Беседа на тридневное Воскресение Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. Святого Иоанна Златоустого

Always rejoice in the Lord, beloved brothers, and again I say: rejoice. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything (Phil. 4:4–6). The Lord rose from the dead, and with Him a great multitude of saints. Let us celebrate sweetly and soberly. This, truly, is the day the Lord has made: we will rejoice and be glad on it (Ps. 118:24). Let us announce the resurrection of the Savior, or better yet: let us cry out for our salvation, let us proclaim the memory of that saving day, let us announce the slaying of the devil, the captivity of unclean demons, the salvation of Christians, the resurrection of the dead. Through the resurrection of Christ, fiery hell is extinguished, the never-ending worm dies, hell comes into confusion, the devil is sad, sin is killed, evil spirits are persecuted, those who came from the earth ascend to heaven, those in hell are freed from the bonds of the devil and, resorting to God, they say to the devil: where is the victory for you, death? Where is the thorn (1 Cor. 15:55)? The culprit of this holy holiday and solemn gathering for us is Christ, the Giver of all good things to us. He created us from the beginning and brought us from non-existence into being: He has now saved the perishing, He has given life to the dead, He has delivered us from the devil’s tyranny, who were slaves to sin, He has made us free, having destroyed the handwriting on us (Col. 2:14). Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse against us (Gal. 3:13). For these reasons, it is worthy for us to say: what shall we render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to us (Ps. 116:3)? Being the only begotten of God, He deigned to become man for our sake and was obedient even to death (Phil. 2:8) in order to deliver us from eternal death; bore the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7) Lord of angels. God the Word took on flesh, and He who had one being with the Father appeared as a man, and endured this in order to pluck us from unrighteous slavery and redeem us from dishonor. Therefore, the Giver of our life suffered suffering in the flesh; Therefore, the Source of immortality was buried in order to grant eternal life to mortals. And He remained on earth, performing good deeds and healing people’s illnesses, but He received unworthy rewards from the godless Jews. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His great goodness, cleansed lepers, gave sight to the blind, healed the lame, drove away demons, raised Lazarus from the dead for four days, fed five thousand people with five loaves, walked on the sea, turned water into wine, healed a woman who was bleeding, brought back to life the dead daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, and performed many other mysteries worthy of amazement. The Jews, excited by envy and ill will, either wanted to stone the Lord, then tried to throw Him down from the cliff, and finally, they even raised Him to the cross. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not imitate the malice of the blasphemous Jews, but He gave His cloaks for wounds, according to the word of the Prophet, and His cheeks for strangulations; do not turn His face away from the cold of spitting; and, finally, like a sheep led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer, He showed no resistance, did not contradict (Isa. 50:6; 53:7). If we reproach the contrary, we will not rebuke, nor will we forgive the suffering; but having given ourselves up to him who judges righteously (1 Pet. 2:23). At His first appearance, He did not come to punish the unfaithful, but He wanted to patiently lead those who were lost to the truth. And understand the Lord's goodness and great kindness. The Jews slandered Him and said to Him: You have demons (John 7:20); The Lord, being long-suffering, drove out demons from people. The Jews spat in the face of the Savior, and He healed their blind; The Jews tried to stone Christ, and Christ gave their lame the strength to run - and constantly continued to do good to those who insulted them and to repay those ungrateful and lawless people with good for evil. And so that it does not seem that by saying a lot we are lengthening the word, let us move on to the most important subjects. So, finally, the King of glory was led to the cross and death, and was nailed to the tree, glorified by the Cherubim and Seraphim, and worshiped by all the Powers and Angels; but He meekly endured and endured it, setting an example for us and becoming a Teacher of meekness. And we, therefore, must valiantly endure the threats of bad people. After all, even on the cross, elevated, He showed very great deeds and very many miracles, in order, at least in this way, to put an end to the fury of the atheists so that they would have no reason for unbelief and could not say that they crucified only a common man. So, first of all, Christ condescended to be crucified and lifted into the air in order to drive out the demons in the air; He was hanged on a tree to heal the ancient sin that had grown into people through the tree; and was also pierced in the side with a spear because of the wife taken from Adam’s side. Since the serpent deceived Eve, and Eve arranged for Adam to become a criminal [the sentence was pronounced against both of them, and death reigned from Adam to Moses and over those who had not sinned (Rom. 5:14)], therefore the side is wounded so that we understand that the suffering of Christ brought salvation not only to men, but also to women. Adam was created first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the wife, being deceived, found herself in a crime; She will be saved through childbearing. What is childbearing if not through the childbearing of Mary? She (Virgin Mary) gave birth to the Savior - Christ, without being united with her husband, as Isaiah testifies (Isaiah 7:14), but after the Holy Spirit overshadowed Her, as the Archangel Gabriel preached. For this reason, the side of Christ is also struck, so that what was predicted would be accomplished, and the sacrament of baptism would be proclaimed, and the coming grace would shine forth. Blood and water flow from the side of Christ in order to destroy the handwriting of sin on us (Col. 2:14), and so that we may be cleansed by His blood and receive paradise. Oh, great mystery! The robber repented; there was a need for water for him to be baptized. He is cheerful on the cross, there was no other place for baptism, no spring, no lake, no rain, no performer of the sacrament, since all the disciples, due to fear of the Jews, fled; but Jesus (Christ) did not lack sources, and, hanging on the cross, was the creator of waters. Since the thief could not enter the kingdom (heavenly) without baptism, and it was necessary that the repentant should not remain without baptism, the Savior poured out water and blood from His pierced side in order to free the thief from the threatening evils, and to show that His blood became a ransom for those who place their hopes in Him. If the blood of a goat and a calf, and the ashes of the young, sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies the flesh and purity (Heb. 9:13), then how much more has the blood of Christ our Savior become a cleanser for all Christians? So, if one of the unbelievers says to you: “Why was Christ crucified?” - then tell him: “to crucify the devil.” If he says to you: “Why was He (the Lord) hanged on a tree?” - then say: “to call back the sin that came up in paradise through the tree.” If he says to you, “Why did He even bear thorns?” - then tell him: “To pluck up the thorns and thistles of Adam, since Adam was condemned to groan and shake with fear and to cultivate the thorns and thistles. Jesus, being a lover of humanity, wanting to take care of His creation, endured everything for our sake in order to free us from condemnation. And just as He was born of a woman in order to destroy the sin that arose in people because of the wife, so He is crowned with thorns, in order to make the land poorly cultivated by disobedience more fruitful through His own obedience.” If someone says to you: “Why did He (the Lord) drink bile and ocet”? - then tell him: “so that we spew out the deadly poison of the dragon, because that bile became my sweetness, and that ocet became my medicine.” If the unbeliever again tells you: “Why did He even put on scarlet robe, and why, when they approached Him, did they fall on their knees”? - then tell him: “so that the Jews would worship Him, even without wanting to, and so that they would confess His kingdom on earth even against their will. Now, mocking, they worshiped, not knowing what they were doing; In the future resurrection, every knee will bow, of those in heaven and on earth, and under the earth: and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10,11). But that robe also has another meaning: it not only depicted the kingdom, but also indicated the thirst for blood and the tendency to kill inherent in the Jews. They (the Jews) also gave a reed into His hand, so that their sins might be written down. So, the opponents of Christ did this, not knowing the Crucified One, or better yet, voluntarily being blinded: the creature recognized its Lord and Creator. When the Savior was still hanging on the cross, the sensual sun, seeing the Sun of righteousness - Christ, mocked by the lawless, and not enduring insolence, runs away, plunging the earth into darkness and finding it inappropriate to illuminate the eyes of those who committed the greatest wickedness. And not only did the sun run away, but the earth also shook in confusion, unable to bear the iniquity of what was being done, showing for its part and teaching that God was crucified - which is why it expressed indignation, not wanting to carry the godless Jews on itself. The fratricide Cain did not desecrate the land in the same way, and the pandemonium caused by the giants did not desecrate it so much, and the lawless Sodomites did not desecrate it so much, and even those who made idols out of it, the shed blood of Zechariah and Abel did not aggravate it as much as the Jews who dared to commit this great wicked act. Therefore, dry rocks were also split, so that people would understand that He is a spiritual and living rock. Piyahu bo, says (Scripture), from the spiritual stone that follows: the stone is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Oh, Jewish ingratitude! The rocks have split, but they remain insensitive: soulless objects shake in confusion, and animate ones do not believe; the veil of the church is torn so that their desolation is finally revealed, according to what Christ said (Matthew 23:38). Many bodies of the departed saints were resurrected along with Christ, so that we understand that Christ, having died, does not rise alone, but raises from the dead all who believe in Him. This, in short, is the holy holiday of Easter, and we glorify these sacraments of Christians because of the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. In the same way, let us celebrate, not in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened purity and truth (1 Cor. 5:8), believing in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - in the Trinity, consubstantial, uncreated - believing in the resurrection, expecting that the Lord will come again, however, no longer humiliated, but gloriously - with heavenly splendor, with bright angels, with the sound of a trumpet, with fear and joy: joy, of course, for the saints and the righteous, but fear for the unrighteous and sinners. May the God of peace merit us all to be resurrected with the saints - us who have found ourselves in possession of wonderful deeds and the Orthodox faith - according to the grace and love of His Only Begotten Son, with Whom be glory, honor and worship to the All-Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen 40. Created, St. I. Chrysostom, ed. St. Petersburg. Spirit. Academician 1896, vol. II, book. 2, pp. 893–897; in Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne this conversation is classified as Spuria (i.e., unfoundedly attributed to St. Chrysostom). Sunday Read X (1846–1847), 2–3 pp. You might be interested in: