June 4, 1948

"Therefore the Father loves Me, that I lay down My life, that I might receive it again. No one takes it away from Me, but I Myself give it away. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to receive it again" (John 10:17-18).

What amazing, what unheard words by the world: He Himself gave His life for the salvation of the world. He said that no one took His life, but He Himself gave His life. You may be perplexed: did not the chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes take His life, when they obtained from Pilate the condemnation of Him to crucifixion, and He says: "I Myself gave His life, no one took it from Me"?

Remember what He said in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Judas the traitor came, when they wanted to arrest Him, when the flaming Peter drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear; remember what He said then: "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matt. 26:53). He could do it: He Himself had divine authority. He could smite His enemies, slay them terribly. But He didn't. He, like a sheep led to the slaughter, gave Himself into the hands of His enemies. He Himself, of His own free will, gave His life for the salvation of the human race.

"I have power to give it up, and I have power to take it up again." For it came to pass: He took His life again when He rose on the third day. Do not these amazing words have something to do with us, Christians? Did Christ Himself voluntarily give His life, did He alone have the power to receive it? No, He gave this great power to us, people.

You know that there were many thousands of martyrs of Christ who, in imitation of Him, gave their lives for His holy name, voluntarily went to suffering, to such tortures as only the devilish brain of the enemies of Christ could invent. They could save their lives, and yet they gave it. Only renounce Christ, offer sacrifice to idols, and you will receive everything; and they gave their lives. And so, did they not accept it later, like the Lord Jesus Himself? They have received, they have received: they all glorify God at the Throne of the Most High, they all rejoice in joy ineffable and eternal. They, after they had given their lives, accepted it forever and ever, accepted it forever. You see: these words can also refer to us, people, to us, Christians.

But, you will say, the days when they shed their blood for Christ are long gone. And now how can we give our lives for Christ?

First of all, the opinion that the martyrs of Christ existed only in the first centuries of Christianity, when the Roman emperors raised cruel persecutions against Christians, is wrong: it is not true, for in all subsequent times, and even in recent times, there have been new martyrs. In the sixteenth century, three young men gave their lives for Him: the Martyrs of Vilna John, Anthony and Eustathius. There were martyrs who in the Middle Ages gave their lives for Christ, being cruelly killed by the Turks and Muslims because they refused to renounce faith in Christ and accept Mohammedanism.

Martyrdom is possible at all times. But to give one's life for Christ does not mean only to shed one's blood as a martyr: there is for all of us the opportunity that the great saints followed. There is an opportunity to give one's life for one's friends. The Lord laid down His life for sinful humanity, and commanded us all to reach such a summit of love that we lay down our lives for our friends. To lay down one's life does not mean only to give one's life, as the martyrs did. To lay down one's life does not mean only to die for one's neighbors; To lay down one's soul means to renounce oneself, to renounce one's aspirations for wealth, for pleasure, for honor and glory, to renounce everything that our flesh demands. This means that the goal of one's life is to serve one's neighbors. There were many saints who laid down their lives for their neighbors.

In the history of the Russian Church, such an example is given in the person of St. Juliana of Murom. She lived during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov, was the daughter of a nobleman who served as a keykeeper at the court of Ivan the Terrible. She lived two versts from the church, she was not taught to read and write, she was rarely allowed to go to church, she lived in a terem. She lived a boring terem life and prayed incessantly, lived and did works of mercy. In her early youth, at the age of 16, she was married to a noble nobleman. It seemed that she could enjoy wealth, high status, could change, as people often change for the worse when they find themselves in such a position. But she remained just as pious, completely devoted to works of mercy. She set herself the task of taking care of the poor, beggars, and the wretched in every possible way. At night, she spun, knitted, embroidered and sold her products to help the unfortunate.

It so happened that her husband was sent to Astrakhan on state business, and in solitude she served the poor and unfortunate even more zealously: she helped everyone, fed everyone. But now her husband died, she was left alone, and her wealth was shaken; she squandered her wealth to help the poor. Famine came in the region where she lived, her kind heart could not tolerate the sight of the hungry, her kind heart demanded that all those who suffered receive help, and she sold her possessions: she gave away everything and divided herself, lost everything and remained poor.

A cruel pestilence, a widespread disease, terribly contagious, from which people died by the thousands, raged in Russia. In fear and terror the people shut themselves up in their homes. What does St. Juliana do? Without any fear, she goes to where the unfortunate die, she serves them. She is not afraid of getting infected and is ready to give her life, serving the unfortunate dying. The Lord preserved her, she continued to live in righteousness and peace, and Saint Juliana died a natural death. Here is an example of how each of us can give up his life in order to take it up again.

Remember these words of Christ: "Therefore the Father loves me, that I lay down my life, that I may receive it again." And whoever follows Christ and voluntarily gives his life will be loved by the Heavenly Father. To everyone who gives his life for his friends, He will reward with eternal joy, joy unspeakable forever in His Kingdom.