Беседа о воплощении Господа и Спасителя нашего Иисуса Христа. Павла, епископа Эмесского

Mary the Virgin gave birth to us Immanuel, consubstantial with the Father in divinity, consubstantial with us in humanity. Otherwise, how could He be called the rod of the root of Jesse (Ps. 11:1), the seed of Abraham (Heb. 2:16), the son of David (Matt. 1:1)? What would be the meaning of this expression: from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is God above all (Rom. 4:5)? or how should we understand the following words of blessed Paul: about his Son, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, called the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, from the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 1:3–4)? Thus, the Most Holy Mary gave birth to Emmanuel, consubstantial with the Father in Divinity, consubstantial with us in humanity, impassive in Divinity, subject to suffering in humanity. For although God the Word assimilated to Himself the sufferings of His flesh and recognized them as His own, He Himself remained within the limits of dispassion. And although you hear that He Himself says: I have put My cloaks on the wounds and My cheeks on the blows, but I have not turned My face away from the cold of spitting (Isa. 50:6), with all this, do not think that He suffered anything with His own nature, but rather take care to assimilate for yourself the suffering of His flesh, for God the Word remained impassive. But those who oppose the Divine Scriptures will object to us: “if God the Word is impassive, unchangeable and immutable, how did the Word become flesh”? Listen, beloved. The word became flesh (John 1:14) not by being changed into flesh, for neither the Divinity of the Son was transformed into flesh, nor the flesh received changed into the nature of the one who received it. What does it mean: the Word became flesh? - only that the Word took on flesh, and not just flesh, but with a rational and thinking soul, that is, it took on our entire nature. This is how the Word became flesh. In order to see the power of what was said, I would like you to understand the thought of the loud John. John the Theologian, the son of thunder (Mark 3:17), who was worthy to recline on the breasts of the Lord (John. 13:25) and then expounded for us the highest and divine dogmas, wants to depict God’s excessive love for us and, first of all, speaks of the Divine properties: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the word. This has never been with God. All that was, and without Him nothing came to be (John 1:1-3). This Evangelist points out the co-eternity of the Word to the Father, since we know nothing older than this at the beginning: no matter how much you run ahead with your thoughts, there was no warning for you, and it itself has no limits. Having said this and calling the Word co-eternal with the Father about the Creator of all, he adds: and the Word became flesh, as if saying: “He who is co-eternal with the Father and is the Lord and Creator of all, for you and for our salvation, humbled Himself to the point of becoming flesh, in order to reveal to us the excessive mercy of God at the insignificant price of our nature. Thus, the Word became flesh, says the Evangelist, and, without stopping there, continues: and dwelt in us. What follows is an explanation of the previous one. Indeed, what does it mean: the Word became flesh, if not that It dwelt in us, i.e. into our nature? See also how John speaks of two natures and one Son. He has one village, and another that has moved in, one is a church, and another is God who has moved into the church. Take in what has been said. I did not say: one and the other, as it would be natural to say about two persons or about two Christs or about two sons; but he said: one and the other, how proper it is to speak of two natures. After this, having said: and dwelt in us, and indicating by this the duality of natures, the Evangelist continues: and dwelt in us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father; He did not say: “the glory of the two sons,” but said: the glory of the Only Begotten. Thus, Isaiah calls Him Immanuel, that is, God made man. Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16), confessing the duality of natures and the unity of persons; and John the Theologian says: and dwell in us (John 1:14), pointing to the two natures and one face of the Only Begotten. But God the Word remains impassive. He imparted Divine properties to the perceived nature, but from what is characteristic of humanity, He brought nothing into Himself. He walked on the sea, but he walked with his own body (Matt. 14:25); He commanded the sea and the winds (Mark 4:39; Luke 8:24) also with his own body. He met a leper who said: Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me, and He said: I want to be cleansed (Matthew 8:2-3). The flesh of the Lord touched Him, and the disease passed away, the leprosy disappeared. He fed five thousand with five loaves (John 6:5–14) with his own body: for having received the bread, he gave praise to the Father, and broke it and gave it to his disciples, and the disciples gave it to the people and filled 12 coffers with the leftovers. It is characteristic of God alone to forgive sins, but He said: let it be known that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10); He also said: No one has ascended into heaven except he who came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven (John 3:13). You notice how He imparted Divine properties to human nature! But when you see Him thirsty, hungering, tired, shedding sweat, betrayed by Pilate, dragged and tormented by soldiers, in the throes of death, praying: Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sobahvami, i.e. My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me (Mark 15:34), or: My Father, if it is possible, let him pass by This cup is from Me: yet not as I will, but as You (Matthew 26:39) - when you see Him crucified on the cross, - you see that His hands and feet are pierced with nails, and His side with a spear: then think that God the Word remained impassive, but took to Himself all that He endured in His flesh. And in order to show that even during His suffering He did not leave His own church, when the Jews were doing this sad thing with the Lord, He, like God, darkened the rays of the sun, covered the whole earth with darkness, tore the veil of the church (Luke 23:44-45), crushed the stones, raised the dead (Matthew 27:51-53). He did all this so that you understand that He was present with the sufferer, took on His suffering, but Himself, not subject to suffering, did it all... Let us give glory to Him, God, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen 68. “Acts of the Ecumenical Councils”, published in Russian translation at the Kazan Theological Academy. Kazan, 1893. Second edition. Volume two, pp. 145–147. You might be interested in: