Глава третья

Luke 3:1. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was in charge of Judea, Herod was tetrarch in Galilee, Philip his brother was tetrarch in Ituraea and the Trachonite region, and Lysanias was tetrarch in Abilene, Time and rulers are rightly mentioned to show that under Christ the succession of Jewish rulers ceased; since the hegemon was Pilate, a man from another nation, the tetrarchs were the sons of Herod the Ascalonite, and so that it would therefore be accepted as true that Christ had come, according to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. 49:10). Luke 3:2. under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. “There came,” it is said, “the word of God to John,” so that you would know that he came to testify about Christ not as an impostor, but because he was moved by the Spirit of God. By “verb” you mean either the Holy Spirit or the command of God. The word of God to John was “in the wilderness.” Since the children of the abandoned church ***, that is, the church of the pagans, were more numerous than the children of “the one who had a husband” (Is. 54:1), that is, the Jewish church, the word and command of God came to John when he was in the wilderness. Luke 3:3. And he went through all the surrounding country of Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, He preached to people “baptism of repentance,” that is, confession. And this baptism helped them towards the remission of sins, granted through the baptism of Christ. For John’s baptism did not have remission of sins, but led to remission, that is, it prepared people to receive Christ’s baptism, which had remission of sins. Luke 3:4. As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, who says (Is. 40:3-5): the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight; Luke 3:5. Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked places made straight, and the rough paths made smooth; The “way” that he commands to prepare is a way of life according to the teachings of Christ; for the Lord soon had to preach. “Paths” are the commandments of the Law, as if already worn out. It is commanded to make them “straight” because the Pharisees corrupted the commandments. By “path” we can mean the soul, and by “paths” we can mean thoughts and deeds. So, we must prepare our souls and make our deeds and thoughts right. Then someone seemed to ask: how are we going to do this? For virtue is not easy to practice and encounters many snares and obstacles both from evil forces and from the passions living in us? He answers that nothing will be difficult, but everything will be convenient. For the valleys will be “filled,” that is, our natural powers, weakened for good and fallen into a low state, will be replenished; “every mountain and hill,” that is, the opposing forces and desires that seem to be invested with nature, truly weakened: and everything became smooth, and the crooked changed to straight. For Christ abolished the opposing forces, which are here called mountains and hills, and revived our natural impulses for good, which the evangelist called filled valleys. For He became incarnate for this purpose, to restore our nature to its own form. Luke 3:6. and all flesh will see the salvation of God. “All flesh,” it is said, “will see the salvation of God,” not only Jews and aliens, but “all flesh,” for the Gospel has been carried throughout the whole earth. Much more could be said, but for the sake of clarity let this be said. Luke 3:7. John said to the people who came to be baptized by him: you are brood of vipers! who inspired you to flee from future wrath? He calls the Jews “brood of vipers” because they insulted their fathers and mothers; for this animal, they say, eats its mother’s womb and is thus born. Moreover, they killed prophets and teachers. “Future wrath” refers to eternal punishment. Luke 3:8. Produce fruits worthy of repentance and do not think of saying within yourself, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The “worthy fruits of repentance” constitute not only removal from evil, but also exercise in goodness; for doing good is truly the fruit and product of repentance. Do not begin to tell yourself that you are of a good family, and, relying on your fathers, do not abandon virtue. God will be able to give children from “these stones” to the patriarch; for He had done almost the like of this before. Although Sarah's womb was harder than stones, she nevertheless received the grace of childbearing (Gen. 17:17). Luke 3:9. Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. The “axe” is a divine judgment that removes the unworthy from among the living. If, he says, you do not repent, you will be deprived of life. The ax lies “at the root of your trees.” By “root” we mean life, as we said. But by “root” we can also mean a relationship with Abraham. From this relationship with Abraham, according to the Apostle (Rom. 11:21–22), those who are unworthy to be its branches are cut off. The punishment is twofold, for the sinful and barren is not only cut off from kinship with the righteous, but is also thrown into the fire. Luke 3:10. And the people asked him: what should we do? Luke 3:11. He answered and said to them, “Whoever has two coats, give to the poor, and whoever has food, do the same.” Luke 3:12. The publicans also came to be baptized, and said to him: Master! what should we do? Luke 3:13. He answered them: do not demand anything more specific to you. Luke 3:14. The soldiers also asked him: what should we do? And he said to them: do not offend anyone, do not slander, and be content with your salary. John admonishes three classes of those who came to him: the simple class of the people, tax collectors and soldiers. He convinces the simple class of people to be diligent in almsgiving, commanding that he who has “two coats” should give to the poor; He convinces tax collectors not to collect, that is, not to demand anything unnecessary; He convinces the soldiers not to kidnap, but to be content with dues, that is, the salary that is usually given from the king. Look how John convinces the simple class of people, as those who are not evil, to do something good, that is, to give to others, and to publicans and soldiers to refrain from evil. For these were not yet capable, could not do anything good, but it was enough for them not to do evil. Some people understand the commandment for the one who has “two coats” to share with the one who does not have one, in a moral sense. They say: the two garments signify the Spirit of Scripture and the letter; John urges the one who has both to communicate to the one who has absolutely nothing; for example, if anyone understands the Scripture in both respects, in letter and in spirit, let him pass it on to the one who does not have it, let him teach the one who does not know and give him at least the letter. Luke 3:15. When the people were waiting, and everyone was thinking in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ, - Luke 3:16. John answered everyone: I baptize you with water, but one stronger than me is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John's virtue was so high that everyone thought about him, was he not the Christ himself? Disgusting such an opinion, he says: the difference between me and Christ, firstly, is that “I baptize ... with water,” and “He ... with the Spirit ... and fire,” and the other is that “I am not worthy even to untie the thong of His sandals.” What the words mean: “to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” is completely clear; for He sent the Spirit to the apostles, and divided tongues of fire appeared over them ( Acts 2:3-4). And the words: “I am not worthy to untie the strap of my shoes” obviously mean that I am not worthy to place myself even as His last servants. In a more hidden sense, the shoes of both feet of the Lord are His appearance from heaven to earth and the manner of these two phenomena, no one can resolve, even if he were like John. Luke 3:17. His fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, and He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. The words: “His shovel is in His hand” mean that although He baptizes you, do not think that you are already unpunished; but if you do not keep yourself blameless in the life that follows, then He will “burn you with unquenchable fire.” A tare is one who has a sterile mind and puts great care only into the things of life. Luke 3:18. He preached many other things to the people, teaching them. For good teaching is truly consolation and is rightly called gospel. Luke 3:19. Herod the tetrarch, rebuked by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for everything that Herod had done that was bad, Luke 3:20. He added to everything else that he put John in prison. Luke 3:21. When all the people were baptized, Jesus also, having been baptized, prayed: The evangelist appropriately inserted a word about Herod here. He seems to be saying this: although the people thought very highly of John, Herod, “convicted by him,” to all his atrocities “added... that he put him in prison.” He narrates, as it were, with deep sorrow and strong pity that Herod acted so wrongly towards John, while the people had a high opinion of him. in order to show us that baptism opens heaven, closed by Adam, to everyone. Luke 3:22. and the Holy Spirit descended on Him “The Holy Spirit descended on” Jesus, so that we might know from this that when we are baptized, the Spirit comes on us. For the Lord had no need of the Spirit, but He does everything for our sake and He Himself is the firstborn in everything (Col. 1:18), which we subsequently received in order to be the firstborn in many brethren. in bodily form, like a dove, so that we learn that we need to be meek and pure. And just as with Noah the dove depicted the calming of the wrath of God (Gen. 8:8-11), so here the Holy Spirit, having drowned sin, reconciled us with God. and there was a voice from heaven, saying: Thou art my beloved Son; And the Son hears a voice spoken from the Father to show that He has granted sonship to us who are baptized. Luke 3:23–38. Jesus, when he began His ministry, was about thirty years old, and was, as they thought, the Son of Joseph, Eli, Mattathi, Levi, Melchiev, Jannaev, Joseph, Mattathiev, Amos, Nahumov, Izmov, Naggeev, Maathov, Mattathiev, Semeev, Joseph, Judah, Joannanov, Risaev, Zerubbabel, Salathiel, Niriev, Melchiev, Addiev, Kosamov, Elmodamov, Irov, Josiev, Eliezerov, Iorimov, Matfatov, Leviin, Simeonov, Judin, Josephov, Ionanov, Eliakimov, Meleaev, Mainanov, Mattafaev, Nathanov, Davidov, Jesseev, Ovidov, Boazov, Salmonov, Nahsonov, Aminadavov, Aramov, Esromov, Pharesov, Judin, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Farrin, Nahor, Seruch, Ragab, Peleg, Ever, Salin, Cain, Arphaxad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Maleleel, Cain, Enos, Seth, Adam, God. The Lord was baptized when he was thirty years old, because this age is the most perfect, and at it a person turns out to be honorable or unworthy. Luke presents the genealogy of the Lord in reverse order, in comparison with the Evangelist Matthew (Matthew 1:1-16), in order to show that he who is now born according to the flesh is of God - for look how the genealogy ascends to God - and together, so that we know that He became incarnate in order to raise all the fathers who came through to God and make them sons. I can say it differently: the birth of the Lord, as seedless, was met with unbelief. Therefore, the evangelist, wanting to show that at another time man was without seed, ascends from the lowest to Adam and God. He says something like this: if you do not believe how the second Adam was born without a seed, then, please, turn your mind to the first Adam, and you will find that he was created by God without a seed, and after that do not be unfaithful. Some ask: how does Matthew call Joseph the son of Jacob, and Luke the son of Eli? For it is impossible, they say, for one and the same person to be the son of two fathers. To this they answer that Jacob and Eli were half-brothers, but from different fathers, that, after the death of Eli, Jacob took his wife in order to raise children from her, and that therefore Joseph is called the son of Jacob by nature, and Eli by the Law. For Jacob really begat him by nature, and he was his own son, but he was the son of Eli only by the Law. For the Law commanded that the wife of a childless deceased be married to his brother and that what was born from this union be considered the child of the deceased (Deut. 25:5-6), although by nature it was from a living person. Therefore, the evangelists speak correctly and do not contradict each other. Matthew wrote down the natural father of Joseph, and Luke - the father due to him according to the Law, that is, Elijah; and both show that the Lord was born in order to sanctify nature and the Law. in Church Slavonic - empty.