About the betrayal (by Judas) of the Savior, etc.

1. I would like to complete the doctrine of the cross, not because I completely understand it, but because, as far as possible, I want to expound it to believers. The word is not ineffective when explaining divine teaching, but what is said must be commensurate with human ability, not in itself having meaning for understanding, but as far as God will give; The giver should not give what He can give, but what the receiver can receive. Just as a mother can give simple bread to a child who lives on milk, but the child cannot use it, so it would not be impossible for God to offer higher and supernatural wisdom, but we cannot use it. While we live in a mortal body, we perceive knowledge corresponding to the mortal nature. Therefore, God did not say anything to us according to His perfection, but proportioned what He said to our weakness. Therefore, the Savior said: “I still have much to say to you; but now you cannot contain it" (John. 16:12); and in another place the Savior says to Nicodemus: “If I told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things” (John 3:12)? So, let us speak with God’s help as much as human ability can accommodate. Today we have to disrupt the order of conversations that we wanted to adhere to when presenting the doctrine and disrupt it precisely because of the Gospel reading. But that will be discussed in due time; Now we will remember what happened today. Today Christ, on this fifth day after Saturday, in the evening before suffering, washed the feet of the disciples, and celebrated the Passover depicted in the law, and established the saving sacrament. Yes, in truth, we can say that in essence we do not deviate from the order we have accepted: after all, today will lead us to the cross; thus order will be restored. So, let us go consistently to give some food to your Christ-loving souls. How we should understand the Holy Scriptures about the sacraments, let us explain in a brief and clear presentation. The Savior says to the disciples: “You know that in two days there will be Easter, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2). Often the Savior predicted to His disciples, pointing out at the same time that, knowing He does not run, and foreseeing He does not shy away, and at the same time calming the souls of the apostles in advance, so that they, having prepared and inquired in advance, would not scatter in confusion. When a circumstance is foreseen, there is no excitement from surprise. This is what David predicted: “I prepared myself without embarrassment” (Ps. 119:60). This happens during a thunderstorm: the flash of lightning prepares the mind to expect thunder, so that waiting frees one from great fear. Likewise, the Savior, so that everyone would not be embarrassed by suffering (predicted it), so that he even reproached the apostles and told them after the resurrection: “This is what I told you about while I was still with you, ... this is how it was necessary for Christ to suffer” (Luke 24:44, 46). He reproached them for the fact that His prediction did not achieve its goal in relation to them. “I told you these things,” he says, “so that you would not be offended” (John 16:1), and fear took possession of you. “You know that in two days the Passover will be, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2). Nowhere will you find the Savior remembering suffering without introducing a human face, but He always spoke as if about someone else. He did not say: I will be betrayed, but: “The Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Nowhere will you find the Savior betrayed, but the Son of Man betrays himself, and everywhere he seems to be talking about someone else. However, in relation to His divinity, He clearly says: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30); does not say: I and the Father who sent Me, but: “I and the Father are one”; and: “he who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). “You know that in two days the Passover will be, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2). And how truly does John say? Lest anyone think that the time had come out of necessity, look at how he states: “Knowing that His hour had come to depart from this world to the Father, He showed by deed that, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1), i.e., showed perfect love. “He got up from supper, took off His outer clothing, and, taking a towel, girded Himself. Then he poured water into the laver and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (John 13:4–5). Let the heretics be ashamed! When they hear the Savior say: I do the will of My Father, they immediately say: Do you see how He, like a servant, obeys and submits to the Father? A terrible thing could be seen at that hour! Why did He stand up and take off His outer garment, Who clothes Himself with light as with clothing? Why did He wrap a towel around Himself? Then one could see the truth of Paul's words: “He, being in the form of God...made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:6–7). He girded himself with a towel, Covering the sky with clouds, and poured water into the laver, Filling rivers, springs and seas with water. Imagine: the disciple is sitting, and the Lord is bent and looking at his knees, the Lord, before whom every knee of heaven and earth and the underworld bows. The Savior's humility extinguished all pride; this modesty humiliated all boasting. 2. When I see the Savior washing the feet of the disciples, I pronounce the words of Isaiah about our pride: “Why is the earth and ashes proud” (Sir. 10:9, not Isaiah)? Imagine the Lord bending over and washing the feet of the slaves. How to talk about it or how to keep silent? The word is powerless, and silence would expose our ingratitude. What should we do when we can’t even say? “And he began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with a towel” (John 13:5). I didn’t even miss a single method of service. He did not allow the water to be poured by others while He himself began to wash, or for Him to wash and others to wipe. And it seems that here he revealed some incomprehensible secret to the students. “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And during the supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Simon Iscariot to betray Him, ... he took off His outer garment” (John 13:1–2, 4). He didn’t just say that, but to show that when the traitor was already planning betrayal, the Savior did not hesitate to wash the traitor’s feet: he already knew his insidious intention, and still washed it. What is this? Is there hypocrisy with God? It won't happen! There is not always hypocrisy between those who offend and those who are offended. And if the offended person shows honor to the offender, this is not hypocrisy, but humility; If the offended person secretly does evil, but outwardly shows favor, this will be hypocrisy. Take an example from this incident. Judas, the traitor of the Lord, knew that it was an impious thing to give a kiss to someone against whom he had conspired. And the Savior, experiencing injustice, showed honor to the one who caused it; this is not an insult, but an excess of humility, deserving praise from God and surprise from people. Do you want to see an example? Look at Job, David's general. He took possession of Abner, another military leader: he treated him friendly and at the same time secretly thrust a sword into his side, called him brother and killed him as an enemy. Such hypocrisy is evil. In another case, when the offended person does good to the offender, this will be a commendable deed. Jacob was afraid of his brother Esau and called on God, saying: “Deliver me from the hand of my brother... lest he come and kill me” (Gen. 32:11); but when he saw him, he honored him and said: “I have seen your face as if someone had seen the face of God” (Gen. 33:10). And because he first mistook his brother for an enemy and a murderer, God did not condemn him, since he knew that he spoke so not out of deceit, but out of fear. Thus, if someone verbally expresses friendship not in order to be cunning, but in order to avoid deceit, God is not angry with him, and he himself even teaches: “A gentle answer turns away wrath” (Prov. 15:1). And now, he says, when the devil put it into the heart of Judas to betray the Savior, the Savior, wanting to conquer the ungrateful soul with love for mankind, and destroy deception with meekness, washed his feet. I am not so much surprised by the Master, who did what was characteristic of Him (meekness was precisely His characteristic), as by Judas, full of deception. With what heart did he stretch his legs? How did he look at the holy hands of the Lord turning around his feet? How did he not tremble? How are you not numb? But that merciful nature endures generously. And, in all likelihood, the Lord washed Judas’ feet first. Why? If he had not washed the traitor’s feet before everyone else, but, having washed the feet of others, would have left him, this, of course, would have been alien to the Master, and Judas would have received a plausible excuse: he separated me, he himself made me a stranger, he washed everyone’s feet, but forgot about me. With what soul could I be with Him? God saw the tormented heart, but did not want to crush the one who was suffering on his own. This precisely shows that “a bruised reed he will not break” (Matthew 12:20). And so He washed the feet of the disciples. Finally it was Peter's turn. And while the Savior washed others, Peter reflected on the dignity of the Lord and the insignificance of man, on the poverty of people and on the glory of the Glorified One, and decided not to take a bath from Him. The Savior approached him, and he said: “Lord! Shall you wash my feet” (John 13:6)? You, who raises the dead, who cleanses lepers (this “You” has great power), You, about whom I have testified that “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16)? If I said this out of ignorance, then it will remain only a human assumption; but if You yourself confirmed these words of mine, saying that “it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17), then how now do You humble yourself so much as to wash the feet of a servant with the Lord’s hands? “You will never wash my feet” (John 13:8). What about the Savior? Interrupted his speech. “What I do you do not know now, but you will understand later” (John 13:7), i.e. you do not understand the purpose of My work. He could not bear it, but hearing this, he said: “You will never wash my feet.” I discovered a soul harder than adamant. The Savior brought His fire and made the adamantine soul softer than wax. No, he says, although you persist and resist, give up your persistence. “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). And he, disagreeing and resisting, says: “Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and my head” (John 13:9). I was ready to give away not only capital, but also all profits. The disposition of Christians should not be stubborn; A Christian should not be selfish; it is indecent for him to formulate evil plans, but he should freely move towards virtue; in times of joy you need to be cheerful, and in times of sorrow you need to be gloomy, as Paul says, “rejoice with those who rejoice,” fast with those who fast, “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). This means what Paul says: “Whether you eat or drink... do everything to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Peter's resistance did not bring him any benefit - he was washed, like the others. When Christ came to receive baptism from John, the Baptist said to Him: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” The Savior answers him: “Leave it now” (Matthew 3:14–15). Do not interfere, do not resist, because this is a divine desire. Do not reveal dignity ahead of time, let Me carry out the order, and actually show that I accepted humanity in order to reveal the true God through true man. Only He said: “Leave it now,” and the evangelist notes: “Then John allows Him” (Matthew 3:15) to be baptized. He resisted as a pious man, but obeyed as a devotee of God. In the same way, Jeremiah resisted God: “O Lord God! I don’t know how to speak, because I’m still young. But the Lord told me: do not say: “I am young”; For to everyone to whom I send you you will go, and whatever I command you you will say” (Jer. 1:6–7). Strength defeated resistance. Moses also resisted, saying: “Send another, ... I am not a man of speech” (Ex. 4:13, 10), but (God) did not yield. 3. But let's turn to the subject. The Savior says: “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). From this we should know that part of the believers is God, and part of God is the believers. Of course, the whole world is God’s world; but God knows the believers. The whole world, he says, was created by Me; For Me everything is the same, except for some of the believers. Therefore, believers proclaim, like David: “Lord, ... You are my portion in the land of the living” (Ps. 142:5), and also: “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance” (Ps. 16:5). Mary, sitting at the feet of the Lord, listened to the teaching; and the Savior says to her: “Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). Do you see that the part for believers is God? It must further be shown where believers form a part of God. Moses says: “When the Most High gave inheritance to the nations and scattered the sons of men, then he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel; ** for the portion of the Lord is His people, Jacob is His inheritance” (Deut. 32:8–9), because although the whole world belonged to Him, only the people of Israel listened to Him. In the same way, the prophet Amos says: and he saw, “behold, the Lord God made fire for judgment, and it devoured the great depths, and devoured part of the earth,” namely the people. “And I said,” he says, “Lord God! stop; how can Jacob stand? He is very little” (Amos 7:4-5), that is, in other words, do not destroy us. This was cited because the Savior says: “If I wash you not, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8). So, part of the believers is God, and part of God is the believers. Peter says: “Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and my head" (John 13:9). Peter thought that the washing was the remission of sins, and desired to receive remission of them from the whole body. But the washing was not the remission of sins, but an expression of prudence. Then the Savior says: “He who is washed needs only to wash his feet” (John 13:10). John 15:3) Then it happened: when He washed His feet, He took His clothes and put on His clothes, and then He lay down as the Lord and said with authority: “Do you know what I have done to you” - In other words: you do not understand. “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say it rightly, for that is exactly what I am.” In this way he discovered unlimited power. He took off the image of a slave and took on the image of God. “You call Me Teacher and Lord... So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example (from here I see the expression of forethought), that you also should do the same things that I have done to you” (John 13:12–15). Peter and John. Why did he send Peter and John out of the twelve? Peter confessed that “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16), John had to proclaim: “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). He sends the foundation of faith and the son of thunder, so that on the basis of strengthening the sacrament of piety, and in the son of thunder the teaching of truth shines. Why else does he send Peter and John? So that it can be seen that the gift of honest marriage and virginity is equally honored, and both those who are married and those who labor in virginity become participants in the Passover. He sends an honest marriage and virginity to prepare the Passover for Him, just as on the mountain He placed Moses and Elijah next to Him, one of whom shone with an honest marriage life, and the other with virginity, so that both appeared standing next to Christ. “I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you” (Luke 22:15). It is not forced by need, it is not a forced desire, but a voluntary decision. If the Lord, preaching the gospel, said: “I greatly desired,” then what should we say? You, O Lord, warn our voice, take away our sins in advance, and enlighten us with good deeds. We must say: we want to see Easter, but you are warning us? Does the fountain ever thirst for those who thirst? Do not those who are thirsty, on the contrary, thirst for the source? Does the meal experience a feeling of hunger in relation to the starving, and is it not the starving people who are hungry for the meal? We should say with David: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so does my soul long for You, O God” (Ps. 41:2). But when the mystery of the Savior lies ahead, the glorious suffering itself, the very teaching of suffering, the word must give way to time, so that those who thirst will enjoy it, the believers will be strengthened and saved, those who are enlightened will receive a guarantee. under the pretext of a gift, do not break the flow of fasting. Just as someone who makes a long journey, as a result of caring for the body, rests either in hotels or in other places, without abandoning the journey undertaken, stops to support the body, without abandoning the goal of the journey, so the Savior provided us with the enjoyment of His blessings, not so that we would become pampered, but so that we would have care for the body and the soul that works to the point of fatigue. Therefore, under the pretext of the sacraments, do not introduce anything alien; Having received grace, do not think that it is the sister of drunkenness. Not only believers, but also the catechumens must be protected from this. Before receiving the gift, show its dignity. What is the need for a word? Exercise your conscience. With what boldness will the one who breaks the fast come? Truly, no further than tomorrow, even if no one accuses you, your conscience will convict you. Have you ever seen anyone carry an accuser with them? Let your conscience be your protector. The present day, that is, this sacred secret teaching, does not require fasting, just like the secret teaching during Holy Easter; but since on this day there is a teaching about suffering, and on that about the resurrection, then we are both accomplices of that and participants in the resurrection. Now we participate in suffering, and then in resurrection; Now, sharing suffering, let us not indulge in luxury, but in tears, and after the resurrection there will be no more place for sorrow. Now Christ suffers, and you enjoy luxury? Do you not know how many, having indulged in excesses during the royal mourning, deserved great censure and were punished? And you, seeing the suffering of the Lord shining from the cross, anticipating the joy of the resurrection that has not yet come, indulge in intemperance? I say this not because the Savior himself should seem to be in sorrow, but we should show prudence on our part so that, having shared His suffering, we become participants in the resurrection, since glory, honor and worship belong to Him as the Lord with the Father and the most holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. In Greek translation: According to the number of the Angels of God