Беседа 15

John 1:18. No one has ever seen God; The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed. 1. No one has ever seen God in His essence. – 2 and 3. Jesus Christ fully knows the Father, because he dwells in His bosom. – Refutation of the Arians and other heretics who rejected the Divinity of Jesus Christ. – Jesus Christ revealed more to us than the prophets and Moses. – All Christians constitute one body. - Which serves as the greatest bond of their mutual love. 1. God wants us not just to listen to the names and words found in Scripture, but with understanding. Therefore, blessed David wrote this: “Open my eyes, and I will see the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18). After him, his son, who took his place, teaches that one must seek wisdom like silver and acquire it more than gold. And the Lord inspired the Jews to test the Scriptures and thus encourages us even more to study. He did not say this in the sense that just by reading it one could understand the Scripture the first time. No one, of course, will experience what is close and at hand, but experience what remains in the shadows and can only be revealed after a long search. This is why Scripture is called a hidden treasure, in order to encourage us to test it. And this is instilled in us so that we approach the words of Scripture not simply as it happens, but with great caution, because whoever listens to what is read in it without reasoning and accepts everything literally as it is said can assume many absurd things about God. He will perhaps admit that God is also a man and that He consists of copper, that He is angry and furious, and many other even worse thoughts. If someone delves into the depth of meaning, he will avoid all such absurdity. So in the reading now offered to us, it is said that God had a womb, and this is characteristic of bodies; but no one would be so stupid as to regard the incorporeal as a body. To understand all this in the spiritual sense, as it should, let us examine this place in more detail. “No one has ever seen God.” How did the evangelist come to this? Having shown the great advantage of the gifts of Christ - such that an immeasurable distance lies between these gifts and those communicated through Moses, he then wants to express a sufficient reason for such a difference between them. Moses, as a slave, was a minister of lower affairs; and Christ, as Lord and King and Son of the King, brought us incomparably higher gifts, always coexisting with the Father and seeing Him unceasingly. That is why the evangelist added: “No one has ever seen God.” What do we say to the words of the most powerful Isaiah: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” (Is. 6:1)? What shall we say to the testimony of John himself that Isaiah said this then “when he saw His glory” (John 12:41)? What shall we say to the words of Ezekiel? And he saw God sitting on cherubim. What about Daniel’s words? And he says: “And the Ancient of Days sat down” (Dan. 7:9). What also - in response to the words of Moses: “Show me Your glory, so that I may know You” (Ex. 33:18, 13)? And Jacob received his nickname from this, i.e. was called Israel, and Israel means: the one who sees God. Others saw Him too. So, why did John say: “No one has ever seen God”? He shows that all this was a matter of condescension, and not a vision of the divine being itself. If they had seen the being itself, they would have seen it in no different way. It is simple, unimaginative, uncomplicated, indescribable; does not sit, does not stand, does not walk. All this is characteristic only of bodies. But how God exists, He alone knows this, and God the Father himself announced this through one prophet: “I,” he says, “multiplied visions, and through the prophets used parables” (Hos. 12:10), that is, I descended and appeared, but not as what I am. And since His Son had to appear to us in real flesh, He from the beginning prepared people for the contemplation of the being of God, as much as it was possible for them to see. But that God is in himself, not only the prophets, but also the angels and archangels did not see; and if you asked them about this, then in response you would not hear anything about the creature, but only singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). If you wanted to know anything about this from the cherubim or seraphim, you would hear the mysterious triholy song and that “the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6:3). And if you turned your question to even higher powers, you would not learn anything except that they have one thing to do - to praise God. “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His armies” (Ps. 149:2). So, only the Son and the Holy Spirit see God the Father himself. And how can a created being, whatever it may be, see the Uncreated! If we cannot clearly see any incorporeal force, even a created one - and there were many examples of this in relation to angels - then even more so we cannot see an incorporeal and uncreated being. That is why Paul says: “Whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). But does not this advantage belong only to the Father, and not to the Son? No – and neither does the Son. And that this also belongs to the Son, listen to Paul, who shows this and says: “Who is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). And as the image of the invisible, He himself is invisible; otherwise there would be no image. If (Paul) says in another place: “God appeared in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16), do not be surprised; this phenomenon took place in the flesh, and not in essence. But Paul also shows that He is invisible, not only to people, but also to higher powers. Having said: “appeared in the flesh,” he adds: “showed himself to the angels.” 2. Thus He appeared to the angels when He took on flesh; and before that they also did not see Him, because the creature was not visible to them either. How, you say, Christ himself said: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10)? So what? Does God really have a face and is limited to heaven? But no one will be so devoid of intelligence as to assert this. In what sense is this said? In the same one that says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). We are talking here about vision that is possible for us, about seeing with the mind and thinking about God. Thus, it can be said about angels that, in their pure and wakeful nature, they always contemplate nothing else, but only God. That is why (the Lord) himself also says: “No one knows the Father except the Son” (Matthew 11:27). So what? Are we all ignorant of Him? No; only no one knows (the Father) like the Son. And just as before, many saw Him, in the measure of vision accessible to them, but no one saw the divine being, so now we all know God, but what He is in His essence, no one knows - only one born of Him. Here He calls knowledge exact contemplation and comprehension, and, moreover, such as the Father has about the Son. “As the Father knows Me,” He says, “so I know the Father” (John 10:15). Look how completely the evangelist expresses this. Having said: “No one has ever seen God,” he does not then say that “the Son who sees Him” has revealed, but represents something else that is even more complete than vision, namely: “he who is in the bosom of the Father,” since being in the womb means much more than seeing. He who simply sees, still has not entirely accurate knowledge of the visible object; and whoever abides in the womb has complete knowledge. So, if no one knows the Father except the Son, then when you hear this, do not think that although the Son knows the Father more perfectly than all others, he does not know what He is in himself; and this is why the evangelist says that the Son abides in the bosom of the Father; and Christ himself says that he knows the Father as much as the Father knows the Son. So, whoever would contradict, ask him: Does the Father know the Son? And he, unless he has gone crazy, of course, will answer: yes. Then again we ask: does the Father have complete knowledge of the Son and does he clearly see that there is a Son? Of course the enemy will agree to this too. And from here you can derive the full knowledge of the Son about the Father. Himself (the Son) said: “As the Father knows Me, so I know the Father” (John 10:15); and in another place: “It is not that any man has seen the Father, except He who is from God” (John 6:46). Therefore, as I said, the evangelist mentioned the womb, explaining everything to us in one word: Affinity and unity of being, indivisible knowledge and equality of power. Otherwise, the Father could not have had any other creature in His bosom, and the Son, if he had been a slave and one of many, would not have dared to remain in the bosom of the Master; this is characteristic only of the true Son, who has great boldness before the Parent and has in himself no less (Him). Do you want to know the eternity of the Son? Listen to what Moses says about the Father. Having asked what to say in response to the Egyptians if they asked who sent him, he was commanded to say: “He who has sent me” (Exodus 3:14). The word: “Existing” means constant being, beginningless being, being in the true and proper sense. The expression “in the beginning was” means the same thing, depicting constant existence. And John uses this expression here precisely to show that the Son exists in the bosom of the Father without beginning and eternally. And so that you do not conclude, by the commonality of the name, that He is one of those who were made sons by grace, for this reason the term (o) is added here, which distinguishes Him from the sons by grace. If this is not enough for you, and you are still bowing down, then listen to the name more characteristic of the Son: “only begotten.” And if after this you look down, then I will not refuse to use a human expression about God - I mean the womb, as long as you do not imagine anything derogatory. Do you see the philanthropy and industry of the Lord? God allows unworthy words about Himself, so that at least in this way you open your eyes and think about something great and lofty - and you still remain down? In fact, tell me, why is the womb, a rough and carnal concept, mentioned here? Is it so that we imagine God as a body? No, not at all, you say; for what? If it does not depict either the truth of the Son, or the fact that God is not a body, then of course this saying is thrown in vain and without any need. So why? I won't stop asking you about it. Is it not obvious - so that through him we understand precisely that He is truly the only begotten Son and co-eternal with the Father? “He revealed,” it says. What did He reveal? What “no one has ever seen God”? That God is one? But the prophets also said this, and Moses often cried out: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4); and Isaiah: “before Me there was no God, and after Me there will be no” (Isaiah 43:10). 3. What else do we learn from the Son, as being in the bosom of the Fathers? What do we learn from the Only Begotten? First, that this very thing constitutes His efficacious power. Then, we received a clearer teaching and knowledge that God is Spirit and that those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth; also that it is impossible to see God, that no one knows Him except the Son, and that He is the Father of the true Only Begotten; also everything else that is told about Him. The very word: “revealed” expresses the clearest and most obvious teaching, which He conveyed not only to the Jews, but to the entire universe, and which He Himself fulfilled. Not all Jews listened to the prophets, but the whole universe submitted to and believed in the Only Begotten Son of God. So, confession here means special clarity of doctrine. That is why he is called both the Word and the Angel of the great council. If we have been awarded the highest and most perfect teaching, after God in the last days spoke to us not only through the prophets, but also through the Only Begotten Son, then we must show a life more exalted and worthy of such honor. Since He condescended to us to the point that He wanted to talk to us not through slaves, but directly, it would be incongruous on our part not to show in ourselves anything better than previous times. The Jews had Moses as their teacher, and we had the Lord Moses himself. So let us show wisdom worthy of this honor, and we will have nothing to do with the earth. This is why He brought us teaching from above, from heaven, in order to lift our thought there, so that we would become, to the best of our ability, imitators of our Teacher. How can we, you say, become imitators of Christ? Doing everything for the common good and not looking for one’s own. “For Christ,” it is said, “did not please Himself, but, as it is written: The slander of those who slandered You fell on Me” (Rom. 15:3). Let no one look for his own. And let everyone, when looking for his own, keep in mind his neighbors; What is ours is theirs. We are one body and members and parts of each other. (Rom.12:5). Let us not treat each other as if we were divided. Let no one say that such and such is not my friend, not a relative, not a neighbor; I have nothing to do with it: how can I get started with it? How to start a conversation? Even if he is not a relative, not your friend, he is still a man of the same nature as you, has the same Lord, fellow servant, cohabitant, since he lives in the same world with you. And if it still contains one faith, then this is your member. What kind of friendship can produce such a unity as the affinity of faith? We should show not such closeness, not such communication with each other as friends with friends, but as members with members. No one will ever find another higher friendship and communication than this. You just can’t say: where do I get my closeness and connection with so-and-so, just as you can’t say this about your brother, because that would be funny. “We were all baptized into one body,” it says (1 Cor. 12:13). Why “in one body”? In order not to separate, but to maintain the connection of the whole body by mutual agreement and friendship. So, let us not despise each other, so as not to despise ourselves, because it is said: “no one has ever hated his own flesh, but feeds and warms it” (Eph. 5:29). For this, God gave us one home - this world; he divided everything equally: he lit the sun for everyone, spread out one roof - the sky; arranged one meal - land; I gave another meal, which is much more important than this, but also one: the participants in the sacrament know what I am saying; gave everyone one spiritual image of birth; We all have one fatherland in heaven; We all drink from the same cup. He did not give anything more and more precious to the rich, nor anything less and less valuable to the poor; but he called everyone equally, and communicated both carnal and spiritual (blessings) equally. Why is there such inequality in life? From the covetousness and arrogance of the rich. But, brothers, let this not happen in the future. Since we have something common and essential that unites us together, we will not be divided because of earthly and insignificant matters - I mean wealth, poverty, carnal kinship, enmity, friendship. All this is a shadow, and even more insignificant a shadow for those who are united by the bonds of highest love. Let us keep these bonds indissoluble, and no evil spirit will be able to penetrate into us to destroy such unity. So, let it be in all of us, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: