Беседа 28

Acts 13:4–5. These, having been sent by the Holy Spirit, came to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus; and being in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of Judea; They also had John with them to serve. About how sometimes passion is overcome by passion. - What kind of glory should you seek? - A way to curb passions. 1. Having received ordination together, (Barnabas and Paul) left (Antioch) and sailed to Cyprus, where there was no persecution and the word (of God) had already been sown. There were quite a few (teachers) in Antioch, and Phenicia was not far from Palestine, but Cyprus was far away. However, do not ask why (they sailed there) when they were moved by the Spirit; for they were not only ordained, but also sent by the Spirit. “And when they were in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of Judea.” Do you see how they try in every possible way to proclaim the word to the Jews in advance, so as not to arouse their indignation? Just as they did not preach to anyone “except the Jews” (Acts 11:19), so these too entered the synagogues. “Having walked the entire island as far as Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew named Barijesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a wise man. This man, calling Barnabas and Saul, desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith” (Acts 13:6-8). Again a sorcerer, a Jew, like Simon. And look: when they preached to others, he was not too worried; but when they came to the proconsul, then he (revolted). What is worthy of surprise in the proconsul is that, although he was under the influence of the magic of that (magician), he nevertheless wanted to listen to the apostles. So did the Samaritans; and from comparison there is victory, since magic is overcome. Everywhere vanity and lust for power are the cause of evil. “But Saul, who is also Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit and fixing his gaze on him, said: O full of all deceit and all evil, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness! will you stop turning aside from the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you: you will be blind and will not see the sun until the time comes” (Acts 13:9-11). Here, with his ordination, his name changes; It was the same with Peter. And look: the action (of Paul) is not offense, but defeat; This is how the daring and shameless should be struck. “Oh, full of all deceit,” he says, “and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all truth!” . Here he reveals what was in (the sorcerer’s) thoughts, under the guise of saving the ruining proconsul. “Will you stop,” he says, “to seduce from the straight paths of the Lord?” Of course, he says, you are not waging war and warfare with us, but you are corrupting the straight ways of the Lord, and with praise. “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you: you will be blind.” Through the same sign by which he himself was converted, he wanted to convert him too. The expression: “until the time” was not the word of the punisher, but the converter, because if it were (the word) of the punisher, then he would have made him blind forever; now it’s not like that, but “until the time” to acquire a proconsul. “And suddenly darkness and darkness fell upon him, and he, turning here and there, looked for a counselor. Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, marveling at the teaching of the Lord” (Acts 13:11-12). And rightly so, because such a punishment should have brought some sense into someone who was under the influence of magic. Likewise, the Egyptian magicians were once admonished by the “Skripi” (Ex. 8:16–19). And look: they do not hesitate here, after the proconsul has believed, and are not idle, and are not softened by flattery and honor, but immediately get down to business and go to the country that lies on the other side (of the sea). “Sailing from Paphos, Paul and those who were with him arrived in Perga, in Pamphylia. But John, having separated from them, returned to Jerusalem. And they, passing from Perga, came to Antioch in Pisidia, and entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sat down” (Acts 13:13-14). Again they entered the synagogues according to the custom of the Jews, so as not to be attacked and expelled; That's how they did everything. “After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them to say: Men and brethren! If you have a word of instruction for the people, speak” (Acts 13:15). Here we learn about Paul, having learned quite a bit about Peter from what was said before. But let's consider the above. “And having been,” says (the writer), “in Salamis, they preached the word of God” - in the main city of Cyprus. They spent a year in Antioch; it was necessary to get out of there, and not stay there forever; (believers) needed great teachers. Look, just as in Seleucia they do not hesitate, knowing that (its inhabitants) could receive great benefit from the neighboring city, but they also rush from there to do the most necessary things. Arriving at the main city of the island, they hasten to convert the proconsul. And what is said not out of flattery: “with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a wise man,” you can see from the case itself how he did not need many convictions, but he himself wanted to hear them. The writer lists the names of the cities to show that since they had recently received the word (of God), it was necessary to establish them so that they would remain in the faith; That is why (the apostles) often visited them. Look: (Paul) did not say anything to the sorcerer until he gave reason; but they proclaimed only the word of the Lord. And he, seeing others listening (to Paul), cared only that (the proconsul) should not believe. And why did (Paul) not do another sign? Because the best thing was to catch the enemy. 2. And look, he first reproves, and then he strikes. That he justly suffered, this he means with the words: “full of all deceit,” i.e. having nothing free from deception. And he said well: “all deceit,” because he was a hypocrite. “Son of the devil” - because he did his work. “The enemy of all truth” - because here truly was all truth. It seems to me that with these words he denounces his life. And to show that this was not said out of anger, for this (the writer) first noted: “filled with the Holy Spirit,” i.e. strength (His). “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you.” It was not punishment, but healing. He seemed to say this: it is not I who act, but the hand of God. You see how alien to pride he is. “You will be blind and will not see the sun until the time comes.” He says this to give him time to repent. They (the apostles) never wanted to be too strict, even if it was in relation to their enemies. In relation to one’s own, this was consistent, but in relation to strangers, it was not, so that the (known) deed would not seem to be the result of coercion and fear. A sign of blindness is the search for a counselor. Then the proconsul sees the blindness and immediately believes, and not simply, but “wondering” - he saw that there were no words or deception here. Look at the love he had for learning, having such power. Paul did not say to the sorcerer: Will you not stop corrupting the proconsul, but “to lead you astray from the straight paths of the Lord?” , which is much more important, so as not to seem like a flatterer. Why does John lag behind them? “But John,” says (the writer), “having separated from them, returned to Jerusalem.” Because they set off on a further journey, and although he was their servant, they themselves took on this work. Having visited Perga again, they pass by other cities, because they were in a hurry to the main city - Antioch. And look how briefly the writer narrates. They sat, he says, in the congregation on the Sabbath day, to prepare the way for the word. They do not speak before others, but being called upon when they, as guests, are invited to do so. If they weren't there, there wouldn't be a word. Here Paul preaches first. And look at his wisdom: he passes by those places where the word (of God) has already been sown; and where no one (of the preachers) had yet been, he stops there, as he himself writes: “I tried to preach the gospel not where the name of Christ was already known” (Rom. 15:20). And this was a characteristic of his great courage. Truly, from the very beginning he was an amazing husband; having been crucified ("for the world") (Gal. 6:14), armed (spiritually), he knew what grace was in him; jealousy was commensurate with this. He was not angry with John - this was not characteristic of him - but got down to business; He was not afraid, he was not afraid, being exposed to dangers among the people. Look how well it is arranged that Paul does not preach in Jerusalem; (there) it was enough just to hear that he believed, and they would not listen to his sermons out of hatred for him; That’s why he goes far away, where they didn’t know him. Firstly, he denounces the sorcerer for what he was; and that he really was such was proved by a sign. It was a sign of his mental blindness; he suffers until the time comes for him to repent. Well they entered the synagogue on Saturday, when everyone was gathered. “After reading the law and the prophets,” says (the writer), “the rulers of the synagogue sent to say to them: men and brethren! If you have a word of instruction for the people, speak.” Look: then they did it without envy, but after that they didn’t do it like that. If you yourself wanted this, then all the more should you have exhorted him. But, oh, lust for power! Oh, vanity! How it corrupts and destroys everything! It encourages you to rebel against the salvation of yourself and others. It disfigures and blinds, so you have to look for counselors. And, oh, if only they were looking for counselors! But they don’t even want to do this, relying on themselves for everything. It prevents them from seeing anything; surrounds them, as if some kind of darkness and darkness, not allowing them to see clearly. What excuse will we have for conquering passion with passion and not with the fear of God? For example, many, being voluptuous and money-loving, curbed their voluptuousness for the sake of saving money; others, on the contrary, neglected money for pleasure; others, carried away by vanity, despised both, spending money mercilessly and observing chastity in vain; and others, being extremely vain, neglected this passion, committing many shameful things, both because of carnal pleasures and because of money; still others, in order to satisfy their anger, decide on countless costs and do not care about anything except to do as they wish. So, what passion can do, the fear of God does not do for us. And what do I say: passion? What human shame can do, the fear of God cannot do. We do a lot of good things, we also sin a lot, being ashamed of people, but we are not afraid of God. How many have squandered their property out of shame! How many have vainly sought honor by serving their friends in evil! How many and how much have sinned in favor of friendship! 3. So, if passion and shame before people can prompt us both to sins and to good deeds, then we say in vain that we cannot (curb passions); we can if we wish; but everyone should want. Tell me, why can’t you overcome vanity when others overcome it, having the same soul, the same body, the same appearance, living the same life? Think about God, think about the highest glory, contrast it with the present, and you will soon lag behind it (vanity). If you absolutely desire glory, then seek true glory. What is glory if it brings dishonor? What kind of glory is this if it forces you to seek honor from those below you and has a need for it? Honor consists in enjoying glory from those above. If you absolutely desire glory, then seek rather glory from God. Having loved this one, you will neglect her, you will see how dishonest she is; and until you recognize this one, you will not see how shameful she is, how funny she is. Just as those who are captivated by some evil, ugly and shameless woman, while they have love for her, cannot see her ugliness, because passion darkens reason, so here, while this passion possesses us, we cannot see what this evil is. But how, you say, can we free ourselves from it? Remember those who squandered a lot of property and received no benefit from it; remember the dead, what glory they enjoyed, and it turned out to be fragile, disappeared and dissipated; understand that it is only a name and has nothing substantial in itself. Really, tell me, what is fame? Make some definition. To be, you say, a subject of surprise for everyone? By right or wrong? If not rightfully, then it will not be surprise, but censure, flattery, slander. If by right, then this is impossible, because the people do not have correct judgments, but are surprised by those who please their desires. If you like, look at those who give their property to harlots, horsemen and dancers. But, you say, we are not talking about them, but about honest, fair people who can do a lot of good. Indeed, if they wanted to, they would soon do a lot of good; but now they don’t do anything like that. Who now, tell me, praises the honest and just? The opposite of this (is done). And what is more disgusting than such a righteous man if, after doing some good deed, he expects glory from the crowd? He does the same, as if some excellent painter, painting a portrait of the king, expected praise from inexperienced people. On the other hand, whoever seeks glory from people will soon abandon virtuous deeds. He who expects praise does what others desire, and not what he himself desires. What would I advise you to do? Listen to God, be content with praise from Him, do everything pleasing to Him, and do good deeds, and do not cling to anything human. This (addiction to earthly glory) harms fasting, prayer and almsgiving, and makes all our good deeds in vain. Therefore, in order not to tolerate this, we will run away from this passion; Let us keep in mind only one thing - praise from God, approval from Him, glorification from our common Master, so that, having lived a virtuous present life, we may be worthy of the promised blessings, with those who love Him, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. These conversations were delivered by the saint in Constantinople in 400 or 401. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: