Беседа 21

Spoken to the people in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the day of Holy Easter. Reading the Holy Gospel: Mark 16.1–7. Mark 16.1–7. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary of James and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Him. And very early, on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb, at sunrise, and they say among themselves: Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? And, looking, they see that the stone has been rolled away; and he was very big. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in white clothing; and were horrified. He says to them: do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, crucified; He has risen, He is not here. This is the place where He was laid. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you. 1. I am accustomed to converse with you, beloved brethren, in many readings through an intermediary; but since, due to an upset stomach, I myself cannot read to you what I dictate, I notice that some of you are reluctant to listen. Therefore, now I want, against custom, to force myself, so that among the sacred rites of the Liturgy, I explain the reading of the Holy Gospel not through an intermediary, but through a personal interview. Let them receive it as we speak, because the voice of conversation touches hardened hearts more than the word of reading, and, as if with a certain hand of diligence, strikes so that they awaken. And although I do not foresee whether I will have enough strength for this task, however, what inexperience denies, love grants. For I know who said: “Open your mouth, and I will fill it” (Ps 80:11). Therefore, a good deed must be in our will, because it will be accomplished with the help of God. Even the highest triumph of the resurrection of the Lord gives us the boldness to speak, because it is very indecent for the tongue of the flesh to remain silent about due praise on the day on which the flesh - its Author - was resurrected. 2. You, beloved brethren, have heard that St. The wives, followers of the Lord, came to His tomb with perfumes, and out of love for mankind they serve even the dead One Whom they loved alive. But this event points to something that needs to be done in St. Churches. Thus, we need to listen to what has been done in order to think about what we should do, in imitation of them. And if we, believing in the One who died, and being filled with the fragrance of virtues, with the desire for good deeds, seek the Lord, then we truly come to His tomb with aromas. But those women who came with fragrances see Angels; because it is precisely those souls who, with the incense of virtues, go to the Lord through holy desires, who contemplate the highest citizens. However, it should be noted what it would mean that they see the Angel sitting on the right side. For what is meant by the left side, if not real life, and what by the right, if not unceasing life? - Therefore, in the Song of Songs it is written: “His left hand is under my head, and his right embraces me” (Song 2.6). So, since our Redeemer had already passed through the damage of this life, it is right that the Angel who came to announce His unceasing life sat on the right side. He appeared dressed in white because he announced the joys of our celebration. For white clothing announces the splendor of our triumph. Is it ours, say, or yours? To tell the truth, let’s say: both ours and ours. Because the resurrection of our Redeemer was both our triumph, since it returned us to immortality, and the Angelic, since it, calling us to the Heavenly, completed the number of them (Angels). So, the Angel appeared in white robes as a sign of his and our triumph because when we are raised to the Heavenly Dwellings through the Resurrection of the Lord, then the disorder in the Heavenly Fatherland is destroyed. 3. But let’s listen to what is said to the wives who came. "Don't be afraid." He clearly says something like this: “Let those who do not like the coming of higher citizens be horrified; let those be horrified who, being overwhelmed by carnal desires, despair of the possibility of achieving community with them. But you have nothing to fear, because you see your fellow citizens.” Therefore, Matthew, describing the appearance of the Angel, says: “his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow” (Matthew 28.3). For lightning expresses terror, and snow expresses the coolness of whiteness. Since Almighty God is both terrible for sinners and merciful for the righteous, the Angel, the witness of His resurrection, rightly appears both in a lightning-like visage and in a white robe in order to frighten the wicked and rejoice the pious with its very appearance. Therefore, it is also true that for the people who wandered in the desert, a pillar of fire preceded them in the night, and a pillar of cloud preceded them in the days (Exodus 13.21, 22). For in the fire there is fear, and in the cloud there is a quiet vision of mercy; The day is the life of the righteous, and the night is taken for the life of the sinner. That is why Paul says to converted sinners: “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Eph 5.8). So, the pillar was shown during the day through a cloud, and at night through fire, because Almighty God will appear both merciful to the righteous and terrible to the unrighteous. When He appears at the trial, He will comfort the first with the meekness of love, and He will intimidate the last with the determination of justice. 4. But let us listen to what the Angel also adds: “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus in Latin means “saving”, i.e. Savior. But since at that time many could be called Jesus - not in essence, but in name - then, in order to clearly say which Jesus he was talking about, he adds: “Nazarene.” And then the reason is immediately added: “crucified.” Then (the Angel) added: “he is not here.” Here we are talking about the presence of the flesh, and not at all about the presence of the Divine. “But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee.” A question arises for us: why, after the general name of the disciples, is Peter called by name? – But if the Angel had not called by name the one who renounced the Teacher, this one would not have dared to appear among the disciples. So, he is called by name so that he does not despair for renunciation. In this matter, we need to think (Conversation 50. Chapter 55): why Almighty God allowed the servant’s question to be frightened and the one whom He granted to be the Apostle of the entire Church to be renounced. We acknowledge that this, by order of Supreme Love, was done so that the one who would be the shepherd of the Church in his guilt would learn to what extent he should have been merciful to others. So, (God) showed him to himself, and then presented him above others so that he, from his own weakness, would know how mercifully he should endure the weaknesses of others. 5. But it is well said about our Savior: “He goes before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you." For Galilee means “migration made.” Because our Redeemer made the transition from suffering to resurrection, from death to life, from execution to glory, from damage to soundness. And after the resurrection, the disciples see Him for the first time in Galilee, because we will joyfully see the glory of the resurrection after we have moved from vices to the heights of virtues. So, He is visible in the tomb, but He appears in transmigration because He who is known in the mortification of the flesh is seen in the transmigration of the soul. This, beloved brethren, we said about the explanation of the Gospel reading, for the sake of such a great solemnity of the day, but I want to say something subtle about the same solemnity. 6. For there were two lives, one of which we knew, and the other we did not know. Because one is mortal, the other is immortal; one (life) of damage, the other of unharmed; one is death, the other is resurrection. But the Mediator of God and men – the Man Christ Jesus – comes and perceives one and reveals the other. He ended one with death, and showed the other with resurrection. So, if He promised us, who know mortal life, the resurrection of the flesh, and yet apparently did not show it, then who would believe His promises? - Therefore, He, having become a man, appeared in the flesh, was pleased to die by will, was resurrected with power, and showed by example what He promised us as a reward. But perhaps someone will say: He who, being God, could not be restrained by death, has rightfully risen. Consequently, to admonish our ignorance, to strengthen our weakness, He did not want to give us an example of His resurrection. He alone died at that time; He alone, however, rose inimitably. Since it is written: “and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matthew 27.52), then all objections of unbelief are destroyed. For no one should say that man cannot hope for himself that which the God-man manifested in His flesh. So we read that people were resurrected with God and we have no doubt that they were pure people. Therefore, if we are members of our Redeemer, we must expect to be accomplished in us what was faithfully accomplished in the Head. If we reject many things, then we must hope for ourselves, as the last members, of what we have heard about His higher members. 7. But now it comes to mind what the violent Jews said to the Crucified Son of God; “If He is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him” (Matthew 27.42). If He had descended from the Cross then, yielding precisely to violence, He would not have shown us the virtue of patience. But He waited a little, endured dishonor, endured ridicule, remained patient, spread amazement; and the One who did not want to come down from the Cross rose from the grave. So, it meant more to rise from the grave than to come down from the Cross. It meant more to trample death by resurrection than to save life by descending from the Cross. But when the Jews did not see Him descending from the Cross in satisfaction of their riot, when they saw Him dying, then they thought that they had defeated Him, they rejoiced, as if they had destroyed His name. “But His name swept through the world from that death with which this unbelieving crowd thought to destroy Him, and they, who rejoiced at His murder, grieve for the Dead Man, because they know that through execution He entered into His glory. His deeds are well represented, according to the story of the Book of Judges (Judg. 16.1 - 3), Sampson, who, having entered Gaza, the city of the Philistines, immediately rejoiced the Philistines who learned of his arrival; They suddenly surrounded the city with ambushes, posted guards and were already rejoicing as if they had caught the courageous Sampson. But we know what Sampson did. At midnight he took the city gate and carried it to the top of the mountain. In this matter, dearest brethren, who is this Sampson representing, if not our Redeemer? What is the city of Gaza if not hell? What is indicated through the Philistines, if not the treachery of the Jews? - These, when they saw the Lord dead and His body laid in the tomb, they placed a guard there and rejoiced as if they had captured, as it were, Sampson who was in Gaza, and the One who was known as the Author of Life, detained in the rivets of hell. But Sampson not only left at midnight, but also carried out the gates, because our Redeemer, having risen before the light, not only left hell, but also destroyed the very gates of hell. He took away the gates and ascended to the top of the mountain, because by resurrection he destroyed the rivets of hell, and by ascension he entered the Kingdom of Heaven. So, beloved brethren, let us love with all our souls the glory of His resurrection, which was first shown in a sign and later revealed in an event, and we will die with love for it. So, in the resurrection of our culprit, we recognized the servants of His Angels, our fellow citizens. So, let us hasten to this unceasing triumph of these citizens. Let us unite with them by desire and mind, while we cannot yet (unite) by vision. Let us move from vices to virtues in order to be worthy of the vision of our Redeemer in Galilee. May Almighty God help our desire, Who for us gave up to death His Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with Him - God in unity with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: