In the midst of the many sufferings of Jesus Christ, there is one bitter of all, it pierces His head more than a crown of thorns, it pierces His heart deeper than a spear, it tears Him more terribly than the nailing itself; it grieves His lips more bitterly than gall, it weighs Him down heavier than the cross; it kills Him faster than death... It is suffering to see man as the culprit of His passions and death, the work of His own hands! That is why we must shed tears, because we have crucified, we have killed our Lord. If someone else, and not us, were the author of His passions, we would have to grieve terribly, because no one else has suffered so much. How should we suffer and be crushed, knowing that we are the cause of His suffering?! We must weep both for His passion and for our ingratitude, we must shed tears – tears of compassion and contrition – and thus weep both for Christ and for ourselves... However, it is not for this purpose that I have ascended this sacred cathedra today... I know well that Christians, who now weep over the passions, await the resurrection of the Crucified One, in order to nail Him to the cross again.. And therefore I have not come here at all to stir up Christians to weep. I do not appreciate these fleeting tears, which do not flow from the depths of the heart and are not the fruit of true contrition... Let Christians better save their tears, so that they may weep for some damage in their affairs, or for the death of relatives, or out of envy of the well-being of their neighbors... Jesus does not need such tears! There is someone to grieve for Him for Whom Christians do not grieve! For Him the heavens mourn and cover its radiant face with the deepest darkness, for Him the sun mourns and darkens its rays. The earth grieves for Him, and in terror it trembles to its foundations, and opens the tombs and tears the veil of the temple from top to bottom. The crucifiers themselves grieve for Him... They flee, "beating their faces" (Luke 23:48)... No, I have not come to you to stir you up to weep! I intend only simply to explain to you the passion of Christ in three main senses. First: Who was the sufferer, then how much He suffered. If you listen, you will see infinite condescension in the face of the Sufferer, amazing long-suffering in the abyss of suffering, and boundless love in the very cause of suffering. And if you are not amazed at this condescension, if you are not filled with compassion in this long-suffering, if you remain insensible and ungrateful in the face of infinite love, then I will say that your heart is truly a stone, more cruel than those that fell apart at the death of Christ!

Let us now ascend to the mountain of the Lord, to the summit of Golgotha, in order to behold there a terrible sight. And in the midst of this terrible darkness that covers the face of the universe, may the most honorable tree of the life-giving Cross stand before us and show us the way! Where art thou, O three-blessed tree, watered with the life-giving blood of God nailed and increased our life? The altar of infinite price, on which the redemption of human salvation has now been accomplished! The most honorable throne, on which the new King of Israel triumphed over sin! The ladder of heaven, from which the Author of our salvation showed us the ascent to paradise! A pillar of fire that leads "many people" into the blessed land of God's promise! The Most Holy Cross, the confirmation of the Church, the praise of our faith! Once you were a tree of dishonor and death, now you are a tree of glory and life! The tormenting instrument of Christ's passion is now the three-blessed instrument of our salvation! Come and be with us in this sorrowful conversation — as our Jesus is nailed to you, so may our whole heart be nailed to you!

1

The whole foundation of our Orthodox faith is that He Who suffered, Who was nailed to the cross, Who died, was truly the Son of God. Let it be madness for the Greeks, let it be a temptation for the Jews — "we preach Christ... and He was crucified" (1 Cor. 1:23; 1 Cor. 2:2), according to the words of the Apostle. God incarnate was crucified for us! True, He suffered in the flesh – only in a human way, because as God He could not suffer. But since the flesh was hypostatically united to the Word of God, the human to the Divinity, and the flesh itself was masterfully deified, then the man who suffered for us was truly God! Truly, He was the Son of the Virgin and the Son of God – one Jesus, the God-Man. Therefore, just as it is true that He suffered as a man, it is also true that the man who suffered for us was God. The Most High God, the King of the ages, nevertheless deigned to receive the image of a slave, "being in the likeness of a man" (Phil. 2:7). The Most Holy God deigned to bear human sins and appear as a sinner. God, full of glory, full of power, full of immortality — and yet exhausted Himself, in the words of the Apostle Paul, appearing on earth without all the riches of His Divinity, in the weakness and poverty of human nature — "even unto death" (Phil. 2:40)... And this exhaustion is called by Gregory the Theologian as a kind of weakening and depreciation.

But was it really necessary to suffer, to be nailed to the cross, and to die to the Lord of glory? Was there no other means to save the human race? Truly amazing is the boundless condescension of God.. Zaleucus, king of Locrius, among others, made a law to deprive adulterers of both eyes, the law of just retribution: the light of the eyes, the most precious good of life, was to be deprived of him who encroached on the honor of another, also the most precious good. The first to break this law and be caught in adultery was the king's own son. And the most just sovereign sentences him to the punishment prescribed by law. Then all those close to him, the nobles, all the people begin to ask him to have mercy on his son, his successor and the heir of the kingdom. But the king stands firm in his decision and wishes to preserve the law rather than his son. The intercessions and requests, however, were so persistent that the tsar began little by little to soften and listen not only to the voice of justice, but also to the voice of fatherly love. Justice, he said, reasoning with himself, requires that my son, who turned out to be a lawbreaker, be blinded. But fatherly love disposes me to pity, because he is my child. If I neglect justice and do not punish properly, I will be an unjust judge. And if I suppress the feeling of fatherly love and punish him according to the law, I will turn out to be a heartless father. Oh, fate! If I was to be a father, why did you appoint me as a judge? O nature! If I am to be a judge, why did you give me a son? What is it? I hesitate... I am a fair judge, and the truth is blind and does not see the face of the criminal... What then must I condemn? I am a loving father, and love is also blind and does not look at the guilt of the criminal. I am a king... I can punish whenever I want, but as a king I can also forgive. How do I keep the law? How can I save my son? What should I do as an unfortunate judge and father? Is there any way to preserve the law and save my son? Eat! It is necessary to gouge out two eyes. Let one of my eyes be gouged out, and the other of my son. Let him give one eye as guilty, and the other I as a father! In this way, I will satisfy my truth, and calm the love of my father, keep my law and save my son from losing his sight, I will be both a just judge and a loving father!" Here it was necessary to gouge out two eyes; But in order to preserve the law and punish the crime on the one hand, and to spare the feeling of paternal love and preserve the sight of the criminal son, a solution was found that the father would give one eye, and the son the other. This is the most beautiful of all examples of the highest royal justice and paternal mercy. However, as a human example, it is infinitely far from being comparable to what the just and merciful God has done for our salvation!

From time immemorial, from the very beginning, in the paradise of sweetness, God's decree was inscribed on the tree of knowledge: if a person eats of it and thus violates God's commandment, death will immediately overtake him — "in the next day you take away from it, you will surely die" (Gen. 2:17). In the person of the forefather Adam we have all sinned — [in Adam] "all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). We have sinned by our forefathers and in addition by our own voluntary sin, so that we are all subject to God's curse, all are worthy of eternal torment. It remained for us to suffer the punishment we deserved, to lose both eyes, that is, both lives, physical and spiritual, if a way of deliverance had not been found. But what could this method consist of, when our duty to God is infinite? If thousands of such men as Moses or any of the prophets came to redeem us, if thousands of angels were incarnate and died for us in order to satisfy the truth of God, then the sacrifice of their blood, for it is also the blood of created beings, would not be sufficient, would be of limited and small value in comparison with our debt to the infinite Divinity. "There remained to be accomplished," theologizes St. Proclus, "one of two things: either all were to be condemned to death, because all had sinned; or a recompense of such a price as would be sufficient satisfaction of the debt. Man could not save himself, because he himself was subject to the debt of sin; nor could the angel redeem mankind because of his limitation for such an atonement. Man alone could not be saved, and God could not suffer." Two natures were needed – human and divine. Not only human, because it could not save by its suffering and death. Both the human and the Divine nature had to be united in one Person of the God-Man. This Person had to suffer and die according to His humanity, which is subject to suffering and death, but as a result of the union of the Divinity and the human in the one Person of the God-Man, this suffering and this death receive an infinite dignity, an infinite value. In this way, the payment of an endless debt could take place. So it had to be, and so it happened. On the one hand, God has given heed to His righteousness, which demanded retribution for our sin, because we have transgressed His commandment. "I will consume man, whom I have created" (Gen. 6:7). But, on the other hand, God heard the voice of His mercy, interceding for our forgiveness, because we are the work of His hands. "I live in Az... I do not desire the death of a sinner" (Ezek. 33:11). God, as the righteous Judge, wants to preserve His law, and at the same time, as the humane Creator, desires to save His creation. What will He do, Judge and Father, God and Creator? His infinite wisdom found the means to preserve the law and save His creation...

Here, He said, two natures are necessary: the Divine and the human. May mankind give one thing with mortal flesh, and I will give another, God's Word. From the union of the two natures will come one Person – the God-man: the perfect man and the perfect God. Let him suffer, let him die! He will die as a man, and His shed blood will be the wages of sin; but since the dying man will also be God, this retribution will be of infinite value. In this way, My mercy will rejoice, because by the blood of man alone the rest of mankind will be redeemed. My truth will also be satisfied, because by the blood of the God-Man an endless debt is redeemed. And I will be both the Judge of justice and the Creator of mankind. "This is the reason why the God-Man had to suffer and die, so that, as a man, He could pay the debt and, like God, pay it in full... Here, I repeat once again, Christians, here we need two eyes, two natures. We, the guilty, the transgressors of God's commandment, have given us, as it were, one eye, human nature. God and the Father gave something else, as it were, the Divinity. In the human Christ we were threatened with the death penalty, but in His Divinity death was abolished. We paid with the Divine flesh, united with the Word of God, and were delivered from the condemnation of death by the Word of God manifested in the flesh, as the great Athanasius explains it in the highest way: "It behooved both to be gloriously together, so that the death of all was fulfilled in the flesh of the Lord, and the same death through the Word of God, united to the flesh, was destroyed." Oh, God's infinite condescension to us! But, O Most Merciful, Most Merciful God! Could it be that Thy omnipotence had no other means — to save man without betraying to death Thy Only-begotten Son, the right eye of Thy Divine Countenance? Without a doubt, Almighty God, just as with a single word "spoke, and" (Psalm 148:5), in the same way could command with one word, and the salvation of man would be accomplished, He could forgive an endless debt without any payment, He could forgive man's sin without the death of His Only-begotten Son, He could extinguish the flame of eternal torment without the blood of Jesus Christ...

Could!!. But how, then, could we know about God's infinite omnipotence, about God's infinite condescension? God deigned to act as Judge and Father, to manifest His justice and His goodness: His goodness towards man who violated His law, and His justice as Judge in the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Thus, for the sake of love for man, He did not spare His Only-begotten Son (Romans 8:32)... Abraham once decided to sacrifice his only-begotten son out of love for God, but pay attention to the outcome of this event.. When Abraham reached the appointed place, he built an altar, put wood on it, lit a fire under it, and bound his Isaac, and laid it on the altar, then took a knife and raised his hand, but at the moment when he was about to deliver a deadly blow, God looked upon him and, having been propitiated, said to him through His angel: "Abraham, Abraham, stop, do not lay your hand on your servant, and do him no harm! Your good will is enough for Me! May your son Isaac live, may he be the father of many nations, and I will bless them and multiply them like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea!" (Genesis 22:11-17) But, my God, what wonder if Abraham wanted to sacrifice his son to you for the love of you? You are a God worthy of infinite love, you are the God of both Abraham and Isaac, you are God, and whatever man does for you will be worthy and righteous... And what is a person? An insignificant worm of the earth, a transgressor of Thy commandments... And Thou didst love him so much that for the sake of this love Thou didst sacrifice Thy Son?! "What is man, that thou rememberest him? or the Son of man, for thou hast visited him?" (Psalm 8:5). What is all this, if not the greatest condescension of God? He took pity on one man's son and did not allow him to be slaughtered, but He did not spare His own Son and left Him to die! "Thou hast not spared Thy Son, but hast delivered Him up for us all!" (Romans 8:32). He delivered Him up to be sold by His disciples, to the renunciation of His friends, to the condemnation of His enemies. He betrayed Him to the envy of the Jews, to the judgment of the Gentiles, to the reproach of the priests, to the mockery of the soldiers, to the hatred and fury of the ungrateful people who thirsted for His blood... He delivered Him over to spitting, to strangulation, to scourging, to with thorns, to the cross, as if no longer recognizing Him as His Son, but seeing only a sinner or, better, sin itself! He betrayed Him in order to condemn Him, His Son, as guilty, and to free the criminal man from guilt, in order to punish the sinless and justify the sinner, to fulfill all God's righteousness in Him and to pour out all infinite mercy on man. "For knowing no sin," teaches the holy Apostle Paul, "commit sin for us, that we may be righteous in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). What an abyss of God's condescension to us! Such was the Father's definition of the Son! And in what was the will of the Son expressed? In infinite humility and obedience. "He humbled Himself, being obedient even unto death" (Phil. 2:40). Remember the upper room of the Last Supper! Here more than anywhere else He appears in the slave's eye, washing the disciples' feet in the laver with His hands, and gives Himself as food to the disciples in the great mystery. We see an example of endless obedience in the Garden of Gethsemane. As a man, revealing the weakness of His nature, He grieves, but with deep sorrow, even unto death... He struggles with such a great feat that sweat pours out like abundant blood dripping on the ground... He throws his face to the ground, and the prayer of the soul is expressed through his lips — that he may not taste, if possible, the bitter cup of death (Matt. 26:39). For all this, he remains obedient to "the will of the Father even unto death. "Father," he says, "not as I will, but as Thou wilt... Thy will be done!" (Matt. 26:39 and 42). Returning to the three disciples, He finds them asleep and awakens them with the words: "Arise, let us go" (Matt. 26:46) to where the will of the Father and the salvation of man call! What is most amazing here, Christians? The decision of the Father, who condemned His Son to death, or the obedience of the Son, who so readily goes to death? Neither. Let us rather marvel at God's infinite condescension towards us!

To free the Jews from slavery in Egypt, God sent a man – Moses. For the remission of their sins, sacrificial blood must be shed in burnt offerings, but this was the blood of goats and bulls. And in order to liberate us from the dominion of hell, He Himself came — Himself — "Appear on earth, and dwell with men" (Dogmat., 8). He shed His blood to atone for our sins. "Not by the blood of a goat lower than a heel, but by His own blood" (Hebrews 9:12) He saved us. So precious is our salvation that the blood of God is at its price! Just one drop of God's blood is the priceless margaret of paradise! A single drop can extinguish the entire flame of eternal torment! And yet, how much of it has been poured out for our salvation! All of it was exuded to the last drop Crucified for us! Delve deeper into all this, Christians! The One Who suffered, Who was nailed to the cross, Who died for us is the Son of God. He shed all His blood for the redemption of our souls. And we, alas! "Are we still leaving our souls in captivity?!" Are we still enslaved to sin? Are we still far from heartfelt repentance and contrition? "What is the use, our Saviour can tell us, what is the use of the fact that My blood has been shed of all My members?" The feat with which I struggled in the vineyard, those streams of My blood shed from scourging, from thorns on my head, from the spear that pierced My side, from the nails that pierced My hands and feet — what then? Was it all in vain? Did all this fall to earth to be trampled underfoot by people? There is no profit in shedding My blood?!. O Father without beginning, I have fulfilled Thy holy will, I have suffered, I have been crucified, I have given up My Spirit, I have poured out all My blood for the salvation of Christians, but Christians do not wish to know their Saviour, they do not seek salvation, having reconciled themselves to eternal torment?!. I ask forgiveness for the Jews who crucified and killed Me. Let them go (Luke 23:34). But against Christians who make My death useless to them, I demand judgment! "Judge them, O God" (Psalm 81:8). Thy righteousness hath commanded Me to shed My blood, and the same righteousness shall repay My blood... And the unrepentant Christian will have no excuse, "trampling down the Son of God, and remembering the defilement of the covenant blood" (Hebrews 10:29), according to the words of the Apostle! Let us glorify our Saviour, may we receive salvation, and bring repentance, may the priceless Blood poured out for us be salvific! We saw Who suffered for us, and marveled at the infinite condescension. Now let us imagine how much He suffered, that we may suffer His infinite longsuffering.

2

Have you, Christians, ever seen a small boat in the middle of a vast sea, far from the shore, with inexperienced and helpless swimmers, tossed by the strongest contrary winds? Fierce waves rush at her from all sides, and she sinks into the abyss... Now imagine that you see the only Son of the Most Holy Virgin in the bloody sea of the most cruel sufferings, far from the embrace of the beloved Mother, abandoned by the Father without beginning, who gave Him over to suffer – alone, without any help and participation of the disciples who left and fled.. However, no! Here comes a disciple, with a crowd of soldiers and servants, with weapons, torches, lanterns... I see him approaching, hugging, kissing Him... In a good hour you have come, friend and faithful disciple, to console the distressed Teacher, to be with Him! Tell us, then, with what good tidings have you come from the court of bishops? Perhaps you persuaded them to leave in peace the God-Man, Who did not give them any temptation, but on the contrary, showed all the people of Jerusalem a thousand blessings? Have you not learned of some wicked design on their part, and have now brought with you a large detachment to guard Him? Why don't you answer? Wait, let me take a closer look at you. Oh! Why, this is Judas the traitor, the traitorous apostle, the evil disciple! So it is you who kiss Him for betrayal?! Oh, the terrible ingratitude of Judas! Oh, the unspeakable suffering of Christ.. It is said that when Julius Caesar, surrounded by assassins in the senate, saw Brutus, whom he loved as a son, among them, he exclaimed: "And you, my child?!" and immediately covered his face with a mantle, so as not to see such terrible treachery, which made him shudder more than death itself. What sorrow did the appearance of Judas the betrayer cause Jesus? And you, My child... And you, My disciple?! And you, My apostle, are in fellowship with My enemies? Do you serve them as a guard, having taken upon yourself the betrayal? "Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with the kiss?" (Luke 22:48) And in this terrible treachery — how much humiliation there is for the teacher who is betrayed! Others were betrayed and sold, but as Christ was betrayed and sold, no one else! Brutus betrayed Caesar, but under the pretext of liberating the fatherland. Joseph's brothers sold him, but in order to save him from death (Genesis 37:26-27). Judas betrayed Christ to death – "the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified" (Matt. 26:2). He will be recognized as the Son of God — so be it! The time will come when His glory will be revealed! So let them at least recognize His rights as the Son of Man! But no, they treat Him as if He were dumb, like a lamb doomed to the slaughter!

His blood is thirsty for by the bishops and elders and the entire Sanhedrin, who gathered in the house of Annas and Caiaphas, where all the "spira" attracted and put Jesus on trial. Judges are enemies, false witnesses, what decision should we expect from you? "He is guilty of death" (Matt. 26:66). Guilty of death? So let him accept death! But why spit in His face, why stab and beat Him? Why should we mock Him and, closing our eyes, with a spice of evil mockery at each blow of the sacrilegious hand, ask Him: "Prophets, who are those who have struck Thee?" (Luke 22:64). Wait, wait, bold servants! Let me ask him also: "My Jesus, my Deliverer, do you still endure mockery? Until now, under the cover of faith, as if covering Thy radiant face with their hands, do they insult Thee? (This refers to Christians who, bearing the title of Orthodox Christians, lead a non-Christian way of life.) "Prophets" to us, "Who is Thee to smite? Prophets to us," who strikes Thee without number? Jew? Heretic? An Orthodox Christian? "Prophets" to us, whose hand most often strikes You, a Jew-servant, a heretic or an Orthodox Christian? "Prophets" to us, who beats Thee more painfully, what spiritual blaster, wicked or layman, a harlot who has lost her shame or a young adulterer, an unrighteous judge or a greedy covetous, a bloodthirsty murderer or a predatory robber? But now my Jesus no longer preaches, He is silent, "like a lamb... voiceless," according to the words of Isaiah (53:7).

Do you not want me to prophesy to you instead of Him? Incomparably more painful to Him than the innumerable blows of the servants of the bishops are the three blows inflicted upon Him by His threefold denial: "I know no man" (Matt. 26:72). The stone of faith has become a stumbling block... The only stone that disintegrated even before Christ's death, during the threefold renunciation of Christ. But he was contrite for repentance, in order to confess the Teacher. Once upon a time in the wilderness the rod of Moses struck a stone; this stone was crushed by the sight of Christ, but water flowed from that stone, sweet as honey, and now bitter tears are flowing... "He went out weeping bitterly" (Matt. 26:75). It behooves thee, Peter, to shed inconsolable tears, but blessed art thou that thou hast so quickly repented of thy utter renunciation. For one hour you sinned — and all your life you mourned your sin! O woe to us! We are so quick to sin — and so slow to repent! We spend our whole lives in sins – and we don't want to cry about them for even one hour!

Peter repents and weeps bitterly, a sign that the noose has cried out three times. Morning. The day comes... they opened the doors of Pilate's praetorium, where Christ was led from the court of Caiaphas bound as a criminal. It was hard for Him in the hands of priests, in the courts of bishops, and even worse in the hands of pagans, in the chambers of rulers. O woe! There is no refuge or help for Him anywhere, everywhere there is shame and torment... Priests and laity, Jews and pagans, rulers and slaves, judges and soldiers, young men and old men, all the "spira", all the people – all condemn Him as a criminal, demand His death, all cry out: "Crucify Him, crucify Him" (Luke 23:21). They prefer the well-known thief Barabbas, but for the sinless Jesus, everyone has one thought, one cry: "Let him be crucified" (Matt. 27:22). Pilate is amazed at this malice and wants to know what the fault is: "Your generation... and the bishop delivered Thee over to me; What hast thou done?" (John 18:35). What's wrong with you, Pilate?! Or are you the only stranger here in Jerusalem who has never heard of the dealings of Jesus of Nazareth? "What hast thou done?" If you please, I will tell you: I have restored the light of the eyes to the blind, I have cleansed the lepers, I have raised the paralytic from their beds of sickness, I have raised up the dead, I have fed the hungry, I have taught the lost. This is His fault! What hast thou done? Ask the people who listened with delight to His preaching! Ask the Samaritan woman who, at His word, became chaste from a prostitute, ask Magdalene, who from a sinner became Equal-to-the-Apostles, Zacchaeus, who from a covetous became a merciful benefactor, Matthew, who from a publican became an evangelist, ask Lazarus, whom He resurrected, a four-day-old dead. Ask the children of Jerusalem, who met Him with branches and branches, singing: Hosanna! "What hast thou done?" Yes, if it were possible, then the sea and the wind, who obeyed Him, and the demons themselves, His enemies, who confessed Him to be the Son of God, would talk to you about His works! What hast thou done? You'd better ask what He didn't do! If you had a mind enlightened by the lofty knowledge of God, I would tell you that He is the eternal Word of the Father without beginning, in Whom all things were. He created all that you see and do not see, the earth with its plants and animals, the heavens with its stars and the sun, the angels and the human race, and you yourself, Pilate! Only one thing He did not do – sin! "Thou shalt not commit sin, for deceit shall be found in His mouth" (1 Peter 2:22). But you yourself know this, loudly proclaiming aloud to all the people: "I find no guilt in Him!" (John 19:6) However... lawless are the judgments of the earth, unrighteous are the judgments of the sons of men... Innocence alone is not enough to justify a person, if he falls into the hands of an unjust judge, who cares most of all about his own interests, who trembles with fear that he will lose the favor of Caesar...