For the new resurrection and for the Apostle Thomas.

I hasten to pay off the remaining debt. Although I am poor, I am compelled by your gratitude. I promised to show Thomas’s unbelief, and I am here to repay you this (debt), because I am ready to pay, first of all, my first debt, so that the accumulating interest does not prevail over me. So, help me in paying off the debt: pray to Thomas that he, placing his holy right hand, which touched the Lord’s side, on my lips, will strengthen my tongue to express what is desired for you. And I, daring at the intercession of the Apostle and Martyr Thomas, (will) preach first about his doubt, and then about his confession, the support and foundation of our Church. When, with the doors closed, the Savior entered to His disciples, and again came out as he had entered, only Thomas was absent (John 20:24). But this was also a matter of divine dispensation - so that the absence of a student would become a reason for greater steadfastness and firmness. If Thomas had been present, he would, of course, have no doubts; and if I had not doubted it, I would not have examined it carefully; and if I had not examined it, I would not have touched it; and if he had not touched it, he would not have proclaimed him Lord and God; and if he had not called Christ Lord and God, we would not have been taught to glorify Him like that - so, even without being present, Thomas led us to the truth, and arriving later, made (us) stronger regarding the faith. So, the disciples said to Thomas, who finally came: “we have seen the Lord” (John 20:25); they saw him who said: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); they saw the one who said: “I am the resurrection and the life... and the truth” (John 11:25, 14:6), and they found the truth of these words shining through deeds; we saw him who said: “After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63), and having seen the resurrection, we worshiped the resurrected one; we heard Him saying to us: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19), and we turned the storm of sorrow into the joy of silence; we contemplated His hands, which received the points of nails, we contemplated His hands, blaming the fury of god-fighting dogs, we contemplated the hands that weaved incorruptibility for us, we also contemplated the side that proclaimed more clearly than any preacher about the mercy of the slain, we contemplated the very side that angels sing, believers honor, and demons tremble. We also received a divine breath from His divine lips, a spiritual breath, a breath - the conductor of all grace. We were ordained by the Master as the rulers of the remission of sins; we also became lords in judgment over sinners, having received from Him the following saying as a sign: “Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; On whomever you leave it, it will remain on him” (John 20:23). We have enjoyed such words of the Savior, tasted such gifts; It was impossible for us, who met the rich Lord, not to become rich; only you, not being present, remained poor. What do they need Thomas? Have you seen the Lord? Wonderful. So, Whom you have contemplated, (Him) you honor more; Whom you have considered, you remain in the sermon (about Him). And I, “unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the marks of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). But you would not believe if you did not first contemplate; so am I: if I do not see, I will not believe. Stay, Thomas, with such a desire, stay diligently, so that I will be strengthened in soul when you look; stay, looking for the one who said: “seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7); do not just explore casually, (but) until you find the treasure you are looking for; stay, striking the door of unquestioning knowledge, until the one who said to you opens it: “Knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Your differences of opinion are dear to me, as they cut off all differences of opinion; I love your inquisitive disposition, as it eliminates any dispute; I willingly listen to you, who more than once say: “Unless I see in His hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the marks of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). When you don't believe, I learn to believe; when you blast the arable land of the divine body with the spade of your tongue, I easily reap the fruit and accumulate it for myself. If I do not see with these eyes on His holy hands the furrows that the godless made, I will in no way agree with your words; if I do not put this finger of mine into the hole of the nails, I will not accept your Gospel; If I don’t hold with this hand that side, the unsuspicious witness of the resurrection, I cannot believe your opinion. Every word remains strong and firm, equipped with protection from all deeds; and all speech easily disappears, spilling from the lips into the air, deprived of evidence from deeds. I have to preach to people about the miracles of the Teacher; How can I talk about something in words that I didn’t perceive with my own eyes? How will I convince non-believers to believe, which I myself have not yet followed? Shall I tell the Jews and Greeks that I saw my Master crucified, but I did not see him risen, but I heard? And who will not laugh at my speech? Who will not reject sermons? One is hearing, and another is sight; the other is the communication of words, and the other is the contemplation of deeds and experience. So, when Thomas had doubt instead of knowledge, again, after eight days, the Master appeared to His disciples, gathered together. He allowed Thomas to be instructed, in these intermediate days, first of all by his comrades - he allowed him to be inflamed with a thirst for contemplating Him; and when his soul was greatly inflamed by the desire for sight, then, at last, the Desired One came in good time to the one who desired it. In the same way, as before with closed doors, he did the same again - he said to them, as before: “Peace be with you” (John 20:26), so that there would be identity in both the deed and the miracle, and it would confirm the message of the apostles and bring accuracy to His second coming. Then, he says to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see My hands” (John 20:27). Oh, the height of boundless philanthropy! O sea of ​​immeasurable condescension! He did not expect the arrival of the disciple, he did not expect more than what was necessary, for the needy to come up, pray and receive what he wanted, did not deprive him of his desire at all, but he himself, the beloved, forced the lover to what he wanted, with his voice he attracted the finger of the one who wanted it to him, he himself, with the Master’s tongue, attracted the slave’s right hand, saying to him: “Put your finger here and look at my hands.” Thomas, I heard, not being present as a man, but being present as God, what you said to your brothers; I sat next to you in My deity, separated from you in My humanity. Would you like me to remind you of your recently spoken words? Didn’t you say: “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25)? Were these the words that came out of your mouth? Are these not the words of your thoughts? I came again because of what you doubt; for the second time I have brought closer that for which you desire (that) I should come. And now I, who came down from heaven because of the wandering sheep, but did not leave heaven, have come to you because of you alone. So, do not be ashamed to know what you desire; not be ashamed to carefully study (what) you are looking for; do not refuse to place your finger on these hands of Mine. I will also tolerate an inquisitive finger, just as I tolerated nails; I will endure the curiosity of a lover, as I endured the malice of those who hate; Having been crucified by enemies, I was not indignant, and can’t I bear your research? “Put your finger here and see my hands,” wounded for you, so that the wounds of your souls may be healed; look at My hands and think to yourself: am I the one who was voluntarily crucified, or someone else who is next to Him; Look at My hands, which I allowed to have signs of Jewish madness, so that when the Jews are shameless on the day of judgment and say to Me: We did not crucify You, Master, to show the enemies hands in this form, and with this spectacle to shame the faces of the Jews. “Look at My hands,” and do not think that the truth of My resurrection is some kind of imagination. Hold these hands as a pledge of your rebirth; hold these hands as a guarantee of return from the graves; hold these hands - an anchor (for) hellish depths. Do not be afraid of any everyday bad weather, do not tremble any worldly storm, do not be afraid of the blowing of hostile winds, do not think about the whirlwinds and underwater rocks of the enemy sea. Sail boldly on the sea of ​​life - swim holding the anchor of the spirit; float towards the sky like a pier; sail, fearing only (like) shipwreck, the denial of Me; mock death as if it were dead, joke with death as if it were powerless, welcome death because of Me as the beginning of inner life. “Give up your hand and place it in My side”: with your hand, draw the desired drink from My life-giving source, and quench your thirst. “Give up your hand and place it in My side”: enter your right hand into the medicine chamber of nature, and take medicine for your will; I, who received the blow of the spear, will suffer the laying on of a loving hand. “Give up your hand and put it in My side,” so that you can fight for them, so that you can tell those who object to the truth that after the resurrection you saw Me, recognized Me and carefully touched Me. “Give up your hand and place it in My side”: I, who healed the bodies and souls of others, left them like that because of you, foreseeing, like God, that you would want to see them like this, so that, seeing the signs of the suffering of My flesh, you would heal the passion of your soul. “Give up your hand and place it in My side,” which, as you see, I have preserved so that when I come again from heaven and sit as Judge of the living and the dead, the Jews will see the deeds of their evil deeds revealed before them, and will be self-condemned. “And do not be an unbeliever, but a believer”: unbelief is a bad thing: it drowns the mind, faith lifts it to heaven; unbelief blinds the soul, faith enlightens the thoughts; unbelief does not even notice what is visible, faith also sees what is invisible; the unbeliever is in complete ignorance. “And do not be an unbeliever, but a believer”: drive away the cloud of unbelief, and contemplate the pure rays of faith. Be also an apostle in everything, worthy of My divinity; be what you need to be if you were with Me and received what you received. You were called in the same way with the rest of the apostles, you were honored in the same way with them, arm yourself in the same way with them, contemplate (what) they saw in the same way with them, you, as a friend, were entrusted with all My secrets with them, preach about My power in the same way with them. After you have seen it once, you cannot say again: “unless” again “I see in His hands the marks of the nails... I will not believe” (John 20:25). While I am with you, be curious as you please; While you have the heavenly vine standing next to you, examine all its branches and clusters. I will ascend to heaven, from where I came to earth, I will ascend where I am, I will ascend as humanity, from where I descended to you as a deity, I will ascend with this body, I, who departed from there without it and remained there, will ascend with your nature to the Father’s bosom, “who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18); I have finished the work that brought me this journey. So, Thomas, touching the Lord’s hands and the divine side, filled with fear and great joy from contemplating (what) he desired, immediately prompts his tongue to a song of praise, crying out to the Lord: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). You are Lord and God, You are a man and a lover of humanity, You are a wondrous and extraordinary doctor of nature; You don’t cut off passions with iron, you don’t cauterize wounds with fire, you don’t gather healing power from herbs, you don’t tie up serious wounds with invisible bandages; You have invisible bands of mercy, invisibly binding what is divided, You have a word sharper than iron, You have a saying stronger than fire, You have a wave more convenient than medicine. As a world builder, You sanctify creation without difficulty, and as a creator, without effort you rebuild creatures. You cleansed from leprosy as You wished, You made the lame quick, You made the paralytic wear their beds, You commanded those blind from birth to wash away the darkness from themselves, You drove out demons from Your creations, You were kept by enemies at will, You suffered in the flesh everything from the Jews because of me, “My Lord and my God!” . I recognized my Master, I recognized my hunter and guardian, I recognized my King and Lord, “My Lord and my God!” . Master, I believe in Your stewardship, I believe in Your condescension, I believe in Your acceptance of power over me, I believe in Your worshiped cross, I believe in Your suffering in the flesh, I believe in Your three-day death, I believe in Your resurrection; Finally, I will no longer be inquisitive; I believe, and I will no longer give account; I believe, and I will weigh it no more; I believe, and I will no longer diligently investigate; I believe my eyes, I believe my right hand. I learned that there is no need to give an account of (what) I saw; I learned not to argue, to worship (what) I touched; I know one Lord and God, the Lord Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen. What follows are six conversations of varying length, which Min calls “Spuria” (rejected), or Νόζα (side) The paragraphs in the text are arranged by us - Editorial “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: