Слово св. Иоанна Златоуста на Рождество святого пророка, предтечи и крестителя Господня Иоанна

The day of celebration and general joy is opportune, on which the ministry of Gabriel and the priesthood of Zechariah came to my mind, and I think about him condemned to muteness for unbelief. You heard the Evangelist Luke, who narrated how the righteous Zechariah, when “by lot, as was usual among the priests, he got to enter the church of the Lord for incense, he entered the church of God, and the whole multitude of people prayed outside during the incense. And then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zechariah, seeing him, was embarrassed, and fear attacked him. The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John” (Luke 1:9–13). Oh, strange and mysterious miracle! Zechariah rightly objected to the Angel. He demanded one consolation, and received another; prayed for the people, and was called the father of a son: he sought forgiveness of sins, and received the promise of permission for a barren womb. Zechariah desired more the healing of the souls of sinners than the pregnancy of Elizabeth. Rightly, Zechariah was confused and afraid, and as soon as he saw the Angel, he said in his soul: strange is the coming of this man, strange is his promise! Who is this that boldly enters the sacred church? Who is this who stands to the right of the altar of incense? Who is this that shines with the image of an alien species? Who is this? I have not seen a man with wings, nor a bird in the form of a man; Who is it that fills my soul with fear? Who is this light-bearer of the lips, speaking great things with closed lips? Who is this observer of my progress? Who is he that is preventing my petition? The people praying outside are waiting for me with an answer from the King of Heaven, but this one is holding me inside; through me they brought prayers to the King, asking for forgiveness of their sins; I pray about this, to fulfill the desire of the people, to show the effect of my turn; So, stop, whoever you are, frightening me! If you are an Angel sent by God, then assist in my work, have compassion on those who mourn, and lament with those who mourn. What is the benefit for the people if I have a son? What is the benefit if Elizabeth breastfeeds her child? What is the benefit if I leave an heir? Get away, my intimidator, whoever you are, get away from me! We are old; the time of conception has passed; the passion of marriage has faded; time has cooled the heat; we are both dead to mix; youth did not bloom, how will old age grow? That's what Zechariah thought. The angel says to him, as you just heard: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah,” do not be troubled by your thoughts; I am an Angel of light, not darkness; I am Gabriel, one of the leaders of the King of Heaven; I am fulfilling a command, I am not commanding by my own authority; I was sent to declare to you, and not to do violence to you; I am clothed with appearance, and not in a naked being I appear before you; He who sent me spares your life; Do not be afraid, I was sent to bring good news to you, and not to amaze you; you will surpass old age, and gray desolation and a barren womb; and who gives birth at will? This is a gift of God, not a human invention; Have you not heard the words of the Lord: I am the creator of man, “and formed the spirit of man within him” (Zechariah 12:1). Don't believe me, Zechariah? How was Adam created, how was Eve created, how was Isaac born? Abraham did not fail in obedience; and you, priest, don’t believe it! Is every word of God powerless, Zechariah? Because of your old age, you object, old man, - you believe that bodily death is stronger than God. If you had not seen Abraham’s example, you would have thoroughly doubted it; refer to the help of nature, and do not believe the real Divine promise, but doubt and argue? You ask for little and you receive much. You pray only for the Jewish people, but I preach to you about the one who will prepare all tribes for salvation. Zechariah, hearing this, and turning his gaze a little away, answered the Angel: What are you saying, Angel? Will my wife give birth? So, did I pray for this, or am I doing censing in my own turn in order to express my fertility before the people? I ask for the forgiveness of sins, and do I really wish for the permission of infertility beyond this? I wish relief for the people, is it really a burden for Elizabeth? I call upon wounded souls to be healed, and is it really possible that withered breasts become milky? What are you saying, Angel? Will my wife give birth? And what is the benefit of this for those outside praying? Will they really hear that they will not stone me, saying that I am becoming the chief priest not for them and not for the salvation of everyone, but only for myself, that it is not a blessing, but I have accepted my son? Now I no longer think about childbearing; move away! I don’t want this anymore; what I prayed for, I did not receive; and now you explain to me one thing instead of another; Is it really true that old age has not ceased with time? We cannot walk without a staff, and how are we now commanded to begin our procreation? Old age rejects nature; this is a matter outside of faith; We are looking into the grave, and will we hire a wet nurse? No, now I don’t think at all about childbirth, I’m looking for the salvation of the people and the happiness of the tribe, the captivity of enemies and the prosperity of the city, and not children’s crying, diapers and feeding; I don't think about it at all. How will I be the father of a natural son? Old age pushes away faith; outside of nature this is a matter; I walk with a staff as with a horse, and you encourage me to marry, when my whole body has become a coffin? How can I be convinced of this, tell me, great Gabriel? Tell me, how can I be sure of this? Here my limbs are shaking, now in our old age we are both looking at the ground. If one were young and the other old, there would be some hope for what was said; now the body of both of us was decrepit; we expect nothing else but the sickle of death, like ripe ears of corn at harvest time; If you are true in everything you say, Lord Gabriel, then give me any sign in advance, give me a guarantee of the promised miracle. How can I be sure of this? Aaron would not have believed it if the rod had not blossomed; Moses would not have been certified if his hand had not turned white; Gideon would not have understood if there had not been dew on the fleece; Hezekiah would not have recognized if the sun had not retreated back; How can I be sure of this? Give me a sign, and I will be as glad as a young man; give a sign so that Elizabeth does not laugh frivolously, like Sarah; How can you be sure of this, Herald Archangel? How are your words to me obvious to me? If I am the second Abraham, if there is something characteristic of Abraham for me, then enter my house, and I will wash your feet, after a complete journey, and offer you a meal full of mystery; Elizabeth kneads three sats of flour, representing the church; ask Taurus to give you a son. How can I be convinced of this, O you, who bring us to earth the wonderful gospel from above? Why, Angel, do you predict the name of a son for me, and count the virtues of someone who does not yet exist? Show me what is above nature, so that I may believe what is against nature. If the sky becomes a tent and I am renewed; if the sea changes and my wife Elizabeth becomes a mother; if the sun is delayed, and withered breasts bleed milk; if the moon is cast down, and the dry womb is moistened. How can I be sure of this, how do I know this? For I am old, and my wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). The angel then said to Zechariah: You require a guarantee from God. Do you consider weakness stronger than the Master's promise? Aren't you afraid to question the one who brings you the gospel in advance? How can I be sure of this,” you say. Are you being sent to Egypt to intimidate Pharaoh? “How can I be sure of this,” you say, Zechariah. Doesn't God do anything supernatural? You ask nature for consistency, and you do not see the amazing work of the Divine. Tell me, Zechariah, on what are the pillars of the earth strengthened? What supports the vault of the sky? Where are cloud containers invented? Where do raindrops form? Where are snow flakes created? Who controls the flow of the sun? Who puts a limit to the belittling of the moon? Who can number the many stars? How is the sea held together by sand during a storm? How do warm currents mix? How is the darkness of fog created? How is a person formed in the womb? And how does the female sex turn out to be weaker than the male sex? “How can I be sure of this,” you say, Zechariah. Are you looking for the consistency of nature, where is the work of God? Don't believe that a barren woman can give birth? What if you hear that the Virgin gives birth beyond expectation? And can former unbelief become faith? And for this reason, unbelief is now punished in view of sterility, so that you do not doubt the miracle in the sight of the Virgin: “you will remain silent and will not be able to speak” (Luke 1:20). O philanthropic punishment, which produces quicker correction! The angel admonishes the wavering voice, curbs the daring tongue: “he explained himself to them by signs, and remained mute.” The Evangelist also records this well – “remained”; silence waits for the voice to be born, Zechariah for John, the elder for his son, the priest for the prophet. With this the Angel says: since you, as an unbeliever, are looking for a sign from God, then accept the flagellated sign in your own body: “you will remain silent and will not be able to speak until the day this comes true.” Where there is a weapon of contradiction, there is vengeance; where there is rash courage, there is an educational rein; Where there was insolence, that was the punishment. God wanted, Zechariah, for you to become a preacher of such a miracle: the leader of the army of the King of Heaven and the preparer of the liberation of the world from sins is born. Since you have made for yourself the weakness of the body stronger than the Master’s promise, then for this “you will remain silent and will not be able to speak until the day this comes true, because you did not believe my words, which will come true in due time.” You see that without faith nothing that should be done is accomplished. As soon as Zechariah heard these words, he immediately left the church, with silence, a reward for unbelief. Oh miracle! He entered to free others, and he himself came out condemned; bringing liturgical incense, he made a sign of expulsion. The people were waiting to hear something good from him, and he expressed with signs: “Let no one ask me; I am afraid of the Master’s indignation.” Oh amazing things! Zechariah is curbed, and Elizabeth prospers; the tongue is silent, and the womb becomes pregnant; the disease of the womb migrates to the tongue; speech is curbed, and what is born is liberated; Zechariah is silent and John plays. As soon as the barren one saw the Virgin, the morning star noticed the sun, and John leaped strongly in his mother’s womb, blaming the slowness of nature: I, he says, am a preacher of the Lord, and why am I bound in bonds, like my fellow servants? I will anticipate the time of birth, I will not wait for childbirth, so as not to lose my course, so that the Master does not get ahead of the imprisoned slave, so that the sequence of nature does not become a violation of order; I recognized the Present One, and I cannot stand the silence; I recognized Him who sent me on a journey before His face, to prepare His way before Him; I will shake the bonds of nature, because I hasten to preach. O amazing deeds and miracles! What the Angels in heaven did not know, John, carried in the womb, learned and spoke to his mother. For the Thrones He was not noticeable, and the coming God did not get ahead of Him, carried in the womb; He hid the secret of the economy from the Dominions, but revealed it to him who was carried in the womb; and with what good news the Archangel came to the Mother of God, this was inspired within by the playing baby. The coming Liberator of our race, being in the womb, arrived to his friend, John; and it was clear that the Creator greeted the creation, that the King was in the warrior’s tent, that the Master was entering the slave’s house. John, seeing the one in the womb from the womb, tried to surpass the boundaries of nature, saying: I do not know the Lord limited by nature, and I will not wait for the time of birth; I don’t need nine uterine months for birth; I don’t need this current conclusion; and why not get out of the bonds that hold me? I will go out and briefly announce the significance of the wondrous matter; I am the seal of the Divine Coming; I am the womb of God the Word incarnate; I will sound the trumpet and make my father’s tongue eloquent; I will sound the trumpet, and I will revive the mother’s dead womb. I will go out and preach, proclaiming to all those present: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This is John's play, or better yet, the word. “The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard ... and rejoiced with her” (Luke 1:57-58). For it was a miracle that in old age and with a mature womb, Elizabeth gave birth; it depended not only on the carnal father, but also on God the Word. This is evidenced by the Archangel Gabriel himself, who told Zechariah: behold, “your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John; and it will be...and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb; and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God; and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:13, 15-17). Oh, the birth of a son of a different, amazing nature! It was amazing and unnatural, since usually the one who gives birth, with the assistance of passion, gives birth - and the one who gives birth gives birth in illness. What is Elizabeth’s grief when the Holy Spirit is present, and not an inexperienced recipient, when this is a work of grace, and not a burden of nature? Listen! This work was insignificant in comparison with the joy. – John did not receive grace after his birth, but from his mother’s womb, having been clothed with sanctification, he became a wondrous leader, as the Angel said: “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb... and will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:15,17). Who will precede whom? John to the Lord Christ; therefore he is called the Forerunner, as can be heard from the words of John himself about the Savior: “A man comes after me, who stood before me, because He was before me” (John 1:30). Follow me - according to time; before me - on the throne. Why did Gabriel say that John preceded King Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah the Tishbite? Listen carefully! Elijah means God. Since John had God within himself - he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, and God is the Spirit - the Lord spoke about him through the prophet a long time earlier: “Behold, I am sending My angel, and he will prepare the way before Me” (Mal.3:1, cf. Mark 1:2) and will turn many from error to the truth; For this reason, John precedes the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, since John had many similarities with Elijah. Of course, the son is born, and speech returns to the father. Zechariah, when asked what he would like to name the child, “demanded a tablet and wrote: John is his name.” He who did not believe the words of the Angel is now forced to write about the phenomenon, preach by letter; Then, by hearing, he who did not accept what was said now legislates with his hand, writes about the past. And, having given him a name, he received a speech: from here “everyone was surprised. And immediately his mouth and his tongue were loosened, and he began to speak, blessing God” (Luke 1:63–64). O amazing and strange miracle! The son's name is written, and the father's silent lips are opened; It is called John, and the tongue of the one who calls it is arranged. Do you see how he did not sin, and we did not sin, by giving a decent explanation? Behold, the name of the most righteous opens dumb lips and motivates a motionless tongue. Thus, the crying John is revealed that even his very name evokes a voice: I am “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Matthew 3:3). Oh miracle! The Word remains, and the voice foretells; The master goes, and the slave is sent ahead. Let us therefore rejoice and be glad that Elizabeth gave birth and Zechariah spoke; that the barren woman produced, and the old man exclaimed; that the wax tablet was asked, and the priestly tongue was resolved and the voice returned; that the Forerunner appeared and the whole world rejoiced. The word should end here, but Zechariah does not allow it with exclamations: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who has visited His people and created deliverance for them” (Luke 1:68). Amazing things! What does Zechariah say? After his healing from muteness, Zechariah exclaimed for the first time: “Blessed is the Lord.” What does it mean? Zechariah was dead and rose again. He was not dead by nature, but suffered the semblance of death. He was kept in silence, like a coffin, and like shrouds, he was bound by the bonds of the tongue; he returned to life without breathing the priesthood, and brought mourning, grief to the people. When a priest is abolished, everyone for whom he interceded mourns. After this figurative resurrection, Zechariah exclaimed for the first time, “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel.” O Zechariah! If you had not seen the spiritual ear of grain, had not recognized the spiritual farmer, had not received the gift, you would not have blessed the giver. But Zechariah praised God with a prophetic song worthy of the gift. Let us also exclaim: “Blessed is the Lord God of the Christians, who has visited His people and created deliverance for them.” To him be glory and power, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: