Discourse on the Man Born Blind (John 9)

Like our father Athanasius among the saints 1. Love for parents. For every person, the sweetness of love for parents is very dear, a sincere, longed-for sweetness, more precious than any treasure. No good in real life can compare with parents. Gold often perishes, but the love of parents is not exhausted; silver often rusts, but the illnesses of the parents do not decrease; precious stones are often damaged, and the tears of parents ascend to the Lord. Why does the Divine Scripture, affirming respect for parents, instill it in children, saying: “Whoever curses his father or his mother, let him die” (Ex. 21:16). But, of course, someone will say: if the name of the parents is kind and sweet, then why does David accuse the parents, saying: “My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord will receive me” (Ps. 26:10)? What are you, my friend, saying, referring to the present? Parents for children are truly more precious than everything created, but they cannot be compared with the Creator of all things - God. For nothing created can compare with the Creator. If David had said: my father and my mother left me, and one or the other, that is, a neighbor, or a relative, or a friend, took him in, then he would have stated something contrary to that. But since he presented the Lord as more loving than his parents, he did not reproach his parents and glorified God. 2. Ps.26:10 and the election of David to the kingdom. Why did David allow these words: my father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord will take me? As lovers of literature, you, no doubt, all know how the God of all [acted] to take away the kingdom from Saul, the wicked man, and give it to his beloved David [Col. 1004] (see 1 Samuel 16:1–13). He sends a servant, His servant Samuel, to the house of David’s parents with the horn of anointing, and the Lord says to Samuel: “Go to the house of Jesse and anoint one of his sons to be king.” Samuel, sent to this ministry, asked the Lord: “Which of them will I anoint? Tell me the name, Master, so that I can go more accurately [and find that house] and fulfill Your will in the best possible way.” But the Lord answered Samuel: “I do not want you to know the one who is destined for anointing, so that you will not be reproached for showing partiality. You have the horn of anointing - on whomever this horn bends and pours out oil, him you will anoint as king. And so, holding the horn, being a mediator, alien to any partiality, therefore do not lose heart.” Hearing this and receiving, as it were, complete information from God, Samuel immediately walked with undoubting steps to the house of Jesse and, having arrived, said to him: “The Lord has sent me to anoint one of your sons as king.” Jesse and his wife immediately brought to him their eldest son, who bore the blessing of the birthright and had priority over other children. Samuel immediately raised his hand and, pretending to be preparing for anointing, bowed his horn, but sent this eldest son away unanointed, for the oil, by God’s will, did not want to be poured out. And although Jesse presented to Samuel all his sons, except David, one by one, they all returned unmarked, without anointing. 3. When they went away uninitiated, without receiving the anointing, then Jesse turned to Samuel with these words: “What have you done, man [of God]? Or did you make a mistake and don’t notice that you’re lost, or did you come to laugh at me? Maybe you came to the wrong house and brought your horn here, having been sent to another place? It was in vain that you made us happy - you tirelessly repeated [to us about what you wanted to do] and never fulfilled your promise.” But Samuel answered Jesse: “Why do you reproach me, old man? You accuse the One who sent me. Can a prophet ever be wrong? If I came to you of my own free will, then you would have reason to doubt, but since the Knower of the Heart sent me, why do you refuse?” - “What should I agree with you on? - Jesse said to Samuel. “I showed you all the color of my children, and not one of them fulfilled your promise.” Isn't it better to say that you don't know who sent you? Are you sent to another place? Or have you come to anoint me, an old man?” But Samuel said to Jesse: “Why do you reproach me, old man? Don't you have a son yet? If not, then I was mistaken, and if there is, then I will not be deceived.” “I also have a son,” answered Jesse, “but he is small, simple and cannot be a king, I am ashamed to even bring him.” Then Samuel said to him: “You are resisting the will of the Creator. Are you ashamed to show it to me? Does God anoint the fat body? [Col. 1005] So, bring him; Surely oil will be poured out on him; I know that the horn will bend against him and your house will rejoice. Because what do you think? Is it really because he cannot be a king because he is small? Wait a little and see how this fellow will overthrow that giant tower - I mean Goliath." Reflecting on this reproach from his parents and writing down this wonderful favor of the Lord towards himself, David exclaims: “My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord has accepted me” (Ps. 26:10)! 4. Healing by Christ of a man born blind These words of gratitude from the prophet David are also suitable for this blind man from birth who received his sight; he could say [together with David] and loudly exclaim: my father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord will accept me! For you know how he, too, was despised by his parents, but was not abandoned by God. So, as far as I have the strength, I will fulfill the duty entrusted to me 1 and, having rested a little [on the story of David’s anointing], I again now turn in good time to that man who was blind from birth. In the previous [reading] 2, you heard, beloved, what the Evangelist John said: “And as Jesus passed by, he said, he saw a man blind from birth sitting. His disciples asked Him: Rabbi! Who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind? The Lord answered them: neither he nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might appear in him. Having said this, the Lord spat on the ground, made clay from the spit, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay” (John 9:1-3, 6) and sent him to Siloam. The blind man went and washed, and having washed, he received his sight, and, having received his sight, he believed in the One who sent him. Listen with attention. The disciples asked the Lord: “Rabbi! Who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind?” The apostles' question had a basis. From this it is already clear that the apostles approached the Lord Jesus as God. For who knows the hidden things in people except the Searching heart? Therefore, the Lord did not reject their question, but in order to satisfy the desire of the apostles, and at the same time confirm faith in His Divinity, he immediately answered them: “Neither he nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be revealed in him” (John. 9:3), - that is, his real blindness is not a damage due to sin, but a natural defect. For just as a plant, before it emerges from the ground, is often fundamentally damaged by the vicissitudes of the air, so this man, blind from birth, while still in his mother’s womb, most likely received injury either because the mother’s womb was unsuitable, or because the diseased seed of his father was thrown into him. But there is no one else who can correct damaged nature except the Creator of nature Himself. Therefore the Lord declared, saying: [Col. 1008] “neither he nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might appear in him.” Having said this, he immediately shows by his very deed that He is the Creator of nature and that He said about Himself: “so that the works of God may appear in him,” that is, “so that they know through him that I am not just an ordinary person, but omnipotent God.” For [one and the same] Lord, who established the heavens with a word, according to the Divine word: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established” (Ps. 32:6), and Who was able in another case (see Luke 18:41–42) to heal a blind man with only one word, therefore, this blind man from birth could also be healed with His one word. But now He does not act in this way, but anoints the blind man’s eyes with clay, so that it becomes known to everyone that He is the same Potter 3 who [created] Adam, and now like (τὸ ὅμοιον) makes up for like (τοῦ ὁμοίου) [with clay]. He does not change His usual way of acting, so as not to turn miracles into nothing, but, anointing clay with clay, he corrects like with like. But still, someone can object to this: did the Lord really anoint the eyes of the blind man with clay to show that He is the same One who made Adam out of clay? 5. The Lord of Siloam had no need of Siloam. Why then did He send the blind man to Siloam in this case? Or did He send Adam there too? Listen with attention. When the Lord created Adam from the dust, there were no contradictory Jews at that time. So, since then no one contradicted Him, the Lord created this reasonable statue (τὸν λογικὸν ἀνδριάντα) 4 with a speedy action 5 , but since now there are many who contradict, He does this work for a longer time, according to the already familiar to us way of caring for the sick, in order to confirm His force, so as to force opponents to unwittingly become convinced of the miracle. For this reason, the Lord, having anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay, sends him to Siloam to wash, not because the Lord of Siloam had a need in Siloam, but so that those who see would follow the blind man and the blind man would become a leader for those who see, so that, walking with him, they would become witnesses of a miracle. For at the time when the Lord did this and sent the blind man to Siloam, countless witnesses of that miracle flocked around. But, when the rumor about what had happened was still heard everywhere, the Pharisees did not cease to inquisitively discuss the real matter and shouted that this miracle was a bluff! But what would have happened if the Lord had not prolonged the effects of His miracles? However, you will not sin if you take Siloam as an image of the font of Baptism, in which everyone is washed from the darkness of ignorance and receives the light of piety. 6. Anger is always blind. And that even after such a duration of miracles, many of the Jews still contradicted this miracle, you heard about this from the evangelist, who says: “The neighbors and those who saw before that he was blind said: Isn’t this the one who sat and begged for alms? Some said: this is him, and others: he looks like him. And he who had received his sight said, “It is I” (John 9:8 – 9). [Col. 1009] Do you see the blindness of the witness of insight? The blind man received his sight, but those who saw were blinded by malice, for malice is always blind 6 . Therefore, the Jews, like children of malice, responded with such a voice 7 to the man blind from birth, thus saying to him: “Tell us, man, why do you extol this Son of the Carpenter to us so much, and admire Him, and want to glorify Him as God? After all, you are not the blind from birth whom we know; We often gave him alms. Why do you constantly talk idle talk and tell us: “He opened my eyes”? If you need money and are now lying for it, then take as much as you want from us - just tell the truth.” So they did not miss anything that could hide the miracle. “Why are you slandering me? - answered the one who had received his sight to the Jews. – Why are you trying to blind my spiritual eyes? I have received my sight and am no longer blind. It is in vain that you shower me with the dust of blasphemy. Another has now shown me kindness 8 , and you argue (ἀντιβάλλετε) among yourselves about Him, do not honor, but slander Him. However, you perfectly call the same one [the Son of God and my God] the son of a carpenter, for He has replaced the windows of my eyes. Sorry that I can't tell you much now. Let me first look at the beauty of heaven, at the circle of the sun and the brilliant moon - the limit of the day and the measure of the night, at the host of stars, at the flow of clouds, at the plain of the earth and the depth of the seas, at the path of ships that leave no trace, at the roundness of the hills, at the chain of mountains, at the speed of the rivers and the swiftness of the streams, at the ladles of springs, at the play of cattle, at the variety of animals, at the colorful decoration of birds, at various breeds fish, to the height of trees, to sweet-looking fruits. Let me first look at this and the like, and then I’ll tell you how I received my sight. I was born a long time ago, but only now have I entered the world with my sight. I heard the prophet exclaim: “It is by the majesty and beauty of creatures that their creator is known comparatively” (Wis. 13:5). I know the Creator through creatures (cf. Rom. 1:20), and you judge Him according to my eyes. Why do you promise me money in excess? I do not sell gifts, I do not trade the insight of my eyes. It is better to beg with a good heart than to get rich through bad means. But I no longer ask for alms, for I have found Him who lit the lamp of my body (cf. Matt. 6:22) so that I could work. So, I will no longer ask, but will cultivate the land; I will no longer ask for anything for nothing, but will demand payment; I will no longer walk around feeling the ground with a stick, but will begin to prune the vineyards with a knife; I will no longer beg for silver, but will reap ears of corn (cf. Ps. 125:6); I will no longer carry a beggar’s bag around my belt, but will begin to push a cart; I will not receive pieces of bread, but I will earn food for myself; I will no longer cry out with tears: “Give to him who has no light,” but [Col. 1012] I will loudly exclaim: “The Lord is my enlightenment and my savior, whom will I fear?” ( Ps.27:1 )!” 7. Hearing this and seeing that the blind man was not only healed, but also standing strong (συνηγοροῦντα 9) for the miracle that had happened to him, the objecting Jews again approached him with the question: “How did you receive your sight? What has this Man done to you that you continue to defend His cause so firmly?” To this, the one who received his sight answered the blind: “Are you asking how I received my sight? Are you saying [and want to know from me] how everything happens with God outside of our natural order (τῆς φύσεως ἀκολουθία) 10? If you are asking: how? - then I, in turn, will ask you: how did [the Lord] turn water into wine (see John 2:1-11)? Did he show it naturally or miraculously? How did you call Lazarus from the grave (see John 11:1–5)? Natural or Divine power? How did you free a leper from his disease (see Matthew 8:1–4)? By some kind of medicine or by sheer will? How did you save that bleeding wife, as if drowned by the turbulence of her blood, from this storm (see Matthew 9:20–22)? Did He examine her illness for this purpose, or did He only learn about her faith?” The contradictory Jews, seeing his inflexibility, seized him with greater fury and forcibly dragged him to the judgment seat of the Pharisees with the following words: “You need to be better taught by subjecting your flesh to torment, so that you better remember your slavery, and not try to teach; You are not silent, but you preach publicly and want us to recognize this Son of Joseph as God? For some reason, you suddenly received your sight, and even assure us that you were born blind, and point to this carpenter’s Son? Are you still not silent, but shout with a great voice?” But the one who saw the light told those who like to argue: “If you don’t want me to shout, then why are you asking me so many times? You yourself constantly talk idle talk, and place the blame on me. If, as you say, I received my sight by accident, then why did you need to call my parents? However, it is in vain to make so much noise, you cannot hide the miracle: although I will be silent, my eyes will speak loudly. A certain man called Jesus, whose very name means healing (τὸ ὅνομα ἴασις) (cf. Mal. 4:2) 11, anointed my eyes with clay and said to me: go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself; I went and washed, the clay fell away, and I received the light.” 8. After this, when the Pharisee judges heard his answer and countless people had gathered (for it was the Sabbath when Jesus performed this miracle), they again began to question him about the same thing that the Jews had previously asked him: “Do you understand, O man [foolish], where you stand? Do you know that this court of justice for criminals is inexorable and never makes mistakes in examining a case? Finally, tell us with all the details, how did you receive your sight? What has this Man of whom you speak done to you?” The one who had received his sight answered the Pharisee court: “Again you are idly asking me how I received my sight. Again, you test me as if I were guilty, interrogating me about how I received my sight. If I tell you [I tell you everything that I already told you once], then there will be noise again; However, I’ll tell you how my vision was restored. But I can only tell you the circumstances of my healing, and I cannot explain the power of miracles, “For whoever knows the mind [Col. 1013] The Lord's? Or who was His adviser? Or who gave Him in advance that He should repay?” (Rom.11:34, 35). If you still want to know the circumstances of my healing, then they are exactly those that I recently spoke about: [The man Jesus] “made clay, anointed my eyes and said to me: go to the pool of Siloam and wash. “I went and washed and received my sight” (John 9:11), and He did this not at all by the action of water, but by the miraculous power of His spitting.” Hearing such an answer, the Pharisee judges, seeing that he was constantly telling them the same thing, drove him out and, calling the parents of the man who had received his sight, interrogated them like this: “Tell us: is this your very son, who, as you say, was born blind? How can he see now?” The parents of the one who received his sight answered such questions with the words of blessed Susanna: “We are cramped from everywhere” (Dan.13:22). If we say that this is our son, we will not escape your hands, for you have already agreed [so that whoever recognizes Him as Christ should be excommunicated from the synagogue], but if we say that he is not our son, we will be subjected to eternal punishment, which is prepared for those who hide the truth. Therefore, being more afraid of eternal torment, let us say as much as is necessary in order not to be punished at the present time. “We know about the judge, they said, that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he sees now, we don’t know, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He himself is of advanced years; ask yourself; let him speak about himself" (John 9:20-21)." 9. The Pharisees were even more bewildered by these words: the parents’ obvious recognition that it was indeed their son who had received his sight and that he was born blind brought them to considerable shame. So, seeing that the parents of the blind man did not give up their words and said that he was their son and was born blind, and being offended that they were telling the truth, the Pharisee judges sent to them some seducers from among their disciples standing behind them, who quietly whispered in their ears: “Give up your son and do not claim that he was born blind: through this you will come into the love of the rulers and will receive many gifts from them.” But the parents of the one who had received his sight, like parents, answered with tears to these advisers in the empty 12: “O people, what are you telling us? Why are you involving us in deception? Should we give up our son? Do you really imagine us to be more ferocious than even the beasts? But snakes also warm their children. Will we abandon our son? He never disobeyed his parents; even when he was blind, he nourished us, and having received his sight, he will take even greater care of us in our old age. It is enough for you that, to please you, we do not preach the One who took care of our son, and do not openly say who He is.” But, of course, someone will say: how is it known that the parents of the man who received his sight, for the sake of fear of the Pharisees, hid [and were afraid] to preach the Lord Christ before everyone? [Col. 1016] How to prove this? The Evangelist John himself mentioned this: “This is how his parents answered, because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews have already agreed that whoever recognizes Him as Christ should put him out of the synagogue” (John 9:22). Do you see the wickedness of the Pharisees? While they themselves should have confessed the Lord, fallen at His feet and worshiped their Creator and asked for permission for their sins, they not only did not confess Him themselves, but also punished those who confessed. Therefore, the Lord, condemning them, said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you close the Kingdom of Heaven to men, for you yourself do not enter and you do not allow those who want to enter” (Matthew 23:13). 10. What about the judges of the Pharisees? Seeing that the parents of the man who had received his sight did not answer anything as they wanted, they drove them out to other doors and for the second time called their son who had received his sight (for he was not here at the time when the Pharisees interrogated his parents) and flatteringly again began to ask the man who had received his sight: “At least now tell us the truth and declare before everyone that you are not blind from birth. When you were here, you said that these were your parents, but we heard from them that you were not their son and that they did not have a son who was blind from birth. Why do you irritate us by saying: “A certain man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes. I washed and received my sight" (John 9:11)?" Hearing this and realizing their malice, the one who received his sight objected to them: “I am surprised if you are telling me the truth about this. Could parents really abandon their son, especially a mother or father, without being offended by him in any way? It seems to me that what you say is not at all fair; it is in no way acceptable to my ears. However, it would not be surprising if this actually happened. Such is human nature! Therefore, my parents will be worthy (ἀξιωθήσονται) of forgiveness, since they did it out of fear. But you, scribes, reject God and behave as if you had not done anything bad, and you slander my parents in relation to me [and accuse] me of what you yourself do in relation to God. Wasn’t it about you that the Lord, many years before, exclaimed through the prophet Isaiah: “Sons have begotten and exalted, but they have rejected Me” (Is. 1:2)? If you want to be rejected, then I cannot do this. I confess Him who healed me, and I know those who gave birth to me. However, even if my parents abandoned me, I don’t worry about that. I know, I clearly know the words of the crying David: “My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord will receive me” (Ps. 26:10).” Enraged by his answer, the Pharisees shouted: “What are you saying, you fool? Do you really compare yourself with David and recognize the Lord as the Son of the carpenter, who “has no [Col. 1017] where to lay your head” (Matthew 8:20)? Let us assume that your sight has been restored, give glory to God! But why do you thank This One [as God]? He is not from God; If He were from God, He would not have violated the Sabbath: “Give glory to God; we know that that man is a sinner" (John 9:24)." 11. When the one who received his sight heard that the Lord was called a sinner, his soul experienced a shock, and, unable to hear this indifferently, he answered the Pharisees: “What are you saying? Is the sinner the enlightener of my eyes? Why do you mix honey with bile? Do you force me to both praise and blaspheme God at the same time? Glorifying Him as God is a wonderful thing, but calling Him a sinner is characteristic only of a blinded mind. If He is a sinner, then show me at least one type of sin in Him, and then I will believe your teaching. Either you show me at least the appearance of sin in Him, or I will present you with undoubted evidence that Divine miraculous power dwells in Him. Without speaking about myself, I will ask you about His actions in relation to others. He is a sinner, you say? But didn’t He resurrect with a word the widow’s dead son, who was being carried to burial (see Luke 7:11–18)? Was it the work of man, the sinner, or of God the Word? Didn’t He suddenly cleanse with His word the skin of ten lepers, speckled with disease, like leopard’s, and give it the appearance of a healthy human body (see Luke 17:19)? Was it the work of man, the sinner, or of God the Word? Wasn’t He the man possessed by a legion of demons, whom people could not restrain and who did not enter the house, but lived in tombs? Wasn’t He the one who freed him from such torment with His royal power (see Mark 5:1-17)? Is this the work of man, the sinner, or of God the Word? Or do you want me to be more unreasonable than the demons? For the very demons tormented by him called Him the Son of God (see Matt. 8:29). Shall I, having been healed by Him, call Him a sinner? He acts like God and is called a sinner! “Whether He is a sinner, I don’t know; I know one thing, that I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:25), and only God, and not a sinner, can do this.” 12. The Pharisees, having listened to these words and seeing themselves ashamed, answered the one who had received his sight: “Although you, as a guilty person, should be subjected to blows and, according to our laws, to be thoroughly punished, so that the senseless people do not reproach us with envy, we forgive you [your insolence] for [the habit inherent in blind people], so now you still answer our question: What did He really do to you? How did you receive your sight? Tell me: how was it?” But the one who received his sight, filled with an undaunted spirit—for he had already succeeded in faith—answered: “Again, you ask, how did I receive my sight? You act against yourself and do not see this: the more you try to hide the miracle, the more obvious it becomes. Again you ask me how I received my sight? I’ve already told you three times, and you didn’t believe me: “What else do you want to hear? or do you also want to become His disciples?” (John 9:27). Isn’t that why you study the image of healing so carefully? If this is your intention, then as soon as you approach Him [Col. 1020] without doubt, and you will immediately be enlightened. You will know Him without any doubt, because He does not reject anyone who comes to Him in faith.” Hearing this, the Pharisees scolded the man who had received his sight and said to him: “You are His disciple, and we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; But we do not know where He comes from” (John 9:28–29); You are definitely His disciple. But the one who received his sight, smiling, answered: “Am I His disciple? You said it perfectly when you slandered me. O glorious reproach! By what you said, you glorified me more, without knowing it yourself. Are you Moses' disciples? [So be it, I agree with you.] But what is your experience - what strength have you shown? You are disciples of Moses, the apostles are disciples of my Physician. Show you, disciples of Moses, something similar to the deeds of the disciples of my Physician. If you have any power, then awaken, I do not say, the dead, but at least the sleeping ones, just as the apostles raised the dead. If you can be equal to the apostles, then walk, I do not say, on water, but at least on land, just as Peter walked on the sea. If you have any strength, then argue with the apostles: drive away, I do not say, spirits, but at least birds, just as the apostles drove out demons. Tell me: are you really the disciples of Moses? But if you are disciples of Moses, you would have to obey Moses, who says this about Him: “[The Lord your God] will raise up for you from among your brothers a Prophet like me; obey Him in everything that He says to you; and it shall come to pass that every soul that will not listen to that Prophet shall be cut off from among the people” (Acts 3:21, 23). Take care that you also do not become destroyed and scattered among all nations, since you do not know the power of Him about whom this prophecy of Moses speaks. You don't know who He is who healed my eyes? But you don’t know because you are seeking His destruction. However, you know well who He is and where He comes from. For when Herod asked: “Where should Christ be born?” – you directly and unmistakably indicated both the place and manner of His birth, saying that He was born “in Bethlehem” (Matthew 2:4–5). When you seek to kill Him, you know Him, but when they point to His working miracles, you do not know Him.” 13. But, in any case, someone will tell me: how do we know that the blind man who received his sight competed with the Pharisaic judges in this way [as you are now telling us]? What are you saying, my friend? An iron placed in a fire becomes red-hot and the sharpened one cuts violently, but this one, whom the Lord honored with the touch of His hands and Divine spitting, in your opinion, was devoid of rationality so that in disputes with lawless rhetoricians he would be unable to resort to sophisms himself (ἀσυλλόγιστα ῥητόρων σοφιστεύειν ) ? Isn’t it about him and others like him that the Divine Scripture says: “The Lord makes wise the blind” (Ps. 145:8)? Door. It will be timely for us to call this blind man, who miraculously received his sight, who sincerely believed in the Lord and strongly argued with the Jews, a reasonable, meek and full of milk sheep. For he, having come to know Christ the Chief Shepherd, escaped the wolves of the Pharisees and through the door of the cross entered the sheepfold - the Church. You recently heard the Lord say: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever does not enter by the door [Col. 1021] into the sheepfold, but climbs in somewhere else, he is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). The Lord calls Himself a door, and so that anyone, hearing about a door, does not think that this is simply an ordinary door, He immediately adds an explanation to confirm His teaching: “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7, 9). It is excellent that the Lord called Himself a door, because He guards those who are within the fence of faith, drives away those who carefully examine us from the outside, and brings us into the monastery of the Lord of the Father. For no one knows the Father except through the Son, as He Himself says: “And no one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). “I am the door” to the sheep (John 10:7). It is wonderful that the Lord called Himself a door, and not doors, because there is one Father, one Son and one Holy Spirit, and not three Gods, [but one God] and also one door of knowledge. Who testifies to this? Paul, thus crying: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). Paul does not say here: two, three, four, five, but everywhere: one, since there is one door - one Lord, an indivisible Being; one faith, that is, one praise of [God] that does not allow degrees; one Baptism, that is, incorruptible (ἀκαπήλευτον) enlightenment [of the entire one Trinity we worship]. Whoever has such knowledge enters through the Door and behind the door, that is, behind Christ, hides and is not separated from the Door. 14. Before these words, the Lord, without any flattery, called you His sheep; called His sheep, because you bring a rich wave 13 (πολυποκοῦντα) of poverty, you abound in the milk of the nourishing word, because you graze on the green grass of the Body of the Lord 14, you submit to the rod of the Cross, because you are united by the triple chain of faith and do not renounce your name 15, but you are built on the chief cornerstone, Christ. The Lord called Himself a door, and rightly so, for He has two faiths 16 - the Old and New Testaments; threshold and doorpost – circumcision and uncircumcision; home - Church; table - altar; bread - Lamb; cup - mysterious wine; gold – true faith; silver is the purest way of life; precious stones - Divine dogmas; cover - clothing of Baptism. Before this, you heard the Lord saying: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). By these words, meaning Himself, the Lord also predicted what He intended to do. For, except for the One Lord, no one died for the sheep. He alone accepted death for the intelligent sheep - death not forced, but voluntary, death not disastrous, but useful, death in no way subject to decay, but [Col. 1024] bestowing incorruption, death, comprehended only by faith, but not much inquisitiveness of the mind, death, not at all similar to ordinary death, but acquired by the death of death itself (αὐτοῦ τοῦ θανάτου θάνατον εὑρισκόμενον ). For if the Lord had not accepted voluntary death, then the devil would not have suffered death, which is why Paul cries out: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory? ( 1 Cor. 15:54, 55 )? But having sealed our word with this [prophetic word], let us give thanks to God: to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Translation and notes by A. G. Pernbaum, published by: PG. T. 28. Col. 1001–1024. This translation takes into account the pre-revolutionary translation published in Christian Reading (1837. Part 3, pp. 150–178). – Ed. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 42, 25. – Transl. In pre-revolutionary translation: “Last week.” – Per. Wed: St. Basil the Great (Sp.). On the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. See: Amand D. Une homelie grecque inedite antinestorienne du cinquieme siecle sur l'Incarnation du Seigneur. Revue Benedictine. T. 58. P. 233; rus. transl.: Pernbaum A.G. Homily of Pseudo-Basily of Caesarea as an example of Byzantine solemn eloquence of the 5th century // Music in the cultural system: Scientific Bulletin of the Ural Conservatory. Vol. 16. Ekaterinburg, 2019. pp. 95–96. – Per. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 18, 16; Word 26, 10. – Transl. Greek εὐσυσταλτικώτερον from the entire body of Greek texts is found only here. – Per. Wed: St. Athanasius the Great (Sp.). Discourse on Sowing, 15 (PG. Vol. 28. Col. 164). – Per. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Historical poems, 11. Poem in which Saint Gregory recounts his life, 137, 167, 173. - Trans. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Letter 101. To the presbyter Kledonius, against Apollinaris the first. – Per. Rev. by us according to the text PG, t. 28, col. 1012. The edition printed συνηγοροῦντας. ― Editorial of the ABC of Faith. Wed: St. Athanasius the Great. Word on the Incarnation of God the Word, 1. – Trans. Compare: “But those who praise [Christ] and show us in various ways that He is Divine... And they also teach that He is also a healing (ἴασις) and an inexhaustible and completely self-sufficient treasury of wisdom and knowledge” (Didymus the Blind (Sp.). On the Trinity I, 28 (PG. T. 39. Col. 408)). – Per. Compare: “What can natural philosophers, wise in empty matters, say to this” (St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 28, 27). – Per. Volna (ts.-slav.) - wool. ― Editorial of the ABC of Faith. Compare: “The apostles are called sheep, as obedient to the saving rod, grazing on His body (χλοαζόμενα τὸ Κυριακὸν σῶμα) and having stalls in the abodes of the Kingdom of Heaven” (St. John Chrysostom (Sp.). Conversation about the denial of Peter // St. John Chrysostom. Creations. T. 8. Part 2. P. 776). – Per. Wed: Rev. Theodore the Studite. Letter 77. To patrician Irina. – Per. Vereya is a pillar on which the gate leaf is hung. – Per.