the time of renewal was then already at the door, or rather, inside the door. And let the inquisitive one again consider whether this reasoning is true. In the beginning, as the spirit-bearer Moses told us, the Creator of all things, taking dust from the earth and forming man, “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7). Who is this breath of life, if obviously not the Spirit of Christ, who says: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)? Since the Spirit, capable of forming and containing us in the Divine image, has withdrawn from humanity, the Savior will again give Him to us, raising (us) to that former (our) dignity and transforming us into His own image. That is why Paul says to some (Galatians): “Little children whom I will bear again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). Let us now begin to reason, returning to the subject of speech. In the holy prophets, we dare to say, there was a kind of abundant illumination and radiance of the Spirit that could lead to the perception of the future and knowledge of the unseen; and in those who believe in Christ, not only the illumination from the Spirit, but also the very indwelling and indwelling of the Spirit. Therefore, we are rightly called churches of God, while none of the holy prophets are ever called the Divine church. Otherwise, how will we understand and what will we say when we hear the Savior Christ speaking to us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen greater than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). What kind of Kingdom of Heaven is this? Obviously, the giving of the Holy Spirit, according to what was said: “The kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21), for the Spirit dwells in us through faith. You see how he places above everyone born of women the one who is in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the lesser (puts above) the perfect. And let no one think that we are talking about the word, or belittling the dignity of those saints, or calling the best even the worst. That's not what we're saying. The beauty of their life is incomparable. But for a clear understanding, let us explain in a few words what our Savior said. Indeed, the blessed Baptist was great and glorious in every dignity, having already reached the very limits of our inherent righteousness, so that there is nothing higher. But being such, he showed those who needed Christ if he said: “I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). Do you not see how, being perfect, as far as is possible for people and born of women, he asks himself to be recreated in some way and reborn through the Holy Spirit? Don't you notice how the greater (Baptist) places himself lower than those (already) regenerated when he says that he himself still needs this? After all, if he, not baptized (by the baptism of Christ), was superior, what forced him to ask for baptism (from Christ)? And if he knew that he himself would be better when baptism came, then shouldn’t he have learned more from those already baptized? So, greater than John himself, says Christ, is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, just baptized, and not yet having an advantage in affairs, - in one way only (he is greater than John), that the blessed Baptist was still (only) born of a woman, and this (the least in the Kingdom of Heaven) was born of God, according to what is written (1 John 3:9), and became a partaker of the Divine Nature, having the Holy One dwelling within him. Spirit and already being called the church of God. Now I return again to the most interpreted saying. The Spirit was (temporarily) in the prophets for the sake of the need for prophecy. Now He dwells in believers through Christ and began to dwell in Him first when He became man, for as God He has the Spirit inseparably and essentially united with Himself and His own. But he is anointed for our sake and is called receiving the Spirit as a man, not delivering the communion of Divine blessings to himself, but to human nature, as we have already found out earlier. When, therefore, the divine Evangelist tells us: “For the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified,” we must suppose that he signifies the whole and complete indwelling of the Holy Spirit in men. John 7:40–41. From the people, having heard "certain words" of this, "the verb was: This is truly a prophet 570. Friends said, (as) "This is "truly" Christ 571 They are amazed at the boldness (of Christ) as characteristic (only) of God and, seeing these words no longer corresponding to human limitations, they resort to remembering the law as already foretelling about Christ and saying that a prophet will arise, like the wise Moses, who will convey words from God to Israel. God says this about him in one place to Saint Moses: “I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you, and I will put My words in His mouth, and he will speak to them according to everything I command him” (Deut. 18:18). So, based on the nature of His words and the excessive height of the sayings, they say that the same (prophet) who was foretold in the law has already appeared. Who else should say: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” and “whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his heart” (John 7:37-38) - if not only God by nature, which was Christ? If the Jews, thinking lowly of Him, call Him simply “prophet,” not knowing the superiority of Immanuel over all, but considering Him one of the others, then in this too they again turn out to be very foolish in their understanding of the contemplations contained in the law, for they think that Christ (the Messiah) is another prophet, different from the prophet prophesied in the law. And there is nothing surprising if the people do not have an accurate understanding of this, when the very God-fighting multitude of arrogant Pharisees turns out to be suffering from the same disease of ignorance as the people. So, once, marveling at the divine Baptist, they said: “Why do you baptize if you are neither Christ, nor Elijah, nor a prophet?” (John 1:25). While expecting the coming of two, I mean the prophet according to the foretelling of the law (Deut. 18:18) and Elijah, they asked about the three, assuming that the prophet announced in the law was different from Jesus. Therefore, it is timely to speak about them in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “Like a mother, (such is) a daughter; You are your mother’s daughter” (Ezek. 16:44-45), for the people also suffered the same as those who received the leadership. However, it is useful to pay attention to the fact that the people were already well-prepared for faith, so that by the words of the Savior they are convinced, partly to surprise, before Him, but, having no guidance from their leaders, they are carried away along the path of guesswork, divided into many paths, with some saying and already believing that this is Christ, while others are a prophet. And indeed, the added “truly” expressively indicates a certain firmness of reasoning and forces us to assume the perception of faith (in them). John 7:41–42. Ovii said: Christ comes from Galilee? 572 Doesn’t the Scripture say that from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, where David comes, Christ comes? 573 It is not without difficulty that the Jews make research concerning Christ. They find themselves reasoning with all their minds and, through various thoughts, desiring to obtain a true understanding of Him. At first, surprised by His words and His great boldness in teaching, having already taken it as a guide to think something great about Him, they now also examine the Divine Scripture itself, hoping to find there the most unfalse concept about Him, as it actually is. So, they believe, obviously convinced by the prophecies about Him, that He will be from the seed of the blessed David and will appear in Bethlehem of Judea, for “the Lord swore to David in truth,” says the wise Singer in one place, “and will not reject him 574: from the fruit of your womb I will set you on your throne” (Ps. 132:11), and the prophet says: “And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, thou art little (to be) among the thousands of Judah, for out of thee shall I go forth (one) to be the ruler of Israel, and His goings forth from the beginning from the days of the world” (Mic. 5:2). However, the mind of the Jews, not guided by anyone, was mistaken and mistaken about Christ for the sake of Nazareth alone, which lay in Galilee, in which the Lord was brought up, as the general rumor said, about which one of the holy evangelists says: “He came to Nazareth, where he was brought up” (Luke 4:16). They did not know that he was born in Bethlehem of Judea from the Holy Virgin, who was from the seed of David, for he was from the tribe of Judah - and therefore only the upbringing of the Lord in Nazareth deviates them from the truth and leads them into error against common sense. John 7:43. There would be strife among the people for His sake 575 They argue in vain and are divided into different opinions, some taking Him for a prophet, and others for Christ. The reason for the difference of opinion that arose from this was that they neither knew Christ nor had an accurate understanding of the Scriptures, for otherwise, believing that Jesus was not another prophet, different from the one proclaimed in the law, they would have avoided such untimely differences of opinion. John 7:44. None of them wanted to eat Him, but no one laid his hand on him 576 Those sent by the bishops and Pharisees to capture the Lord, in the strife of the people among themselves, found an opportunity for their daring enterprise. They assumed that the people would freely allow them to take Him away and would not care at all about what He might be subjected to, but, on the contrary, would rejoice at the removal of Him Who was for them a pretext for hostility and confusion. “But no one laid hands on Him,” not out of respect for Him and not because they put a curb of piety on their rage, but only because they were stopped by His power. He left His time to suffer for us, and the attack of the Jews barely stops, restrained by the baptisms on high, for it was necessary not to begin murder prematurely, but to wait, although they were wicked, for the time of wickedness. John 7:45. The servants came to the bishop and the Pharisee and said to them: Why didn’t you bring Him? Finding themselves unable to fulfill the command, those sent to capture the Lord went back to the leaders. The leaders were very frightened by this coming of the servants, not seeing among them the One for whom they were sending. Considering that what they had assumed had already been done, they are struck with considerable horror. After all, since through the greatest signs and extraordinary words of Christ Christ aroused amazement to Himself, they were dried up by their characteristic envy, but they were also in no small fear that the Jewish people, having judged that it was appropriate to follow Him, would not leave their hands. Thinking that this has already happened - after all, suspicion is always gullible - they hastily ask: “Why didn’t you bring Him?” What, they say, prevented you from carrying out the will of your superiors? With fiery haste we sometimes strive to find out everything, often not examining the obstacles, but quickly forming an opinion under the influence of what we strongly desire or avert. John 7:46. The servant answered: the man never spoke like that 577 It is truly timely to say about our Savior Christ: “He who ensnares the wise in their craftiness,” for here He, as it is written, “has destroyed the cunning intentions” (1 Cor. 3 and Job 5:13) and turned the whole enterprise in the opposite direction, everywhere depicting the vileness of the leaders and the wickedness of their morals as powerless and daring, not afraid to fight God. After all, the bishops and Pharisees, fearing that the Jewish people would be convinced by the words of the Savior, send servants to seize Him, believing that the removal of Christ will free them from caring about Him. But (really) having experienced the very thing that they suspected (conviction by the words of the Savior), their messengers returned, and the leaders even involuntarily learn what should have terrified those listening, and, contrary to their wishes, they suddenly learn while listening: “Never has a man spoken like that.” And since they say this to justify the fact that they did not bring the Lord, then again we will try to interpret their word at length, taking care everywhere to explain the sayings. After all, if, they say, we delight in the study of the Holy Scriptures, if we boast that we are instructed by the Divine law, if we marvel at wisdom as one of the unearthly blessings, then why do we wickedly persecute such a Wise One, and show great injustice to Him to whom this is least fitting and to whom, on the contrary, we should repay with great love? But we also expose our heads to condemnation by the law, having developed an insane thirst to kill the Innocent and Righteous. We can rightly think that such a thought is contained in the words of the servants. But I think they also meant something more poignant when they said: “Never has man spoken thus.” They almost say this: it is unreasonable for you to now accuse those who are unable to bring to you the One you seek, for how can anyone commit violence against Him Who, as far as can be judged by His words, has a Divine nature? After all, He did not speak like a man and the words He spoke were not characteristic of man, but, undoubtedly, were more befitting of God by nature. Indeed, they say, let someone tell me, if he remembers, which of the holy prophets will turn out to be the one who calls himself a stream? Or who will dare to say: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37)? When did the great Moses himself tell us: “Whoever believes in Me (even if he dies, he will live), rivers of water of life will flow from his heart” (John 7:38; cf. John 11:25)? And we heard Him say this. Therefore, He is God by nature, boldly speaking about Himself these great words, so beyond human speech. And to decide by coercion and violence to take the One who is above creation, who would not call this extremely dangerous? Or how could He be taken by you against your will, Who is as much higher than us as God is higher than man? Consequently, the servants present clear proof that the Lord is God by nature in the words: “Never has man spoken thus.” Thus, the one who fights against God is defeated from everywhere and through whatever he thinks to achieve what he wants, through this very thing, without knowing it, he himself is defeated. John 7:47. The Pharisees answered them: food and you are quickly deceived 578 The servants should, of course, be strongly devoted to Judaism, always follow the Pharisees and share a common opinion with them, as well as always fulfill the words of their leaders and adhere to thoughts that agree with them. When they came, not bringing the Lord, but, amazed beyond expectation and already too late and barely surprised by Him Whom it was not right for them to hate from the very beginning, they thought that everyone else could be convinced by them, then the leaders with some great sorrow said: “Are you really deceived?” Notice that these words contain a certain despair in hope for the people. For the sake of the servants they show such fear that it is as if all the other people, who were distinguished by their fickleness, had already been seduced. The rest of the crowd, they say, not familiar with the sacred writings and not strengthened by devotion to us, let them indulge in all sorts of vain desires to follow Him and are frivolously carried away by His words and deeds, but where did you get the error from? How were you also deceived? What distracted you from loving us, although you are hardened by the same unbelief as us? I think the words of the Pharisees mean something similar. John 7:48–49. Food who is from the prince who believed in Him or from the Pharisees? But this people, who do not know 579 the law, are cursed They again fall into their usual arrogance, hurling accusations of ignorance at those who marveled at Jesus as a miracle worker and speaking words peculiar only to God, and crowning their own heads only with knowledge of the law and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. And they consider it the height of all virtue that they do not sympathize with those who are rightly surprised. They boast excessively, falling into error and, due to great frivolity, unhinderedly being carried away into complete ignorance (by what they thought), as if the law commands to blame the most miraculous and opposite decision to give about something that is devoid of miraculousness. Thus, by the fact that it would be more appropriate for them to recognize the coming of Christ in the person of Jesus, they thereby turn out to harm themselves and “weigh down their chains,” as it is written (Hab. 2:6), for “professing to be wise, they have become fools” (Rom. 1:22). On the contrary, it would be much better for them to admit ignorance of the law than to think and say that they know perfectly well, and meanwhile dishonor the One preached in it and thereby fall under the most severe punishment and be exposed to inevitable troubles. After all, a servant, it is said, “he who knows the will of his master and does not do the biting will receive many, but he who does not know and does not do the biting will receive few” (Luke 12:47–48). So, having recognized themselves as knowing the law, they themselves express the accusation of their unbelief and ridicule the people as ignorant and therefore seduced by the miracles of our Savior. Then, being unable to convince through evidence from the law, they arrogantly scold those who were ready to understand, calling them ignorant. This is the constant custom of the most ignorant teachers: not having anything to say in response to a question, they reflect with anger the accuracy of the curious. “Cursed are they,” they say, believers, although it would be more fair for them to say this about themselves, for to be cursed more, of course, befits an unbeliever, as the legislator clearly said about our Savior Christ as a Prophet: “And it will come to pass that whoever does not listen to (what) the Prophet says in My name, that soul will be cut off from among his people” (Deut. 18:19; Acts 3:23). John 7:50–51. The verb to them is Nicodemus, who came to Him first, the only one from them 580: Our law judges a man, if he does not first hear from him and understand what he is doing? 581 One of the leaders and among those who received power turns out to be Nicodemus, who, however, was not a complete unbeliever, did not at all sympathize with their madness and already had the germ of faith, although he did not yet possess free love for Christ. However, I had some respect for the convictions of conscience, for everyone, I think, knows how he came to Him at night and firmly expressed the clear knowledge that He had come as a teacher from God and no one could perform such signs if he did not have God with him, as the blessed Evangelist clearly said about this at the beginning (John 3:2). So, sharing the surprise of the people before Jesus, he is, as it were, amazed at what, together with the people, is called damned. After all, it is difficult to force the conscience to be at peace when something happens against our mood. Offended by this, he leveled an equal reproach against them as having evidence in the words of the law, although it was still unclear and without showing his indignation too openly. Meanwhile, the law, it says, commands the judges in every case being investigated, “and examine” (Deut. 17:4) accurately and clearly whether the case was so; you, he says, have already hastily condemned those who have not yet been called to trial and, before you have heard any word from them, thus giving a ready-made sentence. Consequently, he says, you are more likely to be damned as despisers of the law. After all, it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all that is written in the book of this law—to do these things” (Gal.3:10; Deut.27:26). By the fact that he, for his part, is indignant at the Pharisees, who accused the people for their mere surprise before Jesus, he reveals sympathy for the believers. Still suffering from harmful respect (for the Pharisees) and not yet combining courage with jealousy, he allows the faith already inherent in him to openly open, but, clothing it with hypocrisy, as if in a dark robe, he still hides his sympathy for Christ. However, he suffers from a serious illness. After all, one must believe without hesitation, being proud rather than ashamed, clearly demonstrating one’s boldness and abandoning servile hypocrisy. That is why the wise Paul defined what one should be “a worker without shame, speaking the word of truth directly” (2 Tim. 2:15). And in one place he speaks about himself, showing his own excellent dignity: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). So, filled with bitterness - I will say, going back - was the speech of Nicodemus, for why did he alone rebel against the words of the Pharisees, although there were many others in this murderous gathering? But it is already obvious to everyone that if he was numbered among those who marvel at Christ (and, therefore, among the damned), then, for his part, (contrary to them) he declares damned those who wickedly placed a curse on those who did not deserve it at all. John 7:52. You answered and said to him: Do you have food from Galilee? Test and see that the prophet does not rise from Galilee 582 Being a Jew and a native, why, they say, did you expose yourself to the inexperience of the Galileans and, together with those who are completely ignorant of our teaching, display strange ignorance? Being perfectly acquainted with the Holy Scriptures and taught the commandments of the law, why do you not know that one cannot expect a prophet from among the Galileans? This is the meaning of the words of the Pharisees. But again, pay attention to this. By ridiculing the people as not knowing anything that should be known, accusing them of great ignorance, despising them and proudly calling them ignorant, they themselves find themselves subject to the worst and in no way inferior to their inexperience. Those (people of the people), having accepted the miracles of Christ and little by little, as if gathering faith in Him, said: “When Christ comes, will He really perform greater signs than He has performed?” (John 7:31), then, on the contrary, distracted from such a correct opinion, they were misled only by Nazareth, who lay in Galilee, where, as the Divine Scripture reports, the Lord was raised, and therefore they said: “Is Christ truly coming from Galilee? Doesn’t the scripture say” (said), “that from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was, Christ comes?” (John 7:41, 42). Subjecting strong ridicule to the ignorance of the people and for this calling him damned, they were no less ignorant than he, for they themselves say: “Investigate and find out that the prophet did not rise from Galilee.” Thoroughly indignant at this, anyone can say to them: O you who yield primacy in ignorance to no one, rude and stupid, where is the boasting of your pride - a trace of wisdom in you? Where is the proper understanding for lawyers? After all, there was no need to doubt about the Savior Christ, but, on the contrary, without any hesitation, to completely believe in God and the Father, who spoke about Him to Holy Moses, that “I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you” (Deut. 18:18). Shouldn't the expression "from their brethren" undoubtedly mean: from the Jews and from Israel? Otherwise, there will be no need for outside accusers, but through yourself you will be convicted of foolishness. After all, when our Savior Christ taught and clearly said: “For I came down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38), then you reasoned rudely and, hiding within yourself excessive rage at this, you said again: “Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say that I came down from heaven?” (John 6:42). When, therefore, you clearly admit that you know your father and mother well, you know, of course, His descent from the root of Israel, then how do you say about a Judean that He is a Galilean? How will He who is from Israel be a foreigner? After all, His upbringing in the country of Galilee and residence there for several years, of course, does not exclude the Israeli from his tribe, since nothing prevents the one who came from the Galileans when he came to the country of the Jews from being a Judean. Therefore, in vain is the speech of the Pharisees, who consider themselves wise men, about our Savior Christ, “that the prophet did not rise from Galilee.” On the contrary, it was necessary to investigate how someone descended from the Jews could be a Galilean, and thus understand his upbringing in Nazareth, and not deviate from the faith for this. We must again pay attention to how, not being able to attack His miracles from any side, although excited to extreme hatred (towards Him), they object on the basis of the country alone, as was soon from Galilee, according to their guess. Thus, with the destruction of the suspicion that arose in them from here, an unshakable faith should finally arise if they were wise 583. John 8:12. Then Jesus spoke 584 to them, saying: I am the light of the world Jesus speaks, as we said, in accordance with what is written about the feast (tabernacles), when on the last day he stood exclaiming: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37), since the Mosaic saying mentions a stream. Thus, even now he makes a completely timely explanation and appropriate to the nature of the matter. Since He saw the teachers as unreasonable as the people, and the leaders who ridiculed (the people) suffering from a vice similar to those being ridiculed, covered (baptized) as if by a night of ignorance, trying to find out the secrets about Him, but finding absolutely nothing, He exposes the reason for their inherent unreasonableness, exclaiming: “I (am) the light of the world.” Having gone through, he says, all the Holy Scriptures and thinking to examine what was said about Me through the prophets, you, however, are far astray from the path of life. And there is nothing surprising about this. After all, you do not have the One who reveals secrets, who illuminates the whole world and, like the sun, sends rays into the hearts of those who receive Him. And whoever does not have the Divine and spiritual light in himself must, without a doubt, walk in darkness and, as a result, be subject to many mistakes. And that the Only Begotten is Light by nature, as having shone from the Light by nature of God and the Father, this has already been revealed to us through extensive reasoning in the first book, in the interpretation of the saying: “There was true Light” (John 1:9). It is necessary to again pay attention to the fact that He calls Himself the “Light” not of the Israelis especially and separately, but of the entire “world”. And this, he says, is quite true for the following reason. After all, He is, we affirm, the One who sends spiritual light to all nature and, like a certain embryo of a seed, instills in every person called into existence the intelligence characteristic of him, according to what was said about Him: “There was the true Light, which illuminates every man who comes into the world” (John 1:9). However, I think there is also something poignant in this saying. After all, if this saying did not contain something like that (sharp), then it would only be necessary to say: “I am light.” But since he added “world”, now, as I think, he wants to secretly express something similar to the following: God was known in Judea alone and His name was great in Israel alone (Ps. 75:2), and the rest of the whole earth was filled, as it were, with deep darkness, since none of those who were in the world had the Divine and heavenly light, except for Israel alone. But while all the generally pagan peoples in this world were deprived of the knowledge of God and were, as it were, in some special category, “the people of the Lord appeared (as) a part of Him, the portion of His inheritance is Israel” (Deut. 32:9). Thus, with the transition of the Spiritual Sun again to the whole world, when the Light was removed from the Israelites and transferred to the pagans, Israel found itself outside of all (nations), for “while they were waiting for the light, darkness appeared to them,” according to what is written, “waiting for the radiance (of the sun), they walked in darkness (bad weather)” (Is. 59:9). Therefore, it was not aimlessly that the Savior said to the Pharisees: “I (am) the light of the world.” By this He nobly expresses the threat that He will move away from Israel and transfer grace to the entire world and finally spread the ray of knowledge of God to all other peoples. It should be noted that although for the listeners He is a man and with flesh, He does not say: “In Me is light,” but: “I am light,” lest anyone divide Christ after His incarnation into two sons, for there is one Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul says (1 Cor. 8:6), both before (taking) flesh and with the flesh, and one and only true Son from God the Father, the Word, and when He became man, since He accepted from The wife's church was not divided into parts. After all, it was His own body, and completely dissecting Him after the incarnation, in relation to sonship (into two sons), is not without blasphemy (against Him). However, you should know that although we say: “incarnate,” we do not thereby affirm that the Word of God was clothed in flesh alone, but in the name of flesh we designate the whole person. John 8:12. Then Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world: if you walk on Me, you will not have to walk in darkness, but you will have the light of life. Again he convinces them from everywhere to zealously acquire for themselves what is useful and to be more willingly guided by His instructions than to decide to follow their own ignorance and lose eternal life itself. He shows how great the benefit will be for those who begin to obey Him, since He is good by nature and “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). Since God again knew that they would object, he makes up a figurative speech, using ancient events for this, and clearly proves from what happened to their ancestors that the desire to follow Him will serve them to great benefit. This is what is written about the Israelites: “And he guided them in a cloud by day and all night in a fiery light” (Ps. 77:14). When they passed through a vast desert, hastening to the promised land, during the day a cloud hung over them like a roof, moderating the heat of the sun, apparently by Divine will. And at night a pillar of fire walked, illuminating the darkness and showing those walking the surest path. Therefore, just as at that time those who followed the leading and preceding fire avoided wandering and walked straight to the holy land, not paying any attention to darkness or night, so “the one who follows (who follows) Me,” that is, following in the footsteps of My instructions, will by no means be in darkness, but will acquire the “light of life,” that is, the revelation of secrets about Me, which can guide him to life eternal. Being again a skilled artist in words, the Lord did not irritate the Pharisees, who were already beginning to become fierce and furious, by speaking more clearly that they would remain in darkness and die in their unbelief. But again he turns out to be expressing this allegorically, changing direct speech into figurative language for the sake of benefit. After all, with this very promise of His that those who decide to follow Him “will have the light of life,” He secretly indicates that those who refuse to follow will not have the light that can lead them to life. Isn’t it, in fact, obvious and completely indisputable to everyone that those who run away from the blessings of the soul must fall into the opposite state? Thus, the word of our Savior turns out to be true and the thought skillfully expressed in it is indisputable. "The Pharisees decided 585 (to Him): You testify of Yourself: Your testimony is not true (John 8:13). He who walks on Me must not walk in darkness, but have living light (John 8:12) 586 The Pharisee is motionless and dull-witted, completely unable to see the deity of the Lord; he is again mistaken because of the flesh and cannot imagine anything other than what is visible. Although he sees the Lord using superhuman sayings and hears godly words, he nevertheless considers Him a simple man, not seeing the radiance of the Divine and not opening the eye of the mind to the insight of Emmanuel. To whom, in fact, would it be fitting to say: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), if not only God by nature? Which of the holy prophets would dare to pronounce such a decision? Which Angel spoke such a word to us? Let them, having examined all the inspired Scriptures and studied the sacred and Divine word, show us this very thing. But, not presenting a single irrefutable reason, they nevertheless think that it is necessary to contradict, and ardently grasp at the only thing they know well, meaning the vicious inclination to blame. They reproach Him with the fact that He is not the light of the world, thus accusing His words and claiming that His testimony is not true. After all, “they are wise to do evil, but do not know how to do good” (Jer. 4:22). In a very crafty way they think to turn away His testimony, trying to reject this testimony on the basis of one simple and accepted custom among us, and not on the basis of the provisions of the law. Indeed, let them teach us where the law says that the testimony of anyone about himself is invalid. It is, of course, difficult and intolerable for anyone to testify to one’s own merits, which is why the wise compiler of parables says: “Let your neighbor praise you, and not your mouth; let someone else praise you, and not your mouth” (Proverbs 27:2). However, someone’s word about himself is by no means false. Otherwise, let some Pharisee come before us and teach us what we should do with blessed Samuel, who testifies of himself most beautifully. So, he turns out to be answering the Israelites one day: “The Lord is witness among you, and His anointed witness this day, that you found nothing in my hands” (1 Sam. 12:5). After all, if the law forbade everyone to testify about himself, then how, tell me, did Samuel completely neglect it, although the Divine Scripture says about him: “Moses and Aaron were holy among His priests, and Samuel among those who called on Him, they called on the Lord, and He listened to them, in the pillar of cloud He spoke to them, they kept His testimonies (commandments) and His statutes that He gave them” (Ps. 99:6-7). You see that you are closely united with the blessed Moses as having the same virtue with him and are testified by the Spirit as a thorough law-keeper. So, did he, one might ask, break the law by testifying about himself? But he did not commit a crime. On the contrary, he testified as a guardian (of the law) and testified about himself. Consequently, the law does not prohibit anyone from testifying about himself. What then shall we say when we hear the words of blessed David: “O Lord my God! if I did this, if I repaid those who repaid me with evil? ( Ps.7:4-5 ). Blessed Jeremiah says the same thing: “Lord Almighty! I did not sit in the congregation of the players, but I stood in awe of (the presence of) Your hand” (Jer. 15:17). Likewise, the wisest Paul, although “taught exactly the law of the fathers,” as he himself once testified about himself (Acts 22:3), nevertheless openly exclaims: “I am not aware of anything about myself” (1 Cor. 4:4). Let the Pharisee now say about each of these: “You testify about yourself, your testimony is not true,” if for them, as those who do not hesitate to blame even the Lord of all, the wide road to committing the worst against others is completely open. However, returning to the beginning of the speech, let us say that the objection of the Pharisees is not a necessary decree of the law, but is based only on generally accepted custom and according to the requirements of good morals and decency. On the contrary, this objection allowed by the laws (in court) (against the testimony of a witness) is rather a defamation or slander (on Him), insidiously, as it were, stealing from Him those who already have respect for Him and are inclined to believe. They defame Him as not speaking the truth and, in order to destroy the faith of those just named, they say that He is not the true light, thus bringing destruction upon their own heads with their blasphemies. John 8:14. Jesus answered and said to them: If I testify of Myself, truly this is My testimony, for I have known where I came from and where I am going 587 When Christ expressed what He really and naturally is, for He clearly proclaimed: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), the insolent crowd of Pharisees again thought that He was speaking a lie. They did not know, extremely foolish, that when someone reveals his own nature and speaks about what is essentially inherent in him, then we, thinking fairly, should not assume that he does this out of boasting, and we will not say that he is pursuing empty glory, but, on the contrary, (we must admit that he) reveals what he really is. So, for example, what will we say in the case when an Angel, denoting his nature, says: “I am an Angel”? Or when a person, pointing out what he is, says: “I am a man”? And if it were also possible to attribute a voice to the sun and it would begin to reveal its own nature in such words: “I, flowing around the heavenly circle, send clear light to the inhabitants of the earth,” then no one has reason to think that it testifies not to what belongs to it, but to the fact that it really exists. In the same way I think about our Savior Christ - and if He calls Himself light, then He expresses the truth and does not at all turn out to be a magnified stranger. The Pharisees, not understanding Emmanuel and immersed in ignorance, imagine that He seeks glory, condemn Him as similar to us and do not shudder to say: “Your testimony is not true” - to Him who knew no lies (John 8:13), for “deceit was not found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22), as it is written. Thus, it was again necessary to give instruction to those who are moving away from the truth and deviating from common sense, and to kindly tell those who are in error that they are sinning against the truth, wickedly attributing the ability to lie to Him who came from heaven and was born of God the Father; for “truly,” he says, “this is My testimony, even if I testify about Myself.” Of course, it turns out that people sometimes have a desire, out of pride, to testify to something beautiful about themselves, even if they didn’t actually have it. After all, (human) nature is receptive to evil. But it is not fitting, he says, for me to suffer the same illness as an earthly illness, for “I know where I come from,” that is, Light from Light and True God from True God the Father, having a nature inaccessible to any weakness. If, he says, I became a man out of love for people, but for the sake of this I should not be recognized as having lost my Divine dignity, I again remain what I am by nature, that is, God. A clear proof of this is My knowledge of “where I am going,” for I will ascend into heaven to the Father, from Whom I am. And this, I believe, could be said, of course, not to a person like us, but to God by nature, if He became a man. So, the expression “I know where I come from” indicates that the Son is from the Father by nature. And the words “where I am going” serve as a manifestation of Divine power. As God He ascends above the heavens, according to Paul (Eph. 4:10). However, here lies, although not very clear, a threat to the Jews for their inherent wickedness. In these words He appears to be saying that He will soon depart from their people, will leave them deprived of the Divine light and will present them to remain in ignorance and deep darkness, which is clearer to them as He expresses it in other words: “As long as you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overcome you” (John 12:35). John 8:15. You judge by the flesh. I don't judge anyone Again we find the Savior of all showing wonderful meekness. He does not respond to those who revile Him with due anger, although He knew that they must receive severe punishment. But even here, I think, He, imitating experienced doctors, turns out to rightly deserve surprise. They often do not pay any attention to the disrespect of the patients and, with patience and kindness, help them with their art, without being offended by the troubles they receive and sometimes even insults. By explaining what promotes health, they seem to persuade patients to try to do what is beneficial for them and thus destroy the cause of the disease. Our Lord Jesus Christ patiently endures reproaches, helps those who detract, and heals the wounds of His offenders. Moreover, He clearly indicates where it happened to them to suffer from the vice of unbelief in Him, for He says: “You judge according to the flesh,” that is, you are mistaken, and this is very understandable if you look at this flesh alone, although quite the opposite - you should pay attention to the splendor of deeds. You are terribly deceived, for the sake of being clothed with your flesh, taking Me for one of your kind. Without seeing the deep mystery of the economy with the flesh (incarnation), you determine a reckless verdict about Me by your assertion that the truth lies. But I postpone judgment on you until another time, “for God did not send the Son into the world, that he should judge the world, but that the world might be saved” (John 3:17). I consider the meaning of this saying to be sufficiently explained. But also through other contemplations it is possible to reveal, to the extent accessible to us, the more subtle meaning of these words. “You,” he says, “judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.” Having no way to accuse Me at all and being unable to thoroughly attack My miracles, you humiliate Me for the sake of the flesh alone - you wickedly count Me as nothing just because I am a man like you. But I, he says, do not condemn you for the same reason. I by no means consider you to be nothing because you are human by nature, and the Judge will not punish you for this. I do not blame nature, I do not condemn My creations, I do not at all affirm the presence of any sin in a person simply because he is a person. On the contrary, you count Me as nothing for the sake of the flesh and condemn me for this, but I do not judge you that way, but I know that man is something great and honorable, although he came from the earth. Being the true God and in the image of the Father who gave birth to Me, I humiliated Myself, taking on the image of a servant and becoming a man (Phil. 2:11) - and for this alone I am now condemned by you, although I myself do not judge anyone for this. John 8:16. And if I judge, My judgment is true, for there is not one, but I and the Father who sent Me Therefore, perhaps one of those who think contrary to the dogmas of the Church will say, is it not because only the Son can judge correctly, because in this matter the Father is present with Him? And if this is so and true, then what finally prevents us from saying that the Son, by the will of the Father, is in some way directed towards correctness (of judgment), without having this in Himself to a perfect degree, and He Himself is not able to do this impeccably? How, on our part, will we object to such speeches? This reasoning of yours is wicked and is entirely befitting only of the madness of the Jews. It is not as if the Son does not have the ability to judge righteously in Himself, for the Psalmist also testified about Him, saying in the Spirit: “God is a righteous Judge” (Ps. 7:12), but that there is no other judge besides Him, He Himself stands before us as a witness of this in the Gospels: “For the Father,” He says, “does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Is it really possible that God and the Father gave Him judgment to him who could not judge correctly? But, I think, such an opinion about the righteousness of the Father, that is, the Son, should be considered a sign of extreme unreason. After all, the Father knew His Birth, gave Him judgment, and through this gift (to Him of judgment) His ability to judge correctly clearly testifies. Therefore, it is quite obvious that He does not speak as powerless in righteous judgment about the co-presence of the Father with His judgment, but this saying contains a contemplation similar to the previous one and corresponding to it. What it wants to express, we will say clearly. You, he says, leaders and teachers of the Jews, have committed an evil and most unrighteous judgment on Me. Because of the flesh alone, you consider Me to be nothing, although I am God by nature. But when I begin to judge you, I will not pronounce such a sentence on you. I will not consider you worthy of punishment because you are human by nature. But, having the Father in everything as a good-will and judge, I will judge you correctly - for what guilt? Because you did not accept the One who came from heaven, who was sent to you from the Father, you constantly insult and humiliate Me, who came for the salvation of all, for the sake of the flesh alone, pushing far away the law that is always dear to you. In fact, where, tell me, does Moses command to condemn someone just because he is a man by nature? So, you judge and reason unrighteously. You do not have the consent of the law for this, but you alone dare to do something terrible, not having the permission of the Divine will. But I am not so, for in everything concerning the condemnation of you I have the Father in Myself as a Creator and Companion, and (therefore) I judge the most righteous judgment, desolating your entire country and showering it with the disasters of war, and in addition, removing from the very Kingdom of Heaven those who are so furious against the One who wants to save and for this reason came in human form. John 8:17–18. And in your law it is written 588 that there is a true testimony to two people: I am the one who bears witness about Me, 589 and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me. Having said that those who wickedly honor Him will be judged and condemned together with Him by God and the Father, he also allows in another certain respect the necessary duality of persons. I, he says, am by nature, and I don’t refuse to say that. I am the light of the world and (therefore) should not at all seem to anyone to love boasting. After all, I am magnified not by other people’s merits, but by those essentially inherent in Me. However, if these words of Mine seem to you to be insufficient for the perception of true understanding, as soon as I alone testify about Myself, then I will accept God and the Father as the promoter of My virtues and the co-affirmer of them. After all, He says, He will perform miracles with Me, as you see, and He will work together. As far as human nature is concerned, I could not do anything if I were not God by nature. Since the matter concerns existence from the Father, I confess and testify by the nature of the One who gave birth that I have the Father in Me and am able to do everything, for as having Him in Me, due to the identity of the being, I am able to do everything without hindrance. After all, our Lord Jesus Christ, as God, from His Divine nature has omnipotence, although He appeared as a man. It is also testified by the Father as having Him as a co-worker in everything, according to what He said: “I do nothing of Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does the works Himself” (John 8:28, 14:10). We understand the assistance of the Father to the Son not as the communication of one’s own and someone else’s power to accomplish deeds to someone powerless. If we think this way, we will have to admit that the power of both the Father and the Son is imperfect, as soon as any miracle is accomplished through two, for one seems to be insufficient for this. Understanding what has been said much more piously and wisely, we affirm again that since in the Father and the Son there is both one Divinity and the unchangeable omnipotence of one and the same nature, then, without a doubt, the works of God and the Father will also be the works of the Son, and the works, in turn, of the Son will be the works of God the Father. And he says that “I do nothing of Myself,” not as a servant and subordinate, or as some kind of disciple and awaiting orders from the Father, or taught to perform miracles. On the contrary, pointing out with all accuracy that He was born from the being of God and the Father, that like light, ineffably and without beginning, He appeared from His hidden depths, and that He eternally coexists with Him, being and being understood as the image and mark of His hypostasis, He has, so to speak, the same intention with Him and the same effectiveness in everything. And in order to clearly teach that He is the Consultant of the Parent in everything, He says: “I do nothing of Myself.” This is similar to saying: I am in no way deviating towards any desire of my own that is not inherent in God and the Father. Everything that the nature of the Father desires and decides is, of course, also in Me, since I shone from His depths and I am the true fruit of His essence. It is difficult to explain, it is not easy to express it in language and it is inaccessible even to the mind itself. However, by introducing this, as far as possible, into pious contemplation, we will acquire a heavenly reward for ourselves and preserve our mind unharmed and resistant to any changes. It should be noted that the Savior, having added and said to the Jews: “And it is written in your law,” thereby, as it were, necessarily convinces the Pharisees to accept duality of persons. After all, “I testify,” he says, “I about Myself,” but for this the “Father” also joins Me. Therefore, will not this two witnesses, confirmed by the letter of the law, be accepted among you, or again, carried away only by envy of Me, will you not pay attention to the law that you respect? John 8:19. I say to Him: Where is Your Father? 590 Likewise, in the present case, everyone, I think, with complete justice can accuse the foolishness of the Jews, saying the following prophetic saying: “Behold, a foolish and heartless people” (Jer. 5:21). Despite the fact that our Savior Christ gave frequent and long speeches to them, constantly calling them Heavenly Father and God, they, pathetic ones, reach such madness that they dare to say: “Where (is) Your Father?” They don’t think at all about the God and Father who exists in heaven; on the contrary, they look around and look for Joseph, believing that he is the father of Christ, and not someone else. You see how thoroughly the people are called truly insane and heartless. Unable to raise their spiritual eye from the earth to any extent, they demonstrate the truth of what is said about them: “Let their eyes be darkened so as not to see, and their spine be bent forever” (Ps. 69:24). The backbone of dumb animals is bent, which is what they look like by nature, and they do not stand straight. But the mind of the Jews has also become brutalized in some way, it always bends downwards and does not see anything heavenly. Doesn’t the very fact prove that we think about them quite correctly and reason truly? After all, if they understood the Heavenly Father and God, would they really begin to look for the Incorporeal One in space? Do they really, tell me, speaking about the meaningless God who fills everything, “where is He?”, do not contradict the entire Divine Scripture, although the divine Psalmist, composing a possible (for man) speech about God and attributing to Him the property of filling everything, “where,” he says, “I will go from Your Spirit and from Your presence I will run? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I descend to hell, You are here, if I take my wings (for myself) in the morning (at dawn) and go to the ends of the sea, and there Your hand will guide me and Your right hand will hold me” (Ps. 139:7-10)? But God Himself above all, clearly showing us that He has a nature not limited by place, speaks to such wicked Jews: “Am I not the one who fills heaven and earth, says the Lord? What kind of house will you build for me? Or what is My resting place? Heaven is My throne and earth is My footstool” (Jer.23:24; Acts 7:49). Thus, from everywhere one can discern the ignorance of the Jews when they say to the Savior Christ: “Where is Thy Father?” - if they don’t say this about someone who was considered a father according to the flesh, chattering nonsense in this case too. But perhaps the words of the Jews also hint at something else poignant. Since they thought that the Holy Virgin committed adultery before marriage, it is in view of this that they express a stinging reproach to Christ as not knowing from whom He (was born), absurdly asking: “Where is Your Father?” John 8:19. Jesus answered: You neither know Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would also know My Father 591 A true word and not at all susceptible to accusations of lying. After all, those who considered Christ to be the real son of either Joseph or fornication and did not know the Word that appeared from God the Father, shouldn’t they rightly hear: “Know ye neither Me nor My Father?” After all, if we knew the Word that appeared from God the Father and became flesh for us, according to Divine Scripture (John 1:14), then we would also know His Parent, for the most accurate knowledge of the Father for inquisitive minds comes through the Son. He Himself once confirmed this in words to God and the Father: “I have revealed Your name to people” (John 17:6), and also: “It is amazing to know You from (through) Me” (Ps. 139:6), for as soon as we knew the Son, we knew from (through) Him the Parent. Thus, through both, the thought of One and the Other is introduced, and when naming the Father, the memory of the Son appears, as well as vice versa - the designation of the Son is accompanied by the name of the Parent. That is why the Son is, as it were, a certain door and path leading to knowledge of the Father, as he says: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). And we must first learn, to the extent possible, what the Son is by nature, and then, in this way, as from the most accurate Image and Imprint, we must understand the Prototype. This is because the Father is revealed in the Son and, as in a mirror, is reflected in the nature of His Own Generation. And if this is true, as it is truly true, then let the God-fighting Arian be ashamed again. After all, the imprint of His essence must be like Him in absolutely every respect, so that those who truly illuminate in the Son will understand nothing else other than that the Father is. And if the Father deigned to be known in the Son and to be revealed in Him, then, of course, He knows Him as consubstantial, and in no way inferior to the glory inherent in Him (the Father). After all, He Himself would not have wished to be considered much less than what He is by nature. And since He desires and wills this, is it not necessary in the end to confess the Son in all respects like the Father, so that everyone through Him may also know the Parent, as we said before, ascending directly from the Image to the Prototype, and thus could have an impeccable concept of the Holy Trinity. So, he who knows the Son also knows the Father. But pay attention to how, along with speaking the truth to the Jews, the Lord introduces some other art into His word. Having clearly said: “You know neither Me nor My Father,” He distracts the minds of the Jews from thinking about Him only humanly and not considering Him to be the actual son of Joseph, economically accepted by Him as a father, but, on the contrary, to seek and investigate Who is the Word in the flesh and Who is His Father by nature. The fact that it was not the work of the strength of the Jews that the suffering of (Christ) on the Cross was done, and that Christ did not die as a result of the violence of anyone, but that He Himself voluntarily suffered for us in order to save everyone John 8:20. These are the verbs of the verb 592 in gasophilia, teaching in the church, and no one eats Him, because His hour has not come A very useful explanation regarding the saving suffering (of Christ) is given by the wise Evangelist and shows that death on the cross was not due to human coercion or from any other violence, Jesus suffered death against His will, but Himself, out of His inherent love for us, offered Himself for us as an immaculate sacrifice to God and the Father. Since it was necessary to suffer, because this was the only way to turn away the coming corruption, sin and death, He gave Himself as a ransom for the lives of all. So, listen again to what meaning is given in the above words to saving suffering and what benefit the meaning of this saying contains. “These sayings,” it is said, Christ “speaked” not outside Jerusalem and not in any of the neighboring cities or in an humble Jewish village, for He stood in the “gazophylakia (treasury)” itself, that is, in the middle of the church itself, and “in” the “church” itself 593 spoke about this. But although the Pharisees were greatly indignant and very indignant at His words, they did not seize Him, having then the full opportunity to easily do this, for He was, as I said, in their nets. What made them, overwhelmed with rage like ferocious beasts, remain inactive even against their will? What stopped their anger? How was the murderous heart of the Pharisees tamed? “His hour has not yet come,” it is said, that is, the time of death has not yet come, determined by the Savior Christ not by someone else and not appointed by fate, according to the false teaching of the Hellenes, or depending on the hour, as they vainly say, but determined by Himself according to the will of God and the Father. As the true God by nature, He could not evade what was supposed to be, but knew well how long it was appropriate for Him to live on earth with the flesh and when to go to heaven again, having destroyed death by the death of His flesh. For anyone wise, I think, it is quite obvious that death was not caused to Him Who is Life by nature by any force. How, indeed, could the bonds of death prevail over Life by nature? And the Lord Himself in one place testifies that “no one will take My life from Me; I lay it down of Myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” (John 10:18). If the time when He was to undergo death had been appointed as necessary for Him by someone else, then how could He have the power to lay down His soul (voluntarily)? After all, He would have been taken involuntarily if suffering had not been in His power. And if He posits it from Himself, then we must see His suffering (being) not in the power of anyone else, but in the will of Himself alone. That is why He allowed the crazy plans of the Jews to take place only when He realized that the proper time for His death had already arrived. Let not the impudent and arrogant Pharisee be wise and inflated with pride in his great stupidity: if Christ was God by nature, then how was he not outside my snares? How did you not escape my hands? To this he will hear from those who love Him: it was not your snares that turned out to be so strong, for it was not difficult for the Almighty God to crush your treachery and escape the snares of your wickedness, but suffering was saving for the world, passion served as the destruction of death, the great cross carried the overthrow of sin and corruption. Knowing this as God, He exposed Himself to your impudent wickedness, for what prevented, tell me, from catching Him just when you gnashed your teeth at Him, who taught in the “treasury” itself? And if the work of your strength was to take Christ, then why did you not make Him a prisoner? But you then stood furious and with the clear intention of killing Christ, but powerless to fulfill your desire, for He did not yet want to suffer and submit to the seemingly indestructible bridle of your madness. Contrasting this with the chatter of the Jews, one can easily expose their impudent idle talk. Not without reason one can marvel at the fact that the holy Evangelist pointed out in good time and clearly said that the Savior taught this “in the church” near the treasury “and no one took Him.” With these words, he testified to the same thing that the Lord Himself said to the Jews when they came to take Him: “You came out with swords and spears to take Me like a thief; Every day I sat in the church teaching, and you did not take Me” (Matthew 26:55). No prudent person, of course, will claim that He blamed the Jews for not inflicting premature suffering on Him, or that they missed the due time and were slow in committing murder. On the contrary, He exposes their unreasonable opinion that they could have power over Him contrary to His will and take Him by force, who could not at all be subjected to suffering if He Himself did not want to. “I sat teaching in the church, and you did not take Me,” for I did not want to then, but even now you would not be able to do this if I had not voluntarily given myself into your hands. So, from everywhere you can see that it was not the work of the Jews to deliver the Lord to death, but their godless insolence should be attributed only to the intention (to put the Lord to death), and to the Savior Christ - the desire to suffer for everyone, in order to free everyone and, having redeemed them with His blood, present them to God and the Father, for God, according to the word of Paul, reconciled the world to Himself in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19) and He mercifully returned what had fallen from friendship with Him to its original state. John 8:21. Again he said 594 to them: I am coming, and you will seek Me, and in your sin 595 you will die Christ speaks very clearly here about the fact that we must value the present time, in which everyone can benefit. On the contrary, neglect of one’s well-being and carelessness about it not only turns out to be completely useless, but also causes grief befitting negligence. So, being “good and gentle,” as it is written (Ps. 85:5), our Lord tolerates those who dishonor Him, shows kindness to those who insult Him, and how God turns out to be above human cowardice. He beneficially threatens His removal from them and clearly says: “I am leaving,” in order to make them think all the more that the Redeemer who came to them should not be left useless for them - to encourage them to hasten to faith and make them more ready for good obedience. But having proclaimed this “I am leaving” and threatening My removal from all the people, I prudently added an indication of the harm that would come from this for them, for you will die, he says, “in your sins.” And the very nature of the object reveals to us the truth of this word. In fact, those who did not at all accept Him who came to us from heaven for the justification of all through faith, should they not, without any doubt, die “in their sins”? And those who have not allowed Him who can cleanse them will not have constant filth on them from their wickedness? Can anyone really have any doubt as to where the death of an unredeemed and still burdened with the weight of sin should send the human soul? The underworld, I think, will accept such a one, he will remain in darkness for a long time and dwell in fire and flame, rightly numbered among those about whom it is said somewhere in the voice of the prophet: “Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a vision for all flesh” (Is. 66:24). So, in order for them to get rid of this test, Christ called on them in many ways to quickly stop their usual unbelief, telling them not just what would go away and move away, but also considering it necessary to add an indication of the misfortune that they would be exposed to as a result of this: “you will die,” he says, “in your sins.” Since in the middle he also put that “and you will seek Me,” and yet we still do not see the Jews looking for Him, then, considering His words to be true, we should turn to this reasoning. Although now, being in bodies and still overwhelmed by the play of carnal passions, thanks to their very great insensibility, they do not seek the Redeemer, but, having fallen into hell, the unfortunate ones, and finding themselves in places of execution, when they find themselves in the most troubles, then they will even involuntarily search, for “there,” it is said, “there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12). Each of those rightly there mourns his negligence for the good and, as it were, speaks in the words of the book of Proverbs: “I did not listen to the words of him who brought me up and taught me” (Proverbs 5:13). So Paul says: “Let us beware, lest, while the promise of entering into His rest remains, one of you is found to be late” (Heb. 4:1), for “we must run in order to receive” (1 Cor. 9:24), and not to annoy the One who delivers us from cruel slavery with disobedience, but, on the contrary, to receive and delight in grace as if with outstretched hands. John 8:21. And 596 I might as well go, you can’t come Not only will they die, he says, in their sins, but he also clearly proclaims that they will remain outside the blessings of the Kingdom (Heavenly) and will not ascend to the highest abodes. And in fact, how could those who did not accept the One who came from above follow Him in His ascension to heaven? Thus, the punishment of unbelievers turns out to be not a simple harm, but a double one. Just as those who have fallen into bodily illness must endure and endure terrible torment and suffering, and in addition, be deprived of the benefits of health, in the same way, I believe, those who find themselves in hell and bear retribution there equal to their sins are at the same time exposed to the misfortune of punishment and deprived of the sweet hope of the saints. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ says that they will not only die in their sins, but will not ascend to the highest abodes. Having bound them, as it were, with double snakes, He tries to extract them from their inherent recklessness, in every possible way saving the lost, connecting the torn and correcting the broken. This is the quality of the Good Shepherd, who even willingly gives His soul for the salvation of the sheep. He gave a promise to His disciples: “I will go and prepare a place for you, and will come again and take you with Me” (John 14:2-3), showing that heaven itself will be accessible to the saints, and teaching that the highest mansions are prepared for those who love Him. On the contrary, those who decide not to believe in Him rightly and necessarily say that “where I go, you cannot come.” Can anyone who has not loved purification through faith ever follow the All-Holy Christ? Or how can one who is still defiled and has not washed away the impurity of his passions be together with the Humane-loving Master? “What fellowship has light with darkness” (2 Cor. 6:14), according to Paul? On the contrary, I believe that saints should be those who want to say to the All-Holy God: “My soul is attached (to You)” (Ps. 63:9). This meaning, I believe, now fully corresponds to the interpreted saying. But if this place needs to be examined more precisely and comprehensively and something else needs to be added to what has been said, then we will not hesitate to do this too. “Where I go, you cannot come.” As the true God, I am not removed from anything, I fill everything and am present in everything, but I primarily live in heaven and dwell with particular pleasure among the holy spirits. But since I am the humane-loving creator of everything, I could not allow the destruction of My creations. Since I saw that man was heading towards complete destruction and, as a result of sin, was falling into death, it was fitting to finally give a helping hand to the one who was lying down and to help the defeated and fallen in every possible way. How else could the dead be saved? It was necessary that a physician should come to the sick, life should appear to the dying, and light should dwell with those in darkness. But it was not possible for you, as people by nature, to fly to heaven and live there with the Savior. Therefore, I myself came to you, for I often heard the cries of the saints: “Lord, bow down your heavens and come down” (Ps. 143:5). And so I came down, he says, bowing the heavens, for otherwise it was impossible for you to hope to come there. While I still allow cohabitation with you, strive more strongly to receive life and, while He who possesses the power and authority to have mercy is present with you, purify yourself through faith, for I will leave or ascend again to where “you cannot come.” But if you seek the Giver of salvation untimely and belatedly, you will not find it. It's easy to see what should follow from here. You will, of course, die in your sins and, aggravated by your sins, sorrowful, you will finally go into the prison of death and will bear punishment there for such a long-term lack of faith. So, being good and very philanthropic, the Savior, through fear of future disasters, encourages the Jews, even against their will, to salvation. John 8:23. And he said to them: you are from below, I am from above Again, perhaps, someone who has an inquisitive mind and is accustomed to delve deeper into Divine contemplation will say: what prompted our Lord Jesus Christ, who had just proclaimed to the Jews and said: “I am leaving and you will look for Me,” to add, as if by some necessity: “you are from below, I am from above.” But although these words, apparently, do not have a close connection with the previous ones, nevertheless, a deep thought is hidden in them. As God, He had no need, in the words of the divine evangelist John himself, “for anyone to testify about man, for He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25), since “he penetrates to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Therefore, He was not unaware of the stupid thoughts of the Jews, who, in their rude and dull minds, having heard the word “I am leaving” from the Savior, foolishly thought either that He would run away somewhere, leaving Judea, or that He was saying something like this: while I remain and am alive, believe, so that in this way you will not have to die, for ὑπάγω can have such a meaning. And there is nothing surprising if the Jews fell into such recklessness that they thought something similar about Christ. After all, they did not know that He was God by nature, but, looking at His earthly body alone, they considered Him one of the people like us. That is why, striking them, the Savior said: “You judge according to the flesh” (John 8:15). Thus, turning them away from such childish and base thoughts, he again teaches them that they are not thinking this about any of the created and mortal people, but about Him who is truly born from above and of God the Father. Therefore, it is not at all fitting for Me, he says, to die and flee, for I am from above, that is, God from God, for that which is above all is God, but this should most of all befit you, for you are from below, that is, you have a nature subject to death and subject to corruption and insignificance. So, about Me, he says, do not think anything like that and leave your weakness, for what is servile is not equal to the Master, and what is below and from the earth is not equal to the One who is born from above and from God the Father. And what “from above” means here is the birth of the Son from God the Father, such wise reasoning will convince us. Taken locally, “from above” obviously means “from heaven.” But the Son would not have had any advantage over the lower and subordinate creation to God if He had come only from heaven, since many of the Angels sent to serve come down, rule from above something on earth and descend from heaven. The Savior Himself testifies to us in the words: “Truly, truly, I say to you; see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). If, therefore, Angels descend from above from heaven, then why does Christ exalt Himself in vain, appropriating for Himself as some great advantage over all creation His coming, as He says, “from above”? But without labor and effort it is quite obvious who the Only Begotten is by nature and what the Angels created by Him are. So, the word “from above” must necessarily not have the general meaning of “descending from heaven,” but indicate that the Son shone forth from the Most High and Surpassing Nature. Therefore, the word “from above” in relation to the Only Begotten alone indicates that He is from God by nature, and nothing else. After all, of all the creatures about which it is said that they are and exist from God, the Son also has this advantage over all, that He exists as “born from the very essence of the Father,” and not as created like creatures. That the Son is God by nature, having absolutely no resemblance to creation, as far as His being is concerned John 8:23. You are of this world 598, I am not of this world 599 He showed very clearly here what should be understood by “from above” and what by “from below.” And since it was quite natural for our Lord Jesus Christ to know that the Pharisees could give these expressions a sensual meaning, understand these “above” and “below” in a local meaning and hence fall into many false thoughts, He considers it useful to remove all secrecy and obscurity from this saying, once again and even more clearly expounding to them what he expressed mysteriously. “You,” he says, “are of this world,” that is, “from below,” - “I am not” (am) “of this world,” which means “from above.” God surpasses all created things not in relation to local heights, for it is stupid and completely unreasonable to imagine the incorporeal as spatial, but He rises above creation by the ineffable advantages of nature. Such a (Divine) being assimilates the Logos to Himself, calling Himself not a work (creature), but a fruit and birth (Son). Notice that, as it turns out, he does not say: “I came from above and was created,” but “I am,” in order to show both where He comes from and the fact that He eternally coexisted with His Parent, for He is “Existing,” like the Father. And being “Existing,” how could he not be eternally coexistent with “Existing,” let the madness of those who think differently answer this question. But the enemy of truth will raise the following objection against us: “Christ did not just say, “I am not of the world,” but also added “this,” which showed with all accuracy that there is also another spiritual world from which He can be.” But, therefore, the Son finds himself among the creatures - after all, such a consequence follows from your speech - and the Creator is placed in the category of beings having a created nature. And, having ascribed to Him an angelic and servile dignity, do you perhaps consider yourself free from the charge of blasphemy? Or don’t you know again that even if you assimilate to Him the highest state and position that can only be imagined among the holy Angels, even if you recognize His existence as superior to all beginnings and powers and thrones, but consider Him to be created, you, however, offend Him no less? For the Only Begotten, of course, in relation to the dignity of His superiority over others, how soon He appears to be created will have no meaning, for His glory does not consist in primacy over other creatures, but in the fact that He is not created and, as God, exists from God by nature. You, on the contrary, came from God, and therefore you again classify God among the creatures and consider him part of the world, even if not this, but another (world), for in relation to createdness this difference between worlds will not have any meaning. Then: are you not ashamed to classify the Logos, who is adjacent to the Parent, among the servants and primates of God? Don’t you hear the words of Gabriel to Zechariah: “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and was sent to speak with you” (Luke 1:19)? Or also the words of Isaiah: “I saw the Lord of hosts sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the Seraphim stood around Him” (Is. 6:1–2)? And an amazing thing: the prophet saw the Son, and called Him Lord of Hosts, and represents Him as a King, surrounded by the highest Powers serving Him. And that he contemplated the glory of the Only Begotten, the wise John clearly testifies to this in the words: “Isaiah said this, because he saw His glory and spoke about Him” (John 12:41). That is why the divine Paul, from His sitting next to God and the Father and from calling Him Son by nature, coming to the most accurate perception of this mystery and receiving contemplative knowledge about it, says: “For to whom did He say from among the Angels: You are My Son,” obviously God and the Father, “Today I have begotten You” (Heb. 1:5)? Indeed, in the word “I begat” it is indicated that the Son exists from God as God by nature. And again: “To whom did I ever say from the Angels: sit at My right hand?” (Hebrews 1:13). And in saying this, he does not, of course, accuse God and the Father of doing anything unjust or that He dishonors the nature of the Angels when He forces it to be honored in second place after the Son. Otherwise, what would prevent, anyone can say, if God and the Father is just and good, and make the nature of the Angels sit down to Himself, as soon as the Son is wholly among the creatures and is homogeneous with them in relation to creation, even if he exceeds their inherent measure (of merit) by some other advantages, just as they (the angels) surpass us (humans)? But God and the Father is not unjust, commanding the Angels to stand (as His servants) and giving this dignity to their nature, and having His Son adjacent (to Himself), as soon as He knew that His own Birth (the Son) is God by nature and is not alien to His essence. How can He be created and from the created world, and not vice versa - possess what is characteristic of the True God, that is, be above everything conceivable and considered to exist in the whole world? And since you point out, as something important and irresistible, what Christ said expressively: “I am not of this world,” and you claim that through this “this” we are pointed to another world, where He Himself is from, then let’s see again whether you are not relying on rotten conclusions and are inclined to such reasoning and thoughts only through your frivolity. In fact, “this” or “this” and the like are used instead of a name and are a demonstrative pronoun, but, of course, they do not contain the necessary indication of the “other”. So, for example, blessed Baruch, pointing us to the one and only God, says: “This is our God, let no other be considered with Him” (Bar.3:36). If “this” pointed to “the other,” how could the other not be recognized in His presence? And Simeon the Righteous, prophesying the mystery of Christ, says: “Behold, this one is for the fall and rising of many dead in Israel and for a sign that cannot be reproached” (Luke 2:34). To whom is it not entirely obvious that the righteous man here says “This One” not to deviate us from other persons, but points to a singular, so to speak, already present and appointed for this purpose. Therefore, when Christ says: “I am not from this world,” he uses this “this,” of course, not as being from “another” world, but in a more bodily way indicates and defines in the form of two certain places the created nature and the ineffable, exceeding every human being. At the same time, with the words “you are of this world” he makes it clear that the Jews are in the place of creatures, and in the saying “I am not of this world” he completely separates himself from created beings and refers him to another place, that is, the Divinity. So, having visually established the opposition between the Divine and the world, the pronoun “this” is placed with the word “world”, and refers Himself to the God who gave birth to Him and the Supreme Essence. But they say that God and the Father would not be unfair to the nature of the Angels if he did not give them the same honor as the Son. After all, the diversity of creatures or the communication to each of his due glory does not at all testify to the injustice of God, otherwise how can we find ourselves lower than the Angels, although we confess God to be just? Therefore, as we are compared to the Angels, so are the Angels compared to the Son: they are inferior to Him as the highest and endowed with greater virtues than they themselves possess. But here’s what, dear reader, we will say again to the shame of the ignorant heretic. Although we do not have the glory of the Angels, since we find ourselves below their inherent piety, and although in creatures there is great diversity and difference in the possession of greater or lesser virtues, according to the will of the Creator, yet creatureliness itself is a property common to all, and in this respect it is by no means possible for one to be higher and another lower. Therefore, it is not surprising that an Angel prevails over a person in glory and honor, just as an Archangel does over an Angel. But at the same time we will not find that any of the creatures has the ability to rise to the glory of the Creator of all. Nothing created can be God by nature, nor anything servile can be equal in honor to the Master, sit at His right hand and reign with Him. What measure of honor, then, will be the divine dignity for the Son, created like us and (only) from the spiritual world? How can something similar to creatures rise to glory equal to God in nature, although God says: “My glory I will not give to another” (Is. 42:8)? And why, tell me, did the devil fall away from the heavenly abodes? Was it really his fault that he thirsted for such glory as befits created nature, but only in a higher and greater degree than in which he possessed it? Or, on the contrary, in the fact that he dared to say: “I will be like the Most High” (Is. 14:14)? After all, he imagined that a creature could rise to the nature of the Creator and become co-throne with God Almighty. Therefore, he fell like lightning from heaven, according to what is written (Luke 10:18). But you, attacking us so recklessly and carelessly, do not attach any importance to the fact that the Son, being (in your opinion) from some kind of world similar to us (created, but spiritual) and therefore part of creation, is called as an honor from God and the Father to sit with Him (on the Divine throne) - and this honor (in your opinion) is not given to Him by His being, which requires what is due and appropriate to Him. dignity. After all, if this is so, as you chatter, then He only accepts what is above creation as grace. Away from such blasphemy, man! This is not how we will think, God forbid! We believe that the Angels and Archangels and their even higher powers are awarded various honors by the will and omnipotence of the All-Wise God, who determines a fair decision about each creature. But let us not think that the Son by nature is also among them. Not as grace and as a gift He has His (filial) glory, but because He is from the essence of God and the Father, True God from God by nature and True, co-throne and co-reigning with Him, has everything under His feet as God and from the Father, with the Father and divinely rules over all creation. Therefore, I have rightly heard: “For all are Your servants” (Ps. 119:91). since, as the true God, He turns out to exist everywhere, then, obviously, in no way can he be “of this world,” that is, created. The word “world” here denotes the entire nature of the created, by means of a part making an indication of everything that is thought to be created, just as God in the prophets, removing Himself from any identity of nature with creation, said: “For I am God, and not man” (Hos. 11:9). And if, because He said that He is not a man like us, we, of course, do not put Him in a row with the Angels or any other (higher) creatures, but, going from the part to the whole, we must recognize that God is something different in nature compared to all created things, then in the same way, I believe, the pious should understand such interpreted difficulties, “for we see in a mirror through a riddle” (1 Cor. 13:12), as Pavel says. John 8:24. Reh for you, for you will die in your sins In a few words, having refuted the reckless assumption of those who thought in the above manner and again exposing their idle talk about Himself, he returns to the intended purpose of the speech, as if from the very beginning, again repeats and exposes what calamities they will be in and what they will be subjected to, insanely rejecting faith in Him. Such repetition of the same thing is necessarily required of a wise and experienced teacher. I think it is appropriate for the teacher not to indulge the ignorance of the listeners and to treat them carelessly, even if they do not quite willingly acquire the knowledge of the teachings, but again and often repeating, say the same thing and in the same words. So a patient plowman, having raised the arable land, put considerable labor into it and scattered the grains along the furrows, if the crops turn out to be spoiled, he turns to the plow again and immediately re-sows the already spoiled seeds. Having not achieved the goal at first, he does not expect, of course, to suffer the same thing a second time. Acting in the same way, the divine Paul says in one place: “It is not lazy for me to say the same things to you, but it is edifying for you” (Phil. 3:1). You see how the teacher turns out to be free from laziness and for the listeners the frequent repetition of the teaching brings edification. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, again repeating His speech to the Jews, thereby affirms that considerable and random harm will come from unbelief in Him, for unbelievers, he says, must certainly “die in sins,” die undoubtedly burdened with sins, because they will betray the human soul to an all-consuming flame. John 8:24. If you do not have faith as I am, you will die in your sins 600 More precisely, he explains what is useful and, clearly presenting the method of salvation, then shows by what path they can rise to the life of saints and reach the highest city, heavenly Jerusalem. Not only, he says, must we believe, but he also asserts that we must believe in Him, for we receive justification by believing in Him as God from God, as the Savior, Redeemer, King of all and the True Lord. So, you will perish, he says, not believing “that I” (this) “am.” This is the “I” about whom, he says, it is written in the prophets: “Shine, shine, O Jerusalem, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has shone on you” (Is. 60:1). I, he says, “am,” who once commanded the illnesses of the soul to go away and promised healing through love in the words: “Turn, sons, turn, and I will heal your afflictions” (Jer. 3:22). This is “I Am,” who said that Divine and original goodness and incomparable long-suffering are granted to you, and therefore exclaimed: “I, I myself, blot out your sins, and will not remember them” (Is. 43:25). This “I am” says, speaking through the prophet Isaiah: “Wash yourselves, be pure, take away the wickedness from your hearts in my sight, leave behind your wickedness... and come (then) and let us reason together, says the Lord: and if your sins are like scarlet, (then) I will make (them) white as snow, and if they are like crimson, (then) I will make the fleece white” (Is. 1:16, 18). This “I am” says, about which the prophet Isaiah himself again said in one place: “Come up to the high mountain, O preacher of Zion! Raise your voice with power, O preacher of Jerusalem! Lift up, don't be afraid! Behold your God, behold the Lord cometh with power, and (His) arm with power! This is His reward with Him, and His work (His reward) is before Him! As a shepherd he will feed his flock and with his arm he will gather the lambs and comfort those who are with them” (Isaiah 40:9-11). And again: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear, then the lame will leap up like a deer, and the tongue of the tongue-tied will be clear” (Is. 35:5-6). This “I am” says, about which it is also written that “the Lord, whom you seek, and the Messenger of the Covenant, whom you desire, will suddenly come to his church: behold, he comes, says the Lord, and who can endure the day of his coming? For He will come like fire in a smelter and like washing lye” (Mal. 3:1-2). This, he says, “I am,” through the mouth of the Psalmist, making a promise to God and the Father Himself to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the salvation of all and exclaiming: “You did not desire sacrifices and offerings, but You prepared a body for Me, burnt offerings and (sacrifices) for sin You did not deign; Then I said: Here I come, in the head of the book it is written about Me - (to) do Your will, O God” (Ps. 39: 7-9; Heb. 10: 5-7). This, he says, is “I am,” about whom the law itself proclaimed through Moses in the words: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brethren; you shall listen to Him, according to all that you asked of the Lord your God on Mount Horeb on the day of (your) meeting” (Deut. 18:15-16). So, rightly, he says, you will perish and will receive a completely due retribution from the Judge for the fact that, due to the great wickedness of your morals, you did not understand Me, who was foreshadowed to you by so many saints and witnessed by the deeds that I perform. Indeed, in fact, there is truly no reason why those who do not believe Him should be exempt from punishment, when the Inspired Scripture is filled with speeches and testimonies about Him, and He Himself, according to ancient predictions, provides brilliant evidence from His works. John 8:25. I say to Him: Who are you? 601 This rude speech, combined with rage, again comes from their arrogance. After all, they are curious not in order to, having learned, believe, but out of their great madness they almost rush at Christ. He says quite simply: “It is I Myself,” without adding that He is God from God, and nothing else that indicates His inherent glory. Modestly again and without any additions, he says only this “I am,” leaving it to the most inquisitive to add what is missing. They (instead) indulge in obscene and unbridled fury and, due to their immeasurable contempt, seem to interrupt the Savior’s word, which has not yet reached its end, scold and, interrupting in the middle, ask: “Who are you?” It should have been expressed more clearly like this: do You really dare to think about Yourself anything more than what we know (about You)? We know You as the son of a carpenter, a simple and poor man, unknown among us and completely insignificant. Thus, they condemn the Lord as meaningless, having in mind only His race according to the flesh, but paying no attention either to the splendor of His works, or to His birth from above and from God, as a result of which it was precisely possible to recognize Him as God by nature. Who, indeed, could do what is due to God alone? But Christ did, therefore, He was and is God, although He appeared in the flesh for the sake of the salvation and life of all. But not only being carried away by their own follies, but also not attaching any importance to our Divine and God-inspired Scripture, they humiliate Him for that for which, on the contrary, it was proper to give thanks, as not knowing “neither what they say, nor those about whom they affirm” (1 Tim. 1:7). So, by placing above “You”, to indicate expressiveness, the sign of the so-called strong (acute) stress, this saying takes the form of a question combined with surprise. With this “You”, they express the following: O, completely insignificant and so known to us, a simpleton and among the simplest, what do you have to say about Yourself, glorious, that You have worthy of words? After all, such insolence is not alien to Jewish madness. John 8:25. Jesus said to them: the firstfruits, as I also say to you 602 I am subjected, he says, to dishonor (among you), although I call (you) to eternal life, to the remission of sins, to the putting off of death and corruption, to sanctification, to righteousness, to glory, to the praise of adoption as sons to God. But even if I want to crown you with all this, I find myself no respect and am considered insignificant by you. However, he says, I suffer completely justly because I made the “beginning” of a speech with you, proclaimed something capable of bringing benefit and wished to save those who had reached such baseness that they preferred to respond to the One who wanted to save them with bitter retribution. And Christ seems to be pointing out something else to us in these words. It was fitting for Me, he says, not to address you at all with a speech “at first” (from the very beginning), but to impart this gift to those who had it, and, moreover, with great desire, to enjoy My words and quickly subordinate themselves to the Gospel commandments. Points here to the multitude of pagans. But understanding these words of Him in this way, we consider it necessary to protect ourselves from the objections of our opponents, for perhaps one of those who are accustomed to fight against Christ will say: if it was necessary not to address the Jews at first, but, on the contrary, to the pagans, then the Son, therefore, sinned against duty, having done not this last at all, but precisely the first. But let us answer this again in this way. The Son says these words not because he repented of His own desires or the desires of the Father, and not because he deviated from the work required by the economy - after all, God could not will what was not at all appropriate to be. But through the words that it was not appropriate for you to “speak at first” and not for you to lay the foundation of the saving teaching, He shows both the Father and Himself to be true and humane in His nature. Behold, He communicated the saving word, although to the unworthy wicked Jews, placing in second place the multitude of pagans, although very inclined to believe in Him and diligently obeying Him. What prompted Him to put the stiff-necked people of Judah ahead and prefer them over others? He gave them the promise of His coming through the holy prophets, and grace was due to them for the sake of their fathers. That’s why he said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), and to the Syrophoenician woman: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26). It is as a result of this that Israel was honored and placed ahead of the pagans, although they had the coarsest soul. And since he did not recognize the Lord of all and the Perfecter of the promised blessings, the grace of the teaching finally passed on to the pagans, to whom it was fitting that the Lord “at first” and first should address them with His word, not because of the former promise, to their fathers, but because of their inherent good obedience. John 8:26. The imam has spoken and judged many things about you 603 Since the Jews very rashly condemned Him and, having absolutely nothing to blame for, were arrogant over Him for the mere simplicity of His race according to the flesh, which is why they humiliated Him, He meekly shamed them and in the previous words expressed it more clearly: “You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one” (John 8:15). And judging by the flesh, in my opinion, has precisely this meaning, for, being carried away only by earthly objects, they do not see heavenly blessings at all and, looking only at the splendor of this life, they revere wealth or are magnified by similar trivial objects. On the contrary, those who are able to correctly judge the nature of things according to the Law of God argue that those people are worthy of respect and competition who have the desire to live according to the will of the Creator. After all, humiliation according to the flesh cannot cause any harm to the human soul accustomed to virtue; just as, on the contrary, splendor in this life and nobility from wealth cannot bring any benefit to those who refuse to live according to the law. So, they judge according to the flesh, as we just said, those who do not look at holiness, who are not accustomed to value behavior and morals, but turn their minds to only earthly things, considering those who were brought up in wealth and luxury worthy of all respect. Here you, the most foolish teachers of the Jews, although guided by the Law of Moses to justice in court, without any grounds, for mere ignorance in the flesh, condemn the One who through many miracles revealed Himself to you as God. I will not imitate your recklessness and will not pass a similar verdict on you. And this is because human nature means nothing at all here. What, in fact, is this mortal and earthly body of ours? Decay and worm - nothing else. But for this reason I will not condemn you and will not at all consider you worthy of contempt just because you are human by nature. “There is a lot to talk about and judge about you,” that is, there are all kinds of accusations against you in abundance - I can not accuse you of just one thing, but of many things, and at the same time I will not lie about anything, like you. I can condemn you as unbelievers, as proud, as arrogant, as God-fighters, as stubborn, as ungrateful, as wicked, as constant lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:4), as “receiving glory from one another, but not seeking the glory that is from the One (God)” (John 5:44), - as having burned the spiritual vineyard, as not who have lost the flock duly entrusted to you by God, as if they did not lead to (accept) Him who was preached in the law and by the prophets, that is, Me. This is what the Savior could have said to the Jews. And by adding “and to judge” to “I have much to say about you,” he seems to threaten them that one day the One who, for the sake of the flesh, is despised by them, will appear as a Judge. John 8:26. But He who sent Me is true, and I, even as I have heard from Him 604, these things I say in the world Having left the ignorance of the Jews and despised their shameless curses of Him, he returns to the beginning (of the interrupted speech), leaving it to the proper time, and not to the present, to judge them and their insolence and turning to the own purpose of His coming, for He came not to judge the world, but to save the world, as He Himself says in one place (John 12:47). That is why, strictly adhering to the purpose of His coming, He again offers exhortation and calls for salvation, and the degree of His gentleness and the excessiveness of His inherent love for mankind truly turns out to be worthy of surprise. In view of this, Peter also speaks about Him in the Epistle: “He, being reviled, did not revile in spite of himself; while he suffered, he did not threaten, but handed him over to the Just Judge” (1 Pet. 2:23). So, I will address, he says, now to you such a speech as is completely unusual for you, that is, not consisting of censures and useless words, but, having left the trial of you to the proper time, I will begin to offer something useful to you and will not refuse condescension towards you, although, due to your inherent recklessness, you insult Me. After all, I just told you: “I am the light of the world; those who follow Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). At the same time, you recklessly and with great rage attacked Me, exclaiming: “You testify about Yourself, Your testimony is not true” (v. 13), to which I answered: “And if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going” (v. 14). But let me turn out to be difficult, telling this to you, let me be an unpleasant witness for you about my inherent natural virtues, “but He who sent me is true (is), and what I have heard from Him, I speak into the world.” Therefore, if, in your opinion, I am telling a lie and My testimony is not true, then you, of course, must assert that the Father (even) told a lie before (Me). But He is “true”. Therefore, I have not spoken a lie, and if you do not obey My words, then be ashamed, he says, of the words of Him who sent Me. What did He say about Me? “Here is a man, His name is East” (Zechariah 6:12). And again - to those who worship Him: “And the Sun of Righteousness will shine upon you who fear My name, and healing will be in His rays” (Mal.4:2). Likewise, to Me, Whom you unknowingly offend, says: “Behold, I have given You for a covenant of generations, for the light of the nations” (Is. 49:6). And that I am the light, this was also told to you from Him, namely: “Shine, shine, O Jerusalem, for your Light has come and the glory of the Lord has shone upon you” (Is. 60:1). I heard these words about Myself from the Father who Sent Me, and therefore I call Myself the light of the world, and you, judging incorrectly, humiliate Me for the sake of the flesh alone and therefore dare to insistently assert: “You testify about Yourself, Your testimony is not true” (John 8:13). So - we should now generalize the whole meaning of the interpreted saying - declares the Jews to be fighters against God, not only armed against His own words, but also against the definition given by the Father, for He knew that His own and natural Son is Light, and therefore calls Him the East and the Sun of Truth. They, by their unbelief bringing destruction upon their heads, do not recognize the truth, “calling good evil” (Is. 5:20), which is why, with all justice, “woe” will follow them. John 8:27. I did not understand that the Father said to them 605 The Spirit-Bearer (Evangelist) is again amazed at the insensitivity of the Jews, and quite rightly. And in fact, what could be crazier than those who, despite constant and lengthy conversations about God and the Father, do not understand anything when they hear the Savior’s word about Him: “But He who sent Me is true.” But it is necessary to say on what basis and for what reason the blessed Evangelist says that the Jews “did not understand” that with these words Christ pointed them to God and the Father. Since the Savior said to them: “If they knew Me, and knew My Father” (John 8:19), then, so that here also he would be speaking the truth, He represents those who do not understand the Son as not understanding the Father, for the Son is, as it were, a certain door and gate of knowledge in relation to the Father. That is why he said: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6), just as, ascending from the image to the prototype, the mind represents this (prototype) according to that (image). So, it was necessary to show that the Jews did not understand anything about the Father, just as they did not want, out of ignorance, to be guided from the knowledge of the Son to the perception of the knowledge of the Father. That is why the Evangelist points out with such expressiveness that although Christ said: “He who sent me is true,” they, however, “did not understand what he spoke to them about the Father.” John 8:28. When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will understand that I am 606 Imitating good doctors, he reveals the cause of their inherent mental illness and clearly reveals what prevents them from quickly coming to an understanding of Him and faith in Him. Since they, looking at His flesh and His carnal origin, were inclined to think humiliatingly about Him and, having such a veil over the eyes of their minds, did not know that He was the true God, although He appeared as a man, he considers it necessary to add the words: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that (it is) I (am)”, that is: when you stop the low and earthly idea of Me, when you think about You recognize what is high and super-earthly for me as God, who appeared from God, although for your sake I became a man like you - then you will clearly know that I am the light of the world, which I told you about recently. What, in fact, can still serve as an obstacle to the fact that the One who has already been accepted as the True God should also be the light of the world? No one will reach such madness and insolence that even then he will dare to say: “Your testimony is not true” (John 8:13). After all, He who is called God by nature and true cannot at all speak a lie. So, from the words of the Savior it is completely obvious that, having a low idea of ​​Him and considering Him a simple man, devoid of Divinity by nature, we thereby, without any doubt, no longer believe in Him and do not recognize Him as the Savior and Redeemer. But then what will follow from here? We are deprived of hope, for if salvation is achieved through faith, and faith has disappeared, what else saves? And by believing and raising the Only Begotten to a divine height 607, although He became a man, we, as if walking with a fair wind and passing through the difficult sea of ​​life, will move to the highest city and receive honors there for our faith. Another interpretation of the same saying: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that (it is) I (am)” Having used many beautiful words to soften the rage of the Jews, the Lord sees that it, nevertheless, is increasing. They do not cease to blaspheme Him uncontrollably: they do not attach any meaning to His word and wickedly call Him a liar, for to say: “Your testimony is not true” (John 8:13), what could mean anything other than this; then again, when He, out of love, told them what was necessary for salvation and therefore said that “if you do not believe that it is I, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24), they passionately rebelled and, contrasting the words spoken to them out of love with their crazy speeches, asked: “Who are you?” (John 8:25). Therefore, for those so uncontrollably plunged into reckless audacity, a word was needed that could reason with them and induce them to a more modest mood, which would already impose, even against their will, a bridle on the tongue. It is for this reason that he threatened them, very clearly saying that they would not escape punishment for their wickedness, and although at the present time they see Him as long-suffering, but when their wickedness against Him reaches a terrible limit, that is, to handing Him over to crucifixion and death, then they will undergo terrible punishment and extreme disaster, obviously from the war with the Romans, which happened after the crucifixion of the Savior as a result of the highest wrath from God. And that they were subject to great troubles, the Savior also very clearly indicated to them, once saying to the weeping women: “Daughters of Jerusalem! Do not weep for Me, but weep for yourself and for your children” (Luke 23:28), or another time: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by troops, then say to the mountains: cover us! and the hills: fall on us! (Luke 21:20, 23:30). Such disasters from war will come upon the Jews that every kind of death will be more pleasant and desirable. And indeed, Joseph also talks about their eviction from their country, the captivity of its inhabitants, cruel beatings, famine in every city and the eating of children in them in his writings. So, “when,” he says, having delivered the “Son of Man” to crucifixion, you will be subjected to appropriate punishment and will receive equal retribution for your insolence towards Me, “then,” with tears, “you will know that I am” able to do everything, that is, God. After all, if “one bird without God does not fall into the fowler’s net” 608, then how, he says, could the whole country and beloved people come to such complete destruction if, without a doubt, Almighty God had not allowed this to happen? This is what a terrible evil is neglect of God, which leads to such terrible troubles. That is why Paul also reproaches some, speaking about God: “Or you despise the riches of His kindness and meekness and longsuffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance, but because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you store up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath” (Rom. 2:4-5). Another interpretation of the same saying Christ spent a lot of time talking to the Jews - in every meeting, one might say, he talked with them, every Saturday he spoke with them, often and willingly offering them useful teaching and constantly calling for enlightenment from the Spirit. Thus, He among other things told them, as true and by nature God: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). And they, indulging in unreasonable thoughts, objected to His words: “You testify about Yourself, Your testimony is not true” (John 8:13). And the insolence of the Jews did not extend to mere contradictions in words, and their indomitable courage was not limited to mere reproaches, but, mercilessly passing through all stages of cruelty, they ended by putting Him to crucifixion and death. But since He was life by nature, having broken the bonds of death, He rises from the dead, rightly moves away from the abominations of the Jews, moves to the pagans, calls everyone to the light and bestows sight on the blind. Thus, it happened that after the death of our Savior Christ on the cross, the minds of the Jews were darkened, since the light was removed from them, and the hearts of the pagans were enlightened, since the true light shone upon them. So, “when”, he says, “you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that (it is) I (am)”, instead of: I will endure your wickedness to the very end, I will not bring (my) premature wrath upon you, I will accept suffering and death, I will endure this, besides everything else. But when you crucify the Son of Man, whom you regard as a simple man, then, he says, even involuntarily, you will know that I did not tell a lie in the words: “I am the light of the world.” After all, if you see yourselves darkened, and countless pagans enlightened because of My existence among them, then shouldn’t you finally agree, even against your will, that I am truly the light of the world? And that the Savior, after the resurrection from the dead, had to leave the host of the Jews, this is beyond doubt for everyone, for this has already been accomplished and fulfilled. But, in addition, this can be seen with even greater clarity from His words: “As long as you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overcome you” (John 12:35). The reduction and removal of light gives existence to darkness and, conversely, the presence of light produces the disappearance of darkness. So, Christ is the true Light, having subjected the Jews to darkness by His removal, and illuminating the pagans by His presence, and the trial of disasters became a bitter science for the Jews. Another interpretation of the same saying: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that it is I.” Since you, he says, looking at only the flesh, think that I am a simple man, one of your kind, and the Divine dignity and the glory associated with it do not enter your mind at all, then the most obvious sign for you that I am the true God from God and Light from the Light will be your all-terrible and most lawless insolence, that is, the cross and the death of (My) flesh on it. After all, as soon as you see the goal of your malice unfulfilled and the net of death broken, for I will rise from the dead, then even involuntarily and out of necessity you will finally agree with My words addressed to you and you will have to admit that I am the True God by nature. And this is because I will be above death and corruption and, as Life by nature, I will rebuild My church (John 2:19-21). But if dominion over death and despising the snares of corruption befits only God by nature and no one else in existence, then shouldn’t I, without any contradiction and beyond any doubt, therefore be able to conquer everything without hindrance? So, the Savior said that His own Cross would be a sign for the Jews and the most obvious proof that He was God by nature. You can see Him clearly expressing this in some other case. Since countless miracles were performed through Him, the Pharisees one day approached him with the words: “Teacher! We desire to see a sign from You” (Matthew 12:38). He, since he saw their plans and knew their evil intentions, says: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign is given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah: for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:39-40). Do you hear how the Jews, who demanded a sign to prove that He is the true God, although they said this for the purpose of temptation, will not be shown, he says, to them any other sign than the sign of the prophet Jonah, that is, the three-day death and resurrection from the dead. What kind of sign, in fact, of the power inherent in the Divine can be so great and obvious as the destruction of death and the destruction of corruption, although by Divine decision it has taken possession of human nature? After all, in the face of Adam she heard: “Thou art earth, and unto earth shalt thou go” (Gen. 3:19). But it was in the power of the Savior Christ to put an end to His own wrath and to destroy death, which came as a result of His own curse, with blessing. And that the Jews greatly trembled at the signs of the resurrection as a terrible proof that Christ is truly God, this is clearly taught to them by their last act. As soon as they learned about the resurrection of the Savior and that He was not found in the tomb, they came into very great fear from this, and tried to buy slander from the soldiers for a lot of money. They gave them pieces of silver so that they could say “that His disciples came and stole Him while we slept” (Matthew 28:13). This is how great the sign of the resurrection is, being an indisputable proof of the Divinity of Jesus, which is why the cruel and unyielding heart of the Jews was troubled. That the Son in power and wisdom is no less than God and the Father, on the contrary, He Himself is His wisdom and power John 8:28. And I do nothing for Myself, but as the Father taught Me, this verb I say 609 He speaks more in relation to the human condition, since otherwise the Jews could not understand and did not allow Him to hear His teaching about His deity in its pure form. In the latter case, they even wanted to stone Him, accusing Him of blasphemy, because, being a man, He made Himself God. Therefore, having removed the greatness of His Divine dignity and stripped the splendor of this dignity from the word, He perfectly conforms to the weakness of the listeners: seeing in their souls that they do not recognize Him as God, He constructs a humanoid speech, so that their hearts would not again be inflamed with anger and through this they would not recklessly lose at least some small attention to Him. So, you will know, he says, when you lift up the Son of Man, that it is I, - in the same way you will also know that “of Myself I do nothing, but as the Father taught Me, so I speak.” But tell me, maybe someone will ask, what is the need for such a saying? What does Christ teach us in it? Let us answer this through a pious explanation of each individual word in this saying. You do not cease, he says, to attack My deeds as lawless and wicked - you have often accused Me as acting unlawfully and usually committing disagreement with the lawgiver. Thus, when I healed someone who suffered from such a long illness and showed mercy to a man on the Sabbath, instead of showing due reverence, you chose to blame Me for this and found yourself far from paying Me what I deserve. In view of this, I recently gave you saving instructions and convinced you to desire to assimilate the light. Then I showed you the True Light when I explained My nature in the words: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). And you, again, acting recklessly and thinking, spoke out against My words and dared to shamelessly say: “Your testimony is not true” (John 8:13). Therefore, when you lift up the Son of Man, that is, when you put Him to death, and you see Him conquering the bonds of death, for I will rise from the dead as God by nature; then, he says, you will know that “I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father taught Me, so I speak 611.” When you see (in Me) the true God by nature and the Son, you will know that I am by no means self-willed, but always willing to God and the Father - and whatever He does, I Myself immediately do, as well as I say everything that I find Him saying, for I have one essence with the Parent. I healed the paralytic on the Sabbath, and you were indignant for this, but I showed you that the Father also works on the Sabbath, saying: “My Father is working and I am working” (John 5:17). In the same way, I told you: “I am the light of the world,” and you thought that I was saying something that disagreed with Him (the Father), although again in this case I put you to shame when I brought His word about Me: “Behold, I have appointed (appointed) You for the covenant of the generation, for the light of the nations” (Is. 42:6). Therefore, he says, it is completely in vain to accuse Him who is always of the same will with the Father and does not do anything inconsistent with Him, nor does He allow Himself to say anything that is not from Him. This, I believe, is the meaning that should be given to the above words. But the ferocious beast, I mean the Christ-fighting Arian, perhaps here will pounce on us and make the following speech: “Why are you, my dear, trying to reinterpret the saying in a favorable and pleasing to you only one sense, without being ashamed to steal its true meaning from it? After all, the Son clearly states that He does nothing of Himself, but what He learns from God and the Father, this is what He says; thus, He recognizes His Father as higher than He Himself (the Son).” So what, my dear? Let him, in turn, hear: after all, the Son receives strength and wisdom from the Father, of course, in order to be able to do and say anything impeccably? But in what way will He be God by nature, who receives from another both strength and wisdom, as the nature of creatures also has? After all, for those who have received existence from non-existence, everything that they have, without a doubt, is God-given. But not so in the Son. Divine Scripture knows and preaches Him as the true God. And to God, who exists by nature, I believe, all perfections without exception must belong. If there is a lack of any perfection, how can one be God? Just as incorruptibility and immortality must belong to Him, without a doubt, naturally, and not from the outside and not as a given, so also is all-perfection and the absence of lack in all goods. If, according to your wicked and reckless reasoning, the Son turns out to be imperfect in the power to perform godly actions and speak words befitting God, and yet He is the power and wisdom of the Father, according to the teaching of Divine Scripture, then this accusation (of imperfection) should rather apply to the Father than to Him, for with the acceptance of this it is necessary to affirm that God the Father is already imperfect in power and not entirely wise You see where the insolence of your ignorance leads again. But I am also surprised that another consideration escaped your attention. In what way, tell me, can God and the Father again impart power to His own power, or how He could make His wisdom more wise? After all, one of two things: either it is necessary to assert that He always ascends to greater things and little by little succeeds in power and acquiring greater strength than what is inherent in Him, which is stupid and completely impossible, or it is wicked to assume that He is strengthened by something else. But in this case, how could the Son be called the Lord of hosts, or how could one who, like us, is strengthened and made wise by another, be represented as wisdom and strength? Away from such blasphemy and ridiculous reasoning. Either admit clearly that the Son is a creation, in order to have all the inspired Scripture against you, or, if you believe that He is God by nature, agree that He has in perfection all the attributes of the Godhead. And the peculiarity of such a natural property is to not be powerless in any respect and have any shortcoming before the Supreme Wisdom, but, on the contrary, by nature itself to be Wisdom and Power. But in Wisdom there is nothing that can be acquired through learning, and likewise in the first and true Power, power cannot be represented as acquired. But to reveal the very nature of things and the most accurate study of the words of Christ, let us add the following to what has been said. What did the Only Begotten do when he became a man that could exceed His inherent power? In all likelihood, some will say that He, as having received from God and the Father the power to perform (miracles), should have then said that “I do nothing of Myself,” when he cast out a demon, healed a paralytic from illness, freed a leper from suffering, gave sight to the blind, fed a large number of people with five loaves, calmed the raging sea with a word, raised Lazarus from the dead. But can we see in these miracles the manifestation of a power that exceeds His inherent power? In this case, tell me, how did He establish such a great sky, spreading it out like a tent for habitation, how did He founded the earth, how did He become the creator of the sun, moon and stars in the firmament? How did he create Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions and, in addition, Seraphim? In such great and supernatural matters, having no need of either the strength or the wisdom of another, how could He be weak in such small matters? Or how could He, who through the holy prophets is glorified as Wisdom, need a teacher of what should be spoken to the Jews? Now I hear one of them saying: “The Lord, who created the earth in His strength, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens in His understanding” (Jer. 10:12). According to this, the divine Daniel says: “Blessed be the name of the Lord forever, for wisdom, and understanding, and power are His” (Dan. 2:20). If, according to the word of the prophet, “His” is both power and wisdom, then who, finally, can endure the idle talk of the heterodox, who claim that power and wisdom are given from another to Him Whom they recognize as the Wisdom and Power of the Father? But if, they say, we recognized someone else as providing the Son with a replenishment of the lack of power or teaching Him, then you would have reason to attack our words, wanting to defend Him as an insulted one; since we affirm that the Father gives it, what excuse will you have to be sad about it? So, if you think that you do not cause any harm to the Son in relation to His natural likeness with the Parent, even though it is said that He receives something from Him (the Father), then remember, most dear, recent words and make sure not to be tempted through this, but give Him equality in everything with His own Parent and do not belittle Him in any respect. If this distracts you from the right view and makes you think about Him inappropriately, then why are you making vain efforts to deceive us with empty words? After all, there is absolutely no difference if it is affirmed that God Himself and the Father or someone else besides Him gives to the Son. Once it is proven that He has received something, what benefit will He find in it if the face of the giver turns out to be very glorious? What difference, tell me, does it make to one who is withdrawing from the beating that the blows will be delivered with a wooden and a gilded rod? What is important here is not the image of suffering, but the absence of suffering. Therefore, as soon as the Son turns out to be in need of strength and wisdom, if he appears to have received something from Him (the Father), and is already completely subject to this accusation, then aren’t you quite naively trying to stun us, the listeners, with words and false tricks to hide the accusation by pointing out that no one else, but only the Father is the giver? I am surprised how, considering yourselves to be wise men and outwardly so experienced in subtle reasoning, you did not notice that, belittling the image of God and the Father, that is, the Son, you find yourself not so much accusing Him as He is the image of Him, who must necessarily be such as he will appear in the Son. But, they say, the voice of the Son will force you, even against your will, to agree with what He did not consider unworthy to express, for He Himself confessed that He does nothing of Himself, but says only what He learns from God and the Father. But, dear one, let the beautiful words seem wrong to you, since you quickly rejected the light of truth, we will again go our own way and think about the Only Begotten in the usual and generally accepted way, with the piety due to us, turning to the interpreted saying. After all, if the Only Begotten had said: “I do nothing of Myself, but, receiving power from God and the Father, I perform wonderful and amazing deeds,” then a speech similar to this would not at all reveal Him to be subject to any accusation (of impotence), although our opponent would seem to us (in this case) somewhat more decent (with his objection). But since He simply and unconditionally, without adding anything, says that “I do nothing of Myself,” then we, without any doubt, cannot assert that He accuses His nature as powerless in any respect, but points to something else, true and impeccable. Let us apply the meaning of His words to man to see what He says. Let there be any two people who, of course, have received the same nature, have equal strength with each other and are like-minded. Then let one of them say: “I do nothing on my own.” Will he indicate by this that he is powerless and completely incapable of doing anything on his own, or that he has another associated with him, who agrees with himself in everything and like-minded? Think the same way about the Son with me, but only to a much higher degree. Since the Jews recklessly attacked Him for performing miraculous deeds, accused Him in every possible way of violating the Sabbath and attributed illegal acts to Him, He finally began to point out the agreement in everything and like-mindedness of God and the Father with Himself, skillfully putting to shame the unbridled rage of the unbelievers. With all justice, it was finally necessary to intimidate those inclined to accuse Him by pointing out that He does everything according to the will of the Father and His own desire is in accordance with the will of the Father. And this fulfillment by the Son of everything according to the will of the Father should show Him not less and not subordinate, but (acting) from Himself and (existing) in Himself and consubstantial (with the Father). Since He is the Wisdom of the Father and the living Will, He confesses that He does nothing else but what the Father wills, of Whom He is the Wisdom and Will, just as our mind does nothing on its own, but does everything that is pleasing to us. However, this is only a small comparison with that which has only a vague image of the truth. And just as our mind is not considered something else, different from us, in the same way, I think, the Wisdom of God and the Father, that is, the Son, is not something else, separate from Him, I say this in relation to the identity of the being (Theirs) and the perfect likeness of nature, for the Father is the Father and the Son is the Son - properly hypostatically (Each in His own hypostasis). And since He also adds to this: “As the Father taught Me, I say these things,” then no one at all thinks that the Son appears to be in need of anything, for in this case there will be a great inaccuracy in reasoning. But the meaning of these words can be expressed as follows. The Jews, being unable to understand any good, were not only seduced by the miraculous things He did, but were also subjected to the same state, obvious to everyone, when He uttered any godly words. Thus, when He expressed the truth in the words: “I am the light of the world,” they gnashed their teeth and dared to formulate terrible plans. But our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to expose them that they are in vain to rage because of this, says that His words are the essence (words) of God and the Father, using the more humanoid “taught.” However, the meaning of this expression is not without deep meaning. And if the enemy of truth does not allow the human, he will greatly damage the meaning of the Economy with the flesh. After all, the Only Begotten humbled Himself by becoming a man and therefore often speaking like a man. However, let him again know that the Son does not in the least contradict His Divine dignity in the words: “As the Father taught Me, so I speak.” We can prove in every possible way that this saying of His is fair and beautiful. Let that accuser of pious dogmas answer our question: who, tell me, teaches a newly born baby to use the human voice? Why doesn't it roar like a lion or imitate some other dumb animal? Following the generally accepted opinion, one must answer this by saying that nature is a teacher who forms the generation according to the properties of the generator. It is therefore possible to have knowledge from nature, without teaching, due to the fact that nature, so to speak, puts into the generation all the properties of the generator. In this very sense, the Only Begotten Son affirms in these words that He learned from the Father, for what our nature is, so in all justice is God and the Father in relation to Him. And just as we, although we are men and from men, without learning by nature, speak as is characteristic of man, so He, although He is God and from God by nature, learned from His own nature to speak as God and to utter what is fitting for God. This is also the saying: “I am the light of the world,” as He recognizes Himself because He is of the same essence with the Father, for He is Light from Light. This He, according to His words, learned from Him (the Father), having, without teaching, a certain knowledge of godly deeds and words from the property and nature of the One who gave birth, as if by necessary laws ascending to the same will in everything and the same agreement with God and the Father. And in fact, shouldn’t it be considered indisputable that those who have the same nature have the same will and use the same words? Of course, we are talking about God, not about us. We are distracted from the boundaries of what is proper by the perversion of morals, the difference of desires, and the predominance of passions. The divine and incomprehensible nature, always remaining the same and immovably established in its own qualities, how can there be any deviation towards anything else? Or how can She not go straight to her goal, speak and do what is due to Her? So, the Only Begotten, being of one essence with His Parent and possessing the virtues of one Divinity, without any doubt, must necessarily do what the Father Himself does. This means “doing nothing on your own.” Without a doubt, in the same way He speaks the words of the Parent, not as a subordinate, or subject, or disciple, but as having, as a fruit of His own nature, the ability to use the words of God and the Father. This clearly reveals that if He does not say anything from Himself, then there is nothing reproachful for Him. John 8:29. And He who sent Me is with Me, and do not forsake Me alone (for I always do what pleases Him) 612 He clearly shows here that he reveals the will of God and the Father, He Himself having no other one different from the will of the Father, for He is the living and hypostatic Will and Desire of Him who gave birth to Him, according to what was said by one of the saints in the book of psalms: “Thou guidest Me in Thy will” (Ps. 72:24), and again: “Lord, in Thy will give strength to my beauty” ( Ps.24:8), that is, in Christ is all good for those who love Him, but as communicating for our knowledge the intentions and thoughts of God and the Father. Just as our external and spoken word reveals the thoughts and intentions in the depths of our soul, receiving, as it were, some kind of teaching and constructing speech accordingly, in the same way we should piously imagine that the Son, of course surpassing the above comparison, expresses the thoughts and intentions of the Father, since He is both the Word and Wisdom of God and the Father. And since It is not selfless, like a human being, but has essence and life as having its own existence in the Father and with the Father, it says here that He is not alone, but that He who sent Him is with Him. When he says: “with Me,” he again expresses something decent and mysterious. This is not, of course, how we should understand these sayings of Him, that just as God is with any prophet, protecting him with His power and helping him with His suggestions or inciting him to prophecy with revelations through the Spirit, so the One who gave birth is with Him. But here He uses this “with Me” in a different sense, namely, that “He who sent Me,” that is, God and Father, is of the same nature as Me. In the same way, understand what is said by the prophet Isaiah about Christ: “Know, O peoples, and submit, for God is with us” (Is. 8:9-10). These words, of course, can also befit those who have the hope of salvation in Him. However, even such people say “God is with us” not because, as perhaps anyone might think, God will be a helper and protector, but because “He is with us,” that is, from us, for the Word of God became man, and by this we all received salvation, broke the bonds of death and were freed from the corruption of sin, just as the real God Word descended to us and appeared with us in the image of God. Therefore, just as there (in the prophet) we mean the expression “God is with us” instead of “The Word, which is from God and the Father, appeared in one nature with us,” so here, when Christ says: “He who sent Me is with Me and has not left Me alone,” we must, while maintaining complete consistency in reasoning, clearly see His mysterious indication that, as we have already said earlier, God and the Father is of the same nature with Me. “And he did not leave me alone,” for it would indeed be strange not to have “with me” God and the Father, from whom I was born. But perhaps someone will say, and for the sake of curiosity, they will ask: for what reason does the Savior Himself say this or what prompted Him to give such an explanation? In response to this, we point out that He very beneficially and out of necessity added this to what was already said. Since he said that “as the Father taught Me, I say these things,” then by this he necessarily shows that the Father is co-essential and consubstantial with Him, in order to thereby arouse faith in Himself as speaking His (the Father’s) words, as God – (speaking) God’s (words) – as One Who, from the natural property of His Parent, is prompted to speak God-appropriate things. In the same way, human children, without being taught by nature, having some knowledge by nature, as discussed above, are well aware of what is characteristic of humanity. Therefore, one should not be tempted if He says that the Son learned from the Father. Through this He by no means turns out to be less than Him or another nature, as they think. This can be verified through the following reasoning. After all, a being is determined not by knowledge or ignorance of anything, but by the nature of each. Let's take Paul and Silvanus as an example. And let us assume that Paul knows the mystery of Christ perfectly, and Silvanus knows somewhat less than Paul. Will they cease to be similar in nature, or will Paul be superior to Silvanus in essence, as soon as he comprehends the depth of the mystery more than him? But no one, I believe, will reach such foolishness as to see their nature as different due to greater or lesser knowledge of them. If, therefore, the properties of a being are not at all precisely determined by knowledge or teaching, as we said, then nothing prevents the Son from being God by nature, although He says that He learned from His Own Father. Through this, He is by no means deprived of one essence with Him, but, without a doubt, remains what it is, that is, God from God, Light from Light. But perhaps someone will ask: how can this be? After all, the Father is greater (the Son) in knowledge, and therefore He teaches the Son? To this, let us repeat what we have said many times already, that the Wisdom of the Father has no need for teaching and instruction. Having compiled many discussions about this, we have already exposed the false teaching (of these co-questioners) in that it leads to immeasurable blasphemy. Then it seems necessary to us to add to this the fact that the Son had great effort and great care to always reduce His dignity and for the sake of the image of a servant and, as a result of this humiliation accepted for us, not to speak completely as it became Him according to His deity. How then (otherwise one might ask) did he descend, or from where and where did he go, if he did not say something both derogatory and not entirely in accordance with His Divine glory? That is why He often pretends that He does not know like a man, although He knew like God. You can see this clearly in the story of Lazarus in Bethany. With His miraculous power and Divine voice, He forced the already four-day-old (dead man) and emitting a (cadaverous) smell to return to life. But look how He acts in this case. Knowing that Lazarus had died, and having foretold this to His disciples in advance, as God, He asked humanly: “Where have you laid Him?” (John 11:34). Amazing thing! Living somewhere far from Bethany and not knowing, like God, that Lazarus had died, why ask about the place of the tomb? To this you can quite sensibly answer that He took the form of an inquirer, building something useful. In the same way, understand here economically, namely: as God, He knew what He was talking about, which He learned from the Father. Not wanting to too much arouse the foolishness of the Jews and restraining the rage of the ignorant, He addresses them with speech not in the form in which it was characteristic of Him as God, although it was more fitting for Him to speak exactly like that (as God). But since they also thought that He was a simple man, then, as if mixing Divine dignity into the words characteristic of man, somewhat lower than His dignity, economically (in relation to the views of the Jews) added: “because I always do what is pleasing to Him.” Follow me also here in solving the apparent difficulty and clearly imagine the correctly interpreted saying: “I do nothing of Myself.” That is why, he says, I recently testified, telling you that I do nothing of Myself, since My custom and way is not to do anything displeasing to God and the Father and not to do anything that is unpleasant to the Parent. Thus, here too, obviously, it is indicated that the Son does nothing of Himself alone, and precisely by doing what is always pleasing to God and the Father, so that if he did something not like that (pleasing to God), then he would do something “of Himself,” that is, contrary to the will of the Parent. Consequently, not because He is below fatherly dignity and cannot do anything by His own strength, He asserted here that He does nothing of Himself, but because He is like-minded and always willing with the Parent in absolutely everything and does not want to do anything, as it were, alone and separately. And of course, we should not at all fall into such absurd thoughts that the Son in these words seems to indicate a certain pre-elected and acquired dignity, and not, on the contrary, the fruit of an unchangeable nature, which considers consultation in action unusual for the Divine. After all, if in creatures, as capable of changing into a worse state and subject to change from better to worse, good is the fruit of a pious and virtuous intention, then this is not so in the Divine and all-exceeding Essence. Since God is completely removed from any kind of variability, then goodness will already be the fruit of His very unchangeable essence, just like warmth in fire or cold in snow. After all, fire turns out to have this power (to burn) not at will, but as natural and essential - it cannot be different unless it is forced to do so by the wave of the Creator. So, not as one like us or any other of the rational creatures, (that is,) forced by preliminary choice and decision to strive to do something pleasing to God and the Father, the Only Begotten says this, but as following the laws of His own nature and unable to think or do anything else except the desires of Him who gave birth to Him. How could a completely consubstantial and one Deity ever be at odds with Himself? Or how could It do something displeasing to Itself if something were able to deviate It to something else (not Divine)? After all, although God and the Father exist separately and in Himself, and in the same way the Son and the Spirit, the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity should not at all be dissolved into separate parts, on the contrary, all His fullness ascends into the single nature of the Divinity. In addition, we must pay attention to the fact that there is no just reason to deprive the Son of His natural identity with the Father. Since He claimed that He always does what is pleasing to Him, it is rather the opposite - it turns out to be consubstantial with Him and through this is known as God from God by nature and true. In fact, who, tell me, can think of God in a way completely characteristic of God and always unchanged, if He Himself is not God by nature? Or who is able to always do what is pleasing to Him, if not He Who has a nature inaccessible to anything bad, and has received the exclusive dignity of the Divine Nature, I mean the inability to sin? After all, it is said about creatures: “Who will boast that he has a pure heart, or who will dare that he is clean from sins?” ( Proverbs 20:9 ). Strengthening and elevating this thought, Divine Scripture says: “And the stars are not pure before Him” (Job.25:5). Indeed, although the Angels differ from us in many ways and have greater stability in virtue, they did not “keep their principles” (Jude 1:6). Since some have completely turned away from it and fallen into sin, the whole nature of rational creatures is accused as being susceptible to sin and unable to be immune from (the ability) to turn to the worse. And the rational and god-like animal on earth fell not after a long time (according to its creation), but in the first Adam. So, constancy and steadfastness do not at all belong to the creature, nor does natural (innate) immutability. This is the property of the only true God. It is also clearly seen in the Son, for “He committed no sin,” as Paul (Peter) says (1 Peter 2:22), “and no flattery was found in His mouth.” So, the Son is God and from God by nature, unable to sin or change and never deviating from what is characteristic of His nature. Therefore, if He recognizes that He always does what is pleasing to the Father, then let no one be tempted by this and let no one think that less than the Father is He who is from Him (the Father), but, on the contrary, let him think piously in such a way that He (the Son), as God from God, by nature ascends to the same will (ταυτοβουλίαν) and, so to speak, the same work (ταυτουϱγίαν) with the Parent. John 8:30. I say this to Him, many of you have believed in Him Also here, the wise Evangelist expresses his amazement at Christ, who, although often using derogatory speech, achieves a great goal through this. While He could speak everything as God and had free and royal power to speak about everything, He, however, economically applied His word to the listeners, thereby catching many to obey Him and then forcing them to follow Him with great diligence. Therefore, the Savior’s efforts to speak to the people in a more human-like way were not in vain, for some of the most ignorant, seeing Him as a man and (at the same time) hearing words appropriate to God, fell into considerable insolence and soon abandoned Him (cf. John 6:66). But since He was both God and man at the same time, had unquestioning divine and human power and could impeccably speak in any way He pleased (of the two), He applied himself to the feeble-mindedness of his listeners for good purposes, often and in various ways expressing about Himself what is appropriate for a person (humanoid), such as: “I do nothing of Myself” (John 8:28) and the like. Not understanding anything at all and treating His speeches without any research, they were inclined to this simple and generally accessible meaning. Therefore, they thought that He was saying that “having received power from the Father, I work miracles” and that “He is with Me, since I always do what pleases Him.” Thus, in agreement with the wicked Jews, the accursed enemies of truth and opponents of the dogmas of piety intensify to think disparagingly about the Lord and, quite expediently and in application of what He said, seizing upon it to destroy His inherent glory and power, they rob the beauty of the truth. They seem to forget the words of Paul that it is proper to purify thoughts and every high thing that exalts itself in the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought toward Christ and into His obedience (2 Cor. 10:5). They also do not know the words of God through one of the prophets: “Who is wise and understands this? Or who is intelligent and knows this? "(Hosea 14:10). After all, if some great eclipse had not taken possession of them and a dark veil had not covered them (2 Cor. 3:13ff.), what would be the need to look for a wise and prudent person who could gain the knowledge of this? But this is enough for the present time. Let's say something useful about the proposed saying. “They believed” the Christ who said this, as the Evangelist notes, not all, but “many.” Being the true God, having nothing hidden before His eyes, and possessing exact knowledge that He would not attract everyone to good obedience, He persistently used lengthy exhortations to those who came to Him, thereby giving us the most wonderful example and presenting Himself as a model for the teachers of the Church. After all, although not everyone, perhaps due to their inability, will receive benefit, but as soon as there is a possibility that this effort will be useful for someone, then one should not hesitate to explain what is useful. Otherwise, burying, as if in fruitless silence, the talent given to us, that is, grace through the Spirit, we will be like that wicked servant who shamelessly said to his master: “I know that you are a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, I buried your talent, behold, receive your (talent)” ( Matthew 25:24–25). But what happened to this unfortunate man and what punishment he suffered is, without a doubt, known to everyone familiar with the Gospel Scriptures. Therefore, let us begin to think and correctly reason about this in such a way that it is fitting for those who are called to this to free themselves from all inertia in the matter of teaching, and not at all to indulge in negligence, even if not everyone is convinced by his words, but with joy to think about the benefits of their labors, prudently heeding the words of our Savior: “There is no student greater than his teacher, nor a slave greater than his master; it is enough for the student to be as his teacher, and for the servant as his master” (Matthew 10:24–25). After all, if the Lord does not convince everyone, due to the rudeness and hardness of the listeners, then who can blame us for the powerlessness of the word, which requires voluntary, and not forced (from the listeners) consent? John 8:31. Now Jesus said to the Jews who believed Him: If you continue in My word, truly you are My disciples 614 It requires from believers firmness, constancy and readiness to adhere to the good they have once chosen. This was faith in Him. He declares hesitation to be unreasonable and completely useless, since “a double-minded man is fickle in all his ways,” as it is written (James 1:8), and trying to hold fast to what is fruitful is truly wise and useful. So, since it concerns a simple (literal) understanding, He says that if they wish to follow His words, then in that case they, of course, will be called His disciples. As for understanding the hidden meaning in that saying, it means this... Saying that “if you abide in My word,” He is skillfully and meekly distracting them from the Mosaic decrees and distancing them from adherence to the letter - commanding them to pay attention no longer to what is hidden (said?) or accomplished in the image, but to His teaching, which, obviously, is the Gospel and Divine preaching. True, He also spoke to us through the holy prophets, but these were intermediaries through whom He spoke to us. But by His word in the proper sense we must understand the gospel preaching, for we find that it came to us not through another, but through Him. That is why, having become man, He says: “I myself who speak am present” (Is. 52:6). Paul also testifies to the same thing when he says in the Epistle to the Hebrews (John 1:1): “God who spoke in many ways and in various ways of old to the fathers by the prophets, has spoken to us in the last days in the Son.” So, the Son himself appeared to teach us in the last times of the age. That is why the Gospel teaching should be called His word in the proper sense. Thus, it should have been said more clearly and directly: you, who have accepted faith in Me and, although late, have nevertheless come to know Him who is from above proclaimed to you through the law and the prophets, should no longer adhere to the images given through Moses, nor be carried away by the shadows of the law and place in them all the power of salvation, but in spiritual teachings, in the Gospel and My sermons. However, it was not incredible, on the contrary, there could not even be a doubt that those who had recently and barely accepted the faith, having a mind that was still hesitant and susceptible to fickleness, could not bear such speeches, but, as always ready to fall into anger for the insult these words caused to the wise Moses and for destroying him by neglecting the ancient commandments given to them, they would easily turn to their characteristic insolence and, out of their constant care To agree with him would have reduced the desire to believe in Christ to nothing. That is why, economically and still covertly contrasting His words with Moses, that is, the Gospel sermon with the law, and placing the new instructions much higher than the ancient ones, He says: “If you abide in My word,” then indeed you are “My disciples.” Shining with all-perfect faith and without any hesitation accepting the gospel teaching into their minds, and not really caring about the legal shadow, they are truly disciples of Christ. And those who do not approach Him with such a mood ridicule themselves, not being His true disciples and therefore deprived of salvation. Likewise, blessed Paul, who unreasonably wanted to receive justification from the law after (accepting) faith, clearly said in his Epistle: “You have become estranged from (left without) Christ, who are justified (in your opinion) by the law (through the law), having fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). Therefore, monotonous faith and an unshakable desire to follow Christ are worthy and worthy, turning the shadows of the law into knowledge about Him and transforming what was mysteriously said about Him into spiritual teaching, for through the law and the prophets the mystery about Him is proclaimed. John 8:32. And you understand 615 the truth, and the truth will set you free The speech is also secretive and very unclear. However, it contains a meaning similar to the previous sayings and only reveals the same thoughts in a different way. She convinces those who have once believed to completely abandon and abandon subordinate service, guiding them to consider it as a shadow in relation to the knowledge of Him and, abandoning images and riddles, strive for the “truth” itself, that is, for Christ, the giver of true freedom and redeemer. So, “you will know,” he says, “the truth,” by following My words, and from knowing the truth you will gain benefit from it. Since, I believe, for the benefit of the readers it is necessary to expand the meaning of this saying, here too the Lord, in my opinion, says this to the Jews. Gorky, he says, you were subjected to slavery in Egypt and the long labor exhausted you, who were under the captivity of the pharaoh. But then you cried out to God and moved His mercy towards you - sobbing from the disasters that oppressed you, you looked for the Deliverer from heaven. And I immediately came to you even then, brought you out of a foreign land, freed you from the fiercest tyranny and called you to freedom. But so that you might know your Intercessor and Redeemer, I outlined to you My sacrament in the slaughter of the lamb and then commanded you to foreshadow salvation through the blood, for you were saved by anointing yourself and the doorposts with the blood of the lamb. When therefore, having moved away from the prototypes, you recognize the truth, you will be completely and truly free. And let, he says, no one doubt this: after all, if the prototype then became the author of so many blessings for you, then how much more will the truth impart the most abundant grace? Nothing, of course, prevents us from understanding these words of Jesus to the Jews in this way, since they have a very broad meaning. But it seems that some other meaning can be discovered in the interpreted saying. The Law of Moses prescribed washing and sprinkling, and those who happened to fall into serious sins were ordered to slaughter oxen and sheep and thereby put an end to the crimes of which each was guilty. But all this had no significance for the very destruction of sin, for it in no way relieved criminals of guilt and did not make those who violated the Divine law free from punishment. What benefit, in fact, could the slaughter of an ox bring to a sinner, and what profit could be obtained from the sacrifice of sheep? What satisfaction, as far as the breaking of the law is concerned, did this bring to the offended God? Listen to what He Himself says: “Do I really eat the meat of oxen or drink the blood of goats?” (Ps.49:13). In addition, he clearly said to the Jews: “Gather up your burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat meat, because I did not speak to your fathers about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but only this word I commanded them, saying: Judge righteous judgment” (Jer. 7:21-23 and Zech. 7:9). So, bloody sacrifices are completely useless and cannot wash away the uncleanness that has adhered to a person due to sin. This is confirmed again when the voice of the prophet Jeremiah appears speaking to the mother of the Jews Jerusalem: “Why has my beloved committed abominations in my house? Will holy vows and meat take away your wickedness from you, or will you escape with them?” (Jer.11:15); “For the blood of oxen and goats cannot take away sins,” as Paul says (Heb. 10:4). And that those who care about subordinate service as in vain and try to perform completely useless bloody sacrifices and gifts were rightly expelled from the divine courtyard, this is clearly taught by the prophet Isaiah: “You will not continue to walk through My courtyard: if you bring semidala (the best wheat flour), it is in vain; incense is an abomination to Me” (Isaiah 1:12–13). So, true salvation does not lie in the rituals established by law, and no one will find in them the desired freedom, that is, from sin. On the contrary, having renounced images and already seeing the beauty of service in the spirit, having come to know the truth, that is, Christ, we receive justification through faith in Him. Having been justified, we move on to true freedom, no longer appearing as slaves, as before, but as sons of God. John will testify to this in his words about Christ and those who believe in Him: “And those who received Him gave them power to become children of God” (John 1:12). Therefore, it is very beneficial that the Lord and our Christ do not allow those who believe in Him to continue to honor the shadows of the law, for there is nothing useful in them or capable of giving true freedom. On the contrary, he commands them to know the truth, for through it, he says, they will be completely freed, according to the meaning of the interpreted saying. John 8:33. (Having answered Him the seed of Abraham, we are and no one else has worked: as you say, you will be free Again they ridicule the promise of our Savior - even more, they are indignant, supposedly offended. For one, they say, who is not involved in any slavery, what need could there be for one who calls us to freedom and, as if as a gift, imparts what is already inherent to us? They do not know, although they are accustomed to think a lot about themselves, that the forefather Abraham was not the son, judging by the world, of a noble father and did not shine with the differences of this life, but was glorified by his faith in God alone: ​​“Abraham believed in God,” it is said, “and faith was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23). From here you can clearly see the reason for his inherent glory. Since he was called a friend of the Almighty God, that is why he became great and glorious, faith in righteousness was imputed to him, and the truth from faith became for him the cause of freedom according to God. So, when, having believed, he received justification, that is, when he rejected the ignobility of sin, then he appeared noble and noble and free. It is therefore unreasonable that the Jews, despising the grace that liberated and the very founder of the race, concentrate their thoughts on only the one liberated by it (Abraham), but, not paying attention to where this glory comes from and where this glory directs him, they dishonor the Giver of his inherent qualities, neglect the Source of all nobility and think exaggeratedly about the one honored with communion with Him (Abraham). They also turn out to be empty boasters in the statement that they have never enslaved anyone - with these words they are exposed as liars. After all, they were in slavery to the Egyptians for four hundred and thirty years, only thanks to the highest grace were they brought out of the house of slavery and from the iron furnace, as it is written (Deut. 4:20), that is, the cruelty of the Egyptians. They were also enslaved by the Babylonians and Assyrians, who, having devastated the entire Judean country and Jerusalem itself, resettled all of Israel into their country. So, the speech of the Jews is completely unreasonable, for in addition to ignorance about true slavery, I mean slavery in sins, they completely reject other ignoble slavery (political), having a mind accustomed to being arrogant about insignificant reasons. John 8:34. The Savior answered them: truly, truly, I say to you, for everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin 616 Being spiritual and looking only at the physical, it turns them away from their inherent ignorance, directs them to something more spiritual and transfers them, as it were, to an untrodden and completely unusual instruction, showing them the hidden and for a long time remaining unknown slavery. At the same time, he wisely omits (the accusation is) that they falsely say that “we have never been slaves to anyone” (John 8:33), just as he does not point out that they are in vain boasting about the nobility of their forefather, so as not to again give them a reason for inappropriate actions, since they were already excited and very prone to anger. Limiting himself, as it were, to the most necessary and what they needed to know, He says that the “slave” is “sin”, the one who “creates” it. He says, as it were, like this: a person who is on earth, as you know, is some kind of complex animal, namely from the soul and the body - and slavery in the flesh concerns the flesh, and what touches the soul and happens in the soul has sin as its barbaric mother. Therefore, the liberation of a person from carnal slavery belongs to the power of the rulers, and liberation from sin must be appropriated only to God and does not belong to anyone else. So, he urges them to think correctly and strive for true and real freedom and thus to look no longer for the completely useless nobility of their ancestors in this regard, but only for God, who rules over his own laws, which crime produces, sin that feeds spiritual slavery. Our Lord Jesus Christ, it seems, secretly and very gloomily denounces them as having vainly thought highly of man and thinking that blessed Abraham was completely free. Having declared in general that “everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin,” He includes Abraham himself in the net as having once been a slave of sin. After all, he was justified not because he was righteous, but when he believed God, being called to freedom as a result of justification. And of course, we say this not out of envy of the glory of the righteous, but since there is no one among people who has not experienced the arrows of sin, but even those who are considered great are subject to the yoke of sin, according to what is written: “No one is righteous, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:10, 23). The glory of God, by the way, consists in not having any possibility of falling into sin, which truly belongs to Christ alone, for He alone became “free among the dead” (Ps. 88:6), since He did not commit sin, although He found himself among the dead, that is, (as a man) He was among people over whom sinful death once ruled. So - I will generalize the meaning of the interpreted words - the Lord somewhat covertly points out that blessed Abraham himself, who was once enslaved to sin and freed from it through faith in Christ alone, is not able to impart spiritual nobility to others, since he who has freed himself from slavery to sin cannot have the power to free anyone, nor does he turn out to be the giver of freedom to himself, but received it from another, obviously from Christ Himself who justifies. John 8:35. A slave does not abide in a house forever: a son abides forever 617 Having declared those who are guilty of sins to be deprived of freedom and are under heavy slavery, he usefully adds a speech about what will happen to those who love slavery and what, on the contrary, will follow from God for those who have chosen a life in accordance with the Law of God and for this reason are recognized as sons of God. “The slave,” he says, “does not remain in the house forever.” And in fact, after all, he will retire into the outer darkness (external) in order to receive punishment there for his unfree life - “the son abides forever,” for once those who have partaken of the glory of sonship will remain before God in no case expelled from the sacred court of the firstborn, but, on the contrary, will live in it for an endlessly continuing age. For a more precise understanding of the saying, you can read the parable in the Gospels, in which Christ says that he will put the goats on the left side, and the sheep on the right, and that he will send the goats away from Himself with the words: “Go, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” and will gather the sheep to Himself and joyfully receive them again with the words: “Come, ye blessed of the Father.” Mine, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:41, 34). By means of goats the barren multitude of sin-loving people is denoted, and by means of sheep - the choir of the pious, as if framed by some kind of fleece with the fruit of righteousness. So, the one who has taken upon himself shameful slavery will be cast out from the Kingdom of Heaven as an unfit and priceless vessel, and everyone who loves the right life will be accepted and will remain in it, placed for this purpose in the rank of sons of God. But in these words, it seems, the Lord is pointing out to them that, having not accepted freedom through faith, they, of course, must be removed from the sacred and divine courtyard, that is, the Church, according to what one of the prophets said: “I will drive them out of My house” (Hosea 9:15). And that this prophecy came to fulfillment over them is evidenced by the actual state of affairs itself, “for the daughter of Zion is left like a tent in a vineyard and like a storehouse of fruit in a vegetable garden,” as it is written (Is. 1:8). The temple fell and was completely destroyed, and they found themselves outside, not remaining in it forever; on the contrary, the Church of the pagans appeared and was erected by Christ in its place, and in it those called through faith to Divine adoption always abide. And the praise of the Church will by no means cease and will never cease, for the souls of the righteous, moving away from earthly things, rush to the highest city, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church of the firstborn, “who is our mother,” according to the word of Paul (Gal. 4:26). But since we, explaining the saying about slavery and trying to explore the truth in every way, said that Abraham himself was numbered among the slaves, if his person cannot be excluded from the number of those about whom Christ generally said: “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin,” then now again we need to explain the meaning of these words, following our reasoning. The Jews thought a lot about themselves and exalted themselves, presenting Abraham as the leader and, as it were, the source of their inherent nobility, but they did not think at all in their minds about the fact that they should strive for liberation through heavenly grace, turning out to be “mad and blind,” according to the word of the Savior. Therefore Christ considers it necessary to show that being a slave by nature is not enough to free others, but even himself. In what way, in fact, can something that itself needs it by its nature give freedom, and what receives grace for itself from another will be able to give it to others? In fact, it is fitting and proper for Him alone, who is God from God by nature, to have the power to liberate. Thus, it provides clear proof that everything that does not endure forever, that is, what does not tend to remain unchanged, must necessarily be and be recognized as slave. Everything created, without a doubt, must be subject to destruction. And if so, then it is obvious - in slavery to God who called him into existence. So, about the creatures it was said to Him: “For all are Your servants” (Ps. 119:91). That's how it is in general. But one part in the whole (universe) is the blessed Abraham or, in general, humanity again. On the contrary, by remaining forever he gives a clear sign that the Only Begotten God, who appeared from God, is the King and Lord of all. To whom, in fact, does the everlasting immutability and firm constancy of eternal blessings belong, if not the One who is the true God by nature? On this basis, the divine Psalmist declared creation to be a slave, and God the Word, who appeared from God the Father, to be King and Lord. In part, to everything, that is, to created things, extending his reasoning, about the heavens and about the Son by nature, he says: “They will perish, but You remain; and they will all wear out like a garment, and you will roll them up like a veil and change; but You are one and the same, and Your years will not cease” (Ps. 102:27-28). You can see from here that what is truly and indisputably servile does not endure forever, but the Son abides, and that non-existence (in immutability) serves as proof of the slavery of the one about whom this is said. Accordingly, the other thing, that is, remaining forever, should be a clear sign that the Master and God is the One about whom this word is spoken in its own and true sense. The Psalmist is sufficient to testify to the truth of our reasoning. But since, according to what is written: “In the mouth of two and three witnesses every word will stand” (2 Cor. 13:1), then let us also introduce blessed Jeremiah to this (Psalmist), thinking and speaking in accordance with this. In destructibility, showing the sign of everything created, and therefore servile, and in the constancy and immutability of the Son, revealing in Him God by nature and, obviously, at the same time the Lord, he says this in one place to Him: “Because You are enthroned forever, but we perish forever” (Bar.3:3). At any time, everything that has happened is destructible for the reason that it was created, although it is not destroyed by the omnipotence of God. God will always remain seated, since the seat named here means the constancy and unchanging identity of His being, with which His royal dignity and power are combined - this is the image of sitting in these words. So - I will return to the beginning - through non-abiding forever he proves that blessed Abraham is perishable and created, for he died and in some way moved from the master's house, that is, from this world, according to which he wants to present him as a slave, unable to give freedom to others. And with the words about the presence of the Son forever, He clearly already calls Himself God from God by nature, Who, of course, should be both King and Lord. But what consequence follows for us from the difference just indicated will be clearly revealed in the next saying. John 8:36. If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free 618 One, he says, the Son by nature, truly free and removed from all slavery, is inherent in the ability to liberate, but not at all to anyone else. For just as that which by nature is wisdom, light and strength, the first makes wise those who are capable of perceiving wisdom, the second illuminates those who need light, and the third strengthens those who require strength; in the same way, He who is God from God and is the true and free fruit of the reigning Essence over all, gives freedom to whomever He wills. Therefore, no one can become truly free through someone who does not have freedom by his very nature. When the Son himself desires to free someone, imparting to him His own good, then such will be called truly free, as having received this dignity from the one who has the power (to do this), and not from someone else endowed (with this good) from now on and adorned, as it were, with other people's gifts. Thus, the previous saying contains the most necessary explanation, and in the difference given there lies a very useful thought for diligent and attentive listeners. After all, it was necessary to understand where it is necessary for us to seek nobility according to God and to know the Son, who is able to liberate. Therefore, let those who are comforted by worldly virtues not be carried away by arrogance and arrogant thoughts, and let them not attack the glory and grace of the saints, even if they were some of the smallest in the flesh, for what seems brilliant among people is not enough for nobility with God, but only glory through life and virtuous morals makes a person truly free and noble. Joseph, for example, was sold into slavery, as it is written (Ps. 104:17), but even in this state he was free and shone with spiritual nobility. And Esau was born of a free man and was free, but through shameful behavior he revealed a slave soul. Therefore, those who are noble with God, as we just said, are not those who have wealth, possess an abundance of money and are comforted by the glory of worldly honors, but those who shine with holy lives and lawful behavior. John 8:37. We know that you are the seed of Abraham; but you seek to kill Me, because 619 My word does not fit into you Pointing out to them in various ways the utter futility and utter uselessness of their boasting of the kinship of Abraham, he says this so that they seek true and God-pleasing nobility. God does not look at the flesh, as our Savior Christ Himself said: “The flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63) - but, on the contrary, He accepts and bestows all praise on spiritual nobility - He recognizes those who have true nobility, whom, as if in one virtue, he collects the sameness of deeds or the sameness of morals and adorns them with the same kind of goods, but accordingly, the opposite (happens with bad people). Otherwise, how can we, who are of the earth and made of clay, according to what is written (Job 33:6), be called the race of the Lord of all, as Paul says: “Being a race of God” (Acts 17:29). It is indisputable, of course, that we became related to Him, according to the flesh, in the sacrament of Christ (incarnation). But the truth of this can be seen in another way. Seriously thinking and reasoning about what pleases Him and what we need to live piously, we will be called sons of God who is above all, and, directing our mind to the extent available to us towards what is pleasing to Him, in this way we turn out to be truly akin to Him in likeness and the most exact similarity with Him. And that as kinship God accepts likeness and exact resemblance in deeds or morals, we clearly recognize this by delving into the sacred words and examining the Divine Scripture. Thus, during the time of Jeremiah the prophet (Jer. 29:24), a certain Elamite appeared, named Samey, a false prophet, who spewed from his womb, as it is written, and not from the mouth of God (Jer. 23:16). And since there were a great multitude of other false witnesses and false prophets who seduced the people and led them to something inappropriate, God, the Lord of all, was rightfully indignant at last. Then, having used many speeches about Samea and clearly stated what punishment he would be subjected to for his insolence, at the end he adds: “And I will punish Samea and his generation - those who do the like of him” (Jer. 29:32). Don't you notice that He sees kinship in identical actions? Otherwise, how would the One who conducts righteous judgments begin to punish, along with Samey, his family according to the flesh, who are not the same with him in disposition in relation to bad behavior, although He clearly says through the prophet Ezekiel: “The soul that sins, it will die” (Ezek. 18:4). Therefore, so that they would not think anything like that about Him, after the word “kin” He immediately added: “those who do like him,” defining kinship in the sameness of actions. But we can see the truth of what was said in the Jews themselves, if we remember the words of John, I mean the Holy Baptist. Declaring their boast of kinship with Abraham vain, he says: “And do not say within yourselves, We have Abraham as a father, for God is able from these stones to raise up a seed for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). Since it was said to him from God: “By multiplying, I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven” (Gen. 22:17), then the people of Judah, based, of course, on the falsity of the Promiser, imagined a lot about themselves and hoped, he says, that in no way and never would they be deprived of their kinship with their ancestor, so that the promise would be preserved. But, destroying this hope of theirs, the blessed Baptist clearly says that “God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9). Blessed Paul also agrees with this, saying: “Not all who are of Israel are Israel, nor (also) because they are the seed of Abraham, are all children” (Rom. 9:6-7). When in this way the truth is comprehensively proven that God knows only kinship in morality and behavior, then the boasting of saints and good ancestors, given the lack and complete absence of their virtue (in their descendants), is in vain. Therefore, quite rightly, the Lord says to the Jews: “I know that you are Abraham’s seed, but you seek to kill Me, because My word does not fit into you.” Yes, he says, when I look at the flesh alone and consider where the Jewish people came from, then I see (you) appearing from the seed of Abraham. But if I pay attention to the beauty of his life and morality, I contemplate, he says, you as strangers (to him) and no longer relatives. After all, “you are looking to kill Me,” while the forefather, about whom you think so much, was not a murderer - and the worst and most lawless thing is that you are not persecuting Me for serious reasons, but want to kill Me completely unjustly. “Because” only you decided to destroy, “because My word does not fit into you,” although it calls you to life and salvation. “It cannot fit into you” because of the sin that dwells in you and, as it were, leaves no place for good advice and admonitions. So, murderers and at the same time unrighteous judges are Jews who determined the death penalty for the One who had not committed any injustice, but, on the contrary, could provide help and tried to save them. In what other way could those who were so far behind his virtues and so far removed from his morality, as vice, as everyone must admit, is separated from virtue, be akin to the righteous and good Abraham? John 8:38. I, even as I have seen from the Father, say: you also, as you have heard from the Father, do 620 Having said that His word is inconceivable among the Jews, which is why they rebel against Him and are exposed as murderers, I considered it necessary to add these words - and for what reason, I will state again. He did not know how to think that some of the Jews would rise up and arm themselves against His words and, spewing out from their inherent dishonesty, they would again say: it is not in vain, as you claim, that some have murderous intentions against You, they strive for this for good reasons, this intention in them is God-loving and this jealousy does not deserve blame in justice: after all, Your word is inconceivable in them, as You did Him (Yourself), they say, is contrary to God, to another (not in agreement with the will of God), you teach us error, distract us from the path according to the law (of Moses) and transfer us to something pleasing only to You Alone. So, probably, the Jews secretly whispered or thought within themselves, and the Lord again warns them, knowing the movements of thoughts taking place in them, for He is the true God. That’s why he says: “What I saw with the Father, I say,” I contemplated the nature of My Father, by myself and in Myself I saw the Parent and became a contemplator of His desires. I saw, obviously, through innate knowledge, what deeds He is a lover of, and I “say” this to you, but I do not at all find myself saying something contrary to Him, and I have not established anything contrary to His will. I try to call my listeners to this, without retreating from My desires, for His desires are in Me and Mine are also in Him. But if I, being such by nature and turning out to be in agreement with God and the Father in everything, seem to you to be somehow untrue and considered to be deviating you from Divine instructions, then let such accusation cease, cast aside such suspicion. “Do what you have heard from the Father,” (He said) to you through Moses, fulfill the commandment, “you have heard His words: “Do not kill the innocent and the upright” (Ex. 23:7), how can you seek to kill Me, thus violating the commandment of the Father? But in another meaning we can understand the saying: “And you” (therefore, thus, “so also you”), “do what you have heard from the Father.” He spoke to you through the prophets; you heard the words: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Preach, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving, and mounted on a young (foal) donkey, the son of a bullock” (Zechariah 9:9). Also again in the voice of Isaiah: “Come up to the high mountain, O preacher of Zion! Lift up your voice with might, O preacher of good news to Jerusalem! Lift up, don't be afraid! Behold your God, behold the Lord cometh with power, and His arm with authority; this is His reward (from Him) with Him and the work before Him; like a shepherd he will feed his flock and with his arm (hand) he will gather the lambs and comfort those who are with them” (Is. 40:9-11). So, obeying the commandments of the Father, accept what was foretold, honor the Foretold One with faith, give power within yourself at least to the words of the Father. You need to know that if he says that the law is of God and the Father, although it was spoken from Him through the Angels, then he does not exclude himself from legislation, but does it out of condescension towards the Jews, who thought that this was so, and does not refute this opinion for their benefit. After all, He often shamed them for not receiving Him, citing the name of the Father. John 8:39. Having answered Him 621 and decided: our father Abraham is O great ignorance and mind, hardened in unbelief, carried away only by curiosity! After all, our Savior Christ made it clear and clearly said: “I know that the seed of Abraham is” (John 8:37), and yet they continue to remain in the same opinion, as if someone strongly objected and argued that they are not from the seed of Abraham according to the flesh - they again say that “our father Abraham is”, and are not ashamed to often repeat the same words, probably thinking not to yield to Butt 622 and appearing excellent competitors only for the vice of his tongue. But perhaps they had some absurd motive for this? What it could be, let's talk about it. When the Lord said: “What I saw with the Father, I say this,” they did not understand what was pointing here to God and the Father, but they believed that He was speaking either about the righteous Joseph, or about another one of the earth, thinking and reasoning about Him in a very low and contemptuous manner. After all, the Holy Virgin bore the Divine Fruit without entering into marriage, but “by the Holy Spirit,” as it is written (Matthew 1:18), and without first knowing the image (and secret) of the economy, blessed Joseph “desired to secretly let her go,” according to the word of Matthew (Matthew 1:19). However, it was not entirely unknown to the Jews that the Holy Virgin had been pregnant before marriage and intermarriage, but they did not understand that it was from the Holy Spirit, but, on the contrary, they thought that She had been corrupted by one of the pagans, which is why they had incorrect ideas about Christ. They imagined that He was the son of another father, who had corrupted the Holy Virgin, in their crazy opinion, and He was attributed to Joseph only as an illegitimate, and not as a real son. So, when He said: “I say what I have seen with the Father” (John 8:38), they did not have the slightest thought about God, but assumed that He was pointing to one of the earthly fathers and trying to deviate them from the ambitious thought of their ancestor and His blood (His family) to acquire the honor due to another. Dreaming of the primordial glory of the patriarchate, they quickly and quarrelsomely object to Him: “Our Father is Abraham.” It’s as if they were saying: even though You flood us with Your wise words from all sides, deafen us with extraordinary miracles and amaze us with inexpressibly great deeds, you will not turn us away from our primordial praise, we will not recognize Your father as the founder of our family, we will not give this glory to another, and we will not change the ancients to new ancestors. And there is nothing surprising, but, on the contrary, it can be considered very natural that the Jews fell into such ignorant judgments when they considered Him a simple man and called Him the son of a carpenter (Matt. 13:55), humiliating in every possible way and putting the King and Lord of all into nothing. And that the Holy Virgin was judged wrongly, as if she had been corrupted by someone, we learn quite clearly from what follows. John 8:39–40. Jesus said to them: although the children of Abraham were quicker, the works of Abraham were done quickly 623: But now you seek to kill Me, the man who spoke the truth to you, even as you heard from God: These things Abraham did not do 624 In order to pacify the insolence of the Jews in all sorts of ways, so to speak, Christ speaks to them covertly, without resorting to direct denunciation, but softening expressions and thereby quietly and differently taming their rage. When he sees that they are already falling into extreme madness and do not understand His words at all, then he speaks, free from obscurity and without any concealment. If you, he says, consider it to be the highest honor to be among the children of Abraham, then, without a doubt, you should diligently imitate his morality, you should follow the venerable virtue of your ancestor, and you must, moreover, zealously love obedience. After all, he heard the word of God: “Get out of your land and from the land of your kindred and go to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). And so, without delaying at all in fulfilling God’s command, he immediately leaves his native country and reaches the unknown and foreign, hoping for the help of the One who gave the command. Then, having already reached the limit of life, being at the age of a hundred, he heard that “you will have a seed” (Gen. 15:5). And without doubting at all, he answered the One who spoke with ardent faith, not paying attention to the weakness of the flesh, but concentrating his thoughts on the power of the One who spoke (Rom. 4:19). He finally heard the command to sacrifice his beloved (son) to God and immediately overcomes natural feelings and places love for his young child below the Divine commandment. With you, however, I find everything opposite to this, for “you seek to kill Me” because I “told you” what “is from God, which Abraham did not do.” After all, he did not offend the One who spoke to him by disobedience, and did not try to do anything to upset Him. How are you still children of Abraham, having moved away from his love for God as much as from his virtuous character? Notice how expediently the speech is constructed. He did not say now that He heard the truth “from the Father,” but “from God,” for, as we have just said, due to their inherent immeasurable foolishness, they were inclined to false opinions about Him, imagining that He was speaking about some earthly father. In the same way, pointing to death in His speech, He calls Himself “man,” everywhere retaining His incorruptibility as God by nature, however, not separating His own church (body) from Himself, but remaining the only Son even after He became a man. He claims that he said “the truth,” for it is not in images and external rituals that the word of the Savior teaches us to perform piety, but convinces us to love spiritual and true worship. And if he says: “what I heard from the Father,” then one should not be tempted by this. Since he calls himself “man,” he says this in a human-like manner. Just as His death is spoken of as of a man, so should what He hears be spoken of Him as of a man. And it is quite natural that the innate knowledge that He has about the will of His Parent is expressed by the word “hear,” for the Holy Scripture itself often and usually uses this word about God. So, when he says: “And the Lord heard,” we, of course, do not at all assimilate to Him a special and separate sense of hearing, as we do. Divine Nature is simple and alien to any complexity. On the contrary, we must understand hearing as knowledge and knowledge as hearing. In a simple (being), as we said, there is nothing complex. It is not in vain that we consider adding a third reasoning here. God and the Father said in one place about Christ to the most sacred Moses that “I will raise up for them, that is, the Israelites, a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He will speak to them according to all that I command Him” (Deut. 18:18). It is for this reason, I think, that our Lord Jesus Christ says that He “heard” the “truth” from the Father and expressed it to the Jews, at the same time exposing them in opposition to God and the Father Himself, and clearly showing Himself as the One about whom the lawgiver foretold that He would be raised up (God). John 8:41. You do the works of your father Having shown that the Jews have different morals from their ancestor and are very far from his love for God, he rightly removes from them the vain carnal boasting. And then, having clearly said that it is not fitting for them to be among his children, he assimilates them to another father, corresponding to them, and in the similarity of affairs he sees, as it were, a certain connection of kinship, teaching that it is fitting for the good to unite with the good, and in relation to those leading a bad lifestyle, determining that as fathers they should be considered known for the same thing. Just as those who have chosen a good life and therefore have already received the name of saints can safely call God their father, since they try, to the extent given to people, to imitate Him, so for the evil ones, the “evil one” should rightly be attributed as a father, since in their morals they imprint the image of his wickedness and immorality. After all, a father, especially in the Holy Scriptures, is not always considered to be the one who begot from himself, but also the one who has any (people) in accordance with his morals, whom (people) he is therefore called father. So blessed Paul writes to some in his epistle: “For in Christ Jesus through the gospel I have begotten you” (1 Cor. 4:15). Therefore, let us repeat, just as through the similarity of morals and holiness some become conformed to God and the holy fathers, so some become like-minded with the devil and with him, being subjected to this due to their own badness. So, the saints should also have holy fathers, but the evil ones, on the contrary, should also be evil. Those, imprinting as much as possible on their souls the Divine image through holiness and having the boldness appropriate to legitimate sons, will rightly say: “Our Father is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). And the bad ones should also belong to the father corresponding to them, born as if through similarity with him into equal badness. Thus, Christ identifies and names another father for the Jews besides Saint Abraham. But who he is does not yet speak clearly. John 8:41. Deciding to Him: We are not born from fornication: of one Father, Imams of God 625 Before this (John 8:39), I already said that the Jews, who were contemptuous of everything, suffered from the disease of extremely wicked ideas about the Savior Christ, for they thought that the Holy Virgin, the Mother of the Lord, turned out to be in her womb not from the Holy Spirit or from an action from above, but from one of the inhabitants of the earth. Being unbelievers and complete fools, they either did not attach any importance to the prophetic writings, although they clearly heard: “Behold, the Virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son” (Is. 7:14), or, looking at only the flesh and following our (human) laws, but not recognizing the super-reasonably and supernaturally active Nature, for which nothing is difficult and everything desired is easily accessible, they thought that a woman could bear pregnant not otherwise than from intercourse and communication with a man. Subject to this opinion, they, pathetic ones, dared to slander the Divine and admirable Generation through the Holy Spirit. And since He, removing them from kinship with Abraham, assimilates them to another Father, they become very angry and, unbridledly raising their inherent anger, they say with abuse: “We were not born of fornication, we have one father, God.” It’s as if they say this in a hidden hint: You Yourself have two fathers and You were not born from a noble marriage, but we (have as a Father) one God. But let everyone see and clearly notice the kind of madness they suffer here too. Due to their inherent wickedness and badness, not placed by the Righteous Judge among the children of Abraham, they reach such a degree of madness that they call God their Father, perhaps in view of what is said in the books of Moses: “My firstborn son Israel” (Exodus 4:22), but not taking into account what Isaiah said: “Alas, apostate children, this is the Lord speaking” (Isaiah 30:1). One can rightly ask the question of what prompted the Jews in this case not to say: “Our Father is Abraham,” or “We have one father, Abraham,” but to directly rise to “one God.” And it seems to me that at the same time they seemed to be reasoning in this way within themselves: since they blasphemed the Lord for the fact that His Mother was allegedly subjected to corruption before marriage, and ascribed to Him two fathers, then, as if to strengthen this maliciousness of theirs, they tried to name themselves one (father). After all, by claiming that they have “one father God,” they thereby indirectly dishonor the Lord with two (fathers), as if contrasting one with two. They thought that with the words “we have one father Abraham,” they would have rejected the others, I mean Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons, that if they had done so, they would have found themselves in contradiction with themselves and would have armed themselves against their own desire and boasting, depriving Israel of the nobility of their fathers and through this ultimately agreeing with the words of the Lord. Thus, avoiding the difficulty that seemed to them to arise from this, they no longer say: “We have one father Abraham,” but, on the contrary, ascribe to themselves “one father God,” carried away only by the dangerous pleasure of reproach, so that they would fall even more guilty as the perpetrators of all wickedness, and meanwhile they dared to receive as a father the Physician of all wickedness. John 8:42. Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, you would sooner love Me: for I have departed from God and come again 626 In these words, the Lord does not deny that anyone can be among the sons of God, but shows to whom this dignity should most be due, and that it turns out to belong primarily to the saints. On the contrary, He accuses the Jews of reckless arrogance. Here I am, he says, the one and true Son by nature, born of God and the Father, and all (others) are revered (as such, that is, sons) as being conformed to Me and ascending into My glory, for images are always similar to prototypes. How, therefore, can you, he says, be among the children of God, when you not only do not want to love Him who appeared from God and transforms those who believe in Him into His own image, but even dishonor them, not just in one way, but in many ways? And not having received Him who is the mark of God and the Father, how can you be conformed to Him? After all, it is not possible for everyone, without distinction, to call God Father, but this, I believe, is appropriate for those who are adorned with the beauty of piety towards Him, and not for others. Behold, I have come from heaven to give the best instructions, and My word turns out to be calling you to become like God. But if you really had the desire and diligence to have God as the Father, then, of course, you would love Me, the Mentor and Teacher of such a path, inspiring a desire for likeness with the one and true Son, making those who receive Him conformable to Himself through the Holy Spirit. Decorated with true likeness to God, how, he says, could he not love Him who is from God? How, tell me, will one honor a tree who recklessly neglects the fruit born from it? Therefore, he says, “either recognize the tree as good and its fruit as good, or recognize the tree as bad (rotten) and its fruit as bad (rotten)” (Matthew 12:33). So, if the tree is noble, that is, God and the Father, and you wanted to decorate your heads with His glory, then why didn’t you believe that such was the Fruit from Him, and didn’t you love it? So, the interpreted saying also contains a bitter denunciation against the Jews, for it shows them to be liars, how quickly they try to call God Father, and yet, due to their dislike for Him who is from God by nature, they are so far removed from the virtue of those called to this (sonship of God). And at the same time, he usefully introduces a mention of the ineffable birth, so that again in this case they would turn out to be wicked, calling Him an ignoble and illegitimate son. Therefore, if the words “I came from God” denotes His ineffable and beginningless birth from the Father, then the addition “came” indicates coming into this world with the flesh. It does not at all say that God the Word only then first shone forth from God and the Father, when he became man, as some wicked heretics imagine, but this saying, on the contrary, should be understood piously and according to the connection of speech. From the fact that the words “came out” and “came” were connected, it does not at all follow that the Logos, which is from the Father, is contemporary with being (His birth according to the flesh), but we must give each word its due special meaning, believing that the first is the birth of the Word from the Father, beginningless and transcending reason, which is expressed in the words: “I came from God,” while the second, that is, according to the flesh, in words: “I did not come from Myself, but She sent Me.” He incarnated like us, that is, he became a man, and by the good will of God and the Father he came into this world to communicate to us the teachings of God and to explain to the ignorant what is in accordance with the will of God. But you, he says, did not love the Savior and Mentor who appeared to you by Divine favor. How, then, can you still be called children of God, or how can you acquire the grace of kinship with Him (God) without honoring Him Who was born of Him? But it seems that here again the Lord says something hidden and, through these words, tries to bring to silence the Jewish people, who scolded Him in vain. Let's say briefly what exactly is being pointed out here. Many of the Jews, not placing Divine fear in anything, but appreciating and accepting only human honors, succumbing to shameful acquisitions, dared to prophesy, “speaking from their hearts, and not from the mouth of God,” as it is written (Jer. 23:16). The Lord of all himself blamed them for this, saying: “I did not send prophets, I did not speak to them, but they prophesied” (Jer. 23:21). But then he threatened to do something terrible to them, exclaiming: “Woe to those who prophesy from their hearts and see (nothing) at all” (Ezek. 13:3). Such was Samaeus (Ananias?), who opposed the words of Jeremiah with his lies. Grabbing the wooden yoke and breaking it, he said: “Thus says the Lord: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon” (Jer. 28:2, 13). And since, regarding the words of our Savior Christ: “Now you seek to kill Me, the man who told you the truth, which you heard from God” (John 8:40), the Jews grumbled and, not knowing who He really was, considered Him to be a false prophet and for this reason became embittered, so that they dared not only to scold Him, but even attempted to fiercely and swiftly put Him to death, then again usefully frightens by indicating that He did not come from Himself, as was usual for those who falsely prophesied, but was sent from God, in order to at the same time reject from Himself the glory of the false prophet and teach that they will undergo considerable punishment as not only dishonoring the One sent from God and the Father, but also having dared to kill Him, and thereby stop their unbridled insolence. This is the meaning of these words. But it is possible that the heretic will also turn this saying into some kind of food for his inherent wickedness. Perhaps he will come forward with an accusation against the essence (nature) of the Only Begotten and consider it inferior in comparison with the Father on the grounds that He uses the word “sent” about Himself. Let such a one again reflect on the image of the economy that we have just expressed and remember the words of Paul about the Son: “Who, being in the form of God, did not count himself equal with God by being kidnapped, but made himself of no reputation, taking on 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” (Phil. 2:6-8). If He humiliated Himself voluntarily, obviously with the consent and agreement of the Father with Him, then to what accusation will He be subject, having carried out the image of the economy as it should have been? And if, on the basis of the word “sent,” you think that the Son is less than the Father, then tell me, in what way, being less, in your ignorant opinion, does He always and invariably act completely like God? In what way is this lesser manifestation manifested in Him, if He perfectly possesses the property of a Parent and complete Divine power? Therefore, it is necessary to represent Him no less because of His sending, but, being God from God by nature and truly, since He is the Wisdom and Power of the Father, He is sent to us like light spread from the sun, in order to make wise those who need wisdom, and thus that those who are weak may finally be exalted through Him, strengthened in all knowledge of God and the Father, and raised to all virtue. And this is because everything good in human nature came to light through Christ alone. Thus, there is nothing at all servile (inferior) in Christ, except only one image according to the flesh (μοϱφῆς ϰατὰ σάϱϰα), on the contrary, (He has) divine power and strength over everything, although in speech about Him we are applied in a human form to the state of His humiliation. John 8:43. Why don’t you understand My conversation? For you cannot hear My word 627 We will repeat what we have said many times already for the benefit of the readers, for there is nothing bad in frequently indicating what is useful. I mean the custom of the Savior Christ not to wait for the words spoken with the tongue from those who did not believe Him, but to look inside the hearts and give answers to the thoughts that arose in the depths of their hearts. A person, not knowing the thoughts of another, must of necessity wait for the spoken word, but God is not so. When the Lord told the Jews that He did not come from Himself, as was usual among those who came to prophecy of their own free will, and not from the Divine Spirit, but was sent from God, then again they began to think or reason within themselves, or even quietly whispered to each other: many prophets proclaimed the commandments of God and reported to us speeches from the Spirit, but we do not find in them anything that is in the speeches of This One - behold, He completely deviates from the legal service, transfers us to some other structure and introduces us to a new way of life - therefore it is obvious that His word is inconsistent and does not resemble the ancients. When He, as is natural to think, saw such reflections in them, then, showing that He is God by nature, and knowing the intentions of the heart, He perceives them and says: “Why do you not understand My conversation? Because you cannot listen to My word." I knew, he says, that “you cannot” understand “My conversation” or teaching. But I’ll tell you the reason for this and explain what’s preventing you from doing so. “You cannot hear My word,” and the word “you cannot” exposes their powerlessness in the perfect good, due to their subjection to their passions. After all, devotion to pleasure relaxes the mind and, through an unbridled attraction to vice, imparts powerlessness to the heart, making it sluggish and timid in the practice of virtue. So, having previously become weak from vicious desires and oppressed by his own passions, he says, “You cannot listen to my word,” for “the ways of the Lord are right,” according to what is written, “and the righteous will walk in them, and the wicked will faint in them” (Hos. 14:10). You will find something related to this in other words (of the Lord) to the Pharisees: “How can you believe, receiving glory from one another, but not seeking glory from the one God?” (John 5:44). And here their inability to believe shows the voluntary powerlessness of their mind or a soul already corrupted by love of glory. We will also find true what Paul said: “But the natural man does not receive anything of the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness” (1 Cor. 2:14). So, since they were soulful, they considered it madness (the words) of Him who called them to salvation and Taught them the way of an excellent life, Who perfectly directed them to please the good-loving God, to Whom is all honor, glory, and power forever and ever, amen. ’Αληϑῶς before ἔγνωσαν read. and Sir. (syn. Kur. Jer.) and glory. Type. weeks 12th century and Al.: truly knowing, and Cyrus. still understandable. Art. 30 – lower, but op. 33. d. scr. Sire. on foot Sag. Uh. Tatian (in Ephr. Moes. 210 and Ciasca S 28). Vm. ἄϱχοντες glory. "princes" read. ἄϱχοντες א.a. Epiphus (ἱεϱεις) Sag. (οἱ ἄϱχ. ϰαὶ οἱ ἄϱχ.) ἐστιν without ἀληϑῶς read. א B. D. It. (pl.) Vg. Sire. (chicken and syn.) Sag. Copt. Arm. Or. Epiph. with ἀληϑῶς plural. late Mayusk. Goth. Sire. (pedestrian Hercules and Jer.). Uh. and Tats. ib. also slav. type. and Al.: "truly". Cyrus. cheat ἔλϑῃ in interpretation as G and some. (cf. א *), and in the text ἔϱχεται, as א other plural, but B. D. other plural. ἔϱχηται. “Zhe” – ancient vm. late “Wretched.” in the church" Type. 12th century vm. other ancient texts "churches" It’s wonderful that the “Jews” read. and Ostrom. and Mst., but in the variants there is no such reading. "Ubo" late. vm. “the same” ancient, – also “yes they have” vm. "yati" (and St. Al.) - the latter is more accurate. Rare, not available in manuscripts and translations reading εἰς (τὴν) παγίδα or ἐν παγίδα vm. ἐπὶ or εἰς τὴν γῆν is found only in Origen (several times), in Clementines, in Chrysostom, Epiphanius and Juvencus. “From the people of many” is also the ancient word. vm. now. and Al.: “many from n.” acc. Friend. Greek Op. ὅτι, like some - but glory. cheat Op. τούτου, like the ancient word. and now., but Al. and some late: "this". Cyrus. cheat ἐποιήσεν as in ancient words. and Al. acc. one, but now. and Const. and late "create" acc. Friend. Thurs. Greek Here and at 7:52, Cyrus. cheat ὅν and ἔχει ποιῆσαι. Without union, like one and St. Al., and others with οὖν, δε (Old Slavic “the same”) and ϰαὶ. “Bishops – Pharisees – Jews” ancient text. vm. late: “bishop – Pharisee – Jew”. Wed. still by 7:35. Others and glory. op. αὐτοῖς. All ancient words: “zhe” and Al. vm. late (Kiev.) and tep.: "wretched". Without με, as alone and glory. and to 6:1. Ancient Slavic: “look”, but Al. and now: “you will seek.” Vm. εἰμί, like Slav., Cyrus. cheat ὑπάγω to the point. VI, I and further here at the end of the interpretation, respectively, εἶμι ancient Italian: a c d. Copt. Sire. chickens and syn. (but not the Pedestrian Hercules and Dances of Ciasca) Copt. and ὀδεύσω Nonna. In ancient Slav. No. "This", but in Al. There is. Art. omitted 36, after which in one code. 12 tbsp. (No. 225) reads: ϰαὶ ἐποϱεύϑη ἕϰαστος, etc. John 7:53, 8:11. Various readings: τῇ ἐσχ. ἡ. τῇμ. τ. ἑ. other: τῇἐσχ. ἡ. τῇμ. τῆςἑ. other: τῇἡ. τῇμ. τῇἐ. τῆςἑ. no. op. τῇ μεγ. other τῇ εσχ. Ancient: Ost. Gal. Mst. Mar. Zogr.: “on the last day there is a great holiday” - in Savv. op. "great" and cheat. "holiday", Const. “holiday”, one 15th century: “great holiday”. Instead of Kir. ἔϰϱαξεν א D... "called out" read. ἔϰϱαζεν. In other and ancient texts. Al. and now. “standing and calling”, but Sav. track. 1st Thursday: “cry out.” Nek. op. πϱός με. St. Al.: "let him come." Wed. sense to VI, 5 at the beginning of the 4th chapter of the 3rd book and the 5th chapter. 4th book. At Cor. ἔλεγεν – “spoke”, like א and many others. Cheat. οὗ = “His own” in Const.: and later. vm. ὅ as in ancient words. and Al.: "like" . πιστεύοντες like glory. vm. πιστεύσαντες. Ancient and Al. “(stench) in Him” according to Greek vm. late and tep.: “in His name.” Wed. Cyrus. to 15Pus. II. 559; Wed III. 279 and 291. Πνεῦμα without approx. cheat א et al. and Kir. below at the end of the interpretation of this verse, - also in Glaph. Aub. 145 and Ador. 404, – Copt. Arm. Orig. in some m. Gezikh. Pseudo-Cyprus. etc. Approx. ἃγιον late. oz. Did. Af. Zlat. Theodoret, Cyrus himself. to In. XII, 27–28 and John. XVI, 12–13 in Pus. II, 319 and 626, glory: Al. late and heat (and also επ’ αὐτοῖς D. f. Goth.). Vm. ἅγιον read. δεδομένον ancient lat. pl. Vg. Sire. (Pesh. Cur. Sin. Dance. y Ciasca) Evs. - Cheat. both additions: “The Holy Spirit is given” in ancient words. V. nek. lat. Sire. (Jer. and Hercules). Καὶ δἰ αὐτοῦ πϱόεισι τοῖς ἁγίοις ϰατὰ τὸ ἑϰάστῳ πϱέπον διανεμηϑὲν παϱὰ Πατϱός. Latin The translator sees here the teaching about the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son and translates: et per ipsum (filium) procedit, sanctis, prout unicuique convenit, a Patre distributus, i.e. “and through Him (the Son) proceeds, given to the saints... from the Father.” But our translation is also possible, and the matter must be decided on the basis of the general dogmatic teaching of St. Cyril about the Holy Spirit. However, to πϱόεισι cf. then the following speech (Pus. 694, 18) about the origin of the human race from Adam. So, without τινές cheat. ancient vm. “many from...” late. Slav. – τὸν λὸγον τοῦτον or without τοῦτον pl. late oz. and glory Savv. Arch.: “This is the Word”, – in Const. and later and tep.: "word". But in ancient times τῶν λὸγον nek. from arr. αὐτοῦ and τούτων, – Ostr. Gal. Mst. Mar. Zogr. “Words si”, Al.: “words”. Ὃτι and ἀληϑῶς read. no. some In glory Sav. Arch.: "and ini", Al.: "ini", Ost. Gal. “friends”, Mar. Zogr.: “friends” (δε approx. in German). Ὁι δε etc. ἄλλοι. Slav. “ovii same” or without “zhe”, and “druziya”. – “comes”, others: “will come, will come, will come.” Al. “The food will come.” “Don't write. whether speech” (Greek εἶπεν and λέγει) others: “for no reason... aren’t books rekosha. - tribe. Wiffle. weigh" in some, others: "Vif. city, city - X. will come, X. will come, will come” Al.: “whether... where... X. will come”, resp. Greek var. So Sin. etc. etc. glory vm. "her" Alec. etc. "Ubo" - new. vm. ancient: "same". Sav. op. "among the people" Al.: “to be among the people” resp. Greek var. Slav.: “For his sake.” Slav.: “yeteri, unite”, but Gal. and Al. "netsyi" . Al.: “netsy and want” (error) “from” (more precisely vm. now and ancient: “from”) “them... Him” (vm. al.: “and”), “but not one” (precisely vm. al.: “nobody”)... “Hands” (more precisely, vm. “ruce”, for the Greek is not dual, but plural). Al.: “never” (sitse) “verb”, Sav.: “not a verb taco”, Other: “nevertheless there was a verb” or “verb. there is”, resp. Greek var. - Kir. op. “as this man says.” acc. אс. In others. But ancient. cheat ὡς οὕτος λαλεῖ ἀ א* Sir. (kur. syn.) others, but glory. op. λαλεῖ resp. late Without "ugly" acc. one Greek and ancient words ("wretched" read. Const. Al. late.). Instead of "fast" Mst. Gal. Mar. etc. and later - Type. and Sim. “naturally” is quite accurate, – Al.: “be tempted” Sav. "delight" (shy)? Al. lit.: “those who do not know.” Al. exactly: “verb”, however, is a var. εἶπεν vm. λέγει. Spicy Mst. Gal. Mar. Zogr. others: “arrived” (without “like”, like late and warm), and Yur. Type. Al.: “passing” - both readings are better than the current one. Cyrus. cheat πϱότεϱον vm. νύϰτος, acc. one, others have both, others are omitted. this is a sentence, and other op.: εἰς ῶν... Al.: “of them” . This is one of the many variant passages in the Gospel. Sav.: “condemns a person” Type. Karp: “will hear” . Al. "first" At St. Kir.: ὀυϰ ἐγήεϱται = “not raised” cf. Matthew 11:11, how late. oz., but the oldest: ἐγέιϱεται, St. Al. exactly: “doesn’t get up.” But kudos. “does not come”, Zogr.: “will come”, Ass. “will come” (“t?” ending the verse with this), following the rare reading: ἔϱχεται code. u (Crown. 9th–10th centuries). Here at St. Cyril is followed by the omission of John 7:53–8:11, containing the story of an adulterous wife. In explanation of this omission, it should be pointed out that this story is read only by representatives of the later edition of the New Testament text, such as “Codd”. D (6th century, but the text of the codex is quite different from others), F (9th century), other many parts. late Evangelistaria, - in some. with marks like E (8th century) M (9th century) etc. - many Greek codices. and lat. by date Hieronymus, Ital. b (? 5th c. no sheet from 7–8:12). With. e (5th century), f (6th century), ff 2 (7th century), g (8th century). h. "Vulg". (ed. and coded.). "Ef. Armenians". (late ed. and RKP.) and "Copt". (Memph. ed. Wilkins). "Arab". (Walt) “Sax. Persian". and "Slav". (Mar. Zagr. Gal. etc., but not in Ostroma). “Sir. Jerus". (RKP. 12th century, but the text is earlier than the 6th century. Probably 4th century: found in two places, first VII, 53 - VIII, 2 in the reading for Pentecost, - and then 8 September in memory of St. Pelagia 8, 1-11 Wed. cd. Erizzo, p. 109 and 459-461) and some. “Apostle. Fast." and "Didask." (3rd century? summarized briefly) “Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine” (both Jerome and Augustine are aware of the omission of space in the plural codd.). Pseudo-Athanasius (“Synopsis”). Nikon (10th century, briefly stating that the Armenians discarded this story as harmful - Fabric. Cod. Ap. 1, 358: similar cf. in Augustine) and “Euphemius Zigabene” (but with a reservation). On the contrary, many of the more ancient and authoritative representatives of the text “do not read at all”: Sin. (4th century). Wat. (4th century). Alex. (5th century). Efr. Sire. (5th century code. A and C do not have a sheet, but given the size of the letter this pericope could not fit) other plural, also “minus”. 33 (9th century). and many more “Ancient Latin: a” (5th century), “b” (?5th century), “f” (6th century), etc. “Goth. Sag. Copt". (rkp.) "Arm". (ancient rkp.) "Sir". on foot and Hercules (ancient rkp.) and “the most ancient Syrians”: Kur. Syn. (ed. Bensly et., p. 263–264). Dance (Efr. Afr. and Arab. Ciasca). "Writers": Tert., Orig., Zlat., Nonnus, Cosmas, Theophilus, also Apollin. and Feod. Pug. (according to the scholia code. Λ 9th century, code. 1 min. 10th century etc.), - also they could not help but take advantage of this story Irin., Vas., Cyprus, Gilar., Juvenk. This pericope is not listed in the lists of chapters not only of Codd. AC, where it is not in the text, but also in ED, where it is placed in the text, this pericope was probably not in the chapters of either Ammonius or Eusebius. Many codd. marked with asterisks and obels: EMS etc. or leave an empty space: ΣΛ, accompanied by notes: Λ. 1. 34 dr. nek. placed on the field at 7, 52. Finally, this pericope, according to many lists, does not have a specific position in the text, but travels to different places, then at the end of the Gospel. John code. 1 and many more min. and more Arm. codd., then after John 7:36, as a code. 225, then after Luke 21 chapter code. 13.69, 124.346, then after Luke 21 code. 225. Here we must add: “a)” the whole story obviously interrupts the sequence of the Gospel presentation and has no place in the logically coherent plan of the Gospel of John; “b)” the nature of the story, both in content and in presentation, is completely synoptic, and not St. John’s; c) the uncertainty of the location of the story, the instability of its edition and such an abundance of options that no other place in the New Testament knows. Based on such solid “scientific” data and on the “dogmatic” authority of St. The Fathers, especially Chrysostom and Cyril, must be read, which undoubtedly belongs to early Christian antiquity (Gospel of the Jews, Papias, Apostle. Lent) and completely evangelical spirit, the story is either completely separate from the Gospels - at the end of the Four Gospels, as in many ancient copies, or placed somewhere between the text (in brackets) of the Gospel of Matthew. The latter is all the more natural since the story was first presented in writing, according to the testimony of Eusebius East. C. 3, 39. 16 (Hein. 150), St. Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, which story was also in the Gospel of the Jews, the Aramaic original of the Greek Matthew. Eusebius's expression: ἐπὶ πολλαῖς ἁμαϱτίαις διαβληϑείσης ἐπὶ τοῦ Κυϱίου, ἢν τό ϰαϑ’ Ἑβϱαίους εὐαγγέλιον πεϱιέχει does not eliminate our history with an uncertain ἐπὶ πολλαῖς ἁμαϱτίαις, for the end of the story is according to the code. D: ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦνμηϰέτι ἁμάϱτανε presupposes precisely πολλὰς ἁμαϱτίας, and not a single crime. The expression of Papias also fully corresponds to: ἔμπϱοσϑεν αὐτοῦ in Didask. and Apost. Fast. And most importantly: Rufinus, who probably knew both the book of Papias and Jerome’s Greco-Latin translation of the Gospel of the Jews, in the Latin translation of Eusebius’s “Ecclesiastical History”, without hesitation at all, relates this testimony to our story about the adulterous wife, for he conveys this: historiam de muliere “adultera”, quae accusata est a Judaeis apud Dominum. Probably from here, and perhaps directly from tradition, this story was taken from the Apostolic Constitutions and Didascalia. See Tisehend. 826–830 and 834–836, cf. Soden, 486–524. Except Greek. St. Fathers can also rely on the authority of glory. liturgical reading for Pentecost. Thus, in the Ostromir Gospel (folio 55, column 2, pp. 14–18 St.) it reads like this: Ancient and Al: “same”, but Kyiv, 1788: “ugly”, Greek. οὖν. Al. more precisely: “follow Me,” but “does not walk” is less precise than the ancient one: “do not have to walk” (it should be: “will not walk” or “does not suit”). Sav.: “light of life” is better and more accurate than “animal”, just like Al. in other meters Omission. last word of verse; ὑμεῖς δὲ... cf. and to 8agree. code. M. S. Dr. Sir. jerus. and Orig. From the glory No. at St. Al. and Ev. 15th century, and in Zogr. and Gal. omitted: “you don’t know where I’m coming from.” But in all ancient Greek. Sire. glory etc. these words are read. Γέγϱαπται Al. "written" acc. V and others. vm. γεγϱαμμένον ἐστίν with א and usually in John. and glory: “it is written.” At Al. prop. “Az... samem” - by typo. Spicy Mst. "verb - who". Al.: “below – neither”. Cyrus. read: αν, like one and Zogr. Gal.: "wretched" = would. Ev. 15th century “they knew” is better than the complex one: “they knew quickly” Serbian. 14th century "saw". Op. "Jesus" acc. ancient, like Zogr. Gal. etc. But Ostr. Mar. Al. etc. read. Finished. "words" Al.: “the verb - in the sanctuary - will come.” The Holy Father seems to mean "sanctuary". Slav. approx. "Jesus" acc. no. St. Al.: "look". But in the interpretation: ἐν ταῖς ἁμαϱτίαις, like some. Slav.: “in your sins” Type. 12th century and some etc. Cheat. ϰαὶ, as some. and to the point. to 6:1, but here in the interpretation, apparently, there is no reading. Slav. no cheat acc. author. Greek, but no. (Ostr. Mst.) approx.: "Yako". Al.: "idea". ’Έλεγεν acc. ancient and Gal. Mar. vm. ειπεν – “speech” Acute. Mst. Al. Now. So alone and Gal. Mar. vm. “of this world” others and Al. So big. but the ancient word: “from this world” as in. Nek. approx.: μοι, in some. omission this whole sentence, like Ostr. Mst. Sim. In ancient words: “you eat”, but Pandas. and Al.: “you believe” is better and more accurate. Ancient: “same”, but Good. "op" . like Sin. and some not plural Kind: "resha" and Al: "verb" - wrong. Mst. approx.: "Jews". Some take οτι for an interrogative: “In general, why should I tell you?” But without enough. bases philol. and contrary to all the ancients, some of whom understand τήν ἀϱγὴν in the theological sense: “The Beginning” (the Son of God is the Logos, Who “was in the beginning to God”), “what (about what) I say to you”: principium quod et in ff Goth. Copt. Sire. (Syn.? Hierus. Hercules.) Sag. (on. et) – quia et in Amvr. Hieron. Aug. – qui et in e. Vulg. (Klim.). Sire. (Jer.? quod?) – primus (principium?), et locutus sum vobis in Eph. - this is where I should go. also applies to initium quod or quoniam without or with et (a. c. d. f), – “others” adj. in the meaning of the adverb: “first, firstly, at the beginning” (newest: “in general, completely”) - imprimis quia in b, or “the beginning of speech”, like Sir. (Pesh.): “even if (if) I began to speak to you.” - Arab. at Walt's. and Arab. Diat. Tatiana y Ciascа incepi loqui vobiscum. Slavic ones adhere to the first interpretation: “the firstfruits, as I say” (other “verbs”) “to you.” Russian Synod: “He who is from the beginning” is distant and narrows the theology. meaning "beginning". Better new: “I am the beginning, as I tell you.” Literally: “The beginning, as I say to you,” i.e. I call myself the beginning to you (Son, who is from the Father). Const. Al. and late: “many”, but ancient: “many”. In O. Mst. op.: "about you". Παϱ’ αὐτοῦ and glory. but Al. "he has" resp. rare reading: παϱ’ αὐτῳ, Goth. apud eum. So Al. acc. author. Greek, but ancient: “and” before “not understanding”; late: "wretched", acc. various ϰαὶ and οὖν. In Ost. Vengeance: “about the fathers”, - Gal. Zogr. Ass. approx. "God", acc. various Al.: “lift up - chlvecha”, Type. 12th century: “to rise up from the heart.” In ancient and Al.: “You understand.” This interpretation is also suggested by the translation of St. Alexia. Wed. Matthew 10 and Luke 12:6. However, the text is not given as it is read in the Gospel manuscripts and in all translations by Irin. (V. 22. 2; II. 26, 2), others, but ("to the network") as in Hom. Clem. XII. 31; Orig. Cels. VIII. 70; In Ioh. XX, 29; Epiph. Haer. XLII; Zlat. Iyuv. Cyrus himself. still understandable. John 7:30, – Pusey 1. 670 (457. p.). To πατήϱ approx. μοῦ Vat. and many others Sir on foot. and Hercules Goth. Arm. slav.: Mar. Const. Al. and late But no approx. Syn. Cambre. Vulg. Italian ancient pl. Sire. Hier. and syn. Memph. Thebes Ef. glory Spicy Gal. Mst. Zogr. Ass. Nick. ταῦτα read. more Greek and others. Sir. Hier. and all glory: "si" Al. "siya" - but Sin. and many more οὕτως and Sir. syn. and on foot. and Cyrus himself. in interpretation, but ταῦτα in interpretation. 22 art. Nek. no cheat the first "and". Second ϰαι cheat. pl. ancient and glory Ass. and Nick. After a single arrival "Father" plural etc. and slav. Mst. Mar. Zogr. Al., but not cheating. O. and Gal. “As I always do unto Him” Ass. Zogr. Mar. Nick. “I always do what pleases Him” Gal. Mst. Al. ("zane"). Αὐτοῦ other Thurs. and Cor. below αὐτῷ. Late "bad" vm. ancient "same". Also – “To Him” vm. “into Him” or “in” Gal. Mar. Zogr. Nick. or "to Him" ​​Ostr. World. Ass. Al. – “naturally” Acute. (in one place (222 a) and Al. according to ancient Greek and others and Just. Tryph 39 vm. “you will be” Acute (in “another” place (29 a) Gal. Zogr. Mar. Ass. World. (twice) Nik. and later, as soon as ancient Latin. (a c e g Cyprus) and Vulg. So everything is ancient, but Kiev, 1788 and now: “you will understand.” Vm. "Savior" all: "Jesus", only Sir. "syn.: Lord" and Sir. "Jer.: Lord Jesus". Not read: “sin” in Greek. D lat. "b" and "d" Klim. Orig. (in one m.). Favst. and Sir. "sin", but others and Irin. Orig. Cpl. Gil. Goth. Sire. "pesh" and "hier"., Diatessoron by Ciasca et al. read. Vm. "sin" is all ancient. "sin" Op. δέ like Ostr. (but read “son”). “And a slave is a son” Ostr. Gal. Mar. Ass., – son without “same” Zogr. Nick. "century" Mar. Ass., but other "agelids". Al.: “the servant will not abide” read. μένη. Op. οὖν as some. In glory “boo, bo, same” (Al.). Const. Al. and late: "free" vm. ancient "freedom" St. Al. “before” to distinguish ὅτι causal from explanatory or relative. The verse has many different readings: α – ἅ, ὅ – ὅ, ἅ – ὅ and ὅ – ἅ, – ἠϰούσατε and ἐωϱάϰατε, with πατρὶ approx. μοῦ and with πατϱός ὑμῶν, some. approx. ταῦτα before λαλῶ (code. D. 33. Cyrus. Jer. Gold.). Nek. op. οὖν. Nek. approx. ταῦτα before ποιεῖτε (D. Tert.). Slav. "even" Ostrom. Gal. Mst. “hedgehog” – others. Arr. "si" prev. "verb" Gal. All glory: “you have seen – mine – yours”. Vm. ποιεῖτε some. some ποιῆτε and lat. ancient (a. b.) facite instead of facitis friend. and Vulg. like Sire. everything, Ciasca, Goth. Slav. all: "create"; at St. Al.: "create". “He” before and “deciding” are few. and glory all acc. more after "resha". One of the Cyrene kings is a stutterer. Hence βαττολογεῖν, βατταϱίζειν - talk like Butt, repeat the same thing, chatter. This is also why Demosthenes received the nickname βάτταλος. The root of the word is onomatopoeic stuttering, cf. Semite. "bata", Russian. "chat" So everything is ancient. (Al. "glet" . respectively authentic. and omission. 1st "were") respectively. Greek Cyrus. ἦτε – ἐποιετε ἄν (cf. commentary 8, 56 and Am. 9:7. 8 ed. Pusey 1. 536). Dr. ἐστε – ποιεῖτε or ἐποιεῖτε without αν. Diff.: ὑμῖν after λελ. – ἤϰουσεν vm. – σα and πατϱός μοῦ German. Wed. sense 42 art. and Pusey 3. 417. Slav. "created" Mar. Zogr. Gal. Mirosl. Vm. "created" Ostr. Mst. Ass. Good Nick: - St. Al. exactly: “don’t do it. - even "Ostr. Ass. Error from "yuzhe" others ("yus"). “Zhe” – οὖν. others don't cheat. from glory Mirosl.? Al. "from fornication" Before "edinago" read. "we" is ancient, except Mar. Const. Al. resp. Greek Slav. cheat “same” after “speech” – οὖν plural. Ancient Greek Ancient English: would (bi) be - loved me (me Ass. World. Nik.) quickly (biste) - truncated. “went out - came” Mar. Zogr. Ass. World. Nick. - Al. "If only God..." Peace. “If God were your father.” Prison 1571, Kut. 1652, Kiev, 1788 - “they loved slaughter.” Vm. λαλίαν in one code. Cyrus. ἀλήϑειαν as Dgr alone. But to the point. Kir., according to the general reading. glory: “hear My word” Mar. Zogr. Ass. World. Nick. and "sl. m. words...” Gal. Mst. St. Al.: “for this sake.” (? instead of διὰτί, as if reading δια τοῦτο)... “listen” (present ἀϰούειν, as if distinguishing from aor. ἀϰοῦσαι “hear”). You might be interested in: