1. If you remember our former reflections, we will be more willing to continue our edification, receiving much benefit from it for ourselves. As soon as you have memorized what you have read, then our word will be more intelligible to you, and it will not require much effort from us, because you, with your curiosity, can already delve deeper into further teaching. Whoever always loses (from memory) what has been taught to him will always need a teacher and will never learn anything. And whoever keeps everything he has received and adds further (instructions) to it, he can soon become a teacher from a disciple and will be useful not only for himself, but also for others. I hope that this will be the coming meeting, and I conclude it from his great zeal for listening. Therefore, in your souls, as in a safe storehouse, we will put the silver of the Lord, and, as far as the grace of the Spirit helps, we will explain the reading offered to us today. The Evangelist, speaking of former times, said: "The world did not know Him"; further, turning his speech to the time of the sermon itself, he says: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him." "His own" here he calls the Jews, as a special people, or all people, as descended from this people. And just as above, grieving over the foolishness of many people and ashaming the general spirit (of the time), he said that he did not know the Creator of the world that came through Him, so here, indignant at the ingratitude of the Jews and many others, he utters an even more grievous condemnation, saying: "His own did not receive Him," whereas He came to them. But not only the Evangelist, but also the prophets said the same thing with amazement, and finally, Paul, amazed at the same. Thus the prophets cried, speaking in the name of Jesus Christ: "A people whom I did not know serve me; by the mere rumor of me they obey me; foreigners caress me before me; the foreigners turn pale and tremble in their fortifications" (Psalm 17:44-46). And in another place: "Thus shall he cause many nations to be amazed; for they will see what was not spoken to them, and they will know what they have not heard" (Isaiah 52:15). Also: "I have revealed myself to those who have not inquired about Me; Those who have not sought Me have found Me" (65:1). And Paul in his Epistle to the Romans said: "What then? Israel did not get what they sought; but the elect have received" (Romans 11:7). And in another place: "What shall we say? The Gentiles who did not seek righteousness received righteousness. But Israel, which sought the law of righteousness, did not reach the law of righteousness" (Romans 9:30, 31). Truly, it is surprising how the Jews, who were brought up on the books of the prophets, who listened every day to Moses, who speaks very much about the coming of Christ, as well as to the other prophets who came after him, and finally saw Christ Himself, Who performed miracles for them every day, only conversed with them, and how He did not yet allow the disciples to "go not into the way of the Gentiles," or to enter into any Samaritan city, he himself did not do this, and often said that he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, — as, I say, the Jews, having received so many signs, hearing every day the prophets and Christ himself with His constant suggestions, so blinded and deafened themselves, that nothing could lead them to faith in Christ.

Meanwhile, the pagans, having nothing of the kind in their possession, never having heard the divine pronouncements, even, so to speak, even in their sleep, were always occupied only with the ravings of insane people (such is the pagan philosophy), re-read the idle talk of the poets, were attached to trees and stones, and knew nothing sound and useful either in beliefs or in the rules of life; and their life was even more impure and criminal than their teaching. And how could it be otherwise, when they saw that their gods found pleasure in every vice, that they were honored with shameful words and still more shameful deeds, and received this as a feast and honor; moreover, they are honored with abominable murders and the murder of children, and in this people imitated the gods. But despite the fact that they had descended to such a depth of evil, suddenly, as if by some kind of machine, they rose to the heights and appeared to us, shining from the very top of the heavens. How did this happen and why? Listen to what Paul says about this. The blessed Apostle, carefully examining these circumstances, did not abandon them until he had found the reason and explained it to all. What is this reason? And why were the Jews so blind? Listen to what he himself says about this, he to whom this economy was entrusted. What does he say to resolve such a misunderstanding of many? "Not understanding," he says, "the righteousness of God, and striving to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3). That is why they were subjected to such misfortune. And in another place, expounding the same thing in a different way, the Apostle says: "What shall we say? The Gentiles, who did not seek righteousness, received righteousness, righteousness from faith. But Israel, which sought the law of righteousness, did not reach the law of righteousness. Why? for [they sought] not in faith, but in the works of the law. For they have stumbled against a stumbling block" (Romans 9:30-32). This means that the unbelief of the Jews was the cause of evil for them, and unbelief came from arrogance. At first they had more than the Gentiles, namely, they received the law, had the knowledge of God, and so on, as Paul speaks. But after the coming of Christ, as soon as they saw that both they and the Gentiles were equally called to salvation by faith, and that in the matter of faith the circumcised had no advantage over the convert from the Gentiles, then they passed from pride to envy and could not endure the great and ineffable love of mankind of the Lord. And this happened in them from nothing else but arrogance, anger and misanthropy.

2. What harm has this care (of the Lord) done to you, most senseless of men, done to others? Have your benefits diminished by the fact that others have participated in them? But truly anger is blind and cannot soon understand anything just. Tormented by the thought that others would share in the same rights, they turned the sword on themselves and deprived themselves of God's love for mankind. But justice demanded it. It is said: "Friend! I do not offend you, but I want to give this last one [the same] as I do to you" (Matt. 20:13, 14). But they are not worth even these words. The hireling (mentioned in the Gospel), although vexed, could at least point out his labors during the whole day, the hardship, heat and sweat; What could they say? Nothing; in them there was only carelessness, intemperance, and a multitude of vices, of which all the prophets constantly denounced them, and with which they, as well as the pagans, offended God. Pointing to this, Paul said: "There is no difference" between Jew and Greek. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely, according to His grace" (Romans 3:23, 24). But this subject is usefully and very wisely expounded by the Apostle in a whole chapter of the Epistle. And before that, he also shows that the Jews are even more worthy of punishment: "Those who have sinned under the law," he says, "will be condemned according to the law" (Rom. 2:12), i.e. the judgment is more severe, since, in addition to nature, they have the law as an accuser. And not only because of this, but also because they were the cause of blasphemy against God among the pagans. "For your sake," it is said, "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles" (Isaiah 52:5; Rom. 2:22). This especially irritated them, so that even those who believed from circumcision thought this circumstance strange; wherefore they accused Peter, when he returned to them from Caesarea, for having entered into fellowship with uncircumcised men, and of eating with them; and even after they understood the predestination of God, they were still amazed at how the gifts of the Holy Spirit were poured out on the Gentiles, expressing with this amazement that they had never expected such a strange thing. And so, knowing that this especially wounded them, the apostle directs everything to destroy their pride and suppress their too haughty arrogance. And see how he does this: after discourse on the Gentiles, having shown that they have no justification in anything, nor hope of salvation, and having carefully denounced also their perverse teaching and the impurity of their lives, he transfers his word to the Jews. After repeating all that the prophet said about them, that they are criminal, and deceitful, and deceitful, and that they are all useless, and not one of them seeks God, but all have deviated, and so on, the Apostle adds: "We know that the law, if it speaks, speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is stopped, and the whole world becomes guilty before God. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:19, 23). Why do you exalt yourself, Jew? Why do you think a lot about yourself? Your mouth is stopped, your self-confidence is destroyed, and you are subject to judgment along with the whole world, and, like others, have need of justification. Therefore, even though you were right according to the law and had much boldness before God, you should not envy those who could be pardoned and saved by God's love for mankind. It is extremely bad to be upset by the well-being of others, and especially when it is not combined with damage to yourself. If the salvation of others were to harm your well-being, you would have reason to be grieved, even though this is not characteristic of a man who has learned to be wise. But if neither the punishment of others multiplies your rewards, nor does prosperity diminish them, why do you torment yourself, only because another is saved? As I have said, you should not have been irritated by the fact that salvation had been granted to the Gentiles by grace, even though you yourself were one of the people worthy of approval. But when you, being guilty of the same thing (as a heathen) before the Lord, and having incurred His wrath upon yourself, are still vexed at the well-being of others, and think so much of yourself as if you alone had a right to the communion of grace, then you are subject more than all others to grievous torments, not only for envy and arrogance, but also for extreme recklessness. You have grown in yourself the root of all evil – arrogance. That is why one wise man said: "The beginning of sin is pride" (Sir. 10:15), i.e. the root, the source, the mother. Thus, through it, the primordial man was deprived of his blissful state; Through it, the devil who had deceived him fell from the height of his dignity. This abominable creature, learning that this sin could cast down from heaven itself, chose this path to deprive Adam of so great an honor. By puffing him up with the promise of equality with God, he thus overthrew him and threw him into the very depths of hell. Truly, nothing so alienates from the love of God and exposes to the fire of hell as the predominance of arrogance. When it is in us, then our whole life becomes impure, even if we strive in chastity, celibacy, fasting, prayers, almsgiving, and other virtues. "An abomination," it is said, "is everyone who is haughty in heart before the Lord" (Prov. 16:5). Therefore, if we want to be pure and free from the punishment prepared for the devil, let us curb the arrogance of the spirit in ourselves, let us cut off arrogance. And that the proud must suffer the same punishment (with the devil), listen to what Paul says about this: "He must not be of the new converts, lest he become proud and fall into condemnation with the devil" (1 Tim. 3:6). How to avoid this disaster? Let us avoid it if we reflect on our nature, on the multitude of sins, on the greatness of future torments, on the fact that everything that seems brilliant here is temporary, no better than grass and withers faster than spring flowers. If we often arouse such thoughts in ourselves and bring to mind people who have performed great feats, then the devil will not be able to easily puff us up, no matter how much he intensifies, he will not even be able to stumble us at the first steps. But may God, the God of the humble, good and merciful, Himself give you and us a contrite and humble heart. In this way, we will be able to easily accomplish all other things to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and to the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

DISCOURSE 10

"He came to his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11).

1. God does not force or constrain our free will. — 2. What does it mean: "I came to my own"? — That those who did not want to accept Jesus Christ are punished enough by this very act and the consequences of this refusal. — The grace-filled effect of baptism. — 3. That it is entirely up to us to preserve the purity of our baptism. — Punishment for those who defile the garments received at baptism. Faith and purity of life are necessary for salvation. — What clothes should be put on those who are called to the royal wedding feast?

1. God, the Lover of mankind and the Benefactor, creates all things and arranges all things, beloved, so that we may shine with virtue. And desiring that we should be pious, He calls and draws to Himself all who wish to do so, without any coercion or compulsion, but only by persuasion and benevolence. Therefore, when He came, some received Him, and others did not. He does not want to have anyone as His slave against His will or under compulsion; but He wants everyone to serve Him freely and voluntarily and to know the sweetness of serving Him. Men, having need of the service of work, bind them by the law of slavery and against their will; and God, having no need of anything, any needs similar to ours, creates everything only for the sake of our salvation, and in this He makes us our own masters. Therefore, He does not subject those who do not want to be subjected to any violence or coercion; He means only our benefit. And to be carried away to serve against one's will is the same as not to serve at all. Why, you will say, does He punish those who do not obey Him? Why does Gehenna threaten those who do not listen to His commandments? This is because, being abundantly good, He has great care for us, even when we do not obey Him, and does not depart even when we withdraw and flee from Him. And since we deviated from the original path of benevolence, that is, we did not want to follow the path of persuasion and well-being, He led us along a different path – punishments and torments – a path, of course, very difficult, but inevitable. When the first path is neglected, then it is necessary to follow the other of necessity.

If we revere and love such lawgivers, should we not revere God much more and love Him for such great care for us? And the difference between the care of the former and God's providence for us is infinite. Truly, the riches of His goodness are ineffable and surpass all understanding. Note, then, that He "came to His own," not for any need of His own (for, as I have said, the Godhead needs nothing), but for His own benevolence. In spite of this, "their own" did not accept, but rejected Him Who came to them for their own benefit; moreover, they drove Him out of the vineyard, and killed Him (Luke 20:15). And in spite of all this, He did not prevent them from repenting, but gave them the opportunity, if only they themselves wished, even after that iniquity, to cleanse all their sins by faith in Him and to be equal to those who did nothing of the kind and were more pleasing to Him than others. And that I say this not without reason and not in jest, all the circumstances of Blessed Paul also give clear testimony. He persecuted Christ after His crucifixion, and killed His witness Stephen by the hands of many others; but when he repented, condemned his former sins, and turned to Him Whom He persecuted, He immediately numbered him among His friends, and moreover the foremost, and made him a persecutor, blasphemer, and insulter, a preacher and teacher of the whole universe.

To this end, here and there he mentions his persecutions, slanders and militias against the Church; in one place he says: "I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Cor. 15:9); in another: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first" (1 Tim. 1:15); in the third: "You have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, that I persecuted the church of God with cruelty, and desolate it" (Gal. 1:13).

2. Thus Paul, as if in a kind of recompense to Christ for his long-suffering towards him, showing whom, what hostile and hostile man (the Lord) had saved, with great boldness he proclaims the battle which he had at first raised up with all zeal against Christ. At the same time, it inspires good hopes in those who despair of themselves. Christ, he says, had mercy on him for this very reason, that in him He might be the first to show all the long-suffering and abundant riches of His goodness, as an example to those who were afterwards able to believe in Him for eternal life, even though their sins exceeded all hope of forgiveness. Pointing to this, the Evangelist also says: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him." Whence came He who fills all things and is everywhere? What place has He taken away His presence, Who holds all things in His hand and rules over all things? He did not leave any place (how is this possible?). And this was accomplished by His condescension to us. Since He, being in the world, did not seem to be in the world, because He was unknown, but finally revealed Himself, deigning to put on our flesh, it is this very appearance and condescension that the Evangelist calls His coming. It is surprising that the disciple is not ashamed of the humiliation of his Teacher, but boldly describes the insult inflicted on Him: and this is no small proof of his truth-loving spirit. However, if he is ashamed, then he must be ashamed of those who inflicted it, and not of Him Who suffered the offense. He was all the more glorified because even after such an insult He so cared for His offenders; but they turned out to be ungrateful and contemptible before everyone, because they rejected Him Who came to them with such blessings as an enemy and adversary. And not only did they harm themselves, but also because they did not receive what those who received Him achieved. And what did the latter get? "And to those who received Him He gave power to become children of God" (v. 12). But why do you, blessed one, not tell us about the punishment of those who did not receive Him, but only say that they were "their own" and did not receive Him who came "to their own"? And what they will suffer for this, what punishment they will suffer, you have not added. Perhaps by this means you would frighten them more and soften the coarseness of their arrogance by threat.

Now he speaks of the unspeakable blessings granted to those who have received the Lord, and briefly depicts these blessings in the following words: "And to those who received Him He gave power to become children of God." Be they slaves or freemen, Greeks or barbarians or Scythians, even if they are unwise or wise, wives or husbands, children or elders, ignoble or noble, rich or poor, rulers or commoners, all, says the Evangelist, are honored with the same honor. Faith and the grace of the Spirit, having eliminated the inequality of worldly merits, gave them all the same appearance, imprinted on all of them one image – the royal one. What can be compared with such philanthropy? The Only-begotten Son of God did not disdain to number among the children – the publicans, the Magi, the slaves, and the most unimportant people, many still with damaged limbs of the body and with many defects. Such is the power of faith in Him, such is the greatness of grace! Just as fire, having penetrated into the earth, in which there is metal, immediately produces gold from it, so an even better baptism makes those who are washed by it from perishable to gold, when the Spirit, in the likeness of fire, penetrates into our souls and, burning in them the "image of the earthly," wears out, as it were, from a furnace, the "image of heaven," a new, bright, brilliant image. But why did the Evangelist not say: "He created them children of God," but says: "He gave them the power to become children of God"? In order to show how much care is needed to preserve throughout life in purity and undamaged the image of adoption that is imprinted in us at baptism; and at the same time, to show that no one can take away such power from us, unless we deprive ourselves of it beforehand. If those who receive authority from men in any house have almost the same power as those who have given it to them, how much more shall we, having received such honor from God, unless we do anything unworthy of this authority, be stronger than all, because the highest and most perfect is He who has given us such dignity. Again, he wants to show that grace does not come in any other way than to those who themselves desire and care about acquiring it. To such people belongs the realm of becoming children. And if people themselves do not have a desire beforehand, then the gift does not come, and grace does not produce anything in them.

3. Thus, the Evangelist, everywhere rejecting compulsion and showing the freedom of will and the independence of man, expressed the same thing now. And in these very mysteries one belongs to God – to bestow grace, and the other to man – to show faith. But then a lot of care is required of a person: in order to preserve purity, it is not enough for us only to be baptized and believe; but if we wish to acquire perfect light, we must lead a life worthy of it. And this is what God has left to us. Our mysterious regeneration and cleansing from all previous sins is accomplished in baptism; but to remain pure in the time to come, and not to allow any defilement to come to us again, is envy of our will and solicitude. For this reason (the Evangelist) reminds us of the very method of (spiritual) birth and, by comparing it with bodily birth, shows its superiority, saying: "Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (v. 13). And he said this so that we, knowing the insignificance and humiliation of our first birth from the blood and lust of the flesh, comprehending on the contrary the importance and dignity of the second birth by grace, would have a high concept of it, a concept worthy of this gift from Him Who begets us in this way, and then on our part show great care for it. We must not be a little careful lest, by subsequent negligence and vices, we may defile this beautiful garment, and be expelled from the bridal chamber, like the five foolish virgins, or like one who did not have a wedding garment. And this man was also among the guests, and was invited; but, as after the invitation and such an honor, he showed disrespect to the one who invited him, then listen to what a miserable fate he suffers, and worthy of many tears. Having come to participate in the bright feast, he is not only expelled from the feast, but bound hand and foot, he is led into utter darkness, where he gives himself over to eternal and incessant weeping and gnashing of teeth. So, beloved, let us not consider faith alone sufficient for salvation. If we do not imagine a pure life, but appear in garments unbecoming of our blessed calling, then nothing will save us from the same sufferings with which that unfortunate man was subjected.