The sinless Jesus is scourged, and if you were to ask the judge himself why, he would answer: because I do not find guilt in Him. O sight worthy of tears! To see the Son of God clothed in heaven with light like a garment, naked before the eyes of the soldiers who mock Him, and the Jews who revile Him! Here they are arming their inhuman hands with whips – beating, striking, tormenting the most pure body of the Divine Emmanuel... He shudders, sweats, is exhausted by the abundance of blood shed... Did I not have to endure all these torments? Should not these lashes afflict my body, which has sinned with a thousand sins? Should not these streams of blood flow from my body to wash away my impurity?

Angels, seraphim, make haste, hasten to cover these immaculate limbs, hide them from the impure eyes of the wicked!

But behold, I see, they are covered with scarlet chlamys — the soldiers put it on Him, mocking Him as the king of the Jews. Like a royal crown, they put on Him a crown of thorns, piercing and deeply wounding the head. Instead of a scepter, they give Him a reed and, often snatching it from His hands, they strike it on the head. They kneel, mocking Him as if he were a madman, and greet Him with spitting and scolding: "Rejoice, King of the Jews!" (John 19:3) You are not mistaken, you wicked, no, you are not mistaken. By making Him a mockery of the false King of the Jews, you have made Him the true King of Christians. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not a kingdom of this world. We worship this King, mocked and tormented, because this mockery and this torment are our greatness. We recognize in Him our King in this desecration of chlamys: this mockery is our honor and glory. We honor His crown of thorns, because sorrow and distress are our earthly lot. We do not want to see Him with any other scepter than a light reed, because we do not strive for the weight of earthly differences. (An allusion to the papacy's desire for temporal power.) Truly you are not mistaken, you wicked! In spite of yourselves, you have made Him King over the armies of martyrs, over the hosts of ascetics, over the assembly of all those who seek the Kingdom of Heaven. Oh! If you knew that this King, whom you so mock, would be willingly worshipped by all the kings of the earth.. Know this, then, that under the veil of this torn chlamys, which you have put on Him, all the families of the earth will gather to worship! Know this, then, that these sharp thorns, from which you have wove a crown for Him, will be arrows that strike the enemies of the true faith. Know that this light reed that you have given Him will destroy the Jewish synagogue and the temples of the Gentiles!

Isn't that so, Christian listeners? Truly He is the King of Whom we are slaves. King of suffering and long-suffering! Look at him! Here He comes out, wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet garment, followed by Pilate, who shows Him to all the people of Jerusalem: "Behold, a man" (John 19:5). Hold back your tears...

I wouldn't want you to cry... Better prostrate yourselves before our King! "Behold the Man!" Heavenly Father, this Man, who now has neither form nor kindness, for Thy only-begotten Son, Whom Thou didst beget from the womb before Lucifer! Angels, archangels, this long-suffering Man is the King of glory, to Whom you silently sing a song of victory in heaven! "Behold the man!" Stand before you, prophets: you will see the expectation of the tongues, the King of Israel, the desired Messiah. Where are you, apostles? Look at your teacher and God! Where are you, Mary, the most tender Mother, look at Your only dear Son! "Behold, man!" Priests, look to your supreme High Priest! Virgins, look at your Bridegroom, the orphans at the Father, the lost at their Teacher! Paralytics, look to your Healer, sinners to your Savior! Look, all Christians, men and women, and greet your King: "Rejoice, O King," not the Jewish one, but the Christian one! O Divine Saviour of our souls, eternal Wife of His Church, now Thou hast neither the form nor the form of a man, but we worship Thy countenance, we kiss the bonds of Thy hands that have set us free. Thou art mocked, beaten, bloodied, and yet Thou art our King! "Do you not know anything else! Behold, Man!" We recognize Him as a man when we look at His sufferings, but at the same time we see God in Him when we look at His blessings. Man and God are together, because He suffers and saves! But, merciful Lord, we beseech Thee — is there not enough suffering? Why suffer more? Sufficient for our salvation and for the blood that You have already poured out! My Jesus, do not be angry with me—I will not depart from you! Oh, if it were possible, I would hide You in the depths of my heart... Ah, woe is me! My heart is defiled by sins, and I tremble that it is more pleasing to You, the purest, to go to the cross than to remain in my unclean heart! So be it! But let me follow You, with my tears and my word!

And truly the cross is the death to which Pilate condemned Him: "Deliver Him up to them, that He may be crucified" (John 19:16). With a terrible cry, with mad joy, in the midst of an innumerable crowd, the Jews lead Him out of Pilate's praetorium. The soldiers place on His shoulders the instrument of execution – the tree of the cross. They lead Him through the streets of Jerusalem and, exhausted by a heavy burden, exhausted by sufferings, drenched in sweat all over His face and blood all over His body, they lead Him to Golgotha, moisten His parched lips with vinegar and gall. But there is already a little life left in the suffering body, and they hasten to finish their lawless work. They tear off their clothes, throw them to the ground, stretch them out on the cross, pierce with nails first the right hand, then the left, then both feet, and finally, with a thousand terrible shouts and blasphemy, they raise them to a height and put a cross on the Cranius, i.e., the place of the forehead. Aren't there enough horrors? No! At the same time, two more thieves are crucified, one on the right hand and the other on the left, so that the extreme degree of suffering may not be devoid of extreme dishonor, so that both body and soul may suffer doubly! The terrible torments of the cruelest execution of the crucifixion could only be depicted by those who had the patience to experience them for themselves! Reflecting on the most holy body of Christ, the holy theologians say that it is above nature, "not of blood, nor of the lust of the flesh" (John 1:13), but of the omnipotence of God, of the Holy Spirit, and of the pure blood of the Ever-Virgin. It is the God-created abode of the brightest soul, endowed with the inner world and external forces in wondrous perfection. Therefore, we are told, all the torments experienced by the martyrs, taken together, cannot be compared even with one of the torments that Christ tasted. Moreover, during the sufferings of the martyrs, God Himself was invisibly present and strengthened them with His grace. That is why they often rejoiced in the midst of the flames, rejoiced at being killed, as if they did not feel the suffering at all or forgot about it. But in the sufferings which Christ tasted, God forsook Him and, as it were, completely apostatized from Him, of which, as if sighing, Jesus Himself says: "My God, My God, hast thou forsaken Me?!" (Matthew 27:46) The Heavenly Father left Christ, but His beloved Mother did not abandon Him... Ah, Christians! The cross holds the nailed Christ behind His shoulders. The presence of the sweetest Mother is another cross for Him before His eyes... "Standing... at the cross of Jesus His Mother" (John 19:25).

She stands, looks, does not weep, does not express her suffering, but silently holds in her heart the sword that Simeon foretold Her. She stands at the crucifixion, as if nailed to the cross herself, and at the same time constitutes a kind of second cross for the Crucified One... But, O crucified King, is not the end of Thy long-suffering? Is it not enough for Thee to drink the bitter cup of death? No! "I thirst!" (John 29:28). And so He tastes vinegar mixed with gall, as if the last drop of a bitter cup... "And when Jesus was received, he said, 'It is finished' (John 19:30). Thus, at His death, He acts like a prudent householder. Sensing the nearness of the hour of death, He completes the work of establishing the New Testament and puts an end to the Old. Then... First of all, He bequeaths forgiveness to His enemies, the Jews: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). To the soldiers who crucified Him, He bequeaths His garments, which they divided among themselves, casting lots. He does not forget the good thief who prayed to Him: "Remember me, O Lord, when thou comest in this kingdom, bequeathing to him paradise: "Amen, I say unto Thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:42-43). He rewards the centurion who believes in Him with true knowledge of God: "Truly this is the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54). He entrusts His beloved disciple John with the care of His Mother: "Behold, thy mother" (John 19:27). He leaves the suffering Mother, to help Her, a disciple: "Behold, Thy son" (John 19:26). He bequeaths His cross to His Christian children, so that they would carry it with them and not part with it throughout their lives. He gives His spirit to His Heavenly Father — "Father, in Thy hands I commend My spirit" (Luke 23:46). But he does this with the usual obedience — "bow thy head, give up thy spirit" (John 19:30). And now You're dead, voiceless, God's Word... I will not stop my word for a long time, leaving my listeners to meditate in their souls on Your sufferings and to suffer for Your ineffable long-suffering!

3

For the Son of God to die for the salvation of man, when, as the Almighty, He could accomplish our salvation in some other way — this is God's boundless condescension! To die the most shameful and painful death, when He could have died without shame and without suffering – this is His infinite patience. But for whose sake did He show this boundless condescension and this unspeakable long-suffering? For the sake of a man who was His enemy. This is endless love!

Christians, when our Lord suffered for us, was crucified and died for us, then we did not recognize Him as God, we blasphemed Him, and I, we despised His law, we revered other gods and, above all, did nothing good, on the contrary, we were immersed in the abyss of all evil. And for this we were subject to His wrath and eternal torment, as sinners. "As ... Christ is a sinner for us" (Romans 5:8). For a father to die for a son or a relative for a relative is in the order of things. To die for each other is also the order of the day, it is the duty of friendship, it is the greatest example of love. "Greater love hath no man," says Christ, "that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). And examples of such friendship can also be found among people. But for someone to die for the enemy – neither nature nor friendship requires this... And nothing like this has ever happened between people, and not even heard of... However, this was the case, and it is proclaimed in our Christian faith: our Lord died for His enemies... Here is love above nature, above word and reason: this is Divine Love. "And God makes up His love for us," says the Apostle Paul, "as ... Christ is a sinner for us" (Romans 5:8). This is such a blessing for which we could not be worthily thankful, even if each of us had a hundred lives and gave all these hundred lives to death out of love for Christ, even if these lives were a thousand years long, and out of love for Christ we wore the cross all these thousands of years... After all, no matter how much we suffer, we would suffer for our Benefactor, whereas Christ endured all His sufferings for His enemies. And in recompense for His life He does not demand our lives at all, for His blood He does not demand our blood; He demands of us only our love for the love He has shown us!

And is it possible that God is not worthy of such a reward for such great blessings, cannot receive it?! Oh, people, people! What name shall I call you? Blind, or what, if you do not see such blessings? Are they ungrateful, because you do not want to know them? Do you not have a heart of stone in your chest, which does not soften before God's boundless love?!.

I know that only evil spirits are hopelessly stubborn in evil, unrepentant, and therefore they are eternal enemies of God and will never become His friends. You are not demons, but is it possible to recognize you as people? Are you not freaks, with the nature of man and with the disposition of demons? After all, you always "can" become friends of God and... still you don't want to... Let Him become man, suffer, let Him be crucified, let Him die; let Him shed all His blood, to the last drop, for us — after all, you do not want Him... Even if He suffered a thousand times more, if it were possible, and died again, you don't care—you don't want Him?!. What days are there now? Does not the Church now celebrate the passion, the cross, the death of Christ? But will there be a truly repentant among you? Does anyone weep as bitterly as Peter? Does anyone confess Him as sincerely as the thief: "Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest in this kingdom"? (Luke 23:42). But what am I saying? Rather, I will ask if there is one who would not now sell Him for the love of money, like Judas, who would not betray Him for the blessings of this world, like Pilate, who would not crucify Him on the cross with all kinds of sins, like the Jews? Is there any one among us who does not intend to nail Him to the cross again as soon as He is resurrected, which even the Jews did not dare to do?!. Christ hangs on the tree of the cross, and here is a Christian who does not think of leaving the embrace of a harlot. The other left it temporarily, but was it not in order to be reunited with it as soon as possible? Another does not want to return the appropriated property of others, a third persists in reconciling with the enemy. Some did not repent at all; the other, although he repented, but in order to give himself up again to his former vices... And the Passion of Christ... Nothing?! And the blood of Christ... is trampled underfoot?!. Did not Christ die in order to make His enemies His friends, in order to save sinners? And so?... They don't want to?! Oh, unrepentant, stone-hearted sinners! Let! If you do not want to have Him as a friend, then treat Him, at least, as an enemy! (The orator with fiery zeal denounces the indifference of Christians, which seems to him more terrible than enmity itself!) If you want me to show you your enemy, to your delight! Look, look, and rejoice, be amused, be satisfied, be satisfied with the sight, look at Him, men and women, spiritual and laity, rich and poor, all look at this enemy of yours.. Well, is this not enough for you? You want even greater mockery and torment than you see now?!. After all, you should have endured all these sufferings, and even then you would not have been able to satisfy God's truth and would have been condemned to eternal torment... And He alone endured all sufferings to deliver you forever from torment, He took upon Himself your debt and paid for it with His blood! He bore the punishment for your prideful mind in a crown of thorns, for your wicked, blasphemous words in vinegar and gall, for your malice in the piercing of the rib, for your robberies in the nailing of your hands, for your fleshly filth in the sores of the beaten body; finally, he lifted all the weight of his sins in the wood of the cross! He took sins upon Himself, and had not yet gained sinners. Oh, the ineffable love that sacrificed its life for its enemies! Oh, the terrible ingratitude, which prevents enemies from becoming friends!

Unrepentant, stone-hearted sinners! In Japan up to now (the orator means, of course, his time) idolaters and mortal enemies of Christians, with satanic cunning, have carved an honorable cross on marble at the threshold of the city gates, declaring to Christians, whom they cannot stand, whom they do not want to see or hear, if Christians want to enter their city, then let them first walk on the Cross with their feet! And so they achieved that not a single Christian dared to penetrate into such an impious country. In the same way, with divine zeal, I will go and place the sign of this Crucified One at the threshold of the door of the prostitute's house, so that you may not enter that house without stepping on Him! What then? Go and trample on Him! But I say unto you, From henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64). The time will come, the time will come when you will see this dead man, clothed with omnipotence, "with power and much glory" (Matt. 24:30), at His second coming. These eyes will not remain closed forever, these hands will not remain nailed down forever. The hour will come, and these eyes will be ablaze with all the fires of God's wrath, these hands will appear armed with the lightnings of God's righteousness, these lips, now caked and silent, will thunder with a thunderous voice and expose our ingratitude: "Depart from Me, curse, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his aggel!" (Matt. 25:41).

And yet I know, O sweetest Jesus, that Thy love is an inexhaustible abyss, because it is infinite. Truly terrible is our ingratitude! But prolong at least for a short time Thy usual long-suffering, with which Thou didst bear Thy cross, and permitted me to pronounce before these Christians one of Thy infinitely gracious words: "Forgive them" (Luke 23:24)! Pronounce forgiveness to all spiritual and laity – to all sinners! If we have hitherto been Thy enemies, by Thy grace we shall again be Thy friends. And with this hope, kissing Thy most pure noses, we beseech Thee: when Thou hast descended from the cross, come and be nailed to our hearts, that Thou mayest be inseparable from us both here on earth and in Thy heavenly kingdom! Amen.