Глава 18

“Untie the colt and bring it to Me” (cf. Matt. 21:2). Jesus began with a manger and reached the end with a colt. In a manger - in Bethlehem, on a donkey - in Jerusalem. And when he went to Jerusalem, he saw him and began to cry for him. Abraham saw His day and rejoiced. Christ saw Jerusalem and wept for it. He wept because (Jerusalem) did not rejoice. “Oh, if you... knew... although this is the day of your peace, yet the world... is hidden... from your presence” (cf. Luke 19:42). Abraham your father saw only My day and rejoiced, but you saw the day and the Lord of the day. It is He who wept for those who did not rejoice over their Intercessor. He also cried because of the impending destruction of the city, as he said: “Weep for yourself... for the days will come when they will say... to the mountains:... cover us...” (cf. Luke 23:28-30). “Abraham saw... My day and rejoiced” (cf. John 8:56), namely, (saw) in the lamb at the tree, which untied and freed the bound Isaac, just as the Lord, through the Cross, broke the bonds of the pagans. The face of the Angel was hidden from Balaam (Num. 22:22-31), and from this people, who knew the mystery of Balaam, the Lord of the world was hidden. From this the world was hidden, and from this the Lord of the world. The children exclaimed and said: “Blessing be upon the Son of David... But the chief priests and scribes... became angry and said, “Don’t you hear what they are saying?” (cf. Matthew 21:15–16), that is, if our praises are displeasing to You, then command them to be silent. In His birth and death, His innocent children adorned the crown of His suffering. The baby John leaped before Him in the womb, and the babies were killed at His birth, and became, as it were, the grapes of His wedding feast. When he reached the birthday of His death, the infants again cried out blessings to Him. The city of Jerusalem was alarmed at the time of His birth, just as it was (equally) confused and frightened on the day when He entered it. When the scribes heard the cries of the children and indignantly said to Him: “Command the people to be completely silent; He answered: If they are silent, the stones will cry out” (cf. Luke 19:39-40). So, they preferred that children scream rather than stones, so that the blinded ones would not somehow come to their senses at the cry of petrified nature. Nevertheless, this cry of stones was reserved for the same purpose at the time of His crucifixion, when, in the silence of those gifted with tongues, silent nature proclaimed the greatness of the Lord. “Now is the judgment of the world... now the prince... of this... world is cast out” (cf. John 12:31). He is not called the prince of creation and all people, but the prince of peace. Since it is cast out, it is clear that it is not of eternal essence and that it is devoid of power. John explains how he was cast out: “Behold,” he says, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). He is called a prince in the same sense in which it is said: “the gods of the nations are not gods” (cf. Ps. 95:5), and: “your warfare and battle is not against... flesh and blood, but against... the authorities,... principalities and... rulers of this darkness, which are under the heaven” (cf. Eph. 6:12), and as it says: “the mind... of whom... the god of this world has blinded, so that they would not believe.” (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4). In the same sense it is said: “the prince... of this... world is cast out” (cf. John 12:31). Also in another place it is said: “their God... is their belly, and their glory... is in their shame” (cf. Phil. 3:19). “We have heard from the law that Christ lives forever” (cf. John 12:34). The same is contained in the following sayings: “The scepter will not be taken away until He comes to whom it belongs” (cf. Gen. 49:10), and: “A prophet... the Lord God will raise up for you, such as I; Listen to him” (cf. Deut. 18:18). “But you say that the Son of Man must... be exalted” (John 12:34). That is, they understand (the words of) this passage about the future end of the world, since they say that there can only be one coming. Or about all the prophets they said: “we heard from the law” (John 12:34), as (it was said) and the following: “as it is written ... in their law: that they hated Me without a cause” (cf. John 15:25), - which is written in David: “With hatred they hated Me unrighteously” (cf. Ps. 24:19), and: “sinners who hated me in vain" (cf. Ps. 34:19) 247. Where there is a king, there is a kingdom. Therefore he says: “The kingdom of God is in your heart” (cf. Luke 17:21). It is not necessary, he says, to count the Kingdom in days, because they observed the times and seasons at which, in their opinion, Christ should appear. After all, rumors about Him arose thirty years ago, and rumors about Him increased due to His birth. And in those years, Theudas rebelled with his comrades, whom Christ called thieves because they came before Him to steal (John 10:8) and began, he says, in different places to appropriate the name of Christ for themselves (Matthew 24:5). Therefore, the Lord convicted them, since they sought to see Him not internally, but by external signs. “Rejoice, daughter of Zion, for behold the King is coming to you” (cf. Zech.9:9, cf. Matt.21:5, cf. John 12:15), and: “A star rises from Jacob” (Num.24:17), and again: “I will cause the Sun of righteousness to rise to you who honor My name” (cf. Mal.4:2), and again: “He sanctifies many nations” (cf. Isa. 51:11) The Lord began to reprove those who came with secret plans. “They are thieves,” he says, “and robbers” (cf. John 10:8), because they did not show themselves openly. But the Lord of the flock, when He entered through the door into His sheepfold, that is, into His inheritance, He came openly, through signs and wonders, and with great power. And here He is inside your heart through His testimonies and does not hide Himself, so that those who seek Him need (external) signs and investigation “If I do not do works... do not believe” (John 10:37). So, they (themselves) showed that they were not Christ, and therefore sought to secretly kidnap people. The arrogant pride inherent in them, and the lies and pretexts that they invented, accused them; therefore they were afraid to show themselves openly. Fevda said that he is someone great. But for people to join him, let him give them a certificate. If he is not who he said he was, then let it be considered that he said about someone else what he said about himself. This is where that (famous) saying came from: “if Christ... comes, then no one will know where He comes from” (cf. John 7:27). It (this saying) must be rejected and exposed (as a falsity), because it was said: “from the city of Bethlehem Christ must be born” (cf. John 7:42). And since many Christs rebelled, they wavered in their thoughts and said: have not our elders made sure that this, and not others, is truly the Christ? Therefore he said to them: “If another comes in his name, then believe him” (cf. John 5:43). Since many followed Him, therefore He explained that His coming would come openly and solemnly, not in the same way as His birth. “If they say to you, Here He is,... do not believe it... Like lightning that flashes” (cf. Matt. 24:26–27). Just as at the time when He was born, thieves 248 appeared, so at the time of His coming, thieves will appear and rumors will intensify. So, do not go out to look for Him, lest you voluntarily follow that rebel and be carried away yourself. So, since He is the Lord of the Kingdom, He wanted to cleanse the high and heavenly countries in Himself and at the same time cleanse the underworld. The words: “He will cleanse the house of His kingdom from every offense” (cf. Matt. 13:41) - understand about the earth and the creatures that He will renew, and there He will gather His righteous. “Woe to you, O lawyer, who hide the key” (cf. Luke 11:52), since they have hidden the understanding of the revelation of the Lord revealed in the prophets. After all, if the Lord, as He Himself testifies, is a door, then it is clear that there are also keys to knowing Him. But the scribes and Pharisees did not want to enter this door of life, as (the Lord) said: “Behold, the kingdom of God is within your heart” (cf. Luke 17:21), which he said about himself, as he stood among them. Sin, cunningly using its vessels, stood at the source leading to the house of life, so that souls and spirits 249 would not find rest for themselves in it. “They hid,” he says, “the key” (cf. Luke 11:52). “All the blood of the righteous will come” (cf. Luke 11:50), since it was they who killed the Avenger for the murdered righteous, then the punishment for them is also exacted at their hands. After all, whoever kills a judge is a friend of murderers, because together with him (the judge) he removes retribution and makes the path easier for murderers. “From the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah” (cf. Luke 11:51), but not only, he says, until that time, but even to this day. Since He Himself stood among them, He did not demand retribution from them for His blood until they killed Him, so that they would not say that this happened by predestination. Therefore, he pronounced judgment on them for the previously killed righteous people, in order to convince them not to kill those who followed, and gave them the opportunity to repent of His death, which the law did not allow for those guilty of killing the prophets. For the law says: “Whoever kills, let him die” (cf. Matt. 5:38), and not like this: “See if he is not converted 250, and then it will be forgiven him.” But the Lord allowed them to repent of killing Him, if they wished. But the people, by the murder of subsequent (righteous) people, testified that they sympathized with the murder of the former (righteous), and through the confession of their own mouths they fell away from the voice of truth 251, for they were not ashamed to accuse their fathers of killing the prophets (Matthew 23:29-30). And just as the people made their unborn children participants and accomplices in the murder of the Savior, 252 so Christ made their evil will, although they would not have known (about it), made a participant and accomplice in the murder of the prophets, since they learned that the Son is the Lord of the vineyard, and knew that He was the Avenger, and still killed Him. Moses, as a warning, commanded them to bring their sacrifices in one place, there to slaughter a lamb and perform an image of atonement. Therefore, neither Herod could kill the Lord along with the infants of Bethlehem, nor did the Nazarenes take His life when they overthrew Him from the mountain, because the Lord did not have a command to die outside of Jerusalem. “It is not right,” he says, “for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem” (cf. Luke 13:33). Note that although they killed Him in Jerusalem, (however) both Herod and the Nazarenes were also guilty of His death, and vengeance was also exacted from them for killing Him. From here learn that not only the inhabitants of Jerusalem must suffer punishment for His Blood, but also all who saw and rejected Him are found guilty of His death. Saying: “between... the church and the altar” (Luke 11:51), he showed the crime of the people, for they were not afraid even of the place of cleansing. “How many times... I wanted to gather you” (cf. Luke 13:34), which is equivalent to the following (saying): “Behold... three and a year, when I... came looking for fruit on this fig tree and did not find it” (cf. Luke 13:7). “If anyone hears... My words and does not keep them, I do not know 253 him” (cf. John 12:47). Where is it (that He said): “The Father... judges no one, but has given all Judgment to the Son” (John 5:22)? And since He is the Doctor of people, He says: “I did not come into this world to judge the world, but to save the world” (cf. John 12:47). And in order to show that every Judgment belongs to Him, He teaches this: “Whoever does not accept My words... will be judged... by the word... which I have spoken” (John 12:48). “When you see the sign of the horror of its desolation” (cf. Matt. 24:15). Although the city of Jerusalem was often destroyed and rebuilt again, in this place the Lord spoke about its complete destruction and the desecration of its sanctuary, because after this it will remain in its destruction, that is, it will be consigned to oblivion. The Romans placed their banners inside the church, on which there was an image of an eagle, as it is said: “on the wing ... abomination and destruction” (cf. Dan. 9:27). “A sign of horror, its desolation, spoken by Daniel the prophet” (cf. Matthew 24:15). Others say that a sign of its impending destruction was that the Romans tried to bring the head of a pig and place it, with the assistance of Pilate, inside the church. “Whoever stands on the housetop...” (cf. Matt. 24:17) because they will not be saved, as at other times, since the Lord will not have care and concern for them. “Woe... to the pregnant women...” (Luke 21:23). It speaks of those who were martyred during the siege of Jerusalem. “There will be... tribulation for this people” (cf. Matt. 24:21) such that even women will eat their children. “Pray and ask that your flight does not happen in winter or on the Sabbath day” (cf. Matt. 24:20), that is, that you are not taken captive at a time when it is impossible to act. Just as winter is without fruit and the Sabbath is without work, so beware lest you be taken away when you have neither fruit nor work. “In winter,” he says, “and on Saturday” (cf. Matt. 24:20); one of these is a matter of necessity, the other is a matter of freedom; winter is a matter of necessity, Saturday is a matter of freedom. But let neither the coercion of others nor your own will keep you from the work of the Lord your God. Further, through winter and Saturday, he indicated that disasters were coming to them. And after He showed them His wrath and declared that all this would justly come upon them, He immediately again, in His mercy, taught them to practice prayer, not in order to ward off certain severe punishments that were coming to them, but so that the time and day of the great disaster threatening them would change. For the Lord, out of mercy, combined both in His speech; firstly, that sorrows will undoubtedly come, and you will flee, as predestined (this), and, secondly, that you pray that this sorrow does not happen to them in the winter, when you will not be able to save yourself and avoid these sorrows, or on the Sabbath, so that disasters do not befall you while you are at rest. How the son of the law showed concern for the laws and decreed that the law of Moses should not be broken. “If,” he says, “there are among you foolish and simple, then let them not keep the Sabbath in time of war as you should observe in the case of peace, or lest they kill you like those who were killed in the cave” (cf. 1 Mac. 2:29-38). And again: “in winter and on the Sabbath” (cf. Matt. 24:20), because winter is the rest from all the labor of one year, and the Sabbath is the rest of seven days, that is, rest on the day of His appearance, as it is said elsewhere: “until now remains... still... the Sabbath of God” (cf. Heb. 4:9), since the Sabbath is the end of works. “Pray that you may be worthy to be taken away from all these future (disasters)” (cf. Luke 21:36). This, as some explain, the Lord also spoke about the punishment coming to the city of Jerusalem, and at the same time marked the end of the world. “You will have to flee” (cf. Luke 21:36), because on that resurrection confusion and sorrow will engulf all who reach it imperfectly. Others say that this was said only to the apostles, so that they would remain steadfast if the sun disappeared on the sixth day. Further he says: “on Saturday”, since the Jews were vain of the Sabbath, and: “in winter” (cf. Matt. 24:20), because it is cold. “And if God had not shortened ... those days, no flesh would have been saved” (cf. Matt. 24:22). It is not the number of days with their hours that decreases, but time itself becomes shortened for the sake of the elect, so that their misfortunes do not increase, but are shortened, that is, redemption occurs. “About that time... no one knows, neither the Angels nor the Son” (cf. Matt. 24:36). He said this in order to prevent them from asking Him about the time of His coming. “It is not your business,” he says, “to know the days and times” (cf. Acts 1:7), but he hid them so that we would be awake and each of us would think that He would come at his time. After all, if he were to reveal the time at which he would come, then His coming would become indifferent (to us) and would cease to be an object of desire for the peoples and ages among whom it would be revealed. He said that He would come, but did not say when He would come, and thus all generations and centuries eagerly await Him. For although the Lord has determined the signs of His coming, their ultimate end is by no means clearly seen, because these signs came and passed in repeated changes, and even continue to this day. After all, His last coming is similar to the first. Just as (then) the righteous and prophets waited for Him, thinking that He would reveal Himself in their days, so now every believer desires to receive Him in his own time, because He did not announce the day of His coming; and (did) this mainly for the reason that someone would not consider Him to be subject to predestination and the hour, into whose power and dominion the dates and times were given. And how could something that He Himself had established be hidden from the Lord, Who Himself showed them the signs of His coming? So, since it is also written that He knows (all) this, why do they read this and omit this? Or perhaps He knew the time, but did not know the moment? But time is a moment, and a moment is time. “This,” he says, “is now bone of my bones” (cf. Gen. 2:23). After all, a moment is like the movement of an eye. And “at that time,” he says, “at that moment Jesus rejoiced in His spirit” (cf. Luke 10:21), and: “watch and pray, for you do not know the time” (cf. Mark 13:33). “That day no one knows, neither the Angels nor the Son” (cf. Matt. 24:36), - similar to the following: “Depart from Me, you cursed of My Father, into everlasting fire, for ... I know you not” (cf. Matt. 25:41, 7:23). So, just as he knows the evil ones, but because of their deeds he says: “I do not know you,” so, although he knew about the time of His coming, however, so that they would no longer question Him, he said about him: “I do not know him” (cf. Matt. 24:36). But now we ask you: does the Son know the Father or not? Of course, he knows Him, for it is written: “no one knows... the Father except... the Son, and no one knows the Son... except the Father” (cf. Matt. 11:27). How then can He not know the time of His coming? If he knows the Father, then, I ask, what is greater than the Father that (the Son) does not know? Or where are the reasons why the Father would hide the time of His coming from Him? Is it not so that through this He would appear less than the Father and His nature would be revealed? If this is so, then it means that at the moment when this time is revealed to Him, and the trumpet sounds for Him to come down from heaven, He will turn out to be the same as the Father. Further, it is written: “The counsel of God is Christ, to whom all the secrets of wisdom and knowledge were revealed” (cf. Col. 2:3). If through Him all mysteries are revealed, then how could the time of His coming remain a mystery to Himself? And if He does not know the day when He will come, then He also does not know those days when He does not come. And the Spirit knows what He has created, as they 254 also affirm, since it tests the depths of God; The son (really) doesn’t know this? They (the disciples) asked Him about the time (of His coming), and He indicates the day and names it, saying: “I do not know it” (cf. Matt. 24:36), firstly, in order to keep them from asking questions, and then so that the signs He gave would be useful, like a disease for a sick person, because (the latter also) does not know the day of death. So, with these words I honored His signs, so that, starting from this day, all generations and centuries would think that His coming would take place in their time. Stay awake, because when the body sleeps, nature rules over us and action is performed in us not according to our will, but by force, according to the attraction of nature. And when a heavy sleep takes possession of the soul, such as cowardice or sadness, then the enemy rules over it and through it does what it does not want. Nature is controlled by force, but the soul is controlled by the enemy. So, the vigilance that the Lord commanded, He prescribed to both parts of man; the body, so that it (removes) from drowsiness, and the soul, so that it protects itself from insensibility and timidity, as it says: “be sober in righteousness” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:34), and: “I have awakened and ... am with you” (cf. Ps. 139:18), and also: “do not be lazy” (cf. Rom. 12:11), - and Therefore, let us avoid laziness in carrying out the work that we have. “There will be two in the field, on one bed” (cf. Matt. 24:40), because when Jerusalem is devastated, it will instantly fall on them, like the following 255: “if there ... there are ten men” (cf. Gen. 18:32). The eagle is also (cf. Matt. 24:28) The Lord named the enemies who will come against this city, which is designated by the name of the corpse, as well as it says: “His horses are swifter than eagles” (Jer. 4:13). Others explain this (place) about the end of the world, when fear and trembling will fall on all people, so that they may prepare themselves, as it says: “Let your waist be girded” (Luke 12:35). (cf. Matthew 24:41) called the world, eagles (cf. Matthew 24:28) and, by the speed of their wings, named the righteous “Who will be the steward, the faithful... slave, the beneficent and the wise?” (cf. Matthew 24:45). Although the Lord has testified all this about him, 256 however, if he turns out to be unfaithful in what has been entrusted to him, then “he will cut him in half, and separate him, and subject him to the same fate with the hypocrites and unbelievers, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (cf. Matt. 24:51). “Five... of them were... foolish... and five... wise” (cf. Matt. 25:2). But he did not call their virginity wisdom, because they were all virgins, but he called their good deeds wisdom. After all, if your virginity is equal to the holiness of the Angels, then note and judge that the holiness of the Angels is pure from the envy of other vices. Just as you have overcome fornication, so beware that murmuring and anger do not overcome you. Likewise, whoever has not returned his talents with an increase (Matthew 25:15-30), just as from a barren land, the gift of fruits is also taken away. The land about which he said: “he hid it” (cf. Matt. 25:18) was compared to the land that did not bear fruit. “Take his talent” (Matthew 25:28), that is, faith, since he did not earn a righteous life by faith. The Lord did not blame the one who received the five talents, so that they would not say: He placed a burden on us beyond our strength. He noted the one who received one talent, so that the one who received five talents would be rebuked by the one who received one talent. “Let your loins be girded” (Luke 12:35), that is, let them be prepared through abstinence. “And your lamps are burning” (cf. Luke 12:35), since it is this world that is, as it were, night and needs the light of the righteous, as the Lord says in another place: “let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father, who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The wise hands in their sweetness humbled themselves in order to wash the feet of their traitor, who rewarded them for their washing with the nails of the Cross. And the Creator of all things even humbled Himself to such an extent that He washed His insignificant feet, and yet, despite this, He was hated by the Pharisees, and the priests persecuted Him. Just as everything was arranged through Him when it began to be, since He was the mediator (of creation), so the salvation of everything that was accomplished through Him grew, because it (everything created) already belonged to Him by the first inheritance. And since the creatures were humiliated and fell under the power of curses, the Lord Himself humbled Himself before them in order to exalt and exalt them all, just as the one who first humiliated them invaded them through his council under the guise of caring for them and as a leader. Thus, pride and insolence cannot truly produce anything unless they act with violence. All blessings are contained in love and are all contained together (in it), and the guardian of their treasury is love. In the words: “we heard from the law” (John 12:34), the law can also mean the prophets, as the example given shows (John 15:25). Herod and other opponents of the Lord. People who wanted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Of course, the words: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). According to the meaning of the following reasoning, instead of “I don’t know”, here you need to read “I don’t judge”; in the Armenian language, in which this interpretation of Saint Ephraim has been preserved, both of these words are very similar to each other. Those who believe that the Son does not know the time of His coming. Those. just as it was during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The meaning of the speech is this: although the servant, according to the testimony of the Lord, was faithful, beneficent and wise, however, etc. You might be interested in: