CHAPTER ELEVEN

There was a certain Lazarus from Bethany, from the village where Mary and Martha, her sister, lived. But Mary, with whom Brother Lazarus was sick, was the one who anointed the Lord with myrrh and wiped His feet with her hair. The sisters sent to say to Him: Lord! behold, whom Thou lovest, sick. Only John tells this story. He tells us in order to teach us not to be offended if any illness befalls zealous and God-pleasing people. For Lazarus was a friend of Christ, yet he also was sick. It is also necessary to know that this Mary, who anointed the Lord with myrrh, was neither the harlot mentioned in the Evangelist Luke (7:37-50), nor the woman mentioned in the Evangelist Matthew (26:7), but another, not a harlot, but honest, God-loving and zealous. For she was anxious to receive Christ and served Him, as John himself later testifies (12:2). The Lord also testifies of her that she chose the good part, as the Evangelist Luke remarks (10:42). These sisters were so wonderful and venerable that Lazarus became more famous because of them. For Lazarus, it is said, was from Bethany, from the village of Mary and Martha. Why do they send to call for Jesus, and do not go to Him themselves, like the centurion and the king's man? Because they had strong hope in Christ, because they were weak women, and it was unseemly for them to go out of the house, because they too were obsessed with sorrow and were busy caring for their brother. And that they did not do this through negligence, it appears from what follows, for they show Christ great honor and respect, and offer firm prayer. "This is whom You love." They say this in order to incline the Lord to compassion in the name of friendship. Such an expression of these women also reveals a certain faith in them. They are so confident in the greatness of the Lord's power that they wonder how sickness has touched a man He loves. For it seems surprising that the one whom You, O Lord, love is sick.

When Jesus heard this, he said, "This sickness is not unto death, but to the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." And Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. Since Jesus intended to stay in that place for two days, he says that "this sickness is not unto death," although it served to death; He speaks in order to encourage the messengers and give them, as it were, some consolation, so that they do not insist and do not strain. For this reason he says: "This sickness is not unto death." And it is different. If you look closely, you will see that this illness was not unto death, such as many die, that is, to a long-term death, but temporary and lasting four days. And since on the fourth day Lazarus rose again, then, looking at the end of the matter, we say: this sickness is not unto death. "But to the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." You see, the Father and the Son have the same glory. For, having said, "To the glory of God," he added, "That the Son of God may be glorified," for the glory of God, that is, of the Father, is in no way different from the glory of the Son. Consequently, the Son is properly and truly God, just as the Father, for he who has one glory has one Being. Let the Arians be ashamed of this saying. "Let him be glorified." Understand this not as a cause, but as an event and the end of the matter (which we have talked about more than once). For Lazarus was not sick so that God might be glorified, but Lazarus fell ill, and the Lord turned it to the glory of God. "He stayed two days" so that Lazarus would die, so that no one could say that he had a deep sleep, exhaustion and frenzy, and not death. For this reason the Lord remains so long that the decay has already begun, and the sister herself says that "it stinks already" (v. 39).

And he said unto his disciples, Let us go again into Judea. The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi! how long have the Jews sought to stone Thee, and Thou art going thither again? Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" He who walks by day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; but he who walks at night stumbles, because there is no light with him. In other cases, the Lord never expressed in advance where He intended to go, but only here He declares ahead, it seems, because His disciples were very afraid to go to Judea. He announces ahead that they should not be troubled by the surprise if He suddenly led them to a country to which they were afraid to go.

Or to put it another way: if he who sees this light does not stumble, how much more will he who is with Me stumble, unless he himself leaves Me behind. Wherefore ye also, abiding with Me, the True Light, fear in vain. Others understand by "day" the time before suffering, and by "night" the time of suffering. And so, he says, as long as the "day" passes, that is, before the time of suffering has come, you will not stumble, for you will not meet with persecution from the Jews, nor any other trouble. And when the "night" comes, that is, My sufferings, then you will be confused and gathered together in one house for fear of the Jews. From that time on, you will experience sorrows and illnesses, and many angers and troubles. When I, the Light, no longer live with you bodily, the night of sorrows will pass you by.

Having said this, he said to them afterwards: Lazarus, our friend has fallen asleep; but I am going to wake him up. His disciples said, "Lord! if he fell asleep, he will recover. Jesus spoke of his death; but they thought that He was speaking of ordinary sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead: and I rejoice for you that I was not there, that you might believe; but let us go to him. Then Thomas, otherwise called the Twin, said to the disciples, "Let us go and die with Him." Since the disciples of the Lord were afraid to go into Judea, He said to them, "The Jews sought to stone Me because I refuted them and rebuked them." But now I do not go to rebuke them, but to visit my friend. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid. I am not going after what I went for before, to expect danger from the Jews, but I am going to wake up a friend. The disciples, wishing to keep Him from going there, say: It is enough if He has fallen asleep; if he has fallen asleep, he will recover; therefore we do not need to walk, for there is no need. Although the Lord, speaking of Lazarus, added "My friend" to show the need to be there, the disciples assert that His visit is not necessary, since he can recover from falling asleep. Even more, they say, Thy Coming is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to one's friend. For if sleep, as we think, serves for his recovery, and You go and wake him, then You will prevent him from recovering. Therefore, there is no need to go and wake up, for this is harmful. The Lord, seeing that His disciples still do not understand Him, directly says that Lazarus "died." Why did He first express Himself not directly, but covertly, calling death "sleep"? For many reasons. First, out of humility, for he did not want to appear boastful, but secretly called the resurrection a wake-up from sleep. How would He have used this expression if He had not called death a dream? And that this is just, that is, that He expressed Himself secretly out of humility, is evident from what follows. For having said that Lazarus "died," the Lord did not add: "I will go and raise him up." Do you see how He did not want to boast in words of what He intended to confirm by His very deeds? At the same time, the Lord teaches us not to be hasty in our promises. For if at the request of the centurion (for the healing of his servant) the Lord made a promise, saying: "I will come and heal him" (Matt. 8:5-6), He said this in order to reveal his faith. So, this is the first reason why the Lord called death sleep. The other is to show us that all death is sleep and rest. The third is that although the death of Lazarus was death for others, it was no more than a dream for Jesus Himself, since He intended to resurrect him. As it is easy for us to awaken a sleeping man, so, and a thousand times more, it is convenient for Him to raise up the dead. "I rejoice," he says, "for you," that you can henceforth be more convinced of My divine dignity from the fact that I have not been there and am far away from there, but I tell you first that death followed in Bethany, and I say this, not basing myself on hearing, but as God, Himself seeing what happened at a great distance. Some of the Lord's words, "I rejoice for you," were understood to mean that I was not there, this will serve to strengthen you in the faith. For if I had been there, I would have healed the sick. That would be a miracle, but it would show little of My power. And now that I was not there, and the death of Lazarus followed, and I will go and raise him up, you must be strengthened in your faith in Me. For you will see that I am able to do what I have not yet revealed, namely, to recreate and raise up the dead, who are already decomposed and give off a rotten smell. When the Lord said this and proved to His disciples the necessity of His march into Judea, then Thomas, who feared more than others, said: "Let us go and we will die with Him." For these words do not express cheerfulness, but fear and faint-heartedness. In order to stop the other fellow disciples, he reminds them of death and deliberately adds: "Let us die," saying, as it were: "And we, fools, fools, and not caring about our salvation and life, let us go to die with Him." Let Him value His life dearly; Therefore must we also be imprudent? Such speeches are befitting a fearful person. But look at him afterwards. He, like an apostle, was slain for the truth. The grace of God has so "strengthened" him that the words of the Apostle Paul can be applied to him: "Our ability is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5), and "not I, but grace" (1 Corinthians 15:10). And Origen says of Thomas something like a dream, Thomas, he says, having learned the prophecies about Christ and having understood that He would descend with His soul into hell for the liberation of souls, when He heard that the Lord was coming to awaken Lazarus, He thought that He could awaken him, that is, free his soul, only if He Himself laid down the body and descended into hell. Therefore, as a sincere disciple of Christ, who does not wish to lag behind his Teacher in this as well, he advises his fellow disciples and himself volunteers to lay down their bodies in order to descend into hell together with Jesus, who, according to his understanding, will lay down His soul in order to free the soul of a friend from hell. Such a ridiculous explanation I have applied to shame those who extol all that is Origen's. For such an explanation of the sage is not manifest idle talk and a real dream? And I ask you to note that although Lazarus died, the Lord nevertheless said: "We go to him," as if to a living one. For for Christ, as God, Lazarus himself was alive.

When Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, fifteen stades; and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them in their sorrow for their brother. And when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; Maria was sitting at home. The Lord deliberately delayed so that Lazarus would be four days old, then went to make the miracle free from slander on all sides. Why does the Evangelist add that Bethany was fifteen stades from Jerusalem? In order to show that indeed many of the Jerusalemites came, for Bethany was not far away. The Jews comforted these women not because Christ loved them (for the Jews had already conspired to excommunicate from the synagogue the one who recognized Him as Christ - John 9:22), but either because of the severity of the calamity, or because those who came were not of the wicked, from which many of them believed. Martha only goes forward to meet her, and does not take her sister with her, because she wanted to see Him alone and tell Him about what had happened. When the Lord aroused good hope in her, then she left and called her sister. Before, she had not told Sister Mary about the coming of the Lord, in order to conceal it from those who were with her. For if Mary had heard that Jesus was coming, she would have gone immediately to meet Him, and the Jews who had come would have followed her: but Martha did not want them to know of the coming of Jesus.

Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord! if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that He will rise again in the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the seven resurrection and life; he who believes in Me, though he die, shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to Him, "Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world. Having said this, she went and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Master is here and calling you." Martha had faith in Christ, but it was not complete, not proper. For this reason He says: Lord! if you had been here, my brother would not have died. She said this, no doubt, because she did not believe that, if He had willed, He could have prevented her brother's death without being present in person. And then he reveals an even greater weakness of faith. For He says, Whatsoever Thou askest of God, He will give Thee. You see, she considers Him to be some kind of person, virtuous and pleasing to God. For she did not say, "Whatsoever thou wilt, thou shalt do all"; but, whatsoever thou askest, he shall give thee all. The Lord, refuting such an understanding of it, says: "Thy brother shall rise again." He did not say to her, "Yes, I will ask God, and He will give Me," nor did he agree with her speech, but used a moderate expression. And then He expounds His power and authority much more clearly; I, he says, am the resurrection and the life. Since Martha did not yet believe and did not understand the meaning of the words: "Thy brother shall rise again," but thought that he would rise again in the last resurrection (and that there would be a last resurrection, Martha knew partly from the Divine Scriptures, and still more from Christ's frequent discourses on the resurrection), therefore, since the woman was still a woman, the Lord raised her up and stirred up her faith, as if it were dead, To put it more plainly: You tell Me that God will give Me whatever I ask of Him. But I tell you plainly that I am the resurrection and the life, so that My power is not limited to the place, but I can equally heal by being present in the place and in absentia. For I distribute good things, and not on behalf of anyone else, but I Myself am the resurrection and the life, and I Myself have the power to raise up and to give life. He who believes in Me, even if he dies this bodily death, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will not die a spiritual death. Therefore, do not be dismayed. For though your brother is dead, he will live. And what do I say about your brother? And you, if you believe in Me, will not die, but will be above spiritual death, which is much more terrible. And He who delivers from the most terrible death, the more easily will deliver your dead brother from a less terrible death. Do you believe this? - the Lord asks Martha. And she, although she had listened to such lofty speeches, did not understand what the Lord had said to her. I think that she suffered from grief and lack of understanding. For the Lord asks one thing, she answers another. The Lord asks whether she believes that He is resurrection and life, and that he who believes in Him will never die, whether you mean spiritual or bodily death. For it is rightly said of the faithful, because of their hope of the resurrection, that they do not die. And what does Martha answer? - I am sure that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world. Her answer is good and fair, but the answer is not to the question. However, she received this benefit from this, that the power of her sorrow was tamed and her sorrow was lessened. - Martha "secretly" calls her sister; and she did it very wisely. For if the Jews who came to them had known that Mary was coming to meet Christ, they would have left them, and the miracle would have been left without witnesses. And now the Jews thought that Mary was going to the tomb to weep, and they went with her, and of necessity became obvious witnesses of the miracle. Martha says to Mary: The Master is calling you. And the Evangelist does not notice that the Lord called her. This can be explained in the following way: the Evangelist kept silent, that the Lord commanded Martha to call her sister, or she considered the very coming of the Lord as an invitation and said that the Teacher was calling you. For when the Lord came, should she not have gone to Him? Thus, the coming of the Lord, which necessarily requires (from Mary) to meet Him, the Evangelist called an invitation. For the Master speaks, He has come, and calls thee; and since He came, His very coming is a call to you. For as soon as He has come, it is necessary for you to go to meet Him.

As soon as she heard, she hurriedly got up and went to Him. (Jesus had not yet entered the village, but he was at the place where Martha met Him.) The Jews, who were with her in the house and comforted her, seeing that Mary had hurriedly stood up and went out, followed her, supposing that she had gone to the tomb to weep there. And Mary, having come to where Jesus was, and seeing him, fell down at his feet, and said to him, Lord! if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Mary, as soon as she learned that Jesus had come, did not hesitate, but hurriedly got up and went to Him. From this it can be seen that Martha had not warned her before, although she knew that Jesus was coming. But Jesus had not yet come to the village, for He walked slowly, so that they would not think that He Himself was asking for a miracle, but that He would perform it at their request. And since the miracle that is to be performed was great, not performed many times, and had to benefit many, the Lord arranges so that many will become witnesses of the miracle. For the Evangelist says that the Jews who were with her in the house followed her. Mary came to Christ with more fervor than her sister Martha. For when she saw Him, she fell at His feet, not being ashamed of the people, not paying any attention to the fact that some of those who were there were hostile to Christ. In the presence of the Master, she threw away all mankind and cared only to honor Him. She says: "Lord! if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Martha does nothing of the kind, for she does not fall down before Him, but, on the contrary, when Christ gives good hope for her brother, she turns out to be unbelieving. Though Mary is imperfect when she says, "If thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died," yet Christ does not say to her anything that He said to her sister, because there were many people there, and it was not the time for such speeches. He condescends even more, clearly shows Human nature in Himself and reveals its properties. For listen to what the Evangelist says.

And when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her, weeping, he himself was grieved in spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said to him: Lord! Go and see. Jesus shed tears. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him." And some of them said, "Could not this one, who opened the eyes of the blind, make this one also die? Since Mary and those who came with her wept, Human nature was disposed to tears and was troubled. But the Lord suppresses the shock in the spirit, that is, by the Spirit He restrains confusion and restrains it, and He asks a question without showing any tears. But since the Lord grieved, because He was truly a Man and wished to prove the reality of His human nature, He allowed it to do its own. At the same time, He restricts the flesh, rebukes it by the power of the Holy Spirit; but the flesh, unable to endure the prohibition, is troubled, sighs, and gives itself over to sorrow. The Lord allows His humanity to experience all this, partly in order to affirm that He was Man in truth, and not by providence, and partly in order to teach us to set limits and measures to sorrow and sorrowlessness. For to have no sympathy and tears is characteristic of beasts, but to shed many tears and give way to much sorrow is characteristic of women. And since the Lord took upon Himself our flesh and blood (Heb. 2:14), He takes part in that which is proper to man and nature, and shows us the measure in both. "Where have you laid him?" asks the Lord, not because He does not know (for, having been elsewhere and far away, He knew that Lazarus was dead), but so that they would not think that He was summoned by Himself to a miracle; He wishes to learn everything from them and to perform a miracle at their request, in order to free it from all suspicion. And since there was no hint of the resurrection of Lazarus, and it did not occur to anyone that He was coming to raise him up, and not only to weep, so they said to Him: Lord! Go and see. And the wicked Jews, in spite of the fact that great misfortune is before their eyes, and yet they do not abandon their malice, they say, "Could this one, who opened the eyes of the blind man, not be able to cause this one not to die?" This is said in humiliation of the miracle performed on the blind man (John 9). They should have been amazed at this miracle, but they cast doubt on the reality of Lazarus' death and, without waiting for the end of the matter, pronounce an insulting sentence in advance. Thus envy corrupted their minds.

Jesus, again grieving inwardly, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay on it. Jesus says, "Take away the stone." The sister of the deceased, Martha, said to Him: "Lord! already stinks; for four days he was in the tomb. Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So, they took away the stone from the cave where the deceased lay. And Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, forgive them! thank you for hearing me. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I have said these things for the people standing here, that they may believe that you have sent me. Why does the evangelist again note that Jesus wept and grieved out of sympathy? In order that we may know that He has truly clothed Himself with our nature. John, in comparison with the other Evangelists, proclaims a higher teaching about the Lord and theologizes something great; wherefore also of His bodily works He tells of those who are more humble. Wherefore also in the sorrow of the Lord he finds much that is human, and thus proves the truth of His flesh, so that thou mayest know that the Lord was God and at the same time Man. For just as Luke by the Lord's struggle, sorrow, and sweat (ch. 22), so John proves by His tears that He bore true flesh. Why did the Lord not resurrect Lazarus when the stone was still lying on the tomb? For He Who raised up a dead body with one word and animated one that had already begun to decay, He could have rolled away the stone with a word much more conveniently. - "Take away the stone," says the Lord, in order to make them witnesses of the miracle, so that they could not say, as before about the man born blind: "This is he; it is not he" (John 9:9). For being present in the very place and taking away the stone with their own hands should have stopped the mouths of the ill-intentioned witnesses of the miracle. "It's already stinking; for four days since he was in the tomb," said Martha out of unbelief, because she considered it impossible for her brother to be resurrected after so many days after his death. So she was still low in faith! Christ, reminding her of His conversation with her and as if reproaching her for forgetfulness, says: "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" The Lord says to His disciples that Lazarus died in order that "the Son of God" might be glorified through this (v. 4 above), and He says to Martha: "Thou shalt see the glory of "God," meaning the Father. He uses different expressions about one and the same thing - because of the weakness of his listeners. There were Jews here. To tell Martha that you would see the glory of the "Son of God," the Lord found inappropriate, because He would be considered vain. And now, having spoken of the glory of the Father, He made the speech moderate and acceptable. Why does the Lord pray, or rather, does He take the form of prayer? Listen to how He Himself says: "For the people standing here, I have said this, so that they may believe that You have sent Me, that is, so that they may not consider Me an adversary of God, so that they may not say that I am not of God, in order to prove to them that this deed was done by Me according to Your will. And what for this reason, and not for another, is presented to the worshippers, that is, for those who are coming, pay attention to the prayer itself. "Thank Thee" (Father!), that "Thou hast heard Me." It is clear that this is not a prayer, but only the position and type of prayer. And that He does not need prayer is evident from the fact that He did many other things without prayer. For example: "I tell you, demon! come out of it" (Luke 4:35); again, "I will, be cleansed" (Matt. 8:3); again: "Thy sins are forgiven" (Matt. 9:2), and this is the most important thing; and to the sea: "Be still, be still" (Mark 4:39). So, in order for those present here to believe that He is from heaven, and not an adversary of God, the Lord prays. For if in such works of Him, in all the proofs of His oneness of mind with the Father, it was said that He was not of God, what would not have been said if He had done nothing of the kind?

Having said this, He cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus! Go away. And the dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in funeral clothes, and his face was bound with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, let him go." Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done, believed in Him. And some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The Lord, giving thanks to the Father more than asking (for, as it is said, He had no need of prayer and help from it, because He is equal to the Father), called out with a loud voice, autocratic and sovereign. For He did not say, In the name of My Father, Lazarus, go away; nor thus: Father! resurrect him; but, as it is said, autocratically, stopping the mouths of all who say that He is less than the Father. For what could be found equal to such power, that He said to the dead as to the living: Lazarus, go away? And now the words have been fulfilled in deed: "The time is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and when they have heard, they shall live" (John 5:25). Lest anyone think that Christ received such power from another, He foretells in advance what He had to prove by His very deed. The loud voice of the Saviour, which resurrected Lazarus, serves as an image of the great trumpet that will sound in the general resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). The Lord cried out loudly in order to stop the mouths of the Greeks, who talk idly that the soul dwells in the tomb (together with the body), for He calls it loudly, as if far away. As this particular resurrection was, so will the general resurrection be suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). "Gone out," it is said, "dead man, bound hand and foot." To go out seemed no less strange to the bound man than to be resurrected. And so, to the miracle of the resurrection was added another miracle - that the one who was completely bound moved. The Lord commands to untie him, so that those who approach and touch him will see that this is himself. "Let him," he said, "go." This is out of dislike of fame. For He does not bring him out (Himself), nor commands him to walk with Him in order to show Himself. When the miracle was performed, some of those who saw it believed, and others declared it to the Pharisees, no doubt in order to defame Him, who had done something unrighteous, since He had commanded that the buried man be dug up.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together a council and said, "What shall we do?" This Man works many miracles. If we leave Him thus, then all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take possession of our place and people. One should have been amazed and amazed at the Lord when He performed such miracles; the Pharisees, on the contrary, make up advice on how to destroy Him. What extreme madness! Him Who in the bodies of others overcomes death, they think to put to death in order to hide His glory; and after so many miracles, they consider Him a simple man. What, they say, should we do? This "Man" works many miracles. And what kind of crime is it if He works miracles? In this case, one should believe in Him, worship Him, and not consider Him a mere person. Look at the impudence of the Pharisees! Trying to stir up the people, they spread the rumor that all Jews were in danger and destruction from the Romans on suspicion of stealing the supreme power. If, they say, we abandon Him, a great many people will follow him, attracted by the appearance of miracles, and finally the Romans will suspect us all of stealing the supreme power, and will take our cities and destroy them. So they spoke with guile. In order not to appear that they are building fetters for Christ out of envy, they expose a common danger, stirring up the people against Christ as the future author of their destruction. "Perhaps understand this miracle in relation to the inner man. Our mind is a friend of Christ, but it is often overcome by the weakness of human nature, falls into sin and dies a spiritual death and the most pitiful death, but worthy of pity on the part of Christ, for the dead is His friend. Let the sisters and relatives of the dead mind, the flesh, like Martha (for Martha is more corporeal and material), and the soul, like Mary (for Mary is more pious and reverent), come to Christ and fall down before Him, leading after them the thoughts of confession, as they did the Jews. For Judas means confession. And the Lord, without a doubt, will appear at the grave, the blindness lying in the memory will command to be taken away, as if it were some stone, and will bring to mind future blessings and torments. And he will cry out with the great voice of the Gospel trumpet: Come out of the world, do not be buried in worldly amusements and passions; - just as He said to His disciples: "Ye are not of the world" (John 15:19), and the Apostle Paul: "And we shall go out to Him beyond the camp" (Heb. 13:13), that is, the world, and thus He will raise from sin the dead, whose wounds smelled of malice. The deceased emitted a smell because he was four days old, that is, he died to the four meek and bright virtues and was unmoved and immovable to them. However, although he was motionless and bound hand and foot, squeezed by the bonds of his own sins, and seemed to be completely inactive, although he was covered with a handkerchief over his face, so that when the fleshly veil was imposed, he could not see anything divine, in short, he was in the worst position both "by activity", which is indicated by hands and feet, and "by contemplation", which is indicated by a covered face, "And so, though he is in such a distress, yet he will hear, 'Loose him, good angels or priests who serve salvation, and give him forgiveness of sins, let him go and begin to do good.' - And some understood by "Martha" the Jewish Church, and by "Mary" the Church of the Gentiles. The Jewish Church cares about many things, for the commandments of the law are many and they are inconvenient to fulfill, and the Church of the Gentiles does not need many commandments, but a few, in which the whole law and the prophets are contained (Matt. 22:40), the commandments about love. By their brother, who is raised from the dead, they understood the souls of people who descend into hell for their sins, according to what is written: "Let sinners return to hell" (Psalm 9:18), but the Lord resurrects these souls.

And one of them, a certain Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing, and you will not think that it is better for us that one man should die for the people, than that the whole nation should perish." But he did not say this on his own behalf, but, being high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the people, and not only for the people, but also to gather together the scattered children of God. From that day on, they decided to kill Him. Among the Jews, by the way, the high priestly dignity was also distorted. For from the time when the offices of authority became purchased, the chief priests no longer served as priests all their lives, but only for a year. However, even with such a corruption of this dignity, the Holy Spirit still worked in the anointed. And when they raised their hands against Christ, then grace completely left them and passed on to the apostles. While some in the form of an opinion proposed to kill Christ, the high priest was so bloodthirsty that he pronounced sentence on Christ directly with his head bare, and boldly. He even reproaches others for not understanding what is due and not caring to see what is useful. You, he says, know nothing, do not want to understand, and do not think that it is better that Odin should die and all the people should be saved. He said this with an evil thought. For the grace of the Spirit used his mouth to foretell the future, although it did not touch his foul heart. Look at the power of the Spirit! She arranged it so that from an evil heart came the words that contained the wondrous prophecy. For when Christ died, all those who believed from among the people were delivered from a great and eternal punishment, and He died not only for the Jewish people, but in order to gather together the rest of the children of God, that is, the Gentiles. He calls the Gentiles children of God, and calls them so either in relation to the future, inasmuch as they are to become children of God, just as in another place He says: "I have other sheep also" (John 10:16), calling them so in relation to the future, or because He is the Father of all, Who begat us in a creative way, and because He honored us, creating us in His image and likeness, like the Apostle Paul, according to the Book of Acts (17:29), in his discourse to the Athenians he says: "Therefore we are the offspring of God." And so, since man is a living creature higher and God-like, then everyone is called a child of God, And so, we, scattered (for Satan separated people from one another and from God in many ways, disposing each one to rage against his neighbor for love of riches and glory), Christ brought us together, gathering into one Church and under one yoke, and making those near and far one body, that he who is in Rome should consider the inhabitants of India as his members and confess Christ as the one Head of all. "From this day on, they decided to kill Jesus." This means that from that day on, they were especially and finally confirmed in this intention. They had planned murder before, but weakly, and the matter was more a question than a decision, and now the final trial and decisive sentence took place. And before they sought to kill Him (John 5:18), and He Himself, rebuking them, said: "Why do you seek to kill Me?" (John 7:19). Notice the power of the high priestly dignity, how full it is of the grace of the Spirit, although those who bear it are unworthy. And I beseech thee, honor the chief priests according to the grace that dwells in them, and not according to their arbitrariness. Not only Caiaphas prophesied, but also many other unworthy people knew the future, for example, Pharaoh about the harvest and the failure of the harvest (Gen. 45:17-32), Nebuchadnezzar about kingdoms and Christ (Dan. 2:28-45) and Balaam about Christ (Num. 24:17). And not everyone who prophesies can be called a prophet, but every prophet prophesies. Just as not everyone who does something medical is already a doctor, but he who does medical things according to his medical title can be a doctor. Likewise, the righteous are not the one who does anything just, but the one who does righteousness according to what is said: "Persecute righteously" (Deuteronomy 16:20). Caiaphas also prophesies in this way, but not in the prophetic mood of the Spirit, and therefore not a prophet.