О евангельских заповедях

The Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, beginning to expound His all-holy commandments, said: “Do not think that he came to destroy the law, or the prophets: he came not to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). How did the Lord fulfill the law and the prophets? Having sealed the representative sacrifices by sacrificing Himself for humanity; replacing the shadows and fortune-telling of the Old Testament with the grace and truth of the New Testament; satisfying the predictions with their prophetic fulfillment; having supplemented the moral law with so many lofty decrees that this law, while remaining indispensable, at the same time changed due to the height of the new decrees. This is how a child changes when he reaches manhood and remains the same person. The attitude of the Old Testament to man can be likened to a spiritual will for an inheritance, and a detailed description of the inheritance is usually attached with all the necessary measurements and calculations, with plans of land, with drawings of the structure; The attitude of the New Testament can be likened to the taking possession of an inheritance. Everything is laid out there and depicted on paper: here everything is presented essentially, in practice. How do the commandments of the Gospel differ from the commandments of the Decalogue of Moses? The latter did not allow fallen man to fall into a state that was decidedly unnatural, but they also could not lead him to the state of purity in which man was created. The commandments of the Decalogue preserved in man the ability to accept the commandments of the Gospel (John 3:21). The commandments of the Gospel raise us to a purity greater than that in which we were created: they build the Christian into the church of God (John 14:23); having made it the church of God, they maintain it in this grace-filled, supernatural state (John 15:10). The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul were exact executors of the law of Moses out of special love for God (Acts 10:14, etc., Phil. 3:5–6). Purity of direction and integrity of life made them capable of believing in the Redeemer and being His Apostles. Obvious sinners often turned out to be capable of faith, their sins had descended into the likeness of cattle and beasts, but they confessed to their sins and decided to repent of them. The least capable were those sinners who, with conceit and pride, became like demons, and, like demons, rejected the consciousness of sinfulness and repentance (Matthew 21:31-32). The Lord called all His teaching, all His Word and all His words “commandments” (John 14:21, 23). “The words that I spoke to you,” He said, “are the Spirit and the life” (John 6:63). They transform a carnal man into a spiritual one, resurrect the dead, and make a descendant of the Old Adam a descendant of the New Adam, a son of man by nature - a son of God by grace. The commandment of the New Testament, which embraces all other particular commandments, is the Gospel. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). The Lord called his private commandments small due to the simplicity and brevity of their presentation, due to which they are accessible to every person. Having called them small, the Lord nevertheless announced that the violator of one such commandment “he will be called in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19), that is, he will lose this Kingdom 509. Let us fear the Lord's decree! Consider the Gospel; let us note in it all the commandments of our Lord, let us introduce them into memory for careful and unmissable fulfillment of them; Let us believe with living faith in the Gospel. The first commandment given by the Lord who became man to humanity is the commandment of repentance. The Holy Fathers affirm that repentance should be both the beginning of a pious life and its soul throughout its entire continuation 510. Without repentance it is impossible either to acknowledge the Redeemer or to continue in the confession of the Redeemer. Repentance is the consciousness of one’s fall, which has made human nature indecent, defiled, and therefore constantly in need of a Redeemer. The Redeemer, all-perfect and all-holy, is replaced by fallen man who confesses the Redeemer. “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16), the Lord said to His disciples, commanding them to do all the virtues in secret together, and foretelling that they would be hated and reviled by men (Matthew 6:1–19, Luke 21:17). How can we fulfill this commandment of the Lord by doing our good deeds in secret? – We will gain the opportunity to fulfill it precisely when we renounce the search for our own glory, when we renounce ostensibly good actions from our fallen nature, from ourselves, and act for the glory of God, from the Gospel 511. “Everyone, as he receives the gift,” says the holy Apostle Peter, “serves among himself, as a good builder of the various graces of God. If anyone speaks as if he were the words of God, if anyone serves, as with might, even as God bestows, in all things be glorified to God through Jesus Christ; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 4:10-11). Those who, having forgotten their glory, solely seek for God to be glorified and to be known by men, are glorified by God. “Only those who glorify Me will I glorify” (1 Samuel 2:30), “if anyone serves Me, My Father will honor him” (John 12:26), said the Lord. He who secretly performs his good deeds, solely for the purpose of pleasing God, will be glorified for the edification of his neighbors according to the arrangement of God's providence for him. “Unless your righteousness comes out any more than the scribe and the Pharisee, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The truth of the scribes and Pharisees was satisfied with studying the Law of God according to the letter, which was not followed by studying it with life, which, on the contrary, was followed by a life contrary to the Law of God. Those who remain with only studying the Law of God according to the letter, due to such superficial knowledge, fall into pride and conceit, as the Monk Mark the Ascetic notes, 512 and as happened with the scribes and Pharisees. The commandments of God, which are essentially comprehended by fulfilling them 513, remained hidden from the Pharisees. The eyes of the soul, enlightened by the commandments (Ps. XVIII. 9), when they are fulfilled, were not enlightened among the Pharisees. They, from activities contrary to the Law of God, acquired a false concept of the Law of God, and because of the Law of God, which was supposed to bring them closer and assimilate them to God, they moved away from God and became enemies of God. Each commandment of God is a sacred mystery: it is revealed by fulfilling it and as it is fulfilled. The Old Testament forbade the gross consequences of anger: the Lord forbade the most heartfelt action of passion (Matthew 5:21-22). The prohibition was pronounced by the Lord, and therefore it has extraordinary power. Just remembering the short and simple words of the commandment exhausts passion. This effect is seen in all the Gospel commandments. The Lord directed His first words against anger, as the main sinful ulcer, the main passion, opposite to the two main virtues: love for one’s neighbor and humility. On these two virtues the whole edifice of Christian activity is founded. The touching of the passion of anger in a person robs him of all the opportunity for spiritual success. The Lord commanded the ever-intensified maintenance of peace with our neighbors (Matt. 5:24), just as the Apostle said: “If it is possible from you, have peace with all people” (Rom. 12:18). Don’t bother trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong, whether you or your neighbor: try to blame yourself and maintain peace with your neighbor through humility. The Law of Moses forbade adultery: the Lord forbade carnal lust (Matthew 5:27). How powerfully this prohibition affects fallen nature! Do you want to abstain from unclean views, thoughts and dreams? Remember, while they begin to act, the saying of the Lord: “Everyone who looks at a woman” with his bodily eyes, or with his mind, at her image, represented by a dream, “if he desires her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). There is a natural attraction between the bodies of the two sexes. This attraction does not act equally. A person feels almost no attraction to other bodies of the opposite sex, to others it is weak, to some it is very strong. The Lord commanded us to avoid getting close to persons towards whom we feel a special natural attraction, no matter how worthy the persons are of our friendship in terms of their commendable spiritual qualities, no matter how necessary and useful they are to us. This is the meaning of the commandment about casting out the gum that tempts the eye, and about cutting off the gum that tempts the hand 514. The Lord forbade divorce, which was permitted by the Law of Moses, except in those cases when the marriage had already been unlawfully dissolved by adultery of either half (Matthew 5:31–32). The dissolution of marriage was permitted to human nature, humiliated by the fall; Upon the renewal of humanity, the God-man restored the law given to nature in its state of integrity (Matthew 19:4-9). The Lord restored virginity, leaving it to those who wished to preserve it (Matthew 19:11–12). The Lord forbade the use of an oath. The Fathers rightly note that no one deserves less credibility than the one who often uses an oath; On the contrary, no one is trusted as much as someone who constantly tells the truth, even if he does not use an oath. Speak the truth, and you will not be forced to commit godhood, which, being a violation of reverence for God, belongs to the undertakings of Satan 515. The Lord forbade vengeance, which was established by the Mosaic Law, and by which evil was repaid with equal evil. The weapon given by the Lord against evil is humility. “I tell you not to resist evil: but if anyone strikes you on the right side of your cheek, turn the other to him as well: and if anyone wants to sue you and take your robe, let him have the cheek too” (Matthew 5:39-40). The Lord bequeathed love for enemies, and in order to acquire this love, He commanded us to bless those who curse, do good to those who hate, and pray for those who cause misfortune, for those who subject them to exile (Matthew 5:44). Love for enemies gives the heart fullness of love. In such a heart there is no place for evil at all, and it is likened in its goodness to the all-good God. The Apostle invites Christians to this graceful moral state when he says: “For being clothed with the election of God, being holy and beloved, in the womb of generosity, kindness, lowliness, meekness and long-suffering, being accepting of one another, and forgiving yourself, if anyone blames anyone: just as Christ also forgave you to eat, so do you” ( Col. 3:12-13 ). By perfect love for one's neighbors, adoption as sons is brought to God (Matthew 5:45), that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit is attracted into the heart, and all-holy love for God is poured into it. A heart infected with malice and incapable of the love for enemies commanded by the Gospel must be healed by the means indicated by the Lord: it must pray for enemies, not at all condemn them, not subject them to slander, speak kindly about them, and do good to them as best we can. These actions extinguish hatred when it flares up in the heart, keep it constantly curbed, and significantly weaken it. But the complete eradication of evil is accomplished by the action of Divine grace. The Lord commanded those who give alms to give it in secret; He commanded those practicing prayer to pray in the solitude of a closed cage; He commanded those who fast to hide their fasting (Matthew 6:18). These virtues must be performed solely for the purpose of pleasing God, for the benefit of one’s neighbor and one’s soul. Not only should our spiritual treasure be hidden from human eyes, but also from our own “shuytsa” (Matthew 6:3). Human praise robs us of our virtues when we perform them openly, when we do not try to hide them, and we are inconspicuously drawn towards people-pleasing, deceit, and hypocrisy. The reason for this is our damage by sin, the painful state of our souls. Just as an ailing body needs to be protected from winds, cold, various foods and drinks, so an ailing soul needs a variety of storage. While protecting our virtues from damage by human praise, we must also protect them from the evil that lives in us, this foolishness of ours, and not get carried away by vain thoughts and dreams, vain joy and vain pleasure, which appear in us after the accomplishment of virtue, and rob us of its fruit. The Lord commanded us to forgive our neighbors their sins against us: “If you forgive their sins,” He said, “your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). From these words of the Lord it follows naturally that a sure sign of the remission of our sins is when we feel in our hearts that we have definitely forgiven our neighbors all their sins against us. Such a state is produced, and can be produced, only by Divine grace. It is a gift from God. Until we are worthy of this gift, we will, according to the will of the Lord, before each of our prayers examine our conscience, and, finding memory of malice in it, eradicate it by the above means, i.e. prayer for enemies, and blessing them (Mark 11:25). Whenever we remember our enemy, we will not allow ourselves any other thought about him except prayer and blessing. The Lord commanded non-covetousness to His closest disciples and followers. “Do not hide for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matthew 6:19). “Sell your possessions and give alms. Create for yourself a treasure that never wears out, a treasure in heaven that does not fail, where no thief approaches, no moth corrupts: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34). In order to acquire love for spiritual and heavenly objects, one must renounce love for earthly objects; in order to love the fatherland, it is necessary to abandon the painful love for the country of exile. The Lord gave a commandment about guarding the mind, a commandment that people usually do not care about, they do not even know about its existence, about its necessity and special importance (Luke 11:34-36). But the Lord, calling the mind the eye of the soul, declared: “If your eye is simple, your whole body will be light; if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark” (Matthew 6:22–23). Here residence is called body. Dwelling takes its quality from the way of thinking that guides living. We acquire the correct way of thinking because of the health, integrity or simplicity of our mind, when it completely follows the Truth, not allowing any admixture from the area of ​​lies into its assimilation. Otherwise: only that mind can be called sound which, with the help and action of the Holy Spirit, completely and unswervingly follows the teachings of Christ. A greater or lesser deviation from the teachings of Christ reveals a greater or lesser morbidity of the mind, which has lost simplicity and allowed complexity. Complete deviation of the mind from the teachings of Christ is its death. Then this light is recognized as extinguished, ceases to be light, and becomes darkness. A person’s activity depends entirely on the state in which his mind is: activity flowing from a sound mind is completely pleasing to God; activity that depends on the mind, which has allowed admixture into itself, is partly pleasing to God, partly contrary to God; the activity of a mind that has been darkened by the teachings of lies and rejected the teachings of Christ is completely indecent and abominable. “If there is darkness in you, then how much darkness is there?” (Matthew 6:23). The Lord forbade vain worries so that they would not scatter us and weaken our essential care for acquiring the Heavenly Kingdom (Matthew 6:24–34). Vain care is nothing more than an illness of the soul, an expression of its unbelief. That is why the Lord said: “Have little faith! Do not worry about your soul, what you eat, or what you drink, nor about your body, what you put on” (Matthew 6:30, 25). Hate the idleness that God hates, love the work that God loves, but do not weaken your soul with empty care, which is always useless and unnecessary. So that you would be strong in soul and zealous in the cause of God, in the matter of your salvation, the Lord gave a promise to provide you with everything you need for temporary life, with His almighty right hand, that is, with His Divine providence (Matthew 6:33). The Lord forbade not only “condemning” one’s neighbors, but also “judging” them (Luke 6:37; Matt. 7:1), when it does not seem necessary to carry out the right judgment for one’s own and public benefit. The last kind of “judgment” is “that which is greater than the law” (Matthew 23:23), according to the definition of the Lord; Without such a judgment, good cannot be separated from evil, our activities cannot be correct and pleasing to God. This judgment rarely occurs between people; but they are constantly engaged in judgment and condemnation, forbidden by the Lord. For what reason? due to complete inattention to oneself, due to forgetting one’s sinfulness, due to complete neglect of repentance, due to conceit and pride. The Lord came to earth to save sinners, and therefore consciousness of sinfulness is certainly required from all people; “judgment” and “condemnation” of neighbors is the rejection of this consciousness and the appropriation of righteousness that does not belong to oneself; It is from this that judgment and condemnation are made: the name of a hypocrite is the most characteristic name for anyone who judges and condemns his neighbors (Matthew 7:5). The Lord commanded constant, that is, frequent and unceasing prayer. He did not say that we should ask at once and then stop asking, but He commanded us to ask intensely, persistently, and combined with the command to ask the promise to hear and fulfill the petition 516. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; push, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives it, and everyone who seeks finds it, and it will be opened to the one who asks” (Matthew 7:7-8). Let us ask with patience and constancy, denying our will and our reason, leaving to the all-holy will of God both the time, the method of fulfillment, and the very fulfillment of what we ask. We will not be ashamed: “God will not take vengeance on His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, and be patient for them” (Luke 18:7), that is, slowing down the fulfillment of their requests. The day-night cry to the Lord of the elect depicts their constant, persistent, unceasing, intensified prayer. Based on the consequences of prayer with which it is crowned by God, one can and should conclude about its objects. Evangelist Luke says that “God will take vengeance on His chosen ones,” that is, he will free them from the captivity in which we are held by our passions and by demons. Evangelist Matthew says that “the Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11). Good things “for which no eye has seen, nor an ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9) 517. Again the Evangelist Luke says: “The Father who is in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13). The objects of our prayer should be spiritual and eternal, and not temporary and material. The main and initial prayer should consist of petitions for the forgiveness of sins 518. Raising us to perfect goodness, driving out evil from us, the Lord, who commanded not to judge or condemn our neighbors, to forgive our neighbors all their sins against us, also lays down the law: “Whatever men will do to you, so do you also to them” (Matthew 7:12). We love that our neighbors be lenient towards our weaknesses and shortcomings, that they generously endure insults and insults from us, that they do us all kinds of services and favors: let us be like that towards our neighbors. Then we will achieve the fullness of goodness, according to which our prayer will receive special power; its strength always corresponds to the degree of our goodness. “Let go, and they will let it go to you: give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, woven and shaken and flowing, will be given into your bosom. With the same measure that you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:37–38), from the merciful and just God in His mercy. “Enter through the narrow gate; for you lead in a wide gate and a broad way into destruction, and many are those who enter through it” (Matthew 7:13). The wide gate and the wide path are activities according to the will and mind of the fallen nature. The narrow gate - activities according to the Gospel commandments. The Lord, looking equally at the present and the future, seeing how few people would follow His holy will, revealed to them in the Gospel commandments, and would prefer self-gratification to this will, said: “Like a narrow gate and a strait path, you lead into the belly, and few of them eat who find it!” (Matthew 7:14). Encouraging and comforting his followers, He added: “Fear not, little flock: for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). The Lord commanded us to lead a sober life, to constantly watch and watch over ourselves: because on the one hand, the hour of the Lord’s visitation is unknown, also the hour of our death, our calling to the judgment of God, it is unknown what temptation and what sorrow may unexpectedly arise and fall upon us; on the other hand, it is unknown what kind of sinful passion can arise in our fallen nature, what kind of trap and what kind of network the vigilant enemies of our salvation - demons - can create for us. “Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning, and you be like a man who waits for his Lord when he returns from marriage, so that when he comes and pushes, the door will be opened to him” (Luke 12:35–36). “And as I say to you, I say to all: watch” (Mark 13:37). “Take heed,” commands the Lord, “from lying prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves; by their fruit you will know them” (Matthew 7:15–16). False prophets are always cunning: and therefore the Lord commands special attention and special caution towards them 519. False prophets are known by their fruits: by their residence, by their deeds, by the consequences flowing from their activities. Do not be carried away by the eloquence and sweet speech of the hypocrites, their quiet voice, as if an expression of meekness, humility and love; do not be carried away by that sweet smile that plays on their lips and face, by that friendliness and helpfulness that shines from their eyes; Do not be deceived by the rumors that they skillfully spread about themselves among people - by those approvals, praises, big names with which the world calls them: look closely at their fruits. About those who listen to the teachings of the Gospel and try to fulfill the Gospel commandments, the Lord said that they “have heard the word with a good heart and have heard the word well, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). He foretold to His disciples hatred from the world, persecution, adversity, promised Himself to vigilantly watch over them and protect them, forbade fear and cowardice, commanded: “In your patience you will gain your souls” (Luke 21:19). In constant trust in God, one must generously endure sorrows from passions arising from fallen nature, from brothers - men, from enemies - demons: “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Those who are in grave slavery to sin, under the dominion of a bitter, stony-hearted Pharaoh, under the incessant and painful blows of fierce guards, in the pandemonium caused by the pride of the world! The Savior is calling you to spiritual freedom. “Come to Me,” He says, “all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). The yoke and burden of Christ are the “gospel commandments.” They require self-sacrifice, and therefore are called a yoke, but they free and revive the soul, fill it with inexplicable peace and pleasure, and therefore are called a good and easy yoke. Each of them is fragrant with meekness and humility, imparting these virtues to the executor of the commandment. The skill to fulfill the Gospel commandments makes meekness and humility a property of the soul. Then Divine grace introduces spiritual meekness and spiritual humility into the soul through the action of the peace of Christ that transcends the mind. The Lord combined all His private commandments into two main ones: the commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for one’s neighbor. The Lord depicted these commandments as follows: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31). “On this two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). A person becomes capable of the love of God from the fulfillment of love for his neighbor; He is raised to a state of striving with his whole being towards God through prayer. The fulfillment of the “gospel commandments” is crowned by the union of man with God. When a disciple of Christ is healed of anger towards his neighbor, and through the action of mental and heartfelt prayer directs all the strength of soul and body to God: then he is recognized as loving God. “He who loves Me,” says the Savior, “will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and I will appear to him Myself. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:21, 23). The condition for remaining in the love of God and in union with God is to observe the Gospel commandments. By violating them, the condition is terminated: the violator is ejected from the embrace of love and from the face of God into utter darkness - into the region of passions and demons. “If you keep My commandments,” said the Lord, “you will remain in My love. Be in Me, and I in you. If anyone does not remain in Me, he will be cast out” (John 15:10, 4, 6). Brethren! Let us study the almighty and life-giving commandments of our great God, Creator and Redeemer: let us study them through thorough study - in the book and in life. In the Holy Gospel they are read, but are understood as they are fulfilled in practice. Let us make war on our fallen nature when it resists and becomes furious, not wanting to submit to the Gospel. We will not be afraid if this battle is difficult and persistent. With greater effort we will try to win. Victory must certainly follow: warfare is commanded, victory is promised by the Lord. “The Kingdom of Heaven,” He said, “is in need, and the needy, that is, those who violate their nature, take it away” (Matthew 11:12). Amen. Venerable Mark the Ascetic, Homily 1 on repentance. Venerable Mark the Ascetic. On the spiritual law, ch. 32. Philokalia, part 1. Matthew 5:29–30. Blagovestnik Matthew 5:33–37. Blagovestnik According to the explanation of St. Simeon the New Theologian, Homily 10. Saint Isaac of Syria, Homily 55. 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