Глава XXIII

Matthew 23:1–3. : Then Jesus began to speak to the people and to His disciples and said, “The scribes and Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses; So whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do; But do not act according to their deeds, for they say and do not do. What could be more meek and merciful on the part of the Lord? He is tempted by the Pharisees; their wiles are crushed, and according to the word of the Psalmist: “The arrows of infants were plagues for them” (Ps. 63:8), 512 and nevertheless, due to [their] priesthood and the dignity associated with the dignity, 513 he convinces the people to obey them, paying attention not to their deeds, but to the words of their teaching. His words: “The scribes and Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses,” under the word 514 “seat,” indicate the teaching of the law. Therefore, what is said in the psalm: “He did not sit on the seat of destruction” (Ps. 1:1) 515 and: “He overthrew the seats of the sellers of doves” (Matt. 21:12) 516 we must understand in the sense of teaching. Matthew 23:4. They tie heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves do not want to lift them with a finger. This is against all teachers in general who order difficult actions and do not do easier ones (minora). But at the same time, it should be noted that the shoulders, and the fingers, and the heaviness, and the ligaments with which the heaviness is tied must be understood in a spiritual sense. Matthew 23:5. Still, they do their deeds so that people can see them. Consequently, the one who does something so that only people can see it is a scribe and a Pharisee. Matthew 23:5–7. [end of the 5th] “They expand their storehouses” (phylacteria – φυλακτήρια) “and increase the splendor of their clothes; they also love to sit at feasts and preside in synagogues and greetings in public assemblies, and for people to call them: teacher! teacher! Woe to us unfortunates, to whom the vices of the Pharisees have passed on. When the Lord gave the commandments of the law through Moses, after all he added: “You will bind them in your hand, and they will not move before your eyes” (Deut. 6:8). 517. And the meaning of this place is this: My commandments are in your hand so that they may be observed in practice; let them be before your eyes, so that you may meditate on them day and night. Misunderstanding this passage, the Pharisees inscribed the ten commandments (Decalogum - ten words) of Moses, that is, the ten words of the law, on parchment, folding them and tying them on their foreheads, and arranging, as it were, a crown on their heads, so that they always moved before their eyes; This is what the Hindus, Persians and Babylonians do to this day, and the one who does this is considered by the people to be especially pious (religiosus). Moses also ordered something else (Num. 15:38-40) 518, namely, that they should attach hyacinth-colored fringes to the four corners of their cloaks, to identify the people of Israel, so that by giving circumcision to the bodies as a sign of the Jewish tribe, he established that the clothes of the Jews should also have some difference. Superstitious teachers, seeking popular fame and caring about gaining the goodwill of women, sewed a large fringe and tied very sharp needles to it, so that both while walking and while sitting, through constant injections, they would arouse in themselves the memory and encourage them to serve God and do His work. So, when He said: “They do all their deeds so that people can see them.” 519 He directed a general accusation against them, and now divides it, applying it in parts. This small tablet with the Ten Commandments of the Law was called a “repository” because whoever owned it 520 was considered to have, as it were, a guard, or a stronghold (monumentum), since the Pharisees did not understand that the commandments should not be worn on the body, but in the heart. On the contrary, they had boxes and chests of books and had no knowledge of God. Our women often do this to this day, carrying with them small Gospels (parvulis Evangeliis) [or: parables, gospels - in parabolis Evangelii] or an ancient cross and similar things (they, it is true, have the zeal of God, but not according to reason (Rom. 10:2), 521 straining out a mosquito and swallowing a camel. That was that fringe, but small and short, prescribed by the law, which the famous bleeding woman touched at the hem of the Lord's robe (Matt. 9:20; Luke 8:44); but she was not moved by the superstitious feelings (sen-sibus) [or thorns, sentibus] of the Pharisees, but was healed by touching Him. otherwise, because they seek the first places to recline at feasts and the first places to sit in the synagogues, and pursue fame in society and sweet food, and also to be called by people: “Master” (magister), as the word Rabbi is in Latin. Then follow the words: Matthew 23:8–12. But do not call yourself teachers, for you have only one Teacher - Christ, yet you are brothers; And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven; and do not be called instructors, for you have only one Teacher—Christ. Let the greatest of you be your servant (minister διάκονος) for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Neither teacher nor father should be called anyone other than God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father because all things are from Him; and He is the Teacher, because all things are through Him, or because through the dispensation of His flesh we have all been reconciled to God 522 . The question now is why the apostle, contrary to this command, calls himself a teacher of languages ​​(2 Cor. 5:20). 523; or how in the common language, especially in Palestine and Egypt in monasteries, do they mutually call each other fathers? This question is resolved this way: it is another thing to be a father by nature, as well as a teacher, and another thing to be by grace (indulgentia). If we call a person father, then we show respect for his age, and not that he is the culprit of our life. Also, the teacher is called by this name because of his participation in the work of the true Teacher. But in order not to extend the objection into infinity, [I will say]: just as by nature one Father and one Son do not prevent others from being called gods and sons by adoption, and one Father and Teacher does not prevent others from being called by names of fathers and teachers that are unusual for them (abusive appelentur patres et magistri). Matthew 23:13–14. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are closing the kingdom of God to people. For you [or: you yourself] do not enter, and you do not allow those who enter to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows while praying [at the same time] at length, so you will suffer greater condemnation. 524 The scribes and Pharisees, having the knowledge of the law and the prophets, know that Christ is the Son of God; but they do not know that He was born of a Virgin; but when they seek prey for themselves from the people subject to them, they themselves do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven and do not allow those who could enter. This is what the prophet Hosea denounces: “The priests hid the way and killed in Sikim (Hos. 6:9) 525 and again: “The priests did not say where the Lord is” 526 or it may be that every teacher who seduces his disciples with evil deeds closes the Kingdom of Heaven before them. Matthew 23:15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you go around sea and land to convert even one; and when this happens, you make him a son of Gehenna, twice as bad as you. We do not preserve what we find with the same care with which we search. The scribes and Pharisees, going around the whole world for the sake of trade or to acquire wealth, both from disciples and outward holiness, take great care to acquire proselytes, that is, strangers, and add them to the circumcised people of God. But the one who previously - while he was a pagan - was simply mistaken and was a son of Gehenna once, seeing the vices of his teachers and realizing that they were subverting by deeds what they taught in words, turns again to his uncleanness (vomitum suum, cf. 2 (Pet. 2:22) and, having become a pagan, as a traitor, will be worthy of greater punishment. He is called a son of Gehenna in the likeness expressions: “son of destruction” and “son of this age.” Everyone who does the works of someone is called his son. Matthew 23:16–22. Woe to you, blind leaders, who say: if anyone swears by the church, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the church, he is guilty. Mad and blind! What is greater: gold, or the church consecrating gold? Also: if anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on it, he is guilty. Mad and blind! What is greater: the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? So he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything that is on it; and he who swears by the church swears by it and by Him who dwells in it; and he who swears by heaven swears by the Throne of God and Him who sits on it. Above, it seems to us, we have explained what the tradition of the Pharisees means when they said: “Whatever gift there is from me, it will be useful to you (Matthew 15:5). 527 Now the double tradition of the Pharisees is condemned, but which gives rise to the same stinginess, so that they are convicted of doing everything for the sake of profit, and not out of the fear of God. Indeed, just as in the enlarged storehouses and increased trimming of clothing the idea of ​​their holiness created glory for them, and as a result of glory attracted wealth (lucra), so the fabricated lies of tradition exposed them as teachers of wickedness. If someone, in a dispute or in some quarrel, or in a doubtful case, swore by the church, and then was exposed in a lie, he [according to this legend] was not guilty of perjury. On the contrary, if anyone swore by gold and money, which were presented to the priests in the church, he would immediately be forced to repay the amount with which he swore. On the other hand, if someone swore by the altar, no one would consider him guilty of perjury; on the contrary, if he had sworn by gift or offerings, that is, animals and other sacrifices and the like, and everything else that was offered to God on the altar, then they demanded all this very carefully. So, the Lord convicts them of both foolishness (stultitiae) and deception in the sense that the church is much greater than the gold it consecrates, and the altar [greater] than the sacrifices that are consecrated by the altar. And they did all this not out of fear of God, but out of greed for wealth. Matthew 23:23. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe mint, anise and caraway seeds, and have abandoned the most important things in the law: judgment, mercy and faith; this had to be done, and this should not be abandoned. There are many commandments in the law that represent images of the future. But some of them are clear, as the Psalmist says: “The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes” (Ps. 18:9); they require immediate implementation in practice. For example: “Do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,” etc. The Pharisees, since the Lord commanded (we will leave the mysterious meaning for now) that for the maintenance of the priests and Levites - for the Lord was their inheritance - tithes of all things were brought to the church, their main concern was that everything prescribed was brought, and whether anyone kept the rest, more important, or not, they considered this of little importance. So, in this place 528 He denounces the Pharisees and lawyers for stinginess, because they carefully demanded tithes of even insignificant vegetables and ignored fair judgment in the analysis of cases, mercy for the poor, orphans and widows and faith in God, which is of very great importance. Matthew 23:24. The leaders are blind, straining out a mosquito and devouring a camel. I think that the camel, according to the meaning of the present passage, is both right justice, and mercy, and faith, and the mosquito is tithes of mint, anise and caraway seeds and other more cheap vegetables. Contrary to the commandment of the Lord, we consume and neglect what is great, and in the insignificant - in what gives us profit - we show care and give it the meaning of a pious act (religionis). Matthew 23:25–26. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you cleanse the outside of the cup and platter, while inside they are full of robbery and unrighteousness. Blind Pharisee! Let us cleanse “first the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside of them may also be clean.” With different words, but with the same meaning as before, He denounces the Pharisees for pretense and lies, because they show one thing to people outside 529 and do another in their home life. This does not mean that their superstition is contained in the cup and dish, but that on the outside they show people holiness, namely in behavior, in speech, in storage and trimming of clothes, in long prayers and the like, but inside they are filled with the impurity of vices. Matthew 23:27–28. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness; So, on the outside, you seem righteous to people, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. What He showed under the image of the cup and dish, that they were cleanly washed on the outside 530, but dirty on the inside, He now shows under the image of the coffins, because how the coffins are whitened on the outside, decorated with marble and gold and painted with flowers, but inside they are filled with the bones of the dead; so also corrupt teachers, who preach one thing and practice another, show their purity in the cut of their clothing and humble speech, but inside they are filled with all abomination and lust. Finally, He expresses this even more clearly by saying: “So you, on the outside, seem righteous to people, but on the inside you are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:29–31. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, and say: If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been their accomplices in shedding the blood of the prophets; Thus, you testify against yourself that you are the sons of those who beat the prophets. With a very wise conclusion (syllogismo) He accuses them of being the sons of murderers, when they themselves, for the sake of their glory among the people and visible kindness, build the tombs of the prophets whom their fathers killed, and say: “If we had lived in that time, we would not have done what our fathers did.” Although they do not express this in words, they speak through their deeds, and precisely by the fact that they proudly and with magnificence erect monuments to the murdered 531, without denying that they were killed by their fathers. Matthew 23:32. Complete the measure of your fathers Having confirmed with the previous words that they were the sons of murderers and those who killed the prophets, He now draws the conclusion that He wanted, and puts, as it were, the final conclusion from the conclusion (extremam syllogism! partem): “Complete the measure of your fathers 532,” that is, you complete what they lacked. They killed the ministers, and you crucify the Lord, they the prophets, and you - The One who was proclaimed by the prophets. Matthew 23:33. Snakes [or with the addition: and] generation of poisonous reptiles! How will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? 533." John the Baptist said the same thing (Luke 3:7); Indeed, just as from poisonous snakes poisonous snakes are born, so from the fathers of murderers you were born murderers. Matthew 23:34. Therefore, behold, I am sending to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, but you will kill [some of them] and crucify them on the cross, and [others] of them you will scourge in your assemblies and persecute from city to city. 534 What we said before [namely, that the words]: “Complete the measure of your fathers” refer to the Lord, because He had to be killed by them, [these words] can also be applied to His disciples, about whom He now says: “Behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes, and [some] of them you will put to death and crucify on the cross, and you will be scourged in your assemblies and pursue from city to city." At the same time, pay attention to the words of the apostle writing to the Corinthians (1 Cor 7:17-24), that the gifts of the disciples of Christ are different: some [of them] are prophets, foretelling 536 the future, others are wise men, knowing when to speak, others are scribes, most learned in the law 537; of these, Stephen was stoned, Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified on the cross; in the book of the Acts of the Apostles [it is reported that] the disciples were scourged; and they drove them from one city to another, driving them out of Judea, so that they went over to the pagan nations. Matthew 23:35–36. May all the righteous blood shed on earth come upon you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachi, whom you killed between the church and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. There is no doubt about Abel, because he is the one whom his brother Cain killed. And he is called righteous not only in the present mention of him by the Lord, but this is also confirmed by the testimony of the book of Genesis (Gen. 4:4), when it is said that his gifts were accepted from God. The question is who was this Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, because we have information (legimus) about many Zechariahs. But so that we do not have an easy (libera) opportunity to fall into error, it is added: “whom you killed between the church and the altar.” I have learned different things from different writers, and must present separate opinions. Some call Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the eleventh of the twelve prophets, and the name of his father agrees with this; but when he was killed between the church and the altar, Scripture does not speak about this. Others by Zechariah mean Father John [the Baptist], based on the fiction of some hidden books (apocryphorum); they claim that this Zechariah was killed because he preached the coming of the Savior. Since this assertion has no solid foundation (auctoritatem) in Holy Scripture, it is rejected as easily as it is proven. Still others suggest (volunt) that this is the Zechariah who was killed by King Joash between the church and the altar, as the narrative of the kings reports. But at the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind that that Zechariah was not the son of Barachiah, but the son of the priest Joiad (Russian: Iodai). Therefore, the Holy Scripture adds: “Joash did not remember his father Joiad, that he had done him good (2 Chronicles 24:22). 538 So, although we also have Zechariah, and although there is agreement regarding the place of his murder, the question is, why is he called the son of Barachiah, and not Joiada (Joiada)? “Barachiah” in our language means “blessed of the Lord,” and the name of the priest “Joiad” means “righteousness,” translated from Hebrew. In the Gospel used by the Nazarenes, we find instead of the words: “son of Barachiah,” the words: “son of Joiad.” The simpler brethren among us, between the ruins of the church and the altar, or at the entrances to the gates leading to Siloam, show red stones and imagine that they are sprinkled with the blood of Zechariah. But let us not condemn their errors, which stem from hatred of the Jews and from pious faith. - Let us briefly say 539 about why the blood of Abel the righteous and further to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, is exacted from this family, although he did not kill any of them? The rule of Holy Scripture is that it represents two kinds of people: good and evil, as if each kind of one and the other (singulorum singulas) separately. Let's take examples of indications of the good: “Whoever ascends the mountain of the Lord, or whoever stands in His holy place” (Ps. 23:3). And when he described many who would 540 ascend the mountain of the Lord, although they were of different times, at the end he added: “Such is the generation of those who seek Him, those who seek Your face, O God of Jacob” (Ps. 23:6). And in another place it is said about all the saints in total: “the generation of the upright will be blessed” (Ps. 111:2). The evil ones are spoken of as in the present place: “A race of poisonous snakes” and: “Everything will be exacted from this race.” Also in the book of Ezekiel, the prophetic word, having described the sins of the land, adds: “And if these three men were found in it: Noah, Daniel and Job,” [and then] “I will not forgive the sins of that land” (Ezek. 14:14); 541 it 542 wants Noah, Job and Daniel to be understood as all the righteous who are similar to them in their virtues. In the same way, these who act against the apostles, like Cain and Joash, appear to be people of the same 543 race. Matthew 23:37. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you! how many times have I wanted to gather your children together, just as a bird (gallina - hen) gathers its chicks under its wings, but you did not want to. 544 He does not call the stones and buildings of the city Jerusalem, but its inhabitants: He cries out as if moved by the feeling of a father, just as in another place we read that He began to weep at the sight of him (Luke 19:41). And with His words: “How often have I wanted to gather your children,” He testifies that all the former (retro) prophets were sent by Him. We find the likeness of a bird gathering its young under its wings in the song of Deuteronomy: “Just as an eagle covers its nest, it strives with love (desideravit) for its young, stretching out its wings, lifting [them] up and carrying them on its feathers (Deut. 32:11). 545 Matthew 23:38. Behold, your house is left to you empty Already before, in the person of the prophet Jeremiah, He said the same thing: “I have left My house, I have left My inheritance; My inheritance became for Me like a cave of wild beasts (Jer.12:7-8). 546". That the house of the Jews, that is, their church, which shone with greatness, is [now] abandoned, we are convinced of this with our own eyes, because it lost Christ and, extremely desiring to anticipate the inheritance, killed the Heir. Matthew 23:39. For I say to you, you will not see Me from now on until you cry (dicatis): Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! This is said to Jerusalem and the Jewish people; and this verse, which the children proclaimed at the entrance of the Lord Savior into Jerusalem, when they exclaimed: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna” (salvation) “in the highest” [this verse] He took from the One Hundred and Seventeenth Psalm, which was obviously written in relation to the coming of the Lord. And His words should be understood in this sense: “If you do not repent and confess that I am the One about whom the prophets proclaimed, the Son of the almighty Father, then you will not see My face.” The Jews have a time given to them for repentance; let them confess that blessed is He who came in the name of the Lord, and they will see the face of Christ. In the translation: The Gospel of Matthew - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “But God will strike them with an arrow: suddenly they will be wounded” - ed. In the lane: name - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “He does not sit in the assembly of the corrupters” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And Jesus entered the church of God and drove out all those selling and buying in the church, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves” (Mark 11:15) “Jesus, entering the church, began to drive out those selling and buying in the church; and the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling pigeons, ODA looked around - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And bind them as a sign on your hand, and let them be a blindfold over your eyes” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Proclaim to the children of Israel and tell them to make tassels for themselves on the edges of their clothes throughout their generations, and in the tassels that are on the edges they insert threads of blue wool; and they will be in your hands so that, looking at them, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and fulfill them, and not follow your heart and your eyes, which lead you to fornication, so that you will remember and fulfill all My commandments and be holy before your God” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “They do all their deeds in order to be visible from people” - ed. In the lane: who had it - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “For I testify to them that they have zeal for God, but not according to reason” - ed. The text states: (2 Cor. 5–2 (20) According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “So we are messengers on behalf of Christ, and as if God himself exhorts through us”; and also (Col. 1: 25–29) “Which I became a minister according to the economy of God, entrusted to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, a mystery hidden from ages and generations, now revealed to His saints, to whom God was pleased to show what is the riches of glory in this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you close the Kingdom of Heaven to men, for you yourself do not enter and you do not allow those who want to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses and hypocritically pray for a long time: for this you will receive all the more condemnation” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “A bunch of priests are killed on the way to Shechem and commit abominations” - ed. The text states: (Os.4). The closest passage according to the modern Synodal Russian translation (Hos. 4, 6): “My people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge: since you have rejected knowledge, then I will also reject you from priesthood before Me; and because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children” – ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “A gift to God is what you would use from me” - ed. In the lane: department of speech - ed. At the lane according to the old Synodal Russian translation: “And you also overflow the measure of your fathers” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Serpents, brood of vipers! How will you escape from condemnation to Gehenna?” – ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Therefore, behold, I am sending to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some you will kill and crucify, and others you will beat in your synagogues and drive from city to city - ed. At the lane proclaiming - ed. This place is more appropriate (1 Cor. 12:10) (Note, translator) According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And King Joash did not remember the good deed that Jehoiada had done to him” - ed. In the lane: they have to ascend - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “They would only save their own souls by their righteousness” - ed. That is, the prophetic word - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “and you did not want” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “As an eagle calls its nest, flies over its chicks, spreads its wings, takes them and carries them on its feathers” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “I left My house; I have left My inheritance; He gave the most dear thing to My soul into the hands of his enemies. My destiny has become for Me like the Lion. in the forest" - ed. You might be interested in: