3. Hence it is evident to us that the signs which are said to have been performed by Christ in childhood are false and invented by some deceitful men. If He had begun to perform miracles from the first age, then John could not have been unaware of Him, and the people would not have had need of a teacher who would point Him out. Meanwhile, John says of himself that he came "that He might be manifested to Israel," and also on another occasion he said: "I need to be baptized of Thee"; and afterwards, having come to know Him better, he preached about Him to the people, saying, "A man is coming after me, Who has gone before me," and "He who sent me to baptize in water," he sent "that He might be manifested to Israel," and thus the one who sent revealed Christ to John even before the Spirit descended. Therefore, even before His coming, John said: "A Man is coming after me, Who has gone before me." Therefore John did not know (Jesus) before coming to the Jordan and baptizing everyone, but he knew Him then, as He wanted to be baptized, and at the same time he knew Him by revelation at baptism, by the direction of the Father and the Spirit to the Jews, for whom the descent of the Spirit was. In order not to neglect the testimony of John, when he said that "He was before me," that He baptizes with the Spirit, and that He would judge the world, for this purpose the Father gave a voice announcing the Son, and the Spirit descended, bringing this voice down on the head of Christ. Since one baptized, the other was baptized, so that any of those present would not think that the words of the Father were spoken about John, the Spirit descends to remove such a supposition. So, when John says, "I did not know Him," he is talking about a time past, not close to baptism. Otherwise, how did he restrain Jesus, saying, "I must be baptized of you"? How did he say such words about Him? Why did the Jews not believe, you will say, when John was not the only one who saw the Spirit in the form of a dove? If they have seen, it is not only bodily eyes that are needed for such objects, but primarily the eyes of the mind, so that the real object may not be recognized as an empty phantom. They also saw how Christ performed miracles and how, touching the sick and dead with His hands, He restored them to life and health, but they were so intoxicated with hatred that they imagined the opposite of what they saw. How could they abandon their unbelief by the descent of the Spirit alone? Some say that not everyone saw Him, but only John and some others who were more well-meaning. Although it was possible to see the Spirit descending in the form of a dove with the eyes of the senses, there was no need for this manifestation to be obvious to all. And Zechariah saw many things in the sensual image, and Daniel and Ezekiel; but they had no one as a participant in the vision. Moses also saw many things that no one else saw. Nor were all of Christ's disciples worthy to see His transfiguration on the mountain, nor did all participate in the vision of the resurrection, as Luke clearly shows when he says that the Risen One revealed Himself to "witnesses who were chosen from God" (Acts 10:41). "And I saw and testified that this is the Son of God." When did he testify that there is a Son of God? He called Him the Lamb, and said that He would baptize with the Spirit, but that He was the Son of God, He did not say this. The other Evangelists do not write that He said anything after His baptism, and having kept silent about the events of this time, they speak of the miracles of Christ that took place after the imprisonment of John. From this we can surmise that they passed over this and many other things in silence, as this same Evangelist showed at the end of his writing. They were so far from intending to invent anything great about Him, that they all unanimously and accurately set forth circumstances apparently unfavorable to Him, and you will not find that any of them kept silent about anything of the kind. As for miracles, some miracles were left to be described by one of them, and some were kept silent by all. I say this not without purpose, but with the shamelessness of the Gentiles in mind; This is sufficient proof of the truthfulness of the Evangelists and that they did not say anything out of partiality. With this proof, together with others, you can fight against the Gentiles. But listen, it would be absurd for a physician to advocate for his art with all zeal, and for the shoemaker and the weaver and all the other artisans for their trade, and he who professes to be a Christian will not be able to say a word in defense of his faith. Neglect of those arts causes damage to property, and negligence of faith destroys our very soul. And we are in such a miserable state that we use all our efforts for these things, and we neglect the most necessary, that on which our salvation depends, as worthless.

4. Nor does this dispose the Gentiles to condemn their own errors.

A lover of dancing, or a runner, or a fighter with beasts, tries in every way not to give in to competing with them, lavishes praise on them, defends them against those who reproach them, and smites their opponents with a thousand curses. But when a speech in defense of Christianity is to be made, everyone lowers their eyes to the ground, scratches, yawns, and retreats in ridicule.

Now, if any of the heathen asks, Who is this Father, who is the Son, who is the Holy Spirit? Or: How do you yourselves, recognizing the three gods, accuse us of polytheism? –

And what we have said is enough to drive sleep away from you.

If they are so vigilant in their reproaches against us, can we deserve any forgiveness when we do not know how to repel their attacks? Why are we brought (to the Church)? Do you not hear what the Apostle says: "[Be ye] always ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give an account of your hope with meekness and reverence" (1 Peter 3:15)? And Paul also inspires, saying: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly" (Colossians 3:16). What will people who are more senseless than drones say to this? "Blessed is every simple soul"; also: "He who walks in integrity walks in safety" (Proverbs 10:9). Not all evil is due to the fact that many do not know how to cite the testimonies of the Scriptures even by the way. The Most Wise One in this passage speaks not of a foolish man, not of one who knows nothing, but of a man who is not malicious, not deceitful, and prudent. And if it were otherwise, it would be said in vain: "Be ye wise as serpents, and simple as doves" (Matt. 10:16). But why should we dwell on this, when this word leads nowhere? Apart from what has now been said, we do nothing else that pertains to life and activity, but in all respects we are miserable people and worthy of ridicule. We are always ready to accuse one another, but to correct what we ourselves are guilty of and are subject to denunciation, we are always slow to do this. So, I beseech you not to limit yourself only to mutual accusation. This is not enough to propitiate God. But let us try to show in everything a change for the better, in order to live for the glory of God, to enjoy the future glory itself, which may we all be able to attain through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

CONVERSATION 18

"On the morrow John stood again and two of his disciples. And when he saw Jesus coming, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. And when the two disciples heard these words from him, they followed Jesus" (John 1:35-37).

1. Human nature is careless and easily dragged to perdition not because it was created in this way, but from voluntary negligence. That is why it is necessary to exhort her a lot. And Paul, who writes to the Philippians, says for this reason: "To write to you about the same thing is not burdensome to me, but edifying to you" (Phil. 3:1). The earth, having once received seeds, soon yields fruit and does not require a second sowing; But our soul is not like that. It is desirable, at least, that he who sows often and takes much care to do so at least once receives fruit. And first of all, the proposed teaching is not easily imprinted on the soul, because there is a lot of fossilization in it, it is embraced by innumerable thorns, and besides, there are many slanderers who steal these seeds. Then, when the seed is implanted and rooted, it again requires the same care, so that it may grow up, and when it has sprung up, it will remain intact and not suffer any harm from anything. However, in the seeds of the earth, when the ear has reached maturity and has received its proper strength, it is no longer afraid of harmful dew, or heat, or anything else; but it is not so in the matter of teaching. Here, even after everything is fully arranged, often one bad weather and storm damages everything, under unfavorable circumstances, under the slanders of treacherous people, or at the confluence of other various temptations. We say this not without purpose, but so that when you hear John repeat the same words, you will not accuse him of superstition and do not consider him an empty and dull person. Of course, he wished that what he once said would be heard, but since at first not many listened to what he said, because of deep sleep, by repeating the same thing he awakens them again. See, he said, "He is He who comes after me, but He who stands before me," and "I am not worthy to untie the strap of His shoes," and also, "He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire," and "On whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God" (John 1:27-34). But meanwhile no one listened to him, no one asked: what are you saying, and about whom, and for what? Then he said again, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," yet he did not bring them out of their insensibility. In this way he was compelled to repeat the same thing, softening the rough and hardened earth with a new plough and word, as if with a plough, raising the depressed soul in order to sow seeds into its depths. That is why the Baptist does not spread his word, caring only about one thing – to bring them and unite them to Christ. He knew that if only they would accept Him and believe, they would no longer need another witness for Him. And so it happened. If the Samaritans, having listened to Christ, say to the Samaritan woman: "We no longer believe according to thy words, for we ourselves have heard and known that He is truly the Saviour of the world, the Christ" (John 4:42), then the disciples (of John) could have been converted to Christ much sooner, as indeed they were. Having come (to Christ) and having listened to Him one evening, they did not return to John, but were so devoted to Christ that they took upon themselves the ministry of John and began to preach about Christ themselves. "He is the first to find his brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is to say, Christ" (John 1:41). Notice also this: When John said, "He is He who comes after me, but He who stands before me," and "I am not worthy to untie the strap of His shoes," he caught no one; as soon as he began to discourse about the dispensation of our salvation and to converse in a simpler word, then his disciples followed Christ. But this is not the only thing that should be taken into account, but also the fact that not so many are brought (to Christ) when they are told something great and sublime about God, as when they talk about His goodness, love for mankind, and about what pertains to the salvation of those who hear. When they heard that He was taking away the sins of the world, they immediately hastened to Him. If it is possible, they say, to wash away one's sins, why delay? Here stands the One who will free us from them without difficulty. Is it not utterly foolish to postpone such a gift until another time? Let the catechumens hear this, postponing their salvation until their last breath. "Again John stood and said, Behold the Lamb of God." Christ says nothing, but everything is the Baptist. This happens with the groom. He does not immediately begin to speak to the bride, but stands in silence, and others point him out and hand him the bride; and when it appears, he does not receive it of his own accord and leads it away, but another hands it over to him. When he accepts it from the hands of others, he already disposes her to himself so much that she does not remember those who united her with him. So it was with Christ. He came to betroth the Church to Himself, and at first He said nothing of Himself, but only stood before Him; and His friend John gave Him the right hand of this bride, entrusting to Him through his word the souls of men. But having received them, Christ so endeared them to Himself that they no longer returned to the One who had entrusted them.

2. Not only this, but also something else must be noted here. Just as, at the conclusion of marriages, it is not the maiden who comes to the bridegroom, but he hurries to her, even if he is the son of the king, and even if he wants to marry him from the poor and inferior class, even if he is a slave, so it was here. It was not human nature that ascended to heaven; but God Himself condescended to him, contemptible and wretched. After the marriage, He no longer allowed him to remain there, but, taking him upon Himself, brought him into the house of His father. But why does John not take his disciples separately and speak to them about Christ in order to convey them to Christ, but in the presence of all the people says to them: "Behold the Lamb of God"? So that it does not seem to be the work of his intent. If they had gone to Christ, being especially convinced by John and as if out of pleasing himself, then they could also soon have departed from Christ; but now, having decided to follow Christ according to the power of the teaching addressed to everyone in general, John's disciples remained firm in this, since they followed not out of pleasing the teacher, but out of their own zeal and for their own benefit. All the prophets and apostles preached Christ in His absence: some before His coming in the flesh, others after His ascension; only John preached about Him in His presence. That is why he is called the friend of the bridegroom, because he alone was present at the marriage; he arranged and accomplished all this; He initiated this business. "And when he saw Jesus coming, he said, Behold the Lamb of God." He said this, showing that he testified not only with his voice, but also with his eyes. He was amazed at Christ, in joy and ecstasy; and he does not immediately address the word of persuasion to his disciples, but at first is only amazed and amazed at the appearance of Christ; He shows everyone both the gift with which He came and the image of redemption. The word "lamb" expresses both. And John did not say, "He that takeeth," or, "He that hath taken," but "takeeth" the sins of the world, as Christ always did. In fact, He not only took sin upon Himself when He suffered, but from that time until now He will take away sins, not as if He had always been crucified (He once offered a sacrifice for sins), but as by this one sacrifice He always cleanses sins. Thus, just as the name of His Word shows the superiority of His nature, and the name of the Son expresses His difference from other creatures, so the words: lamb, Christ, prophet, true light, good shepherd, and other expressions used about Him with the addition of the term (o) show their great difference from ordinary expressions. There were many lambs, prophets, Christs[1]), sons; but John represents a great difference between Him and all those. And this he affirmed, not only by the addition of a member, but also by the addition of the word, "only-begotten," since Christ has nothing to do with creation. But if it seems inopportune to anyone that these words were spoken at the tenth hour (such was the time of the day: "it was about," it is said, "the tenth hour" - v. 39), then, in my opinion, such a person sins greatly. For many people who fawn on the flesh, of course, the time after satiation is not entirely convenient for important matters, because the soul is burdened with food. But he was a man who did not eat even ordinary food, who spent the evening with the same sobriety as we do in the morning, or rather, much more (for with us the remnants of evening food often fill the soul with dreams, and he did not burden this vessel with anything of the kind); therefore it is not surprising that John also conversed on such subjects in the evening. Moreover, he also lived in the wilderness near the Jordan, where everyone came with great fear for baptism, caring little at that time about the affairs of life, just as the people remained with Christ for three days, remaining without food. The duty of a zealous preacher, as well as of a caring farmer, is not to abandon his work until he sees that the implanted word has taken root. But why did John not go through all Judea preaching about Christ, but remained by the river, waiting for His coming, so that later, when He came, he could show Him to the people? John wanted the deeds themselves to bear witness to Christ, and John's special purpose was only to announce His coming and to persuade at least some to listen to the Eternal Life. And John leaves a greater testimony to Christ Himself, namely, the testimony of works, as Christ Himself says: "But I have a testimony greater than John's: for the works which the Father has given Me to do, the very works which I do, bear witness of Me" (John 5:36). See how strong such a testimony was. John threw only a small spark – and suddenly the flame rose in height. Those who had not even heeded John's words until then finally say, "All that John said concerning Him was true" (John 10:41).

3. Otherwise, if, i.e., John preached, going around all Judea, it would seem that this was done according to the forms of men, and the preaching would be suspicious. "When the two disciples heard these words from him, they followed Jesus" (v. 37). John also had other disciples; but not only did they not follow Christ, but they also looked at Him with envy. "Rabbi," they said to John, "He who was with you at the Jordan, and of whom you testified, behold, He baptizes, and they all come to Him" (John 3:26); and at another time they appear accusing: "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, and Thy disciples do not fast" (Matt. 9:14)? But the best of them did not do so, but as soon as they heard about Christ, they followed Him. And they did not follow out of contempt for their teacher, but most of all out of obedience to him, and presented the greatest proof that they did so from sound conviction. They did this not being prompted to do anything that would be suspicious, but only because John prophesied of Him that He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. So they did not abandon their teacher, but wanted to know if Christ gave anything more than John. And notice how their solicitude was combined with modesty. They did not suddenly come and ask Jesus about important and necessary things; and not openly in the presence of all, and not in passing, and as it happened that they wanted to converse with Him, but in private. They knew that the words of their teacher expressed not only humility, but pure truth. "One of the two who heard of John [of Jesus], and followed him, was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter" (v. 40). Why did the Evangelist not mention the name of the other disciple as well? Some explain it by saying that this disciple who followed Christ was the same one who wrote about it; others do not think so, but that he was not one of the chosen disciples, while the Evangelist spoke only of persons more remarkable. But what is the use of knowing the name of this disciple, when the names of the seventy-two disciples are not spoken? The same can be seen in Paul. "With him we have sent," he says, "also a brother, praised in all the churches for the gospel" (2 Corinthians 8:18). And Andrei is also mentioned for another reason. What is this reason? So that you, knowing how Simon and Andrew did, would only hear: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19), so that you, I say, would know that the beginnings of faith were laid down by his brother even before Simon. "And when Jesus turned and saw them coming, he said to them, What do you need" (v. 38)? From this we learn that God does not precede our desires with His gifts, but when we begin, when we discover the desire, then He also gives us many ways to salvation. "What do you want"? What does that mean? Should he, who guides the hearts of people who penetrate into our thoughts, ask? But He asks not in order to know (how is this possible?), but in order to draw them closer to Himself by question, to give them more boldness, and to show that they are worthy to converse with Him. They were probably ashamed and afraid, like people who were unfamiliar with Him and heard only from their teacher the testimony of Him. In order to destroy all this in them – shame, fear, He Himself asks them questions and does not leave them in silence to go to His dwelling. Yet perhaps it would have been the same if He had not asked the question, for they would not have ceased to follow Him, and would have followed His footsteps to His dwelling. Why does He ask them? As I have said, to calm their troubled and restless hearts and inspire them with boldness. Meanwhile, they expressed their devotion to Christ not only in following Him, but also in the question itself. Not yet being His disciples and hearing nothing from Him, they already call Him a teacher, count themselves among His disciples, and show the reason why they followed Him, namely, that they wanted to hear something useful from Him. Take note also of their prudence. They did not say: teach us dogmas or anything else necessary, but – what? "Where do you live"? They, as I said above, wanted to converse with Him in solitude about something, to listen to Him, to learn from Him; therefore they do not delay their intention, they do not say, "Let us come the next day and hear Thee when Thou speakest in the assembly of the people," but show all their zeal for listening, so that they do not refrain from it even by time itself. The sun was already sinking to the west: "It was about ten o'clock," it said. That is why Christ does not tell them to accept His dwelling, does not appoint a place for conversation, but only draws them more and more to follow Him, showing that He receives them to Himself. Wherefore neither did He say anything of the sort, "Now is not the time for you to go to my dwelling, tomorrow, if you want to hear anything, now go home; but he converses with them as with friends and people who have been with him for a long time. Why then does He say in another place: "The Son of Man has not where to lay His head" (Luke 9:58), and here: "Go and see" (v. 39) where I live? But the words, "He hath nowhere to lay His head," show that He had no shelter of His own, not that He did not live in any house. This is indicated by the adverbial expression. Further, the Evangelist says that they stayed with Him that day, but for what purpose, he does not notice this, because the goal itself is clear. For no other reason they followed Christ, and Christ drew them to Himself as for edification; and in one night they enjoyed His teaching in such abundance and with such eagerness that immediately both went to draw others to Christ.

4. From this we will learn to prefer hearing the divine teaching to everything, and we will not consider any time inconvenient for this; but even if it be necessary to enter someone else's house, even if a stranger should make the acquaintance of noble people, even if it is untimely or, at any time, let us never miss such an acquisition. Food, supper, baths, and other worldly affairs should have a definite time for themselves, but the study of the heavenly wisdom should not have any definite hours: to it should belong all time. "Preach the word, be persistent in season and out of season, rebuke, rebuke, exhort with all patience and edification" (2 Timothy 4:2). And the prophet says: "On His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2). And Moses commanded the Jews to do these things at all times. The affairs of life - I mean baths - if necessary, then, often, they relax the body; but the edification of the soul, the more it increases, the stronger it makes the soul that receives it. Now we spend all our time in empty and absurd superstition, we meet for this purpose at dawn, and in the morning, and at noon, and in the evening, and even appoint special places for this; and when we listen to the Divine dogmas once or twice a week, we become burdened and tired. Why? Because we dispose our soul badly: we completely destroy in it the desire and zeal for such things. Therefore, we do not have a desire for spiritual food. In addition to other signs of illness, it is strongly proved by the fact that we do not want to eat or drink, and we feel disgust for both. If, when it happens in the body, it is a sign of a serious illness and produces a weakening, how much more so when it happens in the soul. How can we strengthen it, fallen, exhausted? By what deeds, by what words? Let us turn to the divine, prophetic, apostolic, and all other words. Then we will know that it is much better to eat these words than unclean food, as we should call timeless gatherings and discourses. Tell me, what is better: to converse about the affairs of the people, the courts, the military, or about the things of heaven and what will happen after our departure from here? What is better: to talk about our neighbor and his affairs, and in general to attend to other people's affairs, or to talk about angels and things that concern our own benefit? The affairs of your neighbor do not concern you at all; but the things of heaven apply to you also. Yes, they say, you can say everything about it at once. But why do you not think so about what you are talking about in vain and vain among yourselves, but, using your whole life for this, you never exhaust the subjects for such conversations? I'm not even talking about what is much worse than this. People who are still modest talk among themselves about these subjects; and the more idle and careless in their conversations circle around jesters, dancers, runners, defiling their ears, corrupting their souls in such conversations, intoxicating their nature with voluptuousness, and introducing into their imagination all sorts of vicious images by such conversation. As soon as the tongue pronounces the name of the dancer, the soul immediately imagines his face, hair, fine clothes and himself, which are more pampered than all this. The other stirs up the flame in the soul in another way, introducing into conversation the prodigal woman, her words, clothes, dissolute eyes, voluptuous glances, braiding hair, rubbing the face, tinting the eyelashes. Don't you feel something terrible when I tell you about it? But do not be ashamed and do not blush: it is already inevitable, natural that the power of a story has such an influence on the soul. If, however, in my story, you already feel something from the mere hearing, standing in the church and away from such subjects, then consider what must happen to those who sit at the spectacle itself, with complete freedom, outside this venerable and important assembly, and with great shamelessness watch and listen to what is happening there. Why, some of the inattentive will say, why do you accuse us, losing sight of the fact that this is a natural thing and already necessary, as you say, it has such an influence on the soul? But that he who hears this is pampered is a natural thing; and to listen to this is not a matter of nature, but a sin of will. That he who approaches fire must suffer harm is necessary and this is a consequence of the weakness of nature, but it is not nature itself that draws us to fire and the harm that comes from it: this depends solely on the perverted will. So I want this not to happen, that it be corrected, so that you do not fall into the abyss of your own free will, or fall into the abyss of evil, or run into the fire against your will, and thus make yourselves guilty of the flame prepared for the devil. And so, may all of us, having been freed from it, be vouchsafed to pass into the bosom of Abraham, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom be glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

[1]) in a general sense: anointed, such as were high priests, kings, etc.

CONVERSATION 19