Рек Господь: И как хотите, чтобы с вами поступали люди, так и вы поступайте с ними. Это вводные слова в сегодняшнем Евангелии о любви к врагам. Прежде всего, если вы хотите, чтобы люди не были вам врагами, не будьте и вы врагами людям. Ибо, если правда то, что у всякого человека в мире сем есть враги, это значит, что и вы сами являетесь чьими-то врагами. Как тогда вы можете требовать, чтобы человек, которому вы враг, стал вашим другом? Потому сначала вырвите корень вражды из своего сердца, а затем только считайте, сколько у вас в мире врагов. Насколько лучше вы выполните этот дурной корень из своего сердца и вырвете постоянно прорастающие из него побеги, настолько меньшее количество своих врагов сможете насчитать. Итак, если вы хотите, чтобы люди вам были друзьями, вы сами обязаны сперва перестать быть их врагами, а затем стать и их друзьями. Если же вы станете людям друзьями, то число ваших врагов или значительно уменьшится, или их совсем не будет. Но не это главное. Главное, что в таком случае вашим другом станет Бог. Главное для вашего спасения - не быть никому врагом, а не самому не иметь ни одного врага. Ибо если вы людям враг, то и вы сами, и ваши враги мешают вашему спасению; если же вы людям друг, тогда и враги ваши бессознательно помогают созидать спасение ваше. О, если бы каждый человек думал лишь о том, для скольких людей он является врагом, вместо того чтобы думать, сколько врагов у него самого! За один день хмурое лицо мира сего засияло бы как солнце.

Заповедь Христова поступать с людьми так, как мы хотим, чтобы они поступали с нами, так естественна и так очевидно блага - удивительно и стыдно, что она давным-давно не стала для людей повседневной привычкой.

Никто не желает, чтобы люди делали ему зло - значит, пусть никто и не делает людям зла. Всякий желает, чтобы люди делали ему добро - значит, пусть всякий делает людям добро.

Всякий хочет, чтобы люди прощали ему грехи - так пусть и он прощает людям грехи.

Всякий желает, чтобы люди сочувствовали его горю и радовались его радости - пусть и он сочувствует горю других людей и радуется их радости.

Всякий желает, чтобы люди говорили о нем добрые слова, относились к нему с уважением, накормили бы его, если он голоден, навестили, если он болен, защитили, если он гоним, - пусть же и он так поступает с людьми.

Это касается не только отдельных личностей, но и групп людей, соседних племен, народов и государств. Если бы все классы, народы и государства усвоили бы сие правило, исчезла бы злоба и борьба классов исчезла бы взаимная ненависть народов, прекратились бы войны между государствами. Таково лекарство от всех этих болезней, и другого лекарства нет.

Then the Lord says: "And if you love those who love you, what thanks are you for this? for even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what gratitude do you have for that? for sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive it back, what gratitude do you have for that? for sinners also lend to sinners in order to get back as much. This means that if you wait for good to be done to you in order to repay it with good, then you are not doing anything good. Does God wait for people to deserve the warmth of the sun, and only after that does He command the sun to warm? Or is He the first to show His mercy and His love? Mercy is an active virtue, not a wait-and-see one. God has clearly shown this since the creation of the world. From day to day since the creation of the world, God with His generous hand has scattered rich gifts to all His creatures. For if He had waited for His creatures to be the first to give Him anything, there would have been no world, not a single creature in the world. If we love those who love us, then we are merchants who make an exchange. If we do good only to our benefactors, then we are debtors who pay our debt. And mercy is not a virtue that only repays debts, but a virtue that constantly lends. And love is a virtue that constantly lends and does not wait for repayment. If we lend to those from whom we hope to receive back, what do we do? We move our money from one cash register to another. For what we have lent we consider our own, just as we did when we had it in our hands.

But it would be madness to think that with the words quoted above, the Lord teaches us not to love those who love us and not to do good to those who do good to us. God forbid! He only wants to say that this is a lower level of virtue, to which sinners easily rise. This is the smallest measure of good, which makes this world poor, and people slavishly constrained and callous. The Lord wants to raise people to the highest level of virtue, from which all the riches of God and all the worlds of God are visible, and on which the cramped and frightened heart of the servant becomes the broad and free heart of the son and heir. Love for those who love us is only the first lesson in the infinite subject of love; and doing good to those who do good to us is only an elementary school in a long series of exercises in good deeds; and lending to him who gives to us is not evil, but good, but it is only the first and tiny step towards the majestic good, giving and not waiting for return.

Whom does the Lord call sinners here? First, the pagans, to whom the mystery of the truth and the love of God is not fully revealed. They are sinners because they have departed from the original truth and love of God, and instead of God they have made this world their lawgiver, which has taught them to love only those who love them, and to do good only to those who do good to them. than at the beginning of creation, it is revealed first through the Jewish people, not only for the Jewish people, but for all the peoples of the earth. And since God for thousands of years, through the law and the prophets, prepared the Jews to understand and accept the fullest revelation of the mystery, the Lord calls the rest of the nations mired in paganism sinners. But by sinners, and even worse than the Gentiles, He means all those to whom the mystery of truth and love is revealed, but who have not kept it, returning like a dog to his vomit, to the lowest step of goodness. Among them are many, many of us: Christians by name, and the most primitive pagans in deeds.

For what gratitude are we for this, if we love those who love us and do good to our benefactors? Do we not thereby return what we have taken to its place? Indeed, we have received our reward. Only that deed deserves gratitude that is at least somewhat similar to the work of God's love.

But you love your enemies, and do good, and lend without expecting anything; and you will have a great reward, and you will be the sons of the Most High; for He is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, therefore, even as your Father is merciful. This is the highest height to which Christ wants to raise man! This is a teaching unheard of before Him! And here is the radiance of human dignity, and not dreamed of by the greatest sages in history! And here is the love of God, which melts the whole human heart into one great tear!

Love your enemies. It is not said: Do not return evil for evil, for this is not enough; this is only patience. And it is not said, Love those who love you, for this is the expectation of love; but it is said, "Love your enemies"; do not tolerate them, and do not wait, but love them. Love is a toiling, active virtue; an offensive virtue.

But isn't love for one's enemies unnatural? This is the objection raised by non-Christians. Do we not see that nowhere in nature are there examples of love for enemies, but only for friends? This is how they object to us. What can we say to this? First of all, that our faith knows of two natures: one, undamaged, undarkened, and not embittered by sin, which Adam knew in Paradise; and about the other, damaged by sin, darkened and embittered, which we constantly see in this world. In the circle of first nature, love for enemies is quite natural, for in that nature love is like the air with which all creatures breathe and live. This is the true nature created by God. From that nature Divine love shines into this nature of ours, like sunlight through clouds. And all the true love that's on earth comes from that nature. In the circle of another, earthly nature, love for enemies could be called unnatural because of its rarity. Yet it is not unnatural, but, in relation to earthly nature, it is supernatural, or rather, supernatural, for love in general comes to this sinful nature from another, primordial, sinless and immortal nature, which is higher than ours.