Беседа 21

John 1:49–50. Nathanael answered Him: Rabbi! You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, “You believe because I said to you: I saw you under the fig tree; you will see more of this. 1. Nathanael’s confession was less perfect than the confession made later by the apostle. Peter. – 2. Jesus Christ performed his first miracle at the request of his Mother. – 3. Jesus Christ wants everyone to turn to Him with their needs. – Example of famous doctors. – Why did He give a harsh answer to His Mother? – Relatives of the Savior, known as Desposin. – Our ancestors and fathers were good Christians, which should shame us and expose us to even greater communication. 1. We need a lot, beloved, care, a lot of vigilance in order to be able to penetrate into the depths of the Divine Scriptures. Otherwise, indulging in sleep, it is impossible to comprehend their meaning; but careful study is needed, and constant prayer is also needed in order to gain at least a little insight into the sanctuary of the word of God. Today we are faced with an important issue that requires a lot of attention. When Nathanael said: “You are the Son of God,” Christ said to him: “I told you: I saw you under the fig tree; you will see more than this." What in these words requires research? The fact that Peter, who confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16) after so many miracles and after such teaching, is blessed as having received revelation from the Father; and Nathanael, who said the same thing even before the miracles and before the teaching, did not hear anything like that from Christ, but, as if he had not yet said as much as he should have said, he is excited to expect great revelations. What is the reason for this? The one that, although Peter and Nathanael expressed the same words, but not with the same thought. Peter confessed Jesus as the Son of God, as the true God; and Nathanael - as a simple man. How can this be seen? From the subsequent words of Nathanael. Having said: “You are the Son of God,” he added: “You are the King of Israel.” But the Son of God is the king not only of Israel, but of the entire universe. However, this can be seen not only from here, but also from the following. Christ did not add anything to Peter’s words, but, as if Peter’s faith was already perfect, he said that on this confession He would build His Church. But in relation to Nathanael, He did not do this, but quite the opposite. In Nathanael’s confession, much and something better seemed to be missing, and now Christ fills in what is missing. What is He saying? “Truly, truly, I say to you, from now on you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). Do you see how Christ little by little lifts him up from the ground and inspires him not to imagine Him as a simple man? Can the one whom angels serve and for whom angels ascend and descend really be human? That is why He said: “You will see more than this,” and, explaining this, he added about angelic service. The meaning of His words is this: to you, Nathanael, this seemed important, 18 and for this you recognize Me as the king of Israel. What will you say when you see angels ascending and descending for Me? With these words, Christ inspired the angels to recognize Him as ruler. As to the true Son of the King, these royal servants ascended and descended to Christ, such as: during the suffering, during the resurrection and ascension; and even before that they came and served Him - when they preached the gospel of His birth, when they exclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Luke 2:14), when they came to Mary, to Joseph. But Christ does now the same as in many other cases. He utters two predictions, and he immediately reveals the correctness of one, and confirms the other, relating to the future, through the present. One of them, already proven, is the following: “before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:48). Something else was supposed to be fulfilled in the future, and in part it was already fulfilled at that time - namely, the ascension and descent of angels, such as: during His suffering, during His resurrection and ascension; and of this, even before the events, He assured by what He said about the present. He who has come to know His power from the past, having heard about the future, can more conveniently accept a prediction about the future. What about Nathanael? Nothing answers this. Therefore, Christ concluded His conversation with him, leaving him to think about what was said and not wanting to say everything at once. Having thrown seeds into the fruitful ground, He allows it to produce fruits in its own time. This He depicted in another place in the following words: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; while the people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away” (Matthew 13:24-25). “On the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and His disciples were also invited to a marriage” (John 2:1-2). I have already said that He was most famous in Galilee. That’s why they call Him to the wedding, and He comes. He looked not at His own dignity, but at our benefit. He who did not renounce to accept the form of a slave, all the more could not renounce coming to the marriage of slaves. He who lay with tax collectors and sinners could not renounce his co-presence with those who were married. Those who invited Him to the wedding, of course, did not have a proper understanding of Him; they called Him not even as a great man, but simply as an ordinary and familiar person. This is what the evangelist hints at when he says: “The mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and His disciples were also called to the wedding,” that is, Jesus was called the same as her and his disciples. “And because there was a shortage of wine, the Mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine” (John 2:3). Here it is worth paying attention to where did His Mother get the idea of ​​imagining something great about her Son? Until that time, He had not yet performed any miracle. “So,” it is said, “Jesus began miracles in Cana of Galilee” (John 2:11). 2. If anyone says that there is still not sufficient evidence that the miracle in Canna was the beginning of miracles, since the addition: “in Canna of Galilee” only shows that this miracle was the first in Canna, and not in general and was not the first of all His miracles; Christ probably performed other miracles in other places before, then to this we will say the same as we said before. What exactly? What John says: “I did not know Him; but for this reason He came to baptize in water, so that He might be revealed to Israel” (John 1:31). If Christ had performed miracles as a boy, the Israelites would not have needed another person to show Him. If Christ, having come to manhood, became so famous for His miracles not only in Judea, but also in Syria and beyond, and performed them in only three years, or better yet, He did not need even this number of years to reveal Himself to the world, because the rumor about Him from the very beginning immediately spread everywhere - if, I say, He became so famous in a short time for many miracles that His name became known to everyone, then all the more He could not have remained so long in unknown, when from the first age he began to work miracles; the miracles performed by the youth would have aroused even more surprise, and in that case He would have had twice, three times, and even more time for miracles. But in his adolescence He did not perform any miracles, except for what Luke narrates, how He, being twelve years old, sat among the teachers, listened to them, and amazed them with His questions. However, not without reason, but deliberately, He did not begin to work miracles from the very first age: otherwise His miracles might have been considered ghosts. If already at an adult age many suspected Him for this, then even more so if He began to perform miracles in his youth. Moreover, the Jews, consumed by envy, would have taken Him to the cross even sooner and before the proper time, and thus the whole work of our salvation would not have been accepted by faith. Where, you say, did His Mother get the idea to assume something great in Him? He had already begun to reveal Himself as to what He was - both through the testimony of John and through what He himself told his disciples. And above all, His very conception and all the events that followed His birth inspired His Mother with a high concept of Him. “And His Mother kept all these words in Her heart” (Luke 2:51). Why, you say, didn’t she express this before? Because, as I said, He Himself only then began to reveal Himself. Until then He lived like an ordinary person. That's why she didn't tell Him this before. As soon as she heard that John came for His sake and gave such testimony about Him, and that He already had disciples, she boldly asked Him and, with a lack of wine, said: “They have no wine.” She wanted to please the guests and glorify herself through her Son. Perhaps she had something human in her thoughts, like His brothers, who said: “Show yourself to the world” (John 7:4), wanting to gain glory for themselves through His miracles. That is why Christ answered her so strongly: “What do I and You, Woman? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). But that He greatly revered His mother, listen to Luke’s account of this, how Christ was obedient to his parents; and this same evangelist (John) shows how He cared for the Mother at the very time of suffering on the cross. When parents do not in any way prohibit or interfere with godly deeds, then parents need and must be obeyed; disobedience in this case is very dangerous. When they demand something untimely and prohibit some spiritual matter, then it is not safe to obey them. Therefore, in the present case, Christ answered this way, and in another case also: “Who are My mother and My brothers?” (Mark 3:33). At that time they did not yet have a proper understanding of Him; and His Mother, for the reason that she gave birth to Him, wanted to order Him in everything, according to the custom of all mothers, whereas she should have honored Him as Lord and worshiped Him. That’s why He answered her like that then. In fact, think about what it was like when, in front of all the people surrounding Him, with a large gathering of attentive listeners, while teaching the doctrine, His Mother entered the meeting, began to distract Him from the sermon in order to talk with Him privately, and, moreover, did not stay with Him in the house, but took Him alone out of there to her place. That is why He said: “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And He did not insult the Mother; no, but he brought her the greatest benefit, not allowing her to think of herself in a humiliating way. If He cared about others and everything was directed towards instilling in them the proper concept of Himself, all the more did He care about the Mother in this regard. But since she, probably, even having heard this from the Son, did not want to obey Him, but wanted, like a mother, in any case, to take precedence, then He answered so. Otherwise, He could not have raised her from such a derogatory concept of Him to a more sublime one if, that is, she always expected Him to be revered as a son, but did not recognize Him as Lord. It is for this reason that He said here: “What is it for me and for you, woman?” However, there was another reason, no less important. Which one? He wanted people not to suspect the miracles He performed. Those who had needs should have asked for it, not the Mother. Why? What is done at the request of relatives, although it would be important, often seems unseemly to outsiders. When those in need themselves ask, then the miracle becomes above all suspicion, then the praise is impartial and the benefit is great. 3. If a doctor, even an excellent one, entered a house where there were many sick people, and did not hear anything either from the sick themselves or from those around them, but only his mother began to beg him, then for the sick he would become suspicious and unpleasant, and neither those who were sick nor those who were with them would expect anything important and good from him. That is why Christ then reproached the Mother, saying: “What do I and You, Woman?” , inspiring her not to do anything like that in the future. He cared about the honor of the Mother, but much more about her spiritual salvation and the good of people, for which he took on flesh. So these words were spoken by Christ to His Mother not out of any arrogance, but with a special purpose - so that she herself could be placed in the proper relationship with Him, so that miracles could be done with due dignity. And that Christ greatly revered his Mother, this, in addition to other cases, is sufficiently evident from the very thing that was said, apparently in denunciation of her. In his very displeasure, He showed that He greatly respected her. And how, we’ll talk about this in a subsequent conversation. Reflecting on this, if you hear how one wife said: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nourished You,” and He answered her: even more blessed are those who do the will of my Father (Luke 11:28), then understand these words in that sense. The Savior’s answer to the Mother did not express the Mother’s rejection, but the fact that His very birth would not have brought her any benefit if she herself did not have great virtue and faith. If, without spiritual virtue, there would be no benefit for Mary herself in the fact that Christ was born from her, much less can there be any benefit for us if we have a virtuous and valiant father, brother, or son, and we ourselves are far from his virtues. “A man,” says David, “will never redeem his brother or give God a ransom for him” (Ps. 48:8)? The hope of salvation, after the grace of God, should be placed in nothing else, but only in one’s own perfections. If the birth of Christ in itself could benefit the Virgin, then it would also be useful to the Jews (since Christ was their relative in the flesh), it would also benefit the city in which He was born, and it would also benefit the brothers. Meanwhile, His brothers, as long as they did not take care of themselves, did not receive any benefit from their high affinity, and were also condemned along with other people; when they shone with their own virtues, then they were glorified. And the city was destroyed and burned, having received no benefit from being the place of His birth. His relatives according to the flesh were destroyed and died in the most pitiful way, having gained nothing from their affinity with Him for their salvation, precisely because they had no protection in their own virtue. But the apostles were glorified most of all, because they, in a true and worthy way of our competition, achieved affinity with Christ - through obedience to Him. From here we learn that in any case we need faith and a pure and bright life. Only this can save us. For a long time, the relatives of Christ were respected everywhere, so that they were called “lords,” but now we do not even know their names. And the life and names of the apostles are glorified everywhere. Let us not be puffed up by the nobility of the flesh, but, even if we had thousands of famous ancestors, we ourselves will try to surpass them in virtues, knowing that the merits of others will not bring us any benefit at the future judgment, and will also increase the severity of condemnation for us, precisely because, descending from virtuous fathers and having such close examples, we did not follow such mentors. I say this now, bearing in mind many pagans who, when we convert them to faith in Christ and convince them to be Christians, point to their relatives, ancestors and household, and say: all my relatives, close and household have already become faithful Christians. But what's in it for you, unfortunate one? It is precisely the fact that you will be ruined by the fact that you, not respecting so many people close to you, did not hasten to turn to the truth. Others, being already believers, but having spent a careless life, when you begin to exhort them to virtue, imagine the same thing and say: my father, grandfather and great-grandfather were very pious and virtuous people. But this especially contributed to your condemnation, that you, coming from such people, do things unworthy of your family. Listen to what the prophet says to the Jews: “And Israel served for a woman, and kept sheep for a woman” (“Israel worked for the wife, and for the wife” was saved) (Hos. 12:12); and Christ: “Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). And the valor of our ancestors always turns not only into praise of the Jews, but also into a greater accusation. Knowing this, we will do everything in such a way as to be saved by our own deeds, so that otherwise we do not deceive ourselves by relying on others and do not learn about our deception when this knowledge will not benefit us at all. “In the grave,” it is said, “who will praise You?” (Ps.6:6). So, let us correct ourselves here, so that there we may achieve eternal blessings, which may we all be worthy of through the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory and dominion to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” That is, that Christ saw him under the fig tree even before Philip came to him. You might be interested in: