Беседа 26

Spoken to the people in the Church of Blessed John, called Constantine, on the week of Thomas. Reading the Holy Gospel: John 20.19–31. John 20.19–31. On the same first day of the week in the evening, when the doors of the house where His disciples were meeting were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: Peace be with you! Having said this, He showed them His hands and feet and His ribs. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them a second time: Peace be with you! just as the Father sent Me, so I send you. Having said this, he blew and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; On whomever you leave it, it will stay on it. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not here with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, “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.” After eight days, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came when the doors were locked, stood in the midst of them and said: Peace be with you! Then he says to Thomas: put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and place it in my side; and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer. Thomas answered Him: My Lord and my God! Jesus says to him: You believed because you saw Me; Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Jesus did many other miracles before His disciples that are not written in this book. These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name. 1. The first question in the mind during this Gospel reading is the following: how was the body of the Lord after the resurrection a true body, when it could enter the disciples through locked doors? But we need to know that the Divine action is not marvelous if it can be understood by reason; and that faith has no merit for which human reason represents experience. But these very deeds of our Redeemer, which in themselves cannot in any way be understood, must be discussed according to another action of Him, so that the most wondrous deeds will give credibility to the most wondrous deeds. For the body of the Lord ascended to the disciples through the locked doors, which to human eyes through its birth came out precisely through the locked womb of the Virgin. So, what is surprising if after the resurrection He who will live forever entered through the locked doors, when He, going out to death, left without opening the Virgin’s lies? - But since the faith of those who saw doubted in that body that could be visible, He (the Savior) immediately showed them his hands and side: he presented tangible the flesh that he brought through the locked doors. - In this matter, He showed two miracles, and according to human reason, completely opposite to one another, when, after His resurrection, He showed His body both unharmed and yet tangible. For it is necessary that that which is tangible be damaged, and that which is not damaged cannot be tangible. But in a wondrous and incomprehensible way, our Redeemer, after the resurrection, showed the body both unharmed and tangible in order to, by showing it unharmed, invite us to a reward, and by presenting it tangible, to affirm in faith. So, He revealed Himself both unharmed and tangible in order to show that after the resurrection His body was, although of the same nature, but of a different glory. 2. He (the Savior) said to them: “Peace be with you!” just as the Father sent Me, so I send you.” That is, just as the Father, God of God, sent Me, and I send you, a Man of men. The Son was sent by the Father, Who predetermined His incarnation for the redemption of the human race. Consequently, He was pleased that He should go into the world to suffer; but, despite this, He loved the Son, sending Him to suffer. And the Lord sends His chosen disciples not to joy, just as He Himself was sent into the world, but to suffering. So, since the Son, loved by the Father, is sent to suffer, then the disciples, although the Lord loves him, nevertheless sends them into the world to suffer. Therefore it is said: “As the Father sent Me, so I send you.” That is, “Sending you to the temptations of the persecutors, I love you with the love with which the Father loved Me, Whom I predestined to go into the world to endure suffering.” - However, in the expression “to be sent” even the Divinity by nature can be understood. For it is said that the Son is sent from the Father in the same way as he is born from the Father. For the Son assures that He even sends the Holy Spirit, who, being equal to the Father and the Son, nevertheless did not become incarnate, saying: “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father” (John 15.26). Therefore, if the expression “to be sent” were to mean only that He became incarnate, then, without any doubt, it would be impossible to say that the Holy Spirit is sent, Who did not become incarnate. But His message is the very “progress” by which He proceeds from the Father. Therefore, just as the Spirit is called “sent” because he “comes out,” so the Son is appropriately called “sent” because he “is born.” 3. “Having said this, he breathed and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit.” A question arises in our minds: what does it mean that our Lord, both while on earth, gave the Holy Spirit once, and once while present in heaven? For the given Holy Spirit is obviously described as appearing in no other place than in Acts (Acts 2:1 et seq.); if He is not now received through a breath, then even after He descends from heaven He does not appear in various languages. So, why is He first given to the disciples on earth, and then sent from heaven, if not because there are two commandments of love, namely: love for God and love for neighbor? – The Spirit is given on earth in order to love one’s neighbor; and the Spirit is sent down from heaven so that they may love God. Consequently, just as there is one love and two commandments, so there is one Spirit and two gifts. The first is from the Lord who is on earth, the last is from heaven; because in love for one's neighbor there is hidden the teaching of how love for God should be achieved. Therefore, the same John says: “Whoever says: I love God, but hates his brother, is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4.20)? Although before that the same Spirit was present in the hearts of the disciples, attuning them to faith, but, despite this, it was clearly given only after the resurrection. That is why it is written: “For the Holy Spirit was not yet on them, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7.39). Therefore, through Moses it is said: “he fed him with honey from the stone and oil from the solid rock” (Deut. 32.13). For nothing of the kind can be read in history if we follow the entire course of the Old Testament. These people never “ate” either honey from the rock or oil. But since, according to Paul, “the rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10.4), those who saw the works and miracles of our same Redeemer sucked honey from the “rock.” And they sucked the oil from the “hard stone” because they deserved the anointing through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after His resurrection. So, it was not a hard stone that conveyed honey, as it were, when the still mortal Lord showed His disciples the sweetness of His miracles. But the hard stone shed oil, because after His resurrection (the Lord), having become unsuffering, imparted the gift of holy anointing through the breath of the Spirit. 4. About this oil it is said through the Prophet: “The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not want to let them go” (Exodus 10.27). Because we were kept under the yoke of the devil's dominion, but were anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit. And since we were anointed with the grace of freedom, the yoke of the devil’s dominion also rotted away, according to the testimony of Paul, who says: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3.17). But you need to know that those who previously had the Holy Spirit, so that they themselves could live innocently and be useful to others through preaching, received Him openly after the Resurrection of the Lord so that they could be useful not to a few, but to many. Therefore, with this very gift of the Spirit it is said: “Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; on whomever you leave it, it will remain on him.” It can be seen that these disciples are called to such hardships of humility as to be brought to great glory. So they are not only safe for themselves, but also receive the power to forgive the guilt of others, and become participants in the power of the Supreme Judge, so that, instead of God, they can bind the sins of some and absolve others. Thus, this is how those who decided on such humility for God had to be beloved by God. Those who fear the righteous Judge - God, become judges of souls; and those who were afraid of being condemned themselves condemn or justify others. 5. Nowadays their place in the Church is fully occupied by Bishops. The power to bind or permit is given to those who receive the degree of government. Great is the honor, but great is the weight of this honor. Because it is unmerciful for the judge of the lives of others to be someone who does not know how to manage his own life. And it often happens that the place of the Judge is taken by someone whose life does not agree with the place. And it is often done that he either condemns those who do not deserve condemnation, or allows others, being himself bound. Often in solving and tying subordinates, he follows the movements of his will, and not sufficient reasons, which is why it happens that this very power - to knit and decide - is deprived of the one who uses it according to his own whims, and not in accordance with the morals of his subordinates. Therefore, it is rightly said through the Prophet: “And dishonor Me before My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing souls that should not die, and leaving life to souls that should not live, deceiving the people who listen to lies” (Ezek 13.19). Because he kills the one who should not die, who condemns the righteous. And he who tries to free the guilty from punishment strives to revive the one who has no life. 6. So, it is necessary to discuss guilt and then use the power to bind and decide. It is necessary to look at what guilt preceded it, or what repentance followed after the guilt, so that the opinion of the Shepherd resolves those whom Almighty God visits with the grace of contrition. For the resolution of the external judge is true when it agrees with the thought of the internal Judge. This image well expresses the resurrection of a four-day dead man, which precisely shows that the Lord called and revived the one who had died before, saying: “Lazarus! come out" (John 11.43); and after that the one who came out alive was allowed by the disciples, as it is written: “Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him” (John 11.45). Now the disciples of the living are already allowing the one whom the Teacher raised from the dead. For if the disciples had allowed Lazarus to die, they would have discovered more stench than strength. From this reflection it should be seen that we, through pastoral authority, must resolve those whom we know are being revived by our Author through restorative grace. This quickening, before the effect of justification, is already known in the very confession of sin. Why is it not said to this very dead Lazarus: “come to life,” but: “Come out.” Because every sinner, when he hides his guilt within his conscience, then hides inside, hides in his secret places. But the dead come out when the sinner voluntarily confesses his sins. So, Lazarus is told: “Come out.” It is clear, as if it were said to everyone who died in sin: “Why do you hide your guilt in your conscience? Come out now through confession, you who hide within yourself through denial.” So, “come out,” dead man, that is, sinner, confess your guilt. “But the disciples allow him to go out, so that the Pastors of the Church may waive the deserved punishment from the one who was not ashamed to confess what he had done. I said this briefly about the procedure for permission so that the Pastors of the Church with great discernment would try to either resolve or bind. But whether the Shepherd imposes a ban justly or unfairly, despite this, the Shepherd’s opinion should be terrible for the flock, so that the subordinate, even though he may have been unjustly bound, does not deserve, for another fault, the very opinion of his being bound. So, the Shepherd should be afraid of both allowing and binding indiscriminately. And one who is subordinate to the Shepherd must fear being bound, even if unfairly; He must not recklessly reproach the judgment of his Shepherd, so that for him, even if he is unjustly bound, in the very pride of reckless reproach there will not be that guilt that has not existed before. But since we briefly talked about this through a digression, we will return to the order of explanation. 7. “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not here with them when Jesus came.” He left alone from the disciples, upon his return he heard what had happened and refused to believe what he heard. The Lord came again to the unbelieving disciple, offered his side for touching, showed his hands and, showing signs of His wounds, healed the wound of his unbelief. What, beloved brethren, do you notice in this? Do you really think that this happened by chance, that this chosen disciple was not there then, but after coming he heard, having heard, he doubted, doubting, he touched, he touched, he believed? - No, this did not happen by chance, but by Divine order. For supreme mercy miraculously caused this doubting disciple, touching the wounds of the flesh in His Teacher, to heal the wounds of unbelief in us. For for us, Thomas’s unbelief was more useful in faith than the faith of the believing disciples, because when he returns to faith through touch, then our mind, placed above all doubt, is strengthened in faith. Because the Lord, after His resurrection, allowed the disciple to doubt, however, He did not leave him in doubt, since before His birth He wanted Mary to have a groom, who, however, did not enter into marriage with Her. For the disciple, doubting and touching, became a witness of the true resurrection, just as the Mother’s groom was the guardian of Her purest virginity. 8. But he (the disciple) touched and exclaimed: “My Lord and my God. Jesus says to him: You believed because you saw Me; Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” If the Apostle Paul says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11.1), then it is absolutely clear that faith is the certainty of things that cannot be seen. For what appears does not need faith, but needs knowledge. Consequently, when Thomas saw, when he touched, then why is it said to him, “You believed because you saw Me?” “But he saw one thing and believed in another.” Because the Divine cannot be visible to mortal man. So, he saw a man, and confessed God, saying: “My Lord and my God.” So, through vision, he believed, who, reflecting on the true man, exclaimed that He is God, Who cannot be seen. 9. What follows is very joyful: “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” In this thought, in particular, it is we who sincerely believe in Him Whom we have not seen in the flesh. We are signified, but not otherwise than if we accompany our faith with deeds. For he who actually expresses what he believes truly believes. On the contrary, about those who contain faith only in name, Paul says: “They say that they know God, but deny by works, being vile and disobedient and incapable of any good work” (Titus 1.16). Therefore, James says: “faith without works is dead” (James 2.26). Therefore, the Lord says to blessed Job about the ancient enemy of the human race: “Behold, he drinks from the river and is in no hurry; remains calm, even if the Jordan rushes to his mouth” (Job 40.18). For who is signified by the flood, if not the flood of the human race? - Because the human race is pouring out from beginning to end, and, as it were, a sea of ​​water from the liquid of flesh runs to its appointed limit. What is signified by the Jordan, if not the form of the baptized? - Because In the Jordan River, the Author of our redemption himself deigned to be baptized, then the name Jordan rightly expresses the multitude of those who are immersed in the sacrament of Baptism. Consequently, the ancient enemy swallowed up the stream of the human race, because from the beginning of the world until the coming of Christ, with the exception of almost many of the elect, he drew the human race into the womb of his malice, which is rightly said: “if there is a flood, you will not feel it,” because he does not consider it important if he kidnaps unbelievers. But what is added is very important: “he remains calm, even if the Jordan rushes to his mouth,” because after he kidnapped all the infidels from the beginning of the world, he decided in advance that he could still accept the believers. For he daily devours those whose ungodly life does not agree with the profession of faith through the lips of destructive temptation. 10. So, beloved brethren, fear this with full attention, ponder this thoroughly with yourself. Here we are celebrating Easter celebrations, but we need to live in such a way as to deserve acceptance for the Eternal Holidays. Everything that is temporarily accomplished with glory at the Holidays passes away. Those participating in these celebrations, try not to be excommunicated from the Eternal Triumph. What is the use of being a participant in human festivals if one happens to be excommunicated from the Angelic Festivals? The present triumph is a shadow of the Future Triumph. We accomplish the present every year in order to be honored to move on to that which is not annual, but uninterrupted. When the present is accomplished at the appointed time, then our remembrance of the desired future is renewed. So, with the increase of temporary joy, the soul is kindled and ignited towards Eternal Joys, in order to enjoy true joy in the Fatherland for reflecting on the shadow of joy along the way. So, brothers, organize your life and morals. Consider how severe He will appear in judgment, Who rose meek from death. Without a doubt, on the day of the terrible trial He will appear with Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers as heaven and earth burn, with all the elements trembling from the fear of His obedience. So, imagine before the eyes of this so terrible Judge: fear Him who is coming, so that you may see Him not with fear, but with safety when He comes. So, He must be terrible in order not to be afraid. The fear of Him should dispose us to good activities, the fear of Him should keep our life from wickedness. Believe me, brethren, that the safer we will then be in His presence, the more we are now afraid of being convicted of guilt. 11. There is no doubt that if one of you, having a case with his opponent, had to defend it tomorrow at my trial, then, perhaps, he would spend the whole night without sleep, thoroughly and with a tense mind, thinking about what he could say, what to answer to objections, so as not to be too afraid of finding me cruel, so as not to be afraid that he would turn out to be guilty before me. And who am I? Or what am I? - After a little time, the future after man is a worm, and after the worm - dust. So, if they fear the judgment of dust with such apprehension, then we must think with what attention, with what fear should we await the judgment of such Greatness. 12. But since there are some who doubt the resurrection of the body, and we will more accurately teach this (resurrection) when we warn even the innermost questions of your hearts, then we do not need to say much about the belief in the resurrection itself. For many doubt the resurrection, as we once were, because when they see that through the graves the flesh turns into rottenness, and the bones into dust, then they do not hope that flesh and bones will be restored from the dust, and reasoning with themselves they say something like this: “When is a person reproduced from the dust? When does it happen that ashes become animated? We answer them briefly that it is less important for God to restore what was than to create what was not. And what is surprising if a person is resurrected from the dust by the One who created everything together from nothing? “For it is more amazing to create heaven and earth out of nothing than to bring man back from the earth.” But they pay attention to the ashes and despair that it could again become a body, and as if they wish to limit the power of Divine action by reason. They say this in their thoughts precisely because the daily Divine miracles have lost value for them due to continuity. For in one grain of the smallest seed the entire future enormity of the tree is hidden. For let us imagine the wondrous size of any tree; Let us think about where it came from, reaching through growth to such enormousness. Without any doubt, we find its beginning in the smallest seed. Now let's discuss where the strength of the tree, the hardness of the bark, the abundance of smell and incense, the abundance of fruits, and the greenness of the leaves are hidden in this small grain of seed. For the tangible grain of a seed is not strong; where did the strength of the tree come from? It is not rigid - where did the rigidity of the bark come from? It is not fragrant - where does the aroma come from in fruits? It does not show anything green in itself - where did the greenness of the leaves come from? To the sense of smell, it does not smell of anything - where does the aroma in fruits come from? – So, everything is hidden together in the seed, which, however, does not come out of the seed together. Because from the seed a root is produced, from the root a bush grows, from the bush a fruit grows, and in the fruit a seed is produced again. So, let us add that the seed is hidden in the seed. After this, what is surprising if bones, nerves, flesh and hair are returned from the dust by the One who daily restores tree, fruits, leaves from a small seed? So, when the mind, doubting the possibility of the resurrection, requires proof, then questions must be mutually offered to it about those things that constantly happen, and, however, cannot in any way be comprehended by the mind, so that it, not having the power to comprehend through vision the things that it sees, believes, according to the promise of Divine power, what it hears. Therefore, most beloved brethren, meditate with yourselves on those promises that are immutable; and despise those that pass away over time, as if they had already been left behind. Hasten with full attention to the glory of that resurrection which Truth has shown itself. Flee earthly desires that separate you from the Creator, because the higher you rise to the contemplation of Almighty God, the more exclusively you love the Mediator of God and people. He lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God through all ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: