Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they also came to Jerusalem for a feast according to custom. When, at the end of the days of the feast, they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother did not notice it, but thought that he was going with others. And when they had gone through the day's journey, they sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances, and not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them, and questioning them; all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed; And His Mother said to Him, "Child! What have You done to us? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee with great sorrow. He said to them, "Why did you seek Me?" or did you not know that I must be in the things that belong to My Father? But they did not understand what He said. Jesus goes to Jerusalem with His parents to show that He does not resist God or the requirements of the Law. When they had completed the days, that is, the seven days of the Passover, He remained in Jerusalem. - He reasoned with the scribes, giving them questions from the Law. And everyone was "amazed". Do you see how He excelled in wisdom, so that to many He was an object of curiosity and wonder? For the manifestation of His wisdom is His very success. The Mother of God calls Joseph father, although she knew that he was not a father. No doubt she calls Joseph His father for the sake of the Jews, so that they may not have any impure thoughts concerning His birth. In other words, since Joseph applied paternal care and service in his upbringing, she appropriately called him a father himself, as if the Holy Spirit honored him with the name of father. - Why did they seek Him? Did they suppose that He, like a child, was lost or lost? Away with such a thought! For it could not come either to the all-wise Mary, who received innumerable revelations about Him, or to Joseph, to whom it was revealed that He was of the Holy Spirit. But they sought Him so that He would not leave them in some way, so that He would not leave them in some way. And when you have found Him, see how He answers them! Since the Virgin called Joseph His father, He says, "He, Joseph, is not My true father, although I was in his house; but God is My Father, and therefore I am in His house, that is, in His temple. But they did not understand what He had said to them, for it was a mystery.

And He went with them, and came to Nazareth; and was in subjection to them. And His Mother kept all these words in Her heart. But Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in love with God and man. Jesus obeyed our parents, giving us an example to obey our parents. - The Virgin observed all this; for the deeds and words of the Lad were divine and revealed in Him not a twelve-year-old lad, but a man of complete maturity. In order to explain what it means to "increase in wisdom," the Evangelist adds: "and in stature," for he calls the increase in age success in wisdom. "Both in love with God and with men," that is, he did what was pleasing to God and praiseworthy of men; but first he was acceptable before God, and then before men; for first we must please God, and then men.

Chapter Three

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor in Judea, Herod was tetrarch in Galilee, Philip his brother was tetrarch in Ituraea and the region of Trachonite, and Lysanias was tetrarch in Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, was the word of God to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went through all the country round about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The time and the rulers are justly mentioned, in order to show that under Christ the succession of the leaders of the Jews ceased; since the hegemon was Pilate, a man of another people, the tetrarchs were the sons of Herod the Ascalonite, and therefore it would be taken as true that Christ had come, according to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. 49:10)! "There was," it is said, "the word of God to John," so that you may know that he came to bear witness to Christ, not as an impostor, but because he was moved by the Spirit of God. By "word" you mean either the Holy Spirit, or the command of God. The word of God to John was "in the wilderness." Since the children of the abandoned church (in Church Slavonic, empty), that is, the church of the Gentiles, were more numerous than the children of the church with a husband (Isaiah 54:1), that is, the church of the Jews, the word and command of God was appropriate for John when he was in the wilderness. He preached to people the baptism of repentance, that is, confession. And this baptism helped them to forgive their sins, which is granted through the baptism of Christ. For the baptism of John did not have the remission of sins, but led to remission, that is, it prepared people to receive Christ's baptism, which has the remission of sins.

As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, who says: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths; let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crookedness straightened, and the rough paths made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. The "way" that commands to be prepared is a way of life according to the teaching of Christ; for the Lord soon had to preach. The "paths" are the commandments of the Law, as if already worn out. It is commanded to make them "straight" because the Pharisees corrupted the commandments. By "path" one can also understand the soul, and by "paths" - thoughts and deeds. Therefore, we must prepare our souls and make our deeds and thoughts right. Then, as if someone asked: how are we going to do this? For virtue is not easy to fulfill, and encounters many intrigues and obstacles, both from evil forces and from the passions that dwell in us? He replies that nothing will be difficult, but everything is comfortable. For the valleys will be "filled," that is, our natural strengths, weakened for good and reduced to a low state, will be replenished; "Every mountain and hill," that is, the opposing forces and desires that seem to us to be invested with nature, have truly weakened: and everything has become even, and the crooked has changed to a straight one. For Christ abolished the opposing forces, which are here called mountains and hills, and revived our natural impulses to good, which the Evangelist called the valleys that are filled. For He became incarnate in order to restore our nature to its own form. "All flesh shall see," it is said, "the salvation of God," not only the Jews and sojourners, but all flesh, for the Gospel has been carried throughout all the earth. Much more could be said, but let it be said more clearly.

John said to the people who came to be baptized by him: "Offspring of vipers! Who inspired you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce therefore worthy fruits of repentance, and do not think to say in yourselves, 'Our father is Abraham,' for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Already the axe lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He calls the Jews "the offspring of vipers," because they insulted their fathers and mothers; for this animal, they say, eats up the womb of the mother, and is thus born. Moreover, they killed prophets and teachers. "Future wrath" is called eternal punishment. "Worthy fruits of repentance" is not only a departure from evil, but also an exercise in good; for the accomplishment of good is truly the fruit and offspring of repentance. Do not begin to say in yourselves that you are of good lineage, and, trusting in your fathers, do not abandon virtue. God will be able to give children to the patriarch from these stones; for he had done much like this before. Sarah's womb, though harder than stones, yet she received the grace of childbirth. The "axe" is the divine judgment that tears out the unworthy from among the living. If, he says, you do not repent, you will be deprived of life. The axe lies "at the root" of your trees. By "root" is meant life, as we have said. But by "root" we can also understand kinship with Abraham. From this kinship with Abraham, according to the Apostle (Romans 11:19-21), those are cut off who are unworthy to be his branches. The punishment is twofold, for the sinful and barren one is not only cut off from kinship with the righteous, but is also cast into the fire.

And the people asked him, What shall we do? He answered and said to them, "He who has two garments, let him give to the poor, and he who has food, do likewise." The publicans also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher! What should we do? He answered them, "Do not demand anything more than what is determined for you." The soldiers also asked him: "What shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not offend anyone, do not slander, and be content with your salary." And when the people were waiting, and all were thinking in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ, John answered everyone: "I will crown you with water, but there is one stronger than me, from Whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of my shoes; He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire. His shovel is in His hand, and He will purge His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His garner, and the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. He preached many other gospels to the people, instructing them. John admonishes three categories of those who came to him: the simple class of the people, the publicans, and the soldiers. He persuades the simple class of the people to be diligent in almsgiving, commanding that he who has two garments should give to the poor; he convinces the publicans not to exact, that is, not to demand anything superfluous; he urges the soldiers not to kidnap, but to be content with tributes, that is, the salary that is usually given from the king. See how John persuades the common class of the people, as if they were not malicious, to do something good, that is, to give to others, and to refrain from evil. For these were not yet capable, could not do anything good, and it was enough for them not to do evil. Some understand the command - to him who has two garments to share with those who do not - in a moral sense. That is what they say: the two garments signify the Spirit of Scripture and the letter; John urges those who have both to communicate to those who have absolutely nothing; for example, if anyone understands the Scriptures in both respects, in letter and in spirit, let him pass it on to him who does not have, let him teach him who does not know, and give him at least the letter. - John's virtue was so high that everyone thought about him, was he not Christ himself? Turning away such an opinion, he says: the difference between me and Christ is, first, that "I baptize" with water, and He with the Spirit and fire, and the other is that "I am not even worthy to untie the strap of His shoes." What is meant by the words, "to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire," is quite clear; for he sent the Spirit to the apostles, and over them appeared tongues of fire divided (Acts 2:3, 4). And the words, "Unworthy to untie the strap of my shoe," evidently mean that I am not worthy to make myself even His last servant. In a more intimate sense, the shoes of both feet of the Lord are His appearance from heaven to earth and His descent from earth to hell. The method of these two phenomena cannot be solved by anyone, even if he is like John. For who can say how the Lord became incarnate or how He descended into hell? The words, "His spade is in His hand," mean that although He baptizes you, you do not think that you are already unpunished; but if you do not keep yourselves blameless in the life that follows, He will burn you with an unquenchable fire. A tares is one who has a barren mind and takes great care only for the things of life. "He preached many other gospels to the people, teaching them." For good teaching is truly consolation, and is rightly called the gospel.

And Herod the tetrarch, who was rebuked by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all that Herod had done evil, added to everything else that he had put John in prison. And when all the people were baptized, and Jesus was baptized, and prayed, "The heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, like a dove, and there was a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son; in Thee is My good pleasure! The Evangelist inserted a word about Herod here. It is as if he were saying this: although the people thought very highly of John, yet Herod, rebuked by him, added to all his wickedness that he had imprisoned him. He narrates, as it were, with deep sorrow and strong pity, that Herod had so wrongly treated John, while the people had a high opinion of him. - "Heaven was opened" in order to show us that baptism opens the heaven that Adam had locked up to all. "The Holy Spirit has descended" upon Jesus, so that we may know from this that the Spirit also comes upon us when we are baptized. For the Lord had no need of the Spirit, but does all things for our sake, and Himself is the firstborn in all things (Col. 1:18), which we had afterwards to receive, that we might be the firstborn among many brethren. "Like a dove" so that we may learn that we need to be meek and pure. And just as in Noah's time the dove depicted the calming of God's wrath, so here the Holy Spirit, having drowned sin, reconciled us to God. And the Son hears a voice spoken from the Father, to show that he has granted sonship to us who are baptized. "In Thee is My good pleasure," in Thee I have rested.

Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old, and was thought to be the Son of Joseph, Eli, Matthat, Levi, Melchite, Jannait, Joseph, Mattathia, Amos, Naum, Stim, Naggai, Maath, Mattathia, Semeite, Joseph, Judah, Ioannan, Rishay, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel, Niri, Melchi, Addi, Kosam, Elmodam, Ire, Josiah, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, Levi, Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Jonan, Eliakim, Melea, Mainan, Mattatha, Nathan, David, Jesse, Obid, Boozov, Salmonov, Naasson, Aminadab, Aramov, Esromov, Pharez, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Farrin, Nahorov, Serukhov, Rahab, Polekov, Ever, Salin, Cainan, Arphaxadov, Sim, Noah, Lamech, Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahaleleel, Cainan, Enos, Seth, Adam, God. The Lord was baptized when He was thirty years old, because this age is the most perfect, and in it a person turns out to be honorable or worthless. Luke presents the genealogy of the Lord in the reverse order, in comparison with the Evangelist Matthew, in order to show that he who is now born in the flesh is of God - for see how the genealogy ascends to God - and at the same time, so that we may know that He became incarnate in order to raise up all intermediary fathers to God and make them sons. I can also say otherwise: the birth of the Lord, as seedless, met with unbelief. Therefore, the Evangelist, wishing to show that at other times man was without seed, ascends from the lowest to Adam and God. He says, as it were, "If you do not believe, as the second Adam was born without seed, then, I beseech you, turn your mind to the first Adam, and you will find that he was created by God without seed, and after that do not be unfaithful." Some ask: How does Matthew call Joseph the son of Jacob, and Luke the son of Eli? For it is impossible, they say, for one and the same thing to be the son of two fathers. To this it is answered, that Jacob and Eli were half-brothers, but of different fathers, that after the death of Eli, Jacob took his wife, that he might raise up children by her, and that therefore Joseph is called the son of Jacob by nature, and Eli by the law. For Jacob really begat him by nature, and he was his own son, and he was the son of Eli only according to the law. For the Law commanded that the wife of the deceased should be married to his brother without child, and that the one born of this union should be considered the child of the dead (Deuteronomy 25:5, 6), although by nature it was of the living. Therefore, the evangelists speak correctly, and do not contradict each other. Matthew recorded Joseph's natural father, and Luke the father due to him according to the Law, that is, Eli; and both show that the Lord was born to sanctify nature and the Law.

Chapter Four

Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There He was tempted by the devil for forty days, and did not eat anything during these days, and after they had passed, He hungered for the end. And the devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, then command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered and said to him, "It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." And having brought Him up to a high mountain, the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and the devil said to Him, "To Thee will I give power over all these kingdoms and their glory, for it is delivered to me, and I give it to whomsoever I will; therefore, if you worship me, all things will be yours. Jesus answered and said to him, "Get thee behind me, Satan; it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the wing of the temple, and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: for it is written, His angels shall give charge concerning thee to keep thee; and they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus answered and said to him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. The Lord was baptized in order to sanctify the waters for us who have to taste grace. After Baptism, "He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness," for the Holy Spirit led Him into the struggle against the devil. He goes "into the wilderness" in order to give the devil a reason to attack Him, for he approaches us especially when we are alone. He fasts "forty days" and does not exceed the measure of the fast of Moses and Elijah, so as not to give Satan the idea that He is greater than them, but so that he approaches Him, thinking that He too is a man, and at the same time so that he does not appear incarnate only in a ghost. He is "tempted" after Baptism, in order to show us that after Baptism we will be met with temptations. He fasts because fasting is a great weapon in temptations, and because after baptism we should give ourselves over not to sensual pleasures, but to fasting. The enemy attacks Him first with gluttony, as he did with Adam (Gen. 3), then with covetousness, showing Him all the kingdoms. How did he show it? Some say that I presented them to Him in thought. But I think that it was not in thought, but in sensuality, that I showed them to Him, putting them before His eyes in a phantom, and not in the imagination of the Lord. Further, he attacks Him with vanity, for He says: "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down." He spoke idly of this, caressing Him, so that He, deceived by flattery and wishing to show Himself to be the Son of God, would throw Himself down and thus reveal Himself to Him who He was. "Thou shalt not tempt," he says, "the Lord thy God," for no one should expose himself to obvious danger in self-deception that God will help him. Note also that it is very useful to know the Scriptures; for the Lord also smote Satan with the Scriptures. "Man shall not live by bread alone," this is the Mosaic saying about manna (Deuteronomy 8:3); for though manna was not bread, yet it nourished the people. Likewise, the sayings of Moses: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt not tempt" (Deuteronomy 6:13, 16).

And having finished all the temptation, the devil departed from Him for a time. And Jesus returned in strength of spirit to Galilee; and the fame of him spread throughout all the country round about. He taught in their synagogues, and was glorified by all.

Although the Lord was tempted by three temptations, Luke says that He finished all temptations, because the foundations of all temptations are these three: gluttony, covetousness, and vanity. The Lord repelled the temptation of satiety with the words: "Man shall not live by bread alone." Before all other temptations, He brought this temptation upon Him, as well as upon Adam. For he could not stumble Adam with covetousness, since Adam, being alone, had no one more to desire against; nor with anger, for he had no one to be angry with; nor envy; but stumbled him with gluttony. The Lord repelled the temptation of covetousness by not falling, not bowing down before him. For when he sensually showed all the kingdoms in a ghost, the Lord did not submit to him. Some understood this about kingdoms not sensual, but conceivable, that he, for example, showed Him the kingdom of intemperance, the kingdom of envy, and in general of all sins, and said to Him as it were: "If Thou wouldst reign over all passions, and for this purpose Thou hast come to captivate those possessed by me, then fall down and worship me, and receive all over whom I reign." The Lord wants to reign and has come to do so, but to reign not with sin, not without struggle, but after podvig and victory. That is what some have understood. To anyone, let them understand it. The Lord also repelled the temptation of vanity with the words of the Scriptures. Lord, deliver us from these three heads of the serpent! - "Jesus returned in the power of the spirit." It seems to me that Jesus returned in a state of inspiration, for that means "in the power of the spirit." Pay deep attention to the Scriptures, for then it is written, "In the power of the Spirit," when He overcame the tempter and manifested His power. The words: "departed from Him for a time" have the following meaning: the devil attacks the Lord with two feelings, pleasure and sorrow; with pleasure he attacked the Lord, for example, on a mountain; but he departed from Him until the time, that is, until the time of the Cross, for then he intended to attack Him with sorrow.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went in, according to his custom, on the Sabbath day into the synagogue, and arose to read. They gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah; and he opened the book, and found a place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; for he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, and has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to restore sight to the blind, to set the afflicted at liberty, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And having closed the book and given it to the attendant, he sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And he began to say to them, "This day this scripture has been fulfilled which you have heard.The Lord desired to manifest himself to the Israelites, because he was also anointed by God and the Father to save those who dwell in the heavenly places." He arranges this wonderfully. Before others, He appears to the inhabitants of Nazareth, with whom He was brought up, in order to teach us that we must first do good to our own and teach them, and then pour out love for mankind on others as well. When they gave Him a book, He unfolded it and found not what He happened to come across, but what He Himself desired. For do not think that He opened the book and happened to find the passage in which it is written about Him; it happened according to His will. What was written? "The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me," that is, he has ordained me, he has ordained me to preach the gospel to the "poor," that is, to the Gentiles, who, having neither law nor prophets, were indeed in great poverty. The "brokenhearted" were, perhaps, the Israelites, whose hearts were at first great and lofty and were the house of God, but later, when they began to serve idols and sin in various ways, their hearts were broken and upset, becoming instead of the house of God a den of thieves. Thus, the Lord came to heal them, and to give "deliverance to the captives" and "sight to the blind," the Gentiles and the Israelites. For both of these parts were both captive to Satan and blind. This can also be understood about the dead. For they, too, having been captive and broken, were freed from the power of hell through the Resurrection. - He preached "the year of the Lord's acceptance". What kind of favorable summer is this? Perhaps also the age to come, of which the Lord preached, saying: "And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing" (John 16:23), and again: "The time is coming when the dead shall live" (John 5:25). But a pleasant summer is also the time of the Lord's coming in the flesh. Of him Paul says: "Now is the time of acceptance, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). When He read this, He said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled which you have heard," evidently indicating in Himself to the hearers of Him of Whom it is written.