Easter Gospel in Greek. The beginning of all beginnings. Gospel at Easter Liturgy

Easter feast A wonderful, joyful, long-awaited holiday is celebrated in the family during Easter week every day, therefore, in addition to traditional Easter, Easter cakes and eggs, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, homemade dishes are prepared from meat, poultry, cottage cheese,

Easter "Log" 1 ? cups of flour, cups of crushed walnut kernels, teaspoon of baking powder and baking soda, 100 g butter, 1 glass of granulated sugar, 2 eggs, ? glasses of orange juice, 2 tbsp. honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon grated

Easter "heart" 1 ? cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, ? cups of granulated sugar, 100 g of softened butter, 2 eggs, ? h. spoons of vanilla essence,? glass of milk, cups of small chocolate flakes, cups of crushed hazelnut kernels, salt.1. In the dishes

685. Easter greeting Christ is risen! N.N.! I wish you all the best in these days - and for their sake - and in all subsequent ones. The Lord is always sweetness, and joy, and peace! - Manage to always be with the Lord - and you will always celebrate Easter bright. You can see for yourself that

828. Easter greetings Christ is risen, young warrior of Christ! The apostle writes that Christ is the Lord, having risen, no one dies. Death no longer possesses them. Then he adds: so we, in the renewal of life, will begin to walk. A renewed life is a life that is removed from everything

1284. Easter greeting Christ is Risen! Thanks for the congratulations. I also send you my good wishes, so that the days of your life pass in the lordship of the resurrection, in the lordship, which made us partakers holy baptism. Bless you, Lord! What is everything from the world

No. 1377. Easter greetings God's mercy be with you! Christ is Risen! I greet you with the bright holiday of the resurrection of Christ the Lord! - With bright thoughts and even more bright feelings and dispositions, may the Generous Resurrected enrich you! I console myself with

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From Easter to Trinity: Sunday Apostolic and Gospel Readings with Brief Commentaries
Compiled by Posadsky N.S.

IS R16-603-0090

Gospel

The word "gospel" in Greek means "gospel". This gospel is addressed to all people. Initially, this word denoted the Christian sermon itself: Go around the world- Christ commands the apostles after His glorious Resurrection, - and preach the gospel to all creation(Mark 16:15). Later, the first four Books of the 27 Books of the New Testament began to be called that, proclaiming the good and joyful news of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh, suffered death on the cross, resurrected and initiated the resurrection from the dead, preparing us eternal bliss in heaven.

The origin of the Gospels dates back to the second half of the 1st century. It can be assumed that the Apostle Matthew wrote his Gospel around 50-60 AD, the Apostles Mark and Luke - a few years later, however, before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70, and the Apostle John the Theologian - at the end of the 1st century.

The three Gospels (from Mark, Luke and John) are written in Greek, but not classical, but the so-called Alexandrian, since this language was then the most common and most understandable to all the peoples that made up the Roman Empire.

The first three gospels are called synoptic because they have much in common in their content. The purpose of writing the fourth gospel was to complete the first three evangelists. That this is so is evidenced by the very content of the Gospel of John.

First Gospel - Matthew

The earliest of the Gospels is considered to be the Gospel of Matthew, which its author wrote in Hebrew, since it was intended to be preached to fellow tribesmen, especially scribes. The gospel proves to the converted Jews that Jesus is the Messiah they were expecting. Apostle Matthew explains every event of Christ's earthly life with Old Testament prophecies, for which he often refers to the Old Testament. He has at least 65 such references.

The Gospel of Matthew outlines the genealogy of Christ from Abraham, and among the ancestors of Christ, pagans are also mentioned. Thus, Saint Matthew shows that the light of the Gospel has shone for all peoples, as King David, the prophet Isaiah and other prophets of the Old Testament proclaimed:

And it will come to pass in that day: to the root of Jesse, which will become like a banner for the nations, the Gentiles will turn - and his rest will be glory(Isaiah 11:10). Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.(Ps. 2:8). All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the tribes of the Gentiles will bow before You.(Ps. 21, 28).

The Gospel of Matthew is divided into 28 chapters and begins with a story about the genealogy of Jesus Christ and ends with the conversation of the Savior with the apostles before the Ascension.

Second Gospel - Mark

The Second Gospel was written by the Evangelist Mark, who in his youth bore the double name of John-Mark, the latter name, being the most common among the Romans, later replacing the former. The listeners of the Apostle Peter, the pagans, desired to receive a written exposition of his teaching. In response to this request, Mark set forth everything he had heard from the Apostle Peter about the earthly life of Jesus Christ. It rarely makes reference to the Old Testament, but depicts the time of the solemn ministry of the Messiah, when He triumphantly spoke out against the sin and wickedness of this world.

Only in this gospel is it told about an unknown young man who, on the night of the capture of Christ by soldiers, ran out into the street in one veil, and when one of the soldiers grabbed him, he, escaping and leaving the veil in the hands of the soldier, ran completely naked: One young man, wrapped around his naked body in a veil, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he, leaving the veil, fled naked from them.(Mark 14:51-52). According to legend, this young man was the Evangelist Mark himself.

The Gospel of Mark consists of 16 chapters, begins with the appearance of John the Baptist, and ends with a story about how the apostles went to preach the doctrine of Christ after the Ascension of the Savior.

Third Gospel - Luke

The Third Gospel was written by the Evangelist Luke, a collaborator of the Apostle Paul during his missionary journeys. He intended his gospel, in particular, for a certain venerable Theophilus, who obviously enjoyed great respect in the Church and wanted to know solid foundation of the doctrine in which he was instructed(Luke 1:4). Since Theophilus, by assumption, was from the Gentiles, then the entire Gospel of Luke was written for Christians from the Gentiles. Therefore, the genealogy of Christ in it is not only from Abraham, as in the Gospel of Matthew, but from Adam as the ancestor of all people.

The life of Christ in this gospel is presented mainly from the historical side, and the story is distinguished by thoroughness.

The Gospel of Luke is divided into 24 chapters and ends with the Ascension of Christ.

