He does not wish to make her blameless and virtuous against her will and by force; nor would it be a virtue; it must be persuaded to become so freely and voluntarily; and this is much more difficult than bodily healing. But He did this too, and drove away every kind of evil. And just as in healing the bodies, He restored them not only to health, but also to the most perfect well-being, so He not only freed the souls from extreme sinfulness, but also raised them to the very summit of virtue. Thus the publican became an apostle; the persecutor, blasphemer, and annoyer was the preacher of the universe; the Magi became teachers of the Jews; the thief turned out to be an inhabitant of paradise; the harlot was famous for her great faith; the Canaanite woman and the Samaritan woman — the one, being also a prostitute, took upon herself the preaching of her fellow countrymen and, having carried away the whole city, led it to Christ, and the other, by faith and patience, achieved the expulsion of the evil demon from the soul of her daughter. Still others, much worse than these, soon joined the number of disciples. Everything suddenly changed in its form: bodily ailments, spiritual illnesses were transformed into health and the most perfect virtue; and moreover, not two or three men, not five or ten, not twenty or only a hundred, but whole cities and nations were converted with great rapidity. And who can depict the wisdom of the rules, the perfection of the heavenly laws, the order of life equal to the angels? He has introduced among us such a way of life, laid down such laws for us, established such morals, that those who adopt them soon become angels and like God, as far as it is possible for us to do so, even though in themselves they are worse than all men.

3. Citing all these miracles — miracles in bodies, miracles in souls, miracles in the elements — commandments, ineffables, gifts higher than the heavens themselves, laws, order, power of persuasion, promises in the future, and finally, His sufferings — the Evangelist pronounced these wondrous and lofty words: "And the Word became flesh, full of grace and truth. And we have seen His glory, the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father." We are not only amazed at His miracles, but also at His sufferings, the way He was nailed to the cross, scourged, strangled, spat upon; how He endured blows on the head from the very ones who were favored by Him. Thus, and of all this, which seems humiliating, it is worthy to say the same saying, as the Evangelist himself calls all this glory. Indeed, all this was not only a matter of providence and love, but also of ineffable power. It was then that death was abolished, and the oath was destroyed, and the demons were put to shame, and the triumph over them was revealed, and the handwriting of our sins was nailed to the cross. But while these miracles were performed invisibly, there were others, visible ones, which showed that He was truly the only-begotten Son of God and Lord of all creation. When His blessed body was still hanging on the cross, the sun hid its rays, the earth shook and was covered with darkness, the tombs were opened, the bowels of the earth shook, and the great host of the dead arose and came to the city (Jerusalem). Then, when the stones were placed at the door of His tomb, and the seals were also applied, He, dead, crucified, nailed, arose, and having filled His eleven disciples with some invincible and divine power, sent them to all men, throughout the whole world, to heal their common nature, to correct their way of life, to spread throughout the whole earth the knowledge of the heavenly teaching, to destroy the power of demons, to reveal great and ineffable blessings, to proclaim to us the immortality of the soul and the eternal life of the body, rewards that surpass all understanding and can never end. And so, the blessed Evangelist, imagining all this and more than this, which he himself knew, but did not dare to write (for even the world would not have contained what he himself says: "If it were to be written in detail, I think the world itself would not be able to contain the books that have been written" (John 21:25) — all this, I say, imagining, he exclaimed: "And the Word was made flesh, full of grace and truth. And we have seen His glory, the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father." And to those who have been vouchsafed to see and hear such great miracles and have received such a great gift, it behooves them also to show a life worthy of teaching, in order to be vouchsafed good things to come. For this reason our Lord Jesus Christ came, that we might see His glory not only here, but also in the age to come. That is why He said: "I would that where I am, they also should be with Me, that they might see My glory" (John 17:24). If His glory here was so brilliant and majestic, then what can be said about His glory? It will no longer be revealed on a perishable earth, not before beings clothed in mortal bodies, such as we are now, but in an incorruptible and immortal creation, and with a greatness that no word can depict. Oh, blessed, thrice blessed and infinitely blessed are those who are worthy to behold this glory! The prophet says of it: "Let the wicked perish, let him not see the glory of the Lord" (Isaiah 26:10). But let it not be that any of us should be rejected and never be worthy to see it! And if we do not enjoy it, then it will be fair to say of us: it would be better if we were not born. What do we live for? Why do we breathe? Why do we exist, if we do not attain such contemplation, if none of us will then be allowed to behold our Lord? If those who do not see the light of the sun spend their lives more bitterly than any death, how should those who are deprived of that light suffer? Here this deprivation is the only misfortune, and there it is not only this; however, even if this misfortune had been the same, the punishment would not have been the same, but the future is all the more difficult than the present, since the Sun is incomparably more excellent than this one; and, besides, we must expect another execution. Whoever is not worthy to see that light will not only be cast into darkness, but will also burn in a continuous fire, fade away in it, gnash his teeth and endure other innumerable sufferings. Therefore, let us not be negligent about ourselves, and for short-term negligence and carelessness let us not subject ourselves to eternal punishment; but let us be vigilant and sober, let us do and arrange everything in such a way as to be worthy of that (eternal) delight and to be delivered from the river of fire, which flows with great noise before the dreadful judgment seat. And whoever once falls into it will have to remain there forever, and no one will deliver him from torment - neither father, nor mother, nor brother. The prophets also cry out for this; one says: "A man will not redeem his brother in any way, nor will he give God a ransom for him" (Psalm 48:8). And Ezekiel says even more: "And if there had been three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, these three men would have saved neither sons nor daughters" (Ezekiel 14:14-16). There is only one defense — protection by deeds; and whoever does not have it cannot be saved by any other means. Therefore, with all this constantly in mind and reflection, let us purify our life and make it bright, so that we may boldly behold the Lord and attain the promised blessings, through the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONVERSATION 13

"John bears witness to Him, and exclaiming, he says, 'This was He of Whom I said, that He who came after me stood before me, because He was before me' (John 1:15).

1. The inattention of the hearers does not deprive the preacher of his reward. — Why Ev. Does John often refer to the testimony of St. John the Baptist? — 2 and 3. The Significance of the Testimony of St. John the Baptist. — 4. There is nothing more beautiful than a right life. — Rejection of gifts brought from ill-acquired possessions.

1. Do we not labor in vain? Do we not sow on stones, or do not seeds fall on the way and in thorns, beyond our hope? I am very anxious and afraid that agriculture will not remain barren for us, not because I myself may suffer a loss in the reward of this labor. The work of teachers is not the same as that of farmers. The farmer, often after a year's work, after such exhaustion and perspiration, if the land does not bring anything worth the labor, cannot find any consolation for his labors from anyone else, but returns home from the field with shame and sorrow, to his wife and children, having no right to demand recompense from anyone for his long labors. But nothing like that can happen to us. Let the cultivated land bear no fruit; if only we on our part will do our best, the Lord of the earth and our Lord will not allow us to remain with vain hopes, but will grant us retribution. "Everyone," it is said, "will receive his reward according to his work" (1 Cor. 3:8), and not according to the outcome of his works. And that this is so, listen: "But you," it is said, "the son of man, speak my words to them, whether they will hear or not" (Ezek. 2:6). And through the same Ezekiel we can learn this: if the watchman foretold what to flee and what to choose, then he delivered his soul, even though no one listened to him [11]. Nevertheless, having this strong consolation, confident of the reward for our labors, we, when we do not see success in the matter of your salvation, feel no better than those farmers who groan, shed tears, and hide themselves in shame. Here is the teacher's complicity, here is the father's care. Thus Moses, though he might have been delivered from the ungrateful Jews, and had become a still more glorious progenitor of another and much more numerous people ("Leave me," God said to him, "and I will destroy them, and I will make a great nation out of you," Exodus 32:10, for Moses was a holy man, a servant of God, a friend, near and faithful to God), yet he could not hear such words, and he wished rather to perish with the people once entrusted to him, than to be saved without them and receive a more important dignity. Such should be a shower driver. It would be strange if someone, having bad children, wished to be called the father of others, rather than those who were born of him; It would be so strange if we, too, were to constantly exchange the disciples entrusted to us from one to another, to arrogate to ourselves the authority over one or the other, and to have no sincere affection for anyone. However, let there never be such suspicions about you. We are convinced that you abound in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, in love for one another and for all. And this we say with the intention of stirring you up to increase your zeal and to increase more and more virtue in your life. In this way you will be able to penetrate your mind to the very depths of the teaching we have offered, if, i.e., sinful impurity does not darken the eyes of the mind and does not harm its vigilance and sharpness. So, what do we offer today? "John testifies of Him, and exclaiming, he says, 'This was the One of Whom I said, that He who came after me stood before me, because He was before me.'" Repeatedly the evangelist, both above and below, turns to John and in many places presents his testimony. But he does not do this in vain, but very wisely. Since all the Jews had great respect for this man (Joseph even ascribes war to his death and proves that because of him the capital city once ceased to be a city, and in general speaks much in praise of him), the Evangelist, wishing to shame the Jews in his name, often reminds them of the testimony of the Forerunner. Other Evangelists mention the most ancient prophets, and at every circumstance in His (Christ's) life they refer the listener to them. Thus, when He is born, the Evangelist says: "All these things have come to pass, that it may be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet" (Isaiah), "who says, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son" (Matt. 1:22, 23). When He is subjected to evil designs, and is searched everywhere with such care that even immature age is slain by Herod, they bring Jeremiah, who says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and weeping, and a great cry; Rachel weeps for her children" (Matt. 2:18; Jeremiah 31:15). When He returns from Egypt again, they remember Hosea, who also says: "Out of Egypt I have called My Son" (Matt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1). This is what other evangelists do in all cases. And this Evangelist (John), who preaches in a voice more exalted than the others, presents the clearest and closest testimonies, and cites not only those who have departed and died, but also a modern witness, who pointed to Him who had already come (the Lord) and baptized Him, — not in order to give more credibility to the words of the Lord by the testimony of the servant, but condescending to the weakness of the hearers, because, if the Lord had not taken the form of a servant, He would not have been easily accepted, so if the voice of the servant had not predisposed the ears of His fellow servants to Himself, then many of the Jews would not have received His word.

2. Moreover, something else was arranged here, worthy of wonder. Whoever says anything great about himself makes his own testimony suspicious, and often in this way turns many of his hearers against him; therefore another comes to bear witness to him. On the other hand, the majority usually flock to a voice that is more familiar and familiar, since they know it more than any other. That is why the voice from heaven was only once or twice, but the voice of John was often and many. Those who stood above the infirmities of the people renounced all sensual things, only they could hear the voice from above and did not have much need of the human voice, since in everything they obeyed the voice on high and were led by them. But those who were still circulating in the valley were covered with many veils, — they had need of a lower voice. Thus John himself, having already completely renounced all sensual things, did not need instruction from men, but received instruction from heaven. "He who sent me to baptize in water," he says, "said to me, On whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33). Meanwhile, the Jews, being still children and unable to rise to such a height, had as their teacher a man who, however, did not speak to them his own, but proclaimed the highest revelations. And so, what does (the Evangelist) say? "John testifies of Him, and shouting, he speaks." What does it mean, "shouting"? It means: he preaches boldly, freely, without any fear. And what does he preach? What does it testify to and cry out? "This was He of Whom I said, that He who came after me stood before me, because He was before me." The testimony is somewhat hidden and not yet very sublime. He does not say: this is the only-begotten Son of God; And what? "This was He of Whom I said, that He who came after me stood before me, because He was before me." Just as birds do not teach their young to fly all at once and not in one day, but first lead them only out of their nest, then, having given them rest, continue their flight, and the next day they add still more, and in this way, imperceptibly, little by little, raise them to the proper height, — in the same way, blessed John does not suddenly raise the Jews to the things above, but little by little he teaches them to soar from the earth, saying that Christ was higher than him (the Forerunner). And this was not a small thing, so that the hearers could believe that the man, who had not yet appeared to them and had not yet performed miracles, surpassed John, a man so wondrous and glorious, to whom everyone flocked and who was revered as an angel. And yet it was John who tried to confirm in the thoughts of his listeners that he who is witnessed is greater than the one who testifies, who has come after what has come before, who has not yet been seen more than what is known and glorified. And see how intelligently he pronounces his testimony. He indicates not only Him who has appeared, but even before His appearance He preaches about Him. Such is the meaning of his words: "This was the One of whom I spoke," just as Matthew relates that to all who came to him (John) he said: "I baptize you in water for repentance, but He who comes after me is stronger than I; I am not worthy to bear His shoes" (Matt. 3:11). But why did he do this even before the appearance (of the Lord)? So that the testimony of the one who appeared could be accepted all the more conveniently, when the thought of the listeners had already been prepared for it by the words of John, and so that His humiliated appearance would not harm this testimony. For if the Jews had seen Christ Himself without having previously heard anything about Christ and had not received this wondrous and great testimony about Him in the words of John, then the wretched appearance of Christ would immediately become in contradiction with the greatness of His words. And He clothed Himself in such a humble and ordinary form for all, that the Samaritan women, and prostitutes, and tax collectors dared to approach Him with great freedom and entered into conversation with Him.

3. And so, I said, if the Jews had heard the conversation at the same time and seen (Christ) Himself, they might have laughed at John's testimony. But since they had already heard much about Christ before His appearance, and their attention was aroused by what was said about Him, the opposite happened to them: they no longer rejected the teaching, judging by the appearance of Him of Whom John testified, but, believing what had already been said, they recognized Him as even more glorious than John. The expression: "He who comes after me" means: he who has to preach after me, and he who does not come after me. This is also indicated in Matthew by the words: "He that cometh after me" (Matt. 3:11), referring not to His birth from Mary, but to His coming to preach. If it had been said of birth, it would not have been said, "coming," but "came," because Christ had already been born at the time John said this. And what does it mean: "he became ahead of me"? That he is more glorious, more honorable than I. "Do not think that I am greater than Him, because I have just come before Him to preach; I am much less than Him, and so much less, that I am not worthy to be among His servants." Thus the words, "stood before me," mean the same thing that Matthew expresses in another way, saying, "I am not worthy to bear His shoes." And that the words: "He stood before me" are not said about His origin, is evident from the addition. If John had wanted to speak of origin, the addition "stood before me" would have been superfluous. And who is so stupid and senseless that he does not understand that his former is before him? If, however, in this saying the pre-eternal being is understood, then it does not mean anything else, as well as the words: "He who comes after me has gone before me." But in such a case it would be said unreasonably, and such a reason would be applied in vain. If he wanted to show this, then he should have said: "For me he who comes before me is first, as he was before me." Whoever came before, for this reason, may justly be said to be before the other; and if one is only before the other, this is not the reason that he occurred before that. And what we are saying now has its firm foundation. You all know, of course, that vague thoughts always need proof, and not clear thoughts. If it were a question of existence, it would not be incomprehensible that what happened before should be the first; but since John speaks of worthiness, he justly deals with the solution of the perplexity that arises. And probably many were perplexed, why and on what basis did he who came after such an advance, i.e., turn out to be more venerable? To such a question he immediately gives a reason; and the reason is that Christ in being is before him (John). "It was not because of any success," he says, "that Christ left me, who came before him, behind him, and stood before him: He is before me, although he comes after me."

But, you will say, if this was said about the appearance (of Christ) to people and about His subsequent glorification among them, then how does he speak of that which has not yet come to an end, as of what has already happened? He did not say, "He will," but, "He was." But it was the custom of the ancient prophets to speak of future events as if they had already taken place. Thus, Isaiah, speaking of His death, did not say that He would be led like a sheep to the slaughter, in the future tense, but: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7). He had not yet incarnated at that time; and the prophet speaks of the future event as having already come to pass. And David, making the sign of the cross, did not say, "They shall pierce my hands and my feet," but, "They shall pierce my hands and my feet." And: "They divide my garments among themselves, and cast lots for my garments" (Psalm 21:17, 19). Speaking of the traitor who has not yet been born, he expresses himself thus: "He who ate my bread lifted up his heel against me" (Psalm 40:10). In a similar way, he speaks of what happened on the cross: "And they gave me gall to eat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Psalm 68:22).

4. Do you want us to go on, or is that enough? I think so. True, we did not develop this section along its entire width, but we penetrated into its depths; and in this one there is no less work; moreover, we are afraid lest, by detaining you beyond measure, we will weaken your zeal. Let us therefore conclude the discourse in the proper way. And in what proper way? With praise befitting God. But it behooves God to praise not only in words, but much more in deeds themselves. "Let your light so shine," it is said, "before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). And truly, beloved, there is nothing more luminous than a good way of life. Expressing this, one of the wise says: "The path of the righteous is like a shining light" (Proverbs 4:18). They not only shine for those who kindle light in their deeds, but also lead their neighbors to the right path. Let us pour oil into these lamps, so that the fire may rise higher and the light may appear in abundance. This oil not only has much power now, but when the sacrifices were still in use, it greatly exceeded their power. "Mercy," it is said, "I desire, and not sacrifice" (Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13): and quite rightly. That altar is soulless; and this one is animate [12]. There, everything laid on the altar is made a prey to fire, turns to ashes, dissolves into ashes and dust, and the smoke is dispersed in the air; There is nothing like that here, and the fruits are different. This is also shown by Paul. Speaking of the wealth of love for the poor among the Corinthians, he wrote: "For the work of this ministry not only makes up for the poverty of the saints, but also produces in many abundant thanksgiving to God." And then: "They glorify God for their obedience to the Gospel of Christ which you confess, and for their sincere fellowship with them and with all, praying for you, according to their affection towards you" (2 Corinthians 9:12-14). Do you see what kind of love for the poor is permitted in thanksgiving and praise to God, in fervent prayers and in the most ardent love of those who have received a good deed? Let us, beloved, offer sacrifices, let us offer on these altars every day. These sacrifices are more important than prayers, fasts, and many other deeds, as long as they are offered from the gain of righteousness and the same labors, and are pure from all covetousness, theft, and violence. Such offerings are accepted by God, and others, the opposite, are rejected and hated. He does not want us to honor Him as victims of other people's misfortunes. Such sacrifices are unclean and unseemly, and would rather anger than propitiate God. Therefore, we must take every care not to offend Him whom we wish to honor under the guise of service. If Cain, having brought to God the worst that he had, and in doing so did not show unrighteousness to anyone else, was subjected to extreme punishment, then shall we not suffer a more grievous punishment when we offer something of theft and covetousness? That is why God has revealed to us this kind of commandment [13], so that we should have mercy on our fellow servants, and not torture them. And whoever takes what belongs to others and gives it to another, does not have mercy, but offends and shows extreme injustice. As a stone does not produce oil from itself, so does hardness of heart produce love for mankind. Almsgiving, which has such a root, is not yet mercy. Therefore, I urge you to pay attention not only to giving to the needy, but also to ensure that this alms is not a theft from others, since "when one prays and another curses, whose voice will the Lord hear" (Sirach 34:24)? If we behave so carefully, then, by the grace of God, we will be able to receive from God great love for mankind, mercy and forgiveness in all that we have sinned in the course of this long time, and to escape the river of fire, from which we may all be taken away and reach the kingdom of heaven, by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with Whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

CONVERSATION 14

"And of His fulness we have all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16).

1. What we have received from the fulness of Jesus Christ. — 2. The difference between the old and the new law. — The meaning of the words: "grace upon grace." "God always precedes us with His blessings. — 3 and 4. The prototypes of the Old Testament received their fulfillment in the New. — Explanation of some of these types. "In public competitions, not those who have been defeated are encouraged to compete, but only courageous fighters. On the contrary, in spiritual feats both are encouraged and inspired equally, because those who have suffered defeat can recover and still gain victory. "The bitterness of medicines should not discourage anyone: their benefits will be revealed later. Both sinners and the righteous are in need of medicines, corrections, and good edification.