A conversation about the blind man healed by Christ, and about Zacchaeus, and about judgment, and about almsgiving

1. The teachings of the holy scriptures are numerous and varied, but one grace shines in all of them, one source of teaching - the Spirit of truth. And what is written in the law, and what was proclaimed by the prophets, and what was preached by the apostles, and what the gospel of piety teaches, all this flows, as it were, from one fruitful and nourishing source, being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Even more than that: every reasonable word, every just thought, every worthy deed - all of this goes back to the same source and has meaning insofar as it finds its foundation in the Holy Spirit. In view of this, if someone began to exalt himself in human wisdom, establishing himself exclusively on human reasoning, and rejecting God, such a person would remain recognized as an insignificant person and undeserving of any trust. “They have rejected the word of the Lord,” says the prophet about such people, “what is their wisdom?” (Jer. 8:9) Contrary to them, for us the scriptures of piety are the flowers of truth. And it’s wonderful - there are many of these flowers, but one meadow feeds them; There are many lamps of teaching, but the true light is one; there are many stars, but one sky contains them; there are many branches, but one root; there are many fingers, but one hand writes with them; there are many strings, but one zither of the Spirit; many instructions, but one source of godliness. But what especially surprises me is how this blind man, who did not study the law, did not know the prophets, did not read the gospels, and was not instructed by the apostles, could call on the Savior of the world with these words: “Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me” (Luke 18:38)! Where did you get this address from, not even knowing what it means? After all, you did not read books without sight, and did not study; your only occupation was to ask, or better yet, to beg for alms; How did you recognize the Luminary of the world, Whom, in your blindness, you did not contemplate either in heaven or on earth? Truly the words of David were fulfilled on him: “The Lord makes the blind” (Ps. 146:8)! Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd, but the blind man, not knowing the Light of truth, felt His power; his heart told him what his sight could not give. Why are there so many people? he asks. Jesus the Nazarene passes here, they answer him. And what’s surprising is that they tell him this way, but he exclaims differently. He hears: Jesus the Nazarene, but he calls not to Jesus the Nazarene, but to Jesus, the son of David. The sighted judged by appearance, but the blind man proclaimed the very truth. “Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me"! Now, of course, everyone will internalize these words, everyone will pronounce this confession with all their hearts and say about themselves: “Son of David! have mercy on me"! You know, brothers, what sometimes happens at funerals with a large crowd of people. There, at the sight of the deceased being mourned by his relatives, everyone cries, some out of sympathy for the grief of others, others for their purely personal reasons; another woman weeps and sheds tears, but not at all about the one whose body lies in front of her (he is a stranger to her), but about her own loss: in such cases, someone else’s misfortune for everyone is a reminder of his own misfortunes. So indeed, brothers, when you hear anything edifying from the sacred scriptures, let each of you remember your own ailments and repeat to yourself this saying: “Son of David! have mercy on me"! Let everyone say this now, seeking relief from their ailments. After all, each of you will have such ailments: one is blind in mind, another is deaf in soul, another is lame in mind, and the other is stricken with leprosy of the soul. In fact, their souls often suffer from the same ailments from which Christ healed the bodies of people, just as in need of help from above. Thus, a blind soul needs insight. Blind, of course, is the soul that does not see the miraculous in faith, the soul that does not see the future age is blind, the soul that, seeing the body of Christ, does not see His divinity is blind. And that the soul, ignorant of the divine, is truly blind, the prophet Isaiah testifies, saying: “Who is as blind as My servant, and deaf as My messenger, whom I sent? Who is as blind as the beloved, as blind as the servant of the Lord? You saw a lot, but did not notice; ears were open, but did not hear” (Isaiah 42:19–20)? The Savior also points to the blindness of the mind, denouncing the Pharisees, blind to the truth, with these words: “Leave them alone: ​​they are blind leaders of the blind; and if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). And the soul is deaf, not listening to the law, disobedient to the Master’s voice, deaf - not in the natural sense, but in the sense of the disposition of the will. The Savior says: “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15), not because, of course, some of those present did not have ears (why would they follow Him as listeners, not having a natural organ of hearing?), but to show that the possession of an external organ of hearing does not correspond to an internal disposition for hearing the divine law in all His listeners. Of course, there is no benefit from external hearing when the spirit inside remains deaf. The soul also suffers from leprosy, not the kind that covers the body, but the kind that darkens the soul. Indeed, what is leprosy on the body if not dual skin color? Now, what is leprosy of the soul? Duality of thoughts. “Woe... to the sinner who walks in two paths” (Sir. 2:12)! If someone either believes or does not believe, is inclined either to mercy or to hard-heartedness, this means that his soul is leprous, it is not in a healthy state, but is divided in thoughts; Just as leprosy violates the unity of the body, so vicious thoughts violate the unity of consciousness in the soul. Let everyone cry out for their wounds and call on Jesus, healer of souls and bodies, just as the blind man cried out: “Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me"! And although those in front forbade him to shout like that, this did not stop him in his desire for Jesus: faith knows how to fight against everything and conquer everything. People forbid, but the faithful do not retreat and follow the Lord, knowing that for the sake of piety, insolence is commendable. 2. After all, if for the sake of money many go to the point of shamelessness, then isn’t it much better to allow yourself some shamelessness for the sake of saving the soul? Jesus orders him to be brought to him. The voice of the one who called Him with faith reached the Lord Jesus, and He commanded that he be brought to Him, and brought closer in body, to the one who had already previously approached Him by faith. “Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought to Himself: and... He asked him: What do you want from Me?” (Luke 18:40–41)? It is not in vain that He asks this: He could have sent healing to the one sitting, but then the Jews, who slandered the truth, could have said, as was the case with the man born blind, that this is not the same one, but only similar to him. So, he calls the person being healed to Himself, so that he can be seen by everyone, as if calling everyone to testify first of all to his natural deficiency, and then to the power of grace. "What do you want from me" ? He asks him, and gives a lesson to those present. And he answers: “Lord! so that I may receive my sight” (Luke 18:41). Notice how many certificates were required from the person being healed, and all this in order to prevent the distortion of the truth by slanderers. Then Jesus says to him: “Go, your faith has saved you” (Mark 10:52; Luke 18:42). Do you see how what we said yesterday is confirmed by deeds themselves? We precisely said that good deeds are not sold, but are acquired only by faith. And Jesus does not sell good deeds for money, but gives them only for faith. If you do not present faith, you will not receive good deeds; grace works, but it is preceded by faith. Let's imagine this example: there is one source, but some draw water from the source with small vessels, and others with large ones; in this case, of course, one will scoop up less water, and the other more; but this difference is not due to the source, as if it sets the measure, but because everyone takes water with his own vessel. So grace spreads like a source, and the disposition of those who approach it is a vessel for it, determining the extent to which each person receives it. If the vessel of your faith is small, you will draw little grace; if you show great zeal, then you will receive a great benefit. Therefore, the Savior asks: “Do you believe that I can do this”? And to the assurance: “by God”! answers: “according to your faith, be it done to you” (Matthew 9:28–29). Therefore, the apostle exhorts the Corinthians with these words: “be spread also” (2 Cor. 6:13), showing by this that the more faith spreads, the more abundantly grace is imparted. And the prophet says: “Open your mouth, and I will fill them” (Ps. 80:11). A good deed in itself is not restrained by anything except our negligence. The Sun of Truth has risen - Jesus, and the rays of this mental luminary are spreading everywhere. At the same time, one receives more grace, the other less, not because grace is dispensed in measure, but according to the measure of faith of one or another person. In fact, the sun is one for the whole earth, and the ray is one, and the radiance is one, however, not the whole world is equally enlightened, but in one place the light is bright, in another weaker, in a third stronger, there it is brighter, and here it is dimmer, not, of course, because the sun gives more light to this house, and less to this one, but depending on the size of the windows: the more space the builder of the house allocated to the windows, the freer the access for the rays of the sun to the house and the more abundantly they penetrate there. Thoughts serve as windows to our soul: if you open your thoughts wider, you will receive greater benefits; if you restrict access to your soul, the gifts of grace will be scarcer for you. Open your soul so that it is illuminated with the full radiance of grace. “But we all,” says the Apostle Paul about himself, “with open face, as in a mirror, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). According to the Gospel story, one blind man was healed, but this event should serve as a lesson, thanks to which the spiritual eyes of many will be opened. “According to your faith, let it be done to you.” The blind man, the evangelist says further, “went for Him, glorifying God" (Luke 18:43), and Jesus did not interfere with him. This last circumstance requires explanation. When the Lord healed the demoniac, the healed man begged Him to allow him to follow Him, because he wanted to be with Him. But the Savior rejected his request and told him: “Go home to your own and tell them what the Lord has done to you” (Mark 5:19). to follow Him, rejects, and allows another? Why is this allowed to be followed, but not that? Both were useful. He did not allow the first one to follow Him for the very reason that he was possessed by a demon. After all, a possessed person’s tongue and speech are disordered; so the Lord sends him as a messenger, so that by the very restoration of his speech he would preach about his Benefactor. In fact, could those who previously knew this man when he was possessed hear him without surprise, now that he had sound speech? And so the Lord makes the very tongue of the healed a messenger about the Healer. And what’s also remarkable: on the one hand, the humility of the Savior was revealed here, and on the other, the gratitude of the demoniac. The Savior says: “go and tell them what the Lord has done.” He did not say: what have I done to you? but humbly keeping silent about Himself, ascribes everything to the name of God. And the healed man went and preached what God Jesus had done to him. So, the Lord sends him to preach, so that his very return to a healthy state will testify to a great benefit, and allows the blind man to follow Him. Why? Because this time He was taken away to Jerusalem, where He was to accomplish the salvation of the world, where humiliation, the cross, and in general everything that the God-fighting people were planning against Him were being prepared for Him; therefore He allows the blind to follow Him, as a living monument of the recent miracle, so that the remembrance of this healing will strengthen the souls of those who might have wavered; in a word, he allows the blind to follow Him, so that no one would try to deny His miraculous power. The apostles had to endure a strong test that struck them like a storm at the sight of the only begotten Son of God on the cross. And so, so that they would not be confused, amazed by His suffering, the Lord allows the blind man to follow Him, so that, having this living monument of a miracle before their eyes, they would stand unshakably in the truth. 3. For a similar purpose, Christ performed many miracles, and precisely at the time when His suffering was approaching. So that no one would think that He is subjected to suffering not out of love for mankind, but out of powerlessness to avert it; Before His entry into Jerusalem, He saw a fig tree and approached - the Gospel says - to it, looking for fruit on it, and did not find it (Mark 11:13). And after he didn’t find it, he cursed her, saying: “Let there be no fruit from you forever” (Matthew 21:19)! How did the fig tree sin? After all, she is not gifted with any intelligent power in the matter of fruiting? Is it not the Creator Himself who gives it the power to produce fruit at a time pleasing to Him? Moreover, it was not the time for the fig trees to bear fruit, as the Gospel testifies. Who among ordinary people - except God - would demand fruits at the wrong time? Was it not You, Creator, who established the times? Didn't You ordain the times and seasons of fruiting? Why do you demand at the wrong time when You yourself have appointed? Even if, at the usual time for fruits, there were no fruits on the fig tree, would it really be nature’s fault? Does a tree bear fruit when it wants? Doesn't it begin to bear fruit when it is commanded? So what does this curse on the fig tree mean? This means that the Lord, going to suffer, wanted to warn the thought that He was not able to eliminate them, and therefore He showed His power on a soulless tree to show that He could dry up all opponents, destroy all those who fight against God. And since He came not to judge the world, but to save, as He himself said (John 12:47), He reveals His power on an inanimate object, and pours out the wealth of His love for mankind on people. So it is in this case: He allows the blind man to follow Him, so that His miraculous power would be presented to the disciples in all its brilliance, so that, under the fresh impression of the miracle, they would hold stronger against temptation. Meanwhile, this miracle was followed by another: after the sight of the blind man, another, blind in soul, received his sight. Who exactly? The chief of the tax collectors, blind to everything except money, with a soul blinded by greed. Nothing blinds the soul like money; This was witnessed by Moses: “gifts make those who see blind and change the work of the righteous” (Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19). The chief of the tax collectors was among the people when Jesus passed by, resolving every sin, destroying all evil, turning darkness into light and evil into right. Zacchaeus was small in stature, but great in desire, small in body, but great in spirit: he sought to see Jesus, but he was unable to do so because of his small stature. Then, running ahead, he made up for the lack of height with cunning: he climbed onto a fig tree and from there began to look at Jesus passing by. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is able, as Apostle Paul says, “to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20), not only gave him what he wanted, but did even more than he could have expected. Zacchaeus only wanted to see Jesus, and the Lord even honored him with His visit. And he who saw his heart said to Zacchaeus (of course, before he climbed the fig tree, the Lord already knew his thoughts): “Zacchaeus! come down quickly” (Luke 19:5)! A wonderful hunter, the Savior, who catches a soul in a tree! “Zacchaeus! come down quickly." He stretched out a pipe to him, surrounded him with the bait of love, took him by the wings of thought, and brought him to His church. And look what it does. There is no need to think that the word of Christ was forced on Zacchaeus; the word of Christ acted on Zacchaeus without any compulsion; but that in general the word of God is like a hunter, Blessed Zechariah speaks about this: “The Lord God revealed to me a vision: here is a basket of ripe fruits. And He said: I will not pass by My people until I catch Him (not Zechariah, but Am. 8:1–2). Thus, the truth is attested that the word of God is a net: it entwines souls with love like a net. And just as this net can no longer let go of the prey from the hands of the hunter, so the souls who have entered into communion with the Savior can no longer lag behind Him. Captured in this way, the beautiful chick David says: “My soul cleaves to You” (Ps. 63:9), and Paul, for his part, testifies: “He who is united to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). The Lord catches Zacchaeus, takes him down from the tree and enters with him into his house, which until now had been darkened by the sins of its inhabitant, but today is illuminated by the Luminary of piety. The publican joyfully received the Savior who entered his house. O great goodness of the Lord! The sinless one comes to sinners, the source of righteousness enters the very stronghold of unrighteousness; the stronghold of untruth, of course, is greed. He enters the publican's house, not submitting to the darkness of the greed that reigned there, but destroying the greed with the power of the light of truth. And an amazing thing: immediately Zacchaeus, standing in front of the door of the house, says: “I will give half of my property to the poor” (Luke 19:8)! Are you not yet taught, and are you obeying? Not yet instructed, and are you doing it? The Savior said nothing, did not teach anything then, did not talk about alms, did not instill love of poverty, but was silent and calmly shone. Just as the sun, when its rays penetrate a house, enlightens not with a word, but with the very action of the rays, so the Savior, entering the house of a sinner, stopped the flow of untruth with the rays of His truth. “The light shines in darkness,” as the evangelist says (John 1:5). “I will give half of my property to the poor.” He divides greed well and dissects untruths. "Half of my property." Everything as a whole is strong, but what is divided is weakened. "Half of my property." Beautiful words that conquer nature, or rather habit, because habit is second nature. He threw away greed, recognizing the truth. “I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone in any way,” or harmed someone with a false denunciation, “I will repay him fourfold” (Luke 19:8). Here it should be noted that the wealth of Zacchaeus did not owe its existence exclusively to untruth, but part of it was of hereditary origin; After all, if all of it had been acquired by unrighteousness, then how could he return four times what he took? Why does he say: “If I have offended anyone in any way, I will repay him fourfold.” “If anyone,” the law says, “steals... a sheep” and is caught, “then... he will pay... four sheep for a sheep” (Ex. 22:1). God quadruples retribution, or - better - punishment, so that if the law does not frighten someone, he would at least be deterred by punishment, because many often do not respect the law, but fear punishment. So, Zacchaeus condemns himself, not expecting a sentence according to the law, but being himself a law, because “the law is not made for the righteous” (1 Tim. 1:9). In response to the publican’s statement, Christ said: “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus justified himself, not by simply seeing Christ, of course, but by fulfilling the law of Christ. “Now salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9). Until he did the works of Abraham, he is not called the son of Abraham, but simply by name - Zacchaeus; when he declared himself by the deeds of the patriarch, revealing love for the poor and alienation from unrighteousness, then the Lord says: “and he is the son of Abraham.” 4. And we, brothers, if we are Christians and call ourselves Christians, then we must remember that nothing shows us as Christians more than deeds of truth. So, let us not degrade our name with deeds, but let us adorn our faith with them. We are called the sons of Abraham by faith, but let us try to earn this name through our deeds. I have already said before that this does not require nobility of body, but adherence to character. That is why Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the patriarchs renounced the synagogue, because those who belonged to it did not inherit the faith of their fathers: Abraham abandoned his children because they did not follow his faith; Isaac and Jacob and all the patriarchs renounced them, because whoever renounces God, all nature renounces him. But how can we confirm that Abraham renounced the Jews, so that it does not seem that we are only speaking such insolence out of enmity towards them, and not in order to really expose those who have sinned? Blessed Jeremiah speaks on behalf of the people: Lord, have mercy on us; the mountain and the city that our fathers blessed were burned with fire; But You, Lord, have mercy on us, “Abraham does not recognize us, and Israel does not recognize us as theirs; You, O Lord, are our Father” (not Jeremiah, but Isa. 63:16). Since,” say the Jews, “those with whom we boasted have become alienated from us and rejected our race, then have mercy on us, Thou who conquerest all with Thy love for mankind. Have mercy on us, “for Abraham does not recognize us.” Abraham refuses those who are alien to his liking, but adopts for himself, as I said, those who are alien to him by tribe, but akin to him in piety. Accordingly, the Scripture, wanting to show the Jews that anyone whose morals he takes, says: “Your father is an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite, ... your sister ... is of Sodom” (Ezek. 16:3, 46). See how kinship is determined by morals. Since you held Sodomite thoughts, you heard the names: sister of the Sodomites, daughter of the Canaanites; By this God said that it is not the race that justifies, but all honor is given to the character. But I think that both the Canaanite and the Amorite would have refused such a relationship; at the sight of the God-fighters, alien to piety, they would have renounced them, and the Canaanite would not have considered it an honor to be called the father of the wicked. Why is this so? If in the presence of a Canaanite you would say to a Jew: your father is a Canaanite, he could answer you: I am not an infidel, although I am a Canaanite; a witness to my faith is the Canaanite woman who cried out: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David” (Matthew 15:22). Let them not be called sons of the Canaanites who did not keep the faith of the Canaanite woman! It remains to be called sons of stone and tree those who say to the stone: “You begat me,” and to the tree: “You are my father” (Jer. 2:27). But I think that the stone would have refused and the tree would have renounced its relationship with the infidels. Maybe even a stone will refuse and say: not my child is the son of wickedness, not my birth is the son of unrighteousness; Even though I am a stone, I know that Scripture says: “God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9). And then to say, aren’t the stones themselves personified and don’t they speak? Listen to what the prophet says: “The stones of the walls will cry out and the beams of wood will answer” (Hab. 2:11). If you remain silent, the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40). How can we call the race of infidels if they are not the sons of Abraham, nor the Canaanites - because the Canaanite woman disgraces their unbelief with the brilliance of her faith - nor the sons of stones? After all, stones are denied kinship with them. Which name remains incorrect? Jeremiah gave them this name. “They will be called rejected silver,” he says, “for the Lord has rejected them” (Jer. 6:30). Let us also be afraid, brothers! Are you adorned by your relationship with Christ? Let the just judgment of Christ fill you with fear. About alms yesterday it was preached that alms should be placed above all else, that the soul should be preferred to everything. I was always surprised by other types of ingratitude. Childless people take other people's children for adoption: one in this case becomes a father, the other a brother. But how do you adopt a stranger and avoid the Lord? Adopt Him who gives you your reward: let Christ be your son. Scary, you say, is that a word? But think about what you say: under the pretext of a word, don’t you reject the very thought connected with it, and don’t you thereby fall into foolishness? After all, you call Christ the son of man? And I call Him not only son, but also brother, and not by my own invention, but guided by His own words. One day they said to Him: “Behold, Your Mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside the house asking You.” The Savior responds to this: “Who is My Mother? and who are My brothers?.. here are My mother and My brothers; For whoever does the will of God is My brother, and sister, and mother” (Mark 3:32–35). If this is His mother, then is He not the son of His mother, who honored the truth with this name? This means that every soul can be the mother of Christ according to its moral mood. What does it mean - the mother of Christ? Every soul gives birth to Christ within itself; and until she is transformed by piety, she cannot be called the mother of Christ. When you perceive the word of Christ, experience it in your heart and, as if in the womb, transform it with your thought, then you are rightfully his mother. And so that you can be convinced that Christ is imagined in each of us and that the mother of Christ - I mean, of course, the word of Christ - becomes the soul of each of us, these are the words of St. Paul: “My little children, for whom I am again in birth pangs, until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). Have you maintained justice? This means that he imagined Christ in his soul. Did you give alms? This means that he has drawn an image of the truth. According to the apostle, Christ is not imagined in each of us individually: by Christ he means the word of piety, through which the truth is imprinted in us. So, have you given alms? I imagined Christ in myself. Did you do justice? Captured the truth. In this way we can make Christ our brother. Let Him be a participant in your affairs. Don’t you want to share everything with Him? Give Him at least half, like Zacchaeus. But Zacchaeus, you say, gave to Him himself, and not to the poor? And listen to what is said: “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord” (Prov. 19:17). When you give to the poor, you are giving to Christ. Don’t you know that He accepts what is given to a beggar as something given to Himself? Don’t you know how He depicted the terrible judgment for you, in what words? “In the coming of life, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory” (Matthew 19:28) “and He places the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food” (Matthew 25:33-35). 5. See how He recognizes Himself as a debtor to those who were merciful to Him in the person of the poor? “I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; ...I was naked, and you clothed Me” (Matthew 25:35–36). So, if in appearance you dress the poor, in reality you dress Christ. Clothe Christ so that He will clothe you on the day of judgment; bring Him under your roof so that He may shelter you on the day of wrath. Do you remember what David said; “would he hide me in the secret place of his habitation” (Ps. 27:5)? And there you need shelter, and there that terrible fire threatens - inexorable Gehenna: whoever is not covered by the hand of Christ will have to experience the alien fire, which takes possession of everyone who is alien (to Christ): he reveres the saints, fears piety, but wickedness becomes his prey. There, neither wealth, nor money, nor power, nor power matter - all this will equally appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Even if there is a difference between people, before the Lord everyone becomes equally honest, any difference is erased. What is the difference between an angel and a man? Great and extraordinary. What is the difference between the sun, moon and stars? But the law of worship is equally binding on everyone. How great is the difference between grass, angels and animals? Some are immortal, others are mortal. But everyone recognizes dominion over himself and bears his slavery. Therefore, David unites those of different ranks in one face, in one agreement: “Praise the Lord from heaven, praise Him in the highest. Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His armies. Praise Him, O sun and moon” (Ps. 149:1–3). Although one is elevated above the other in rank, everything is equalized by slavery. And just as, brothers, in the world dignity differs among themselves, but is equalized by the yoke of slavery (because everyone bows before the king, everyone fears power, and, differing among themselves in dignity, everyone is unanimous among themselves as slaves), so there all people are equal, with the exception of only those who have succeeded, who have shone with piety. Daniel spoke well about this: “I saw in my vision at night,” and it was as if “the Ancient of Days sat down” (Dan. 7:2, 9). Here, especially notice, I ask you, how the prophet represents the Judge of truth as if in a bodily form. While God is by nature incorporeal, the prophet describes spiritually with sensual features, as if painting a picture. He says: as if “Ancient of days”, i.e. not worn out by time, but venerable in antiquity. “His robe was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool; His throne is like a flame of fire, His wheels are like blazing fire. A river of fire came out and passed before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him, and darkness stood before Him” (Dan. 7:9, 10). [Oh, terrible judgment! O vision that can terrify the foolish! If what we only hear about is so terrible, then how much more terrible is it to contemplate it in reality? “I saw in the night visions, ... the judges sat down, and the books were opened” (Dan. 7:13, 10). Thrones? For whom? What this means is something you need to understand. If the Judge of truth is already seated and His throne is “like a flame of fire,” then what other thrones is Daniel talking about? I saw how “the judges sat down and the books were opened.” Whose thrones]? Obviously, the holy apostles, to whom the Savior said: “When the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). "And the books were opened". Books in which evil deeds are written, in which good deeds are written, in which everyone’s life is described. Books are not, of course, in the sense that God has skin and letters, but just as for you a book serves as a means, an aid for memory, so the memory of God is presented in the form of a book; God, of course, does not need a book - in our sense: His memory is a book. We, people, reading the prophet, the apostles, the gospels, do not retain memories of what we read in our hearts without a book, but God is not like that: He does not need a book: the source of memory does not need a book. Good deeds are described there, and evil deeds are also described there. Do not be afraid, however, that your fate is already sealed. If your bad deeds are written in those books, then they can be atoned for by good deeds. And vice versa: if someone’s name is written in the books for the sake of piety, and then his deeds testify to the contrary, then what is written will not serve as an obstacle to his condemnation: in this case, his name is blotted out from the book. And so that you may be convinced that those who are written down for piety and cast out for negligence are blotted out, this is what David says about the Jews, who were once written in, but were later blotted out: “Let them be blotted out from the book of the living, and let them not be written with the righteous” (Ps. 68:29). Just as the unfaithful are erased, so, on the contrary, the faithful are inscribed. Do you remember what the Apostle Paul says: greet our dear brothers and companions “with Clement and with the rest of my fellow servants, whose names are in the book of life” (Phil. 4:3)? Let us be afraid of these books! May your sins not be written on them! Imagine in what position you find yourself before the judge, when memorable records about you are opened, convicting you of untruth, testifying to your madness: remember what fear, what trepidation embraces you, how your limbs tremble, how all your insides are shaken - and this at the human court! If human judgment brings such horror, then who can describe the horror in which the Lord of all will execute His judgment on the universe? We say this not to frighten you, but to instill prudence in you. Do not value money above Christ, do not prefer untruth and self-interest to God. From previous conversations you already know that you only have time until the grave; You were told about this yesterday too. At the end of your life, a grave inevitably awaits you. Strive to ensure that, while waiting for it, you prepare for yourself the transition from the present life to the future. Love the deeds of justice: in the grave we will receive permission, in the grave our mortal shell will be destroyed. Let us try to avoid the coming judgment, I beg you, brothers! One should speak and listen about this subject with no other feelings than with the determination to acquire a thirst for truth. See how the prophet cries: “Oh, what a day of the Lord, for the day of the Lord is at hand” (Joel 1:15)! If the prophet, when remembering this day, trembles, then should we, guilty of countless sins, remember it without fear? Let us have mercy on the Judge with repentance, let us atone for our sins, let us be afraid of this truly terrible threat of Him: “whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny (and not only the one who is rejected in words is rejected, but also the one who is rejected in deed) before My Heavenly Father; whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33). If these words - just spoken - already inspire fear, then what will we have to experience when contemplating the very deeds that correspond to them? Imagine, brothers, this picture: here is the Judge of the universe seated. Before Him are angels and archangels, He is glorified by cherubim, super-worldly powers, heavenly armies, and among them are patriarchs, prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs; here are those who were kings, rulers, judges, nobles, rich, poor, wise men, simpletons - they all stand before the throne of the King, and in front of so many witnesses - heavenly and earthly - the Judge pronounces a sentence and denies being strangers to him before the Heavenly Father! “I will deny,” He said, “him... whoever denies Me before men... before My Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). 6. Imagine Him saying, for example, like this: Father, this one humiliated My faith, this one persecuted My faithful, this one persecuted My church, this one insulted My people, this one trampled My word, this one mocked My preaching. The Judge says all this not in order to teach the Father, who already knows all this, but in order to shame the enemy with accusations. Imagine that the Judge says this, and before Him stand the glorious lands - bound and shackled ["to imprison, - it is said, - their kings in chains and their nobles in iron shackles" (Ps. 149:8)]. Or imagine that as defendants before the throne of the Lord, the nobles of the earth stand and tremble, - and the Judge says about them: they have despised the word of truth Mine, they violated My law, they suppressed My teaching, they persecuted My apostles, they tortured My martyrs. Thus says the King - and with what movements the approaching angels respond to His words! How terribly they nod their heads, how terribly they threaten, ready to destroy the sinner with one glance! Imagine, further, that the angels are indignant, the archangels are worried, the forces are shaken, the Father is indignant, the Holy Spirit is angry, and the defendant is cast out with great shame, and not only is cast out from some of those being saved, but is also subject to condemnation. After all, we are threatened not only by the fact that we will not be saved and will not reign, but also by the fact that we will be consigned to the fire. “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess” (Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8). Imagine what glory, what praise, how many crowns, when the Judge says: this one kept My word, this one preached My faith, this one confirmed My teaching, this one did not despise My beggar, this one overcame selfishness and preferred justice, this one disdained the insignificance of the world and loved the world to come, this one expanded My kingdom, this one honored My word: almost him, Father! It is necessary to make a reservation here that by drawing a picture of the court in this form, we do not introduce division into the Divinity, we do not humiliate the authorities, but by the very method of accusation we show the indignation of the Judge and how everything here is directed towards the salvation of those who confess and the condemnation of unbelievers. But what is most terrible is to imagine that on one side are standing Michael and Gabriel, and all the angelic armies, and on the other are sitting among the people - the sons of Zebedee, sitting Paul and Peter; angels stand with fear, but people sit with boldness! Just imagine the angels standing, and the fishermen and tax collectors sitting, and then you will involuntarily exclaim with them: “how many blessings You have” (Ps. 30:20)! Zacchaeus is seated, Paul and Peter are seated, and Michael stands before us: we do not call alien names, but rely on what is written; We don’t know the names of the angels, we only follow what is written. There is no envy, no jealousy - these are not earthly affairs - the angels are not upset that they are standing and people are sitting; they share with the sacred their glory. Listen to what the Lord says: “Even so, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). So, let us love the glory of God, and reject the glory that passes away like a dream. Yesterday you were already told how the prophet called the glory of the world a dream. And, says Isaiah, the wealth of the wicked “will be like a dream” (Isaiah 29:7). Our present situation is no different from a sleepy dream. Yesterday health, today illness; yesterday power, today humiliation; yesterday wealth, today poverty; yesterday the pinnacle of glory, and today complete insignificance. Everything fluctuates, everything changes; and not only human deeds, but also “heaven and earth will pass away,” only “My words,” says the Lord, “will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). That is why Christians are blessed, those who are humble even when they are invested with high dignity. Are you being humble, having high merits? Humility does not harm you at all: in the eyes of God you remain the same as you are. in fact, if you humble yourself without expecting the blow of fate, then humiliation, no matter where it comes from, will not be a surprise to you: you will come out ready for the fight. David spoke well about this: “I prepared myself without embarrassment” (Ps. 119:60). So, let us avoid arrogance, let us avoid vanity, let us love Christ and for Christ’s sake the poor, so that He who enriches all, who has mercy on all according to His bounties, may grant the church flock to always blossom in piety under the leadership of the farmer of righteousness, who recently left us for another purpose, but who is always with us through the power of spiritual intercession. After all, here is not the Jewish people, who - we have to say - were a scattered people, like sheep without a shepherd, but an apostolic people, who have an evangelical shepherd who says: “Although I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your prosperity and the strength of your faith in Christ” (Col. 2:5). To him be glory and power, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.