Fourth Gospel - John

The Fourth Gospel was written in Ephesus by the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ, the Apostle John, who, due to the height of his vision of God, was called the Theologian.

Ephesus is a city that, after the fall of Jerusalem, for some time was the center of both the Christian Church and the intellectual life of the East in general. Many scientists flocked to this city and preached their teachings, as a result of which various deviations and distortions in the teachings of Christ could easily arise here. Thus, the first heresiarch Cerinthus distorted Christianity by introducing Hellenistic eastern elements into it. Therefore, local Christians turned to John as one of the closest witnesses and eyewitnesses of the "ministry of the Word" with a request to describe the earthly life of Christ. The books of the first three evangelists were brought to him, and he, having praised them for the truth and truthfulness of the story, nevertheless noted that the divinity of Jesus Christ was not clearly expressed in them. Therefore, the Gospel of John begins precisely with the indication that the incarnate Christ is the Primordial Word, the Logos through which everything that exists came into being. Blessed Theophylact writes that John the Theologian “roared about what none of the other evangelists taught us. Since they proclaim the incarnation of Christ, but they did not say anything quite clear and evident about His pre-eternal existence, there was a danger that people, attached to the earthly and unable to think of anything lofty, would think that Christ then only began His existence, when he was born of the Father before the ages. Therefore, the great John proclaims the heavenly birth, without failing, however, to mention the incarnation of the Word. For says: And the Word became flesh(John 1, 14) ”(Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 267).

John the Theologian writes a lot about the miracles of the Lord in Judea and Jerusalem: about the healing of the paralytic in Bethesda (see: John 5, 2-9), about the healing of the blind man (see: John 9, 1-7), about the resurrection of Lazarus ( see: John 11, 11-44), about the transformation of water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee (see: John 2, 1-11). The Gospel of John contains doctrinal conversations with the Jews about the Divinity of Christ and His consubstantiality with God the Father (see John 6:26–58; 8:12–59), the Savior’s conversations with a Samaritan woman (see: John 4:5 -26) and with Nicodemus (see John 3:1-21).

The Gospel of John is divided into 21 chapters and ends with the words that his true testimony(John 21:24).

Evangelist symbols

Ancient Christian writers compared the Four Gospels to a river, which, coming out of Eden to irrigate the paradise planted by God, was divided into four rivers. An even more common symbol for the evangelists was the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw at the river Chebar and which consisted of four creatures resembling a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle: From the midst of it, as it were, the light of a flame from the midst of fire; and from the middle of it was seen the likeness of four animals, - and such was their appearance: their appearance was like that of a man ... The likeness of their faces is the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side of all four of them; and on the left side the face of a calf in all four and the face of an eagle in all four(Ezekiel 1, 5, 10). These creatures, taken separately, became the symbols of the Evangelists: the Apostle Matthew is compared with a man, the Apostle Mark with a lion, the Apostle Luke with a calf, the Apostle John with an eagle.

The reason for this comparison was the consideration that the Apostle Matthew in his Gospel puts forward the especially human and messianic character of Christ; the apostle Mark depicts His omnipotence and kingship; the apostle Luke speaks of His high priesthood, with whom the sacrifice of calves was associated; the apostle John, like an eagle, soars above the clouds of human weakness. However, the semantic center of each Gospel is the story of the death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

About celebrating Easter

The Hebrew word "Passover" means "transition", "deliverance". In the Old Testament Church, this was the name of the holiday, established in remembrance of the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt and, at the same time, their deliverance from slavery. In the New Testament Church, Easter is celebrated as a sign that the Son of God Himself, through the Resurrection from the dead, passed from this world to the Heavenly Father, from earth to heaven, freeing us from eternal death and slavery to the devil and giving us the power to be children of God(John 1:12).

The feast of Easter was established and celebrated already in the Apostolic Church. It originates from the very time of the Resurrection of Christ, when the apostles triumphed over the victory of their Teacher over death. The disciples of Christ commanded to celebrate this holiday every year for all believers.

In 325, at the First Ecumenical Council, a decision was made to celebrate Easter everywhere on the first Sunday of the Paschal full moon, so that Christian Easter would always be celebrated after the Jewish one.

“The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” says St. Innocent of Kherson, “is the highest triumph of faith—for by Him our faith is affirmed, exalted, deified; the highest triumph of virtue—for in Him the purest virtue triumphed over the greatest temptation; the highest triumph of hope - for it serves as the surest guarantee of the most majestic promises ”(Word on Wednesday of Bright Week, p. 62).

By the importance of the blessings received by us through the Resurrection of Christ, Pascha is truly a holiday and a triumph of celebrations, which is why it is celebrated in a particularly bright and solemn way, and its worship is distinguished by special grandeur. The Easter service sings of the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over death and the gift of eternal life to us. All divine services of the holiday are imbued with a sense of joy about the Risen One.

Easter of Christ expresses to us the great love of the Creator for us. He Himself entered into a struggle with Satan, defeated him with His holiness, obedience to the Heavenly Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ resurrected Himself, the Heavenly Father resurrected Him, and this resurrection is given to us. The great saint of God Gregory Palamas says that the incarnation - the appearance of God into the world, our Lord Jesus Christ - is a great mystery, an even greater act of God's love than the creation of the world. When we are baptized, we experience a new birth by water and the Spirit. The Lord grants us repentance. We repent and He forgives us our sins. The Lord unites with us in the sacrament of communion

Body and Blood of Christ. Therefore, in this one of our confessions, “Christ is Risen!” lies the whole essence of our holy faith, all the firmness and steadfastness of our hope and hope, all the fullness of eternal joy and bliss.

About the time of Easter

In the celebration of Easter Orthodox Church observes the vernal equinox, the 14th day of the moon and three days - Friday, Saturday, Sunday. If the 14th day of the moon happens before the equinox, says St. John Chrysostom, then we leave it and look for another, which should be after the equinox; before the spring equinox, the 14th day of the moon is not taken.

According to the Old Testament law, the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered on Nisan 14 in the afternoon. The Lord celebrated the old Pascha a day earlier, preparing the apostles for the coming New Testament evening, the true Pascha. The bread that was on this evening was sour, not unleavened.

During the Last Supper, the Lord said: One of you will betray me(Matthew 26:21) and gave bread to Judas. Thus, the Lord separated him and excommunicated him from the disciples. Previously, He curbed the malice of Judas, kept for Himself the time of death: What do you do, do(John 13, 27), as if to say: "I leave you, do what you want." When Judas left, the Lord said: I really wanted to eat with you this very last Old Testament easter(Luke 22:15) and established the sacrament of Body and Blood. There was no traitor at the table with them.

Easter Week

The gospel reading, set on the very day of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, is an exalted teaching about the Person of Jesus Christ, His Divinity, His Divine attitude towards the world and man, and His incarnation for the salvation of people. Although it does not literally speak of the Resurrection of Christ, it sets forth the truth of the Resurrection: He who resurrected by His own will, by His own power, revealed Himself in all clarity as the true God, and was revealed to be the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead(Rom. 1:4). As a sign that the glory of the Risen Lord has spread throughout all nations, the Gospel is proclaimed during the nightly Paschal service in different languages.

Apostolic Reading
(Acts 1:1-8)

I made the first word about everyone, about Theophilus, even though Jesus began to create and teach even to the day, in which he commanded the apostle by the Holy Spirit, whom he had chosen, he ascended: before them and put yourself alive according to your suffering in many true signs, being forty days and speaking to them about the Kingdom of God: with them, and the poison commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, if you hear from me: as John already baptized with water, you have to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not for many of these days. So they came together to ask him, saying: Lord, if in this year you establish the kingdom of Israel? And he said to them: understand your times and years, even put the Father in His power: but you will receive the power that the Holy Spirit has found on you, and you will be My witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the last earth.

I wrote the first book for you, Theophilus, about everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day on which He ascended, giving commands by the Holy Spirit to the apostles, whom He chose, to whom He showed Himself alive, after His suffering, with many faithful proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking of the Kingdom of God. And having gathered them, He commanded them: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from Me, for John baptized with water, but you, a few days after this, will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Wherefore they came together and asked Him, saying: At this time, O Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said to them: It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has set in his own power, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

About Theophilus- refers to the same Theophilus, for whom the apostle Luke wrote his Gospel.

Even Jesus began to create and teach. In His earthly life, the Lord only began to create and teach, but His work will be continued by the apostles and their successors. until the end of the century(Matthew 28:20).

Holy Spirit– Christ created everything by the Holy Spirit, because, as the blessed Theophylact says, “where the Son creates, the Spirit assists and co-presences, as consubstantial” (Interpretation on the Acts of the Holy Apostles, p. 9).

To whom he showed himself alive so that the apostles could testify of His Resurrection to the whole universe.

Don't Leave Jerusalem- precisely where the enmity against God reached its highest expression - the murder of the Son of God - the spread of the Gospel throughout the universe was to begin.

At this time, O Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel? The apostles still cherished the expectation common to all Jews of the Kingdom of the Messiah as a completely earthly state. The Lord replies to this that it is not the work of the apostles to know times or seasons which the Father has set in His own power. Their job is to be witnesses of the Resurrection of the Son of God even to the last earth.

gospel reading
(John 1:1-17)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word. This be from time immemorial to God. All That was, and without Him there was nothing, a hedgehog. In Tom the belly was, and the belly was the light of man. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not embrace it. A man was sent from God, his name was John: this one came to bear witness, that he testifies of the Light, that all have faith in him. Not that light, but let it testify of the Light: be the true Light, Which enlightens every person who comes into the world. In the world be, and the world That was, and the world did not know Him. In his own coming, and his own did not accept Him. And having received Him, the Elitsa, gave them the region of being a child of God, believing in His name, even not from blood, nor from carnal lust, nor from masculine lust, but born from God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt in us, and I saw His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies of Him and called out the verb: Be this, Egozhereh, Whoever comes after me, be before me, as if first less. And from His fulfillment we all received and grace reciprocated grace: as the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth were by Jesus Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God; his name is John. He came for a witness, to testify of the Light, that all might believe through him. He was not a light, but was sent to testify of the Light. There was a true Light that enlightens every person who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. And to those who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the power to become children of God, who were born neither from blood, nor from the desire of the flesh, nor from the desire of a man, but from God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father. John testifies of Him and, exclaiming, says: This was the One of whom I said that He who comes after me has become ahead of me, because he was before me. And from His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In the beginning, the Word - Evangelist points with this expression to the eternity of the Only Begotten. In order to call Him the Word, so that no one would think of a passionate birth: “As the word is born from the mind impassively,” writes Theophylact of Bulgaria, “so He is born from the Father impassively. Also: He called Him the Word because He announced to us the properties of the Father, just as any word declares the mood of the mind, and at the same time also in order to show that He is co-eternal with the Father. For just as it cannot be said that the mind is sometimes without a word, so the Father and God were not without the Son ”(Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 269).

And the Word be to God. The Lord Himself says that He was with the Father before the world was(John 17:5). “For it is impossible,” says the blessed Theophylact, “that God should ever be without the Word, or Wisdom, or Power. Therefore the Son, since He is the Word, Wisdom and Power

Father (see: 1 Cor. 2, 4), has always been with God, that is, he was contemporary and joint with the Father ... The Evangelist here says in the clearest way that the Word is different and God is different, that is, the Father. For if the Word was together with God, then obviously two Persons are introduced, although they both have one nature ”(Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 269).

And God was the Word. The Father and the Son have one nature, as well as one Divinity. On the one hand, they are different Personalities, and on the other hand, they are one, because they have one nature - Divine.

This be from time immemorial to God. The Son is as eternal as the Father Himself.

All That was, and without Him there was nothing, a hedgehog. All - because He created everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible(Col. 1:16). Tem- only through the Word. Bysha- the world received a beginning, that is, without the power of the Word, nothing in created nature received existence. Hedgehog- only what is created. However, “The Spirit does not belong to the created nature,” says the blessed Theophylact, “therefore, He did not receive existence from Him” (Interpretation on the Gospel of John, p. 273). The action of the Holy Spirit, which manifested itself at the creation of the world, is depicted in the Book of Genesis: The Spirit of God hovered over the water(Gen. 1, 2). The image of the participation of each Person of the Holy Trinity in the work of creation can be briefly expressed in the words of St. Gregory the Theologian: “In the first, God thinks of the angelic and heavenly powers. And this thought became a deed, which was fulfilled by the Word and accomplished by the Spirit” (Word on Theophany, or on the Nativity of the Savior, p. 445).

In Tom the belly was, and the belly was the light of man. God the Word is not only the creative Power that called everything to existence. The blessed Theophylact writes that “without the Word, nothing came into existence that did not receive existence in Him, since everything that received existence and was created was created by the Word Itself and, therefore, was not without Him. The Evangelist calls the Lord life, both because He sustains the life of everything, and because He gives spiritual life to all rational beings, and a light that is not so much sensual as intelligent, enlightening the very soul. He did not say that He is the light of the Jews alone, but of all men. For we are all human beings, inasmuch as we received mind and understanding from the Word that created us, and therefore we are called enlightened from Him. For the reason given to us, according to which we are called reasonable, is the light that guides us in what we should and should not do” (Interpretation on the Gospel of John, p. 274).

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not embrace it. And the light that is, the Word of God did not cease to illuminate people even after people had fallen away from God, when the darkness of sin covered the whole earth and all nations. "Light, that is, the Word of God, shines in the dark, that is, in death and error,” says the blessed Theophylact. - For He, having submitted to death, so overcame it that he forced it to vomit even those whom it had previously swallowed. And preaching shines in pagan error. And darkness does not embrace him. Neither death overcame Him, nor delusion. For this light, that is, the Word of God, is irresistible” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 274). Light has come into the world; but people loved the darkness more than the light, because their deeds were evil(John 3:19). And this wonderful light shone mainly through the voice of conscience - the most implacable judge of human affairs.

The light of our soul is Christ, revealing to us our sinful state through His word, shows us the way to eternal life and makes us capable of bearing good fruits, while His grace-filled light begins to shine in our hearts and warm us with its warmth. The feeling of this light opens to the mental eye of faith the immeasurable depth of Divine mysteries, and along with this, instead of a corrupted heart, a new heart is given (see: Jer. 32, 39), the believer enters into a wonderful ... light(1 Pet. 2, 9), becoming a new creature (see: 2 Cor. 5, 17), and, once being darkness, becomes light in the Lord(Eph. 5:8).

A man was sent from God, his name was John. These words mean that he did not say anything from himself or from people, but everything from God. Therefore, in the Old Testament prophecy, he is called an Angel (see: Mal. 3, 1), and the property of an Angel is to say nothing on his own. However, John was not an angel by nature, but is called an angel by deed and ministry: he served a lot of preaching and foreshadowed the Lord. By nature, he was a man, and therefore the evangelist says: Be a man sent from God.

This one came to testify, and testify of the Light, and all have faith in him. John came to testify about the Son of God, to point out the Messiah to people (see: John 1, 29-36), and people only through him were to recognize the Messiah and believe in Him - May all have faith in Him.

Not that light, but let it testify of the Light. Since it often happens that the witness is higher than the one to whom he testifies, so that they would not think that John, testifying about Christ, was higher than Him, the evangelist says: Don't be that light.“We can call every saint a light,” says the blessed Theophylact, “but a saint is a light not by nature, but by communion, for it has lordship from the true Light” (Interpretation on the Gospel of John, p. 275). The same was true of John in relation to Christ.

Be true Light. The Word was the light of the world always and before His incarnation, the Messiah as an original light, a light in its very essence, and not borrowed, a source of all light and enlightenment for every man to come into the world. But the world, of course, is predominantly pagan, He is not known as his God, and, deviating from the truth of God, created for himself many gods instead of the one true God.

In your coming, that is, to the Jews, the chosen people, and did not accept his own, at least not all, as might be expected from a people chosen by God. And before the incarnation of the Word, despite the prophecies, promises about Him, theophany, they did not accept Him, and when He became incarnate, this people rejected and crucified Him, their Teacher and Redeemer.

Blitz, but having accepted Him, who believed in Him as the Messiah, whether they are slaves or free, youths or elders, barbarians or Greeks - all give them the region to be a child of God. The Evangelist said this because, as St. John Chrysostom explains, grace does not act by force, does not restrict human freedom and autocracy, but comes and acts only in those who desire and seek it. Therefore, to preserve purity, it is not enough to be baptized, but much effort is needed to keep the image of sonship given in baptism undefiled. God's work is to give grace, human work is to present faith. It is not a carnal birth that adopts us to God, it does not make people close to Him, His children, but a spiritual, incomprehensible birth, a birth from God. This grace-filled birth and adoption to God is acquired by them through faith in the Divine Word.

And the Word became flesh. The Word, the Son of God, took on a full human nature, an earthly body and a rational soul, and, being God from eternity, became the God-Man in time. The Word of God itself, according to the reasoning of St. Gregory the Theologian, purifying like with like, becomes Man in everything except sin. The Lord showed great philanthropy for the sake of our salvation, taking upon Himself something different and completely alien to His own nature, that is, flesh.

God the Word, Jesus Christ dwell in us that is, he did not appear on earth for a moment, as the Angels did, but lived among people, ate, drank, talked and did everything that is usually done not by a spirit that does not have flesh and bones, but by a person. Through the Gospel we learn to believe that in one Christ there are two natures: divine and human.

And I saw His glory,- says the Evangelist John, as if on behalf of all the apostles, - not only with the internal eyes of faith, not only in images and symbols, like the people of the Old Testament, but also with external bodily eyes, in the external human manifestation of the Word, in reality itself, for before them was the true God-man.

Unapproachable glory manifested itself in His life, in His teaching, in His deeds, in miracles and signs, at the Transfiguration, Ascension, Resurrection in such extraordinary power and luminous radiance, which only glory can shine. as the only begotten from the Father, Lord of glory.

Full of grace and truth This is the teaching of the Son of God. It is truly fulfilled grace as the prophet David exclaimed: Grace is poured out of your mouth(Ps. 44:3). And the gospel testifies that all marveled at the words of grace that came out of the mouth Christ (Luke 4:22), so that He healed hearts and souls. That it has been fulfilled truth, it is said because everything that the prophets and Moses himself said and did were images, and what Christ said and did is all full of truth, since He Himself is grace and truth.

This be, Egozher rekh, Even the one who comes after me, be before me, as if first of all,- John the Forerunner testified about Christ, when he had not even seen Him yet. Who is coming for me, that is, Coming after me, means that Christ appeared in time later than John the Baptist, being six months younger than him in the flesh. However, He became more glorious, more venerable than him by the miracles that He performed, by Christmas, by wisdom. And it's fair, because the Son of God first John be, according to the eternal birth from the Father, although he came for him by appearing in the flesh.

And from the fulfillment of Him we all receive grace and reward grace. The Apostle Paul says of Christ Jesus that in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily(Col. 2:9). It is in this fullness of the Godhead in Christ Jesus that the most abundant, inexhaustible source of grace is revealed, which He generously pours out on all those who are worthy, and with such an outpouring it remains full and never exhausted. All believers - who lived and in times

Old, and in the times of the New Testament, received from the fullness of Christ the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, redemption by His blood(Eph. 1:7), spiritual gifts of many kinds, adoption by God.

As the law was given by Moses, grace and truth were by Jesus Christ. The law was given through Moses, and he was only like a minister(Heb. 3:5), who had to convey to others only what he himself had received. That is, for the giving of the Old Testament, God used a man as an intermediary, namely Moses, while the New Testament was given through Jesus Christ, the God-man. “He is also called grace,” says the blessed Theophylact, “because God gave us not only the forgiveness of sins, but also sonship, and is also called truth, because He clearly preached what the Old Testament saw or spoke figuratively. The New Testament, called both grace and truth, had no mediator common man but the Son of God. The evangelist of the old law said: given through Moses, for he was a subordinate and a servant, but about the new he did not say “given”, but “came into being”, to show that he came from our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Master, and not from a slave, and in the end he reached grace and truth ” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 283).

The grace of Christ removes a legal curse from a person, justifies before God, having reconciled with Him (see: Gal. 3, 13; Rom. 5, 9-10), forgives and cleanses sins, communicates various spiritual gifts according to the measure of faith, gives strength to fulfill the New Testament law in such a way that it seems to be a good yoke and a light burden (cf. Mt. 11:30). All that the law depicted as a shadow, having the truth ahead, clearly, openly came to pass and was actually accomplished by Jesus Christ.

Easter reading: "In the beginning was the Word" is perhaps the most difficult of all the gospel texts. Why is this particular passage, which does not even say anything about the Resurrection, read at Easter? On the understanding of the Logos in the ancient, Old Testament and New Testament traditions - in the commentary of Fr. Oleksandr PROKOPCHUK, lecturer at PSTGU.

The Easter Gospel is read facing the people. In the photo: During the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the day of the Resurrection of Christ on May 5, 2013, the Gospel was read by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, bishops and priests - they read, according to tradition, in different languages

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. It was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6. There was a man sent from God; his name is John.
7. He came for a witness, to testify of the Light, that all might believe through him.
8. He was not a light, but was sent to testify of the Light.
9. There was a true Light that enlightens every person who comes into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.
12. And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God,
13. who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father.
15. John bears witness to Him, and, exclaiming, says: This was the One of whom I said that He who comes after me was ahead of me, because He was before me.
16. And from His fullness we all received, and grace upon grace,
17. for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

(John 1; 1-17).

The introduction to the Gospel of John begins in the same way as the book of Genesis: "In the beginning...". The next phrase - “there was a Word” (Greek “Logos”) - recalls how God translated the various elements of chaos into the order of creation with His word (for example, “And God said: let there be light and there was light”). However, if the book of Genesis speaks of the beginning of the world in time, then the first verse of the prologue of the Gospel of John points to the existence of the Word even before the creation of the world. For the evangelist, the Word is a personal Being, eternally with God, consubstantial with Him and acting as the Mediator of creation (1.1-3).

But since outside the name prologue Logos not in the gospel text, biblical scholarship has discussed the reasons for using this term in relation to Jesus Christ. The word “logos” is of Greek origin, therefore, first of all, researchers tried to find the origins of the idea of ​​the Logos of the Evangelist John among Hellenistic thinkers.

For the Stoics, it is the life energy that permeates the universe and creates perfect order in it. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 B.C. - A.D. 42) held to the Greek notion of God as an entity removed from the world and used the concept of logos to explain how communication between a transcendent God takes place. and His creation. Logos is perceived as the inner plan of all things in the mind of God and the force that realizes it. She seeks to keep the distance between God and the world and at the same time transcend it.

Thus, divinity cannot be attributed to her. Philo's logos is not a person, but an element of the world of ideas, which is neither an object of faith nor an object of love.
Therefore, other researchers reasonably believe that the description of the Word in the prologue is much closer to the biblical tradition. This is confirmed by the following.

1) In the psalms, the Word of God is an active force that creates the world and brings salvation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were created” (Ps 32.6), “He sent his word and healed them” (Ps 106.20). With the prophets, it acquires an almost independent existence, itself accomplishing that for which it was sent: why I sent him” (Isaiah 55:11).

2) By the 1st century. BC Aramaic became the spoken language throughout Palestine. Therefore, the reading of the Scriptures in the synagogues in Hebrew began to be accompanied by a parallel transcription into Aramaic. In such translations (in Aramaic "Targums") the anthropomorphisms of the Bible were replaced by the expression "word of God". For example, the sentence "My hand founded the earth and My right hand spread out the heavens" (Isaiah 48:13) was translated as follows: "By my word I founded the earth, and by my power I hung the heavens."

3) In the post-captive era in Israel, the idea of ​​a personified Wisdom was developed. In the 8th ch. In the book of Proverbs, she appears as a person who was created before everything else and helped God in creation. “She is the breath of the power of God and a pure outpouring of the glory of the Almighty: therefore, nothing defiled will enter into her. She is a reflection of eternal light and a pure mirror of God's action ... She is one, but she can do everything and ... renews everything ”(Wisdom 7.25-27).

But whatever coincidences may be found in the meaning of the opening verses of the prologue with previous biblical and philosophical views, the idea of ​​the Logos can only be understood, first of all, in the context of the Gospel of John itself, where the deeds of the Word are presented as a continuation of the creative activity of God in the world created by Him (5.17 ). And the teaching of Jesus Christ is the "fullness of truth" revealed in God's address to people (15.15, 12.49)

Consider the content of each verse of this hymn.

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The introduction to the Gospel of John begins with the proclamation of the originality of the Word. It has always been with God, therefore, existed even before it was "pronounced". But the Word is not only ahead of everything else in being, It is completely identical with God.

2. It was in the beginning with God.

Here we immediately encounter the fact that one term can have several meanings for the evangelist. If the originality of Art. 1 rather suggests the existence of the Word outside of time, in eternity, then in v. 2 "beginning" is the starting point of creation. The repetition of a word suggests its ambiguity.

3. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being.

According to the book of Genesis, the world was created by the Word, which carried out the plan of God. This means that the Word possesses colossal creative power. It is capable of creating, but it has never done it in isolation. Throughout the gospel it is repeated many times that God always works through the Son and does nothing without Him.

4. In Him was life, and life was a light to men.

Consequently, the salvation of the world could not be accomplished without His participation. Therefore, after the theme of the emergence of all things, the prologue moves on to the theme of the relationship of the Word to people. Although the whole world was created from non-existence by God, humanity did not have the life that the Word possessed, because it was in darkness. That the Word was the light for all men immediately introduces the theme of salvation through the Word. The life of God can only be received in union with the Son (John 5.40), but for this one must have Him in oneself (6.56-58). The life of the Word is able to bring people out of the captivity of darkness: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (8.12).

5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it..
The Evangelist does not say where the darkness came from, it opposes the light and therefore, like the light, it must be a personal spiritual principle. Light and darkness are incompatible with each other. And no matter how great the darkness is, it is not able to hide or destroy the light, since Light is life, the beginning, existence itself: "I am" (8.24, 58).

6. There appeared a man sent from God, his name was John.

If John was called to his ministry directly by God, then everything he preached and did came from the one who sent him.

7. He came for a witness, to testify of the Light, so that all might believe through him.

According to the prologue, John's mission was not baptism, but witness. Therefore, it is no coincidence that at the end of it the evangelist does not give a description of the baptism of Jesus, but immediately proceeds to the numerous testimonies of the Forerunner.
In verse 7 Light becomes an object of faith. This, firstly, once again emphasizes that we are not talking about ordinary physical light, but about a reality of a different order. A Secondly, indicates that this Light was a Personality, since one can only believe in a personality. It is important that everyone was destined for this faith, without any exceptions.

8. He was not the Light, but came to testify of the Light.

Although John could not be the light, Jesus would call him a "lamp," burning and shining, so that all who associated with him could "rejoice in his light" (5.35).

9. There was a true Light that enlightens every person who comes into the world.

The definition of light as "true" is no longer found in the Gospel and is significant, since truth is here first associated with the Second Hypostasis: in verse 14 the Word will be declared the source of truth for people.

Another characteristic of Light is that, unlike ordinary light, it does not shine, but enlightens every person. This can be understood as an indication of the omniscience of Jesus Christ, which is mentioned more than once in the Gospel: “Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them because He knew everyone, and because He did not need anyone to testify about a person; for I knew what was in the man" (2.24-25), "go and see the Man who told me all that I did" (4.29), "but I know you that you do not have the love of God in you" ( 5.42), etc.

Only to Jesus was the true knowledge of man revealed, while everything that His opponents said about Him came from the devil and was a lie (8.44-45). And since the appearance of the Light serves to reveal the truth, it means the coming of the judgment: “And this is the judgment that the light has come into the world ... For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not go to the light ... his works, that they were done in God” (3:19:20-21). This judgment is "true" (8.16) because it happens in accordance with the Father who sent it (5.30).

10. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him.

In Art. 10 the word “world” is both the whole universe (“the world came into being through Him”) and the human community (“the world did not know Him”), since only rational beings are capable of knowing anything. The theme of knowledge runs throughout the Gospel, with knowledge and acceptance usually going hand in hand (8:19, 15:21, 17:8; cf. 5:37-38, 42). Therefore, the continuation of the phrase “the world did not know Him” inevitably becomes “they did not accept.”

11. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.

That is, he “came” to the people whom He could count on receiving first of all. “Own” are the Jews, who thus represent the world that has renounced the Son of God. Thus, the word "peace" (v. 10) acquires a negative connotation, it becomes the personification of mankind's disobedience to God. The contemporaries of Jesus Christ did not accept Him in divine dignity as their Creator through whom the world was created (5.17-18).

12. To all who received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God, believing in His name,

It is indeed the power to become a son of God, because it abolishes all human conditioning. If life is given to a person not by people, but by God, then it is no longer subject to death. The word “authority” in the Gospel is used in the context of life and death: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave the Son to have life in Himself, and gave Him the power to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man” ( 5.26-27); “No one takes My life from Me, but I myself lay it down. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to receive it again” (10.18); “For You have given Him authority over all flesh, so that to all whom You have given Him He may give eternal life” (17:2). The highest power in the world is the ability to command someone else's life. The sovereignty of Jesus Christ means that He has "life in Himself" (5.26). None of the people have the right to dispose of His life (2.4), no one has “any power” over Him (19.10-11).

13. who were not born of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the desire of man, but of God were born.

Such a birth, in a conversation with Nicodemus, is called a birth "from above ... from water and the Spirit," without which a person "cannot enter the Kingdom of God" (3.3, 5). An indication of "blood" means tribal affiliation, belonging to a certain people. Since the birth "from the blood" does not imply the birth "from God", the superiority of the Jewish origin thus disappears; Jews do not report any advantages before God, this is discussed in detail in the Discourse after the Feast of Tabernacles (8.). And later in the prologue it will be said that Moses and the law also lose their former meaning (v. 17).

14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

That the Word, which "was with God," "became flesh," and "dwelt among us," suggests two seemingly mutually exclusive points:

1) The Word (Logos) is the revelation of God outside (see the 18th verse), and as a word it must have sounded (15.22). But the evangelist is not talking about the fact that God turned to people in the preaching of Jesus Christ, and not about the miracles that accompanied His ministry, but about seeing glory. And this is not about the Transfiguration, as commentators often believe, since it is not mentioned in the fourth Gospel.
The glory of Christ did not involve light, voice, noise (Heb 12:18-19) or any other effects. It was not clear to most of the people who surrounded Jesus Christ. It takes faith to know it. Glory is all the earthly ministry of the Son of God, which was the fulfillment of the will of His heavenly Father (John 17.4). Glory is God's prerogative (5.44; 8.54), so to "see glory" is to understand that Jesus is God. Glory confirms His divine dignity.

2) On the other hand, incarnation means that the deity of the Word was hidden under the cover of "flesh". The Son of God could be unidentified "because He" is a man (5.27). Therefore, fellowship with Jesus did not yet mean understanding who He was: “But I told you that you have seen Me and do not believe” (5.36).

15. John testifies of him and proclaims: this was the one about whom I said: He who comes after me has become ahead of me, because he was before me.

John yields primacy to Jesus Christ, pointing to His divine origin. Previous evangelists have already quoted similar statements, but they did not contain dogmatic elements. The ministry of John the Baptist, both in the prologue and in the subsequent gospel text, is always compared with Jesus Christ. On the pages of the Fourth Gospel, John does not exist on his own, all his activities are correlated with Jesus: he is a witness, leading others to faith. In chapter 3 we learn that the disciples of John the Baptist were jealous of the rising popularity of Jesus Christ. Even though John baptized Jesus (which would seem to place the latter in a subordinate position to the former), Christ's ministry infinitely surpasses John's mission. According to the synoptic gospels, the fact that the disciples of John could not fully comprehend the purpose of Jesus forced the Baptist to send them to Him from prison (Lk 7.19).

16. For out of His fullness we have all received: and grace upon grace;

This verse contains one of the most important provisions of the Gospel of John: what once belonged only to the Son of God can now pass to the people. And the most important gift is the life that the Son brought in abundance: “I came that they might have life and have it in abundance” (10.10). Therefore, the prologue speaks of a grace that overwhelms those who have received it (“grace upon grace”).

17. Because the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Here we meet another antithesis that runs through the entire gospel narrative: Moses, who received the law (7.19), is opposed to Jesus Christ and the truth that He brought.

If grace is mentioned only in the prologue, then truth is one of the key themes of the fourth gospel. Jesus is the truth itself, He completely identifies Himself with it: “... I am the way and the truth and the life” (14.6), it is known only to Him alone (8.45).

We have the right to talk about a conflict: the law comes into conflict with the truth and becomes the basis for its rejection. Jesus explains to Pilate that His coming into the world is connected with the revelation and spreading of the truth: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (18.37), and the high priests, seeking Pilate’s consent to the crucifixion of Jesus, will announce, that their demand was dictated by the law: “The Jews answered him: we have a law, and according to the law he must die, because he made himself the Son of God” (19.7). For them, everything that He said about Himself is a clear lie. Thus, the struggle of the law with the truth ultimately served as the reason for the condemnation of Jesus Christ to death.

The prologue of the Gospel of John took its place in the celebration of Easter only in Byzantium no earlier than the 7th century. In most sources of the ancient Church, the 2nd Sunday reading serves as the reading of the Paschal liturgy (Mk 16:2-8). Perhaps for the first time the connection between the prologue of the Gospel of John and the feast of Pascha was established by Bl. Augustine (354-430).

In two of his sermons delivered to the newly baptized on Easter, he quotes the relevant verses of John 1.1-3, 14 and discusses the phenomenon of the incarnation of the Word. Since the end of the second century, the mass baptism of the catechumens has become an indispensable and important part of the Paschal service, while the prologue, containing the most complete expression of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament, can serve as one of the New Testament creeds. Pope Leo I (440-461) used the prologue as an Easter reading, and later Patriarch Severus of Antioch (512-518) devoted two Easter sermons to John 1.14 "The Word became flesh" as the basis of the baptismal rite.

The position of the Prologue of the Gospel of John in the annual circle of readings is due solely to the significance of its content, both in the theological and liturgical aspects.

Thanks to the fact that we hear it on Paschal night, the whole economy of salvation appears before us, the center of which is the Resurrection of Christ.
The law given through Moses loses its significance due to all that is received through Christ.

We will meet this position in the further exposition of the Evangelist John. The Lord begins the discourse about the Bread of Life with the words: “…Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (Jn 6.32). And at the Feast of Tabernacles, addressing the Jews, He says: “Didn't Moses give you the Law? And none of you keeps the Law” (Jn 7:19). "Moses gave you circumcision - not that it was from Moses, it is from the fathers" (7.22). In the cited words of the Savior, what was given through Moses is immediately devalued by the subsequent ... And although the divine origin of the revelation to Moses is not questioned - “God spoke to Moses” (9.29) - and for faith in Christ, you must first believe Moses (5.46-47), however, what the Father communicates and accomplishes through the Son (12.49; 14.10), crosses out everything that preceded it.

But the theme "Christ and Moses" is not reduced by the Evangelist only to downplaying the importance of Moses. After the healing at the sheep's pool on Saturday, when the Jews accuse Jesus of violating the Mosaic Law (5.16; 7.23), He answers them that the whole court is given to Him by the Father (5.22) and Moses, whose defenders they present themselves as, will become their accuser at the last judgment (5.45).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into existence. In Him was life, and life was light to men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not embrace it. There appeared a man sent from God, his name was John. He came for a witness, to testify of the Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but came to bear witness to the Light. There was a true Light that enlightens every person who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. To all who accepted Him, He gave them the power to become children of God, who believe in His name, who were not born of blood, and not from the desire of the flesh, and not from the desire of a man, but were born of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies of Him and proclaims: this was the One of whom I said: He who comes after me has become ahead of me, because he was before me. For out of His fullness we have all received: and grace upon grace; because the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:1-17)

At the end of Holy Week, Great Saturday comes - the day on which the Body of Christ the Savior taken from the Cross rested in the Tomb. At the liturgy of this day, the clergy change their clothes from dark to light clothes, and the Gospel of Matthew sounds, which already speaks of the risen Lord. And on Easter night itself, the festive reading, surprisingly, does not tell us about the Resurrection.

On Easter night we hear the prologue of the Gospel of John the Evangelist - about the beginning of beginnings.

Beginnings of theology

Of course, it is no coincidence that the Church has chosen precisely this text, this particular Gospel conception, so that it would be proclaimed at Pascha, on the feast of feasts. After all, it is in these words that the whole essence of the Orthodox teaching about God is contained - the teaching about the Most Holy Trinity and the teaching about Christ, God and Man. And in all likelihood, it was precisely because of the prologue of his Gospel, in which the fullness of the Church's knowledge about God is concentrated, that John was called the Theologian.

The theology of the ancient Church is an area of ​​questions about the trinity God: the doctrine of the equality of the Father and the Son, the doctrine of their difference, and then the application of the found formulas to the Holy Spirit. All other questions related to the field of economy - the doctrine of how God manages His house - the universe. The Trinitarian theology of the Church takes its beginning precisely in the prologue of the Fourth Gospel. It is in John that we read that the Word was with God, and that It too was God; From these provisions, the dogma was subsequently deduced about the single essence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and about their difference in Hypostases.

Concluded in the prologue of the fourth Gospel is the Christological teaching of the Church (the teaching on how God and Man are combined in the one Person of Christ): the Word not only “was God,” but also “became flesh”—that is, Man. And Saint John testifies of Him, so that we may believe in Him and through this faith have eternal life.

The meaning of all things

In the prologue of the fourth Gospel, our attention is focused primarily on the name by which the Son of God is called here, the Word, or Logos.

Saint John became a disciple of Christ when he was still a very young man, and he wrote down the gospel of Christ when he was already an old man. It was in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus, a major center of Hellenic culture. Recall that it was in this city that John once settled with the Virgin Mary, entrusted to him by Christ on Golgotha, and in the same place in 431 the Third Ecumenical Council took place, dogmatically confirming the term “Mother of God”; and a few centuries before John, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus lived there, who introduced the term “logos” into philosophy, meaning the general law of the harmony of the universe. According to Heraclitus, this cosmic Logos addresses people, but people cannot hear and understand it. The term "logos" was widely used by various philosophical schools, in particular the Stoics: for them, the Logos is the meaning of everything that exists, to which the logoses - the meanings - of all things are directed, that is, the meaning of the existence of each individual thing is hidden in a single world Logos.

Meanwhile, in a completely different culture, in the culture of the Old Testament, there was also the concept of a word as a designation of the action of a Higher power. Thus, for example, in the book of Psalms we read that Heaven is established by the Word of the Lord, that God sends His Word to earth, and that the Word will judge people, and that the Word delivers man from the grave. And this is the main difference here: if for the Greek world, which did not know the One God, the Logos was an impersonal law, then in the Old Testament, where “ High power"is God, the Word of the Lord has a distinct personal beginning.

And St. John, who belonged to the tradition of Scripture, but wrote in Greek, for the Hellenes, chooses with inspiration this very word - rooted in Scripture and at the same time guessed by the penetrating intuition of ancient philosophy.

That Word, John testifies, about whom the Scripture mysteriously proclaimed and about which philosophers pondered, is Jesus Christ - God the Word, through whom the Father created the world, and who came into the world, and who stands in the center of the universe, and about whom the apostle Paul will write, that "all things were created by Him and for Him" ​​(Col. 1:16).

The beginning of all beginnings

The gospel doctrine of the Logos was developed by church apologist writers who affirmed the truth of Christianity in the face of the pagan world. In their works, the theological teaching of the Church began to take shape. The most famous of the apologists was the holy martyr Justin the Philosopher, who in his youth went through various philosophical schools in search of truth, and found this truth by believing in Christ. At the same time, until the end of his life, he continued to wear the cloak of the philosopher and also went down in history with the name of the Philosopher - a lover of "wisdom descending from above." About the Logos of Christ, about His closeness to man, St. Justin wrote absolutely amazing things: about the fact that the Logos is even among those who do not know Him. Thus, those philosophers who bore the Logos in their souls and lived according to Him, according to Justin, "are Christians, although they were considered atheists." “Such are,” writes Justin, “Socrates and Heraclitus and the like” (I Apology, 46). And yet, says the holy martyr, “everything good that people have said belongs to us Christians” (II Apology, 13), because all the seeds of goodness, love and truth are from Christ the Logos, Who, according to the Evangelist John, is Light, Way, Truth and Life for every person coming into the world.

Another apologist, St. Meliton of Sardis, also speaks of the presence of the Logos in history and human life. The Word of the Father “was killed with others, with others it was in a foreign land, with others it fled, with others it was sawn to pieces, and with others it was on the ship,” he writes and further explains what he means: the Word has always sympathized with man and has been with the righteous: with Abel they were put to death, with David they fled, with Abraham they wandered, and with Isaiah they were sawn to pieces, with Noah they were in the flood of water ... "

So the Word acted in the era of the Old Testament, and with the Incarnation It came to us and became Flesh. The Old and New Testaments are united by one hope and one faith, one Word of God, one Lord Christ.

The Easter reading opens with the same word as the entire Bible: “In the beginning…” But if the book of Genesis speaks of the beginning of the universe, then in the fourth Gospel it is about the beginning of Salvation: this is a return to the starting point of Sacred History, in which the Eternal God determines The salvation of man is even before his creation. And this Salvation, which is the future of man, God accomplished two thousand years ago - by His incarnation, His Death and His Resurrection. Amen.