30. Now if I come to your servant, our father, and there is no lad with us, with whose soul his soul is connected, 31. then he, seeing that there is no lad, will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave. In the figurative language of Hebrew, the love of Jacob for Benjamin

Priest John Pavlov

94. Without sacrifice it is impossible to please God

“If a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, then one remains; but if he dies, he will bring forth much fruit,” says Christ in the Gospel. These words mean that the Lord came into our world in order to sacrifice Himself for the salvation of people. Without sacrifice, this salvation would not have been possible. A grain thrown into the ground decomposes and dies, but new life is born from it, many new grains. And if the grain does not die and preserves itself, then it will not give new life and there will be no fruit from it.

Christ walked the path of sacrifice in this world, and He calls us all to follow Him - the path of self-denial and sacrifice. “Whoever serves me, let him follow me,” He says. And again: “He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his soul in this world will keep it to eternal life.” All service to God and pleasing Him is based on sacrifice, and without sacrifice it is impossible. If we look at any Christian virtue, at any Christian deed, we will see that all this is nothing but a sacrifice. Fasting, prayer, obedience, monastic life, going to church, almsgiving and doing good - all this is our sacrifice to God.

For example, when we limit ourselves to food during fasting, we refuse food that would become our body, and thus sacrifice some part of ourselves. The same thing happens when we do deeds of mercy, for example, give money to a person in need - after all, in doing so, we take away some of our goods from ourselves, that is, we make a sacrifice. And in this case, it’s even more important not how much money a person gave out, but how much money he himself has left after that, that is, what is important is what part, what percentage, what share he tore away from himself for the sake of another person. This is why the two mites of a poor widow turned out to be more pleasing to the Lord than the large sacrifices of the rich, because the widow, as it is said in the Gospel, put everything she had, while the rich donated only a very small part of their wealth.

When we pray or go to the temple, we also make a sacrifice - our time and energy that we could spend on ourselves. When we exercise the virtue of obedience, we sacrifice our own will, which is always inclined towards self-love and self-pleasing.

Thus, the Christian life requires of us constant sacrifice and self-denial. One well-known ascetic even said that one cannot live on earth in a Christian way, but in a Christian way one can only die, in full accordance with the words of Christ: if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, then only one will remain ... There are also known thoughts about this Saint Gregory the Theologian. "The best benefit of life," he says, "is to die daily."

To sacrifice oneself for the sake of God is a great deed and a great mystery, such a sacrifice has great power. If someone sacrifices himself for the sake of God or devotes his life to God, then, like a grain thrown into the ground, he acquires immeasurably greater blessings and fruits. There are many examples from the history of the Church that confirm this truth. Thus, we know that the martyrs sacrificed themselves to God, died for the sake of Christ, and from this sacrifice the universal Church of Christ was born, spreading over the face of the whole earth. After all, it was the martyr's blood that was the foundation on which the Christian era of our planet was established, completely turning it over and transforming it.

Or another example: the life of many ascetics, wholly devoted to God, was the seed from which grew famous Christian monasteries, these spiritual strongholds that shone on the world for centuries, revealed entire hosts of saints and righteous people and became the cause of the salvation of countless human souls. The monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the Solovetsky Monastery, Valaam, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and all other great monasteries arose and were established by nothing more than the feat and sacrifice of their holy founders, who thereby became dead and brought abundant fruit to the gospel grain. The Monk Anthony of the Caves buried himself underground in the Kyiv caves, and this sacrifice caused the birth of a great lavra, in which whole hosts of saints shone, and around which countless people were saved for a thousand years. Saint Sergius died for the world, laboring in the Radonezh forests, but from the seed of his sacrifice such fruits were born that cannot be estimated or measured in any way.

The sacrifice that the ascetics brought to God with their lives had such great power that it could even change the very course of world history. Thus, for example, the Monk Barsanuphius the Great said that in his time, prayer and the holy life of only three people kept the world from catastrophe. And the life of the prophet Moses, pleasing to God, was the reason for the liberation of the Jews from Egypt - an event that most radically influenced the entire course of not only sacred, but also global history.

The law of sacrifice also operates in ordinary human life, for example, in war. Heroes shed their blood, sacrifice their lives and perish, but at the price of this sacrifice, immeasurably great benefits are acquired: a long, free and prosperous life of an entire nation. And such a sacrifice is pleasing to God, a heroic death is pleasing. Among other things, such a death brings great benefits to the hero himself, who sacrificed himself. Elder Paisios of Athos used to say that a sacrifice in war can greatly appease God, that heroes do not die, that death itself is afraid of them. And the perspicacious Paraskeva Diveevskaya, when the First World War began, often repeated: “God, how merciful God is! - the robbers go to the Kingdom of Heaven, they go like that! That is, even people who were not distinguished by special piety and who were Christians not so much in life as in name - even these "robbers", having died heroically, sacrificing themselves in the war, were justified by God's judgment and acquired eternal life.

Without sacrifice, it is impossible to please God and be saved, and, perhaps, for this reason, God allows wars, illnesses and other trials on earth. After all, in war people are placed in such conditions that they are often forced to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others, while in peacetime they would never do anything like that.

Likewise, sickness and sorrow are, as it were, an involuntary sacrifice on our part, since we do not offer a voluntary sacrifice. And this is especially important for Christians of our era, because, according to the Holy Fathers, sorrow and illness are the destiny of our time, which is not given either the feat of martyrdom or the feat of true monasticism. The saints sacrificed themselves to God and people voluntarily - either by martyrdom, or by severe asceticism: fasting, unceasing labors, nightly prayers. And since we do not make such a sacrifice, then sorrows and illnesses are allowed to us, so that we at least involuntarily bring it.

However, it must be said that sorrows and illnesses can also become a voluntary sacrifice - in the event that we endure them in a Christian way: with trust in God, courageously and without grumbling. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, in a letter to one of his spiritual children who has suffered a serious illness, has the following words: make the disease that has befallen you unwittingly a voluntary sacrifice through thanksgiving to God, so that God will accept it, like a censer filled with the most fragrant incense ...

Sacrifice gives rise to heavenly joy in the soul of a person, for by sacrificing himself, he receives mercy and Grace from God. This happens because, by sacrificing oneself, a person imitates Christ and together with Him conquers the world, goes beyond the limits of the earthly gravity of selfhood, rises above the swamp of egoism, becomes higher than himself. Thus, sacrificing the earthly, a person receives the heavenly, refusing the human, he receives the Divine, lives no longer a natural, but a supernatural life. Elder Paisius told an incident that happened to him in his youth, when he was at war. During one of the battles, he lay in a trench dug by him for himself due to the heavy shelling of this territory. Suddenly, a terrified soldier appeared nearby, who had no place to hide, and began to ask Father Paisius (who was called Arseny before monasticism) to let him into his trench. Since there was no room for two in the trench, Arseny, without hesitation, gave way to his soldier, and himself, being in mortal danger, went out into the open. They began to shoot at him, but God saved him, the bullets rained past, and one “combed” him on the head, shaving off a large piece of hair, but not causing harm. Father Paisios said that he reasoned then as follows: it is better to be killed once than my conscience will kill me all my life later. And of course, sacrificing himself, he experienced heavenly joy, as an imitator of Christ Himself, who sacrificed Himself for the salvation of people.

When a person sacrifices himself for the sake of others, he draws closer to God and becomes an imitator of His perfection, His love. Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect, the Gospel commands us... So let us, brothers and sisters, learn to sacrifice ourselves, conquer ourselves, let us fight against selfishness, self-pity and selfishness that are deeply rooted in us. For only by sacrificing oneself can a person become god-like, become that gospel grain that bears the fruit of eternal life. Amen.

Charles G. Spurgeon

“Jesus answered and said to them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, it will remain alone; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit. He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life” (John 12:23-25).

Some Greeks wanted to see Jesus. They were pagans, so it's amazing that at that time they wanted to talk to our Lord. I believe that the words "we want to see Jesus" did not just mean that they wanted to see Jesus, because they could see Him on the streets, but they wanted to see Him in the way we talk about meeting a person with whom we would like to talk to. They desired to get to know Him and receive a few words of instruction from Him.

These Hellenes were the vanguard of that great multitude of people, whom no one can count, from all tribes, and peoples, and languages, who were yet to come to Christ. Naturally, seeing them, the Savior felt a share of joy, but did not talk much about it, since at that moment His thoughts were occupied with His great sacrifice and its outcome. Yet He took notice of these Gentiles coming to Him, and this gave color to the words recorded here by His servant John.

I notice that the Savior here clearly shows that He is a Man and calls Himself the Son of Man. He called Himself that before, but here He does it with a special intent. He says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Here He speaks of Himself not as the "Son of David" but as the "Son of Man." He no longer gives a prominent place to the Jewish side of His mission, although as a preacher He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Like a dying Savior He speaks

about Himself as one of the human race: not the Son of Abraham or David, but the "Son of Man" - a brother to the Gentile in the same way as to the Jew. Let's never forget that our Lord Jesus is a Man. All the tribes of the earth are united in Him as one, for He is not ashamed to bear upon Himself the nature of our common humanity; black and white, prince and beggar, sage and savage - all see in His veins one blood, through which all people form one family. As the Son of Man, Jesus is akin to every living person.

Now that the Greeks have come, our Lord speaks of His glory that it is coming. "The hour has come," He says, "the Son of Man shall be glorified." He does not say, "The Son of Man shall be crucified," although it was so, and the crucifixion must come before the glorification. But the sight of the firstfruits among the Gentiles makes Him focus on His glory. Although He remembers His death, He speaks of the glory that will spring from His great sacrifice.

Remember, brethren, that Christ is glorified in the souls he saves. Just as the physician is honored by those he heals, so the Physician of Souls is glorified by those who come to Him. When these devout Greeks came and said, “Sir, we want to see Jesus,” even though the mere desire to see Him was like a mere green sprout, yet He rejoiced in it as a pledge of harvest, and saw in it the dawn of the glory of His cross.

I also think that the arrival of these Greeks in some way prompted the Savior to use the buried grain metaphor. We know that wheat was widely used in the Greek mysteries, but this is of little importance. It is more significant that at that time in the life of our Savior there came a period when the Jewish husk, in which, if I may say so, His human life was wrapped, had to break through. I mean the following: before our Lord said that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When the Syrophoenician prayed for her daughter, He reminded her of the limited nature of His preaching work among the people. Sending seventy, He ordered them not to enter the cities of Samaria, but to seek only the house of Israel.

Now, that blessed grain of wheat is breaking through the outer shell. Even before it is put into the ground to die, this divine grain of wheat begins to manifest its power of life and the true Christ is revealed. The Christ of God, although, of course, the Son of David, was in the line of the Father not a Jew, not a Gentile, but simply a man, and the great compassion of His heart extended to all mankind. All the elect, regardless of gender, nation or period of world history in which they lived, He considered His brothers. And at the sight of these Greeks, the true Christ stepped forward and revealed Himself to the world in a way that He had not previously revealed. Hence, perhaps, the origin of this unusual metaphor, which we now have to explain.

In our verse, dear friends, there are two things that I want to say briefly by the Spirit. First, we will talk about deep doctrinal teaching, and secondly, about practical instruction.

First, there is a DEEP DOCTRINAL TEACHING here.

Our Savior offered His thoughtful disciples a number of things that might be called doctrinal paradoxes.

The first paradox is that although He was already glorious, He still had to be glorified. "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Jesus has always been glorious. Personal union with God was glorious for the human Person of the Son of Man. Our Lord Jesus also had great glory all the time he was on earth because he had a perfect moral character. The gracious purpose for which He came down here was for Him true glory: His voluntary consent to come and be the Savior of men served as a great glorification of His loving character. His way of fulfilling his commissioned ministry—how He consecrated Himself to the Father and always did His work, how He resisted Satan with his flattery and was not tempted by all the kingdoms of the world—all this was His glory.

I will not be mistaken if I say that by His moral nature Christ was never more glorious than when in His earthly life He was invisible, contemptible, rejected, and yet faithfully served God and passionately loved the sons of men. The apostle says: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father.” Here he refers not only to the transfiguration, when a special reflection of divine glory was revealed, but to the presence of the Lord among people in everyday life. Holy spiritual minds saw such a glory of His life, such a glory of grace and truth, such as has never been manifested in any of the sons of men.

But although Jesus already had enough glory, He still had to be glorified. Something else had to be added to His personal honor. Remember, even when you have the clearest idea of ​​your Lord, glory must be added to everything you can see even with the Word of God in your hands. As glorious as the Son of Man was, through His death, resurrection, and entry beyond the veil, additional glory must come upon Him. He was a glorious Christ, and yet He was to be glorified.

The second paradox is that His glory must come upon Him through shame. He says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified," and goes on to speak of His death. The greatest fullness of our Lord's glory comes from His desolation of Himself and obedience even unto death, and the death of the cross. In His highest glory, He humbled Himself. His crown, thanks to the cross, acquires a new radiance; His eternal life is more honored because He once died for sin. His blessed face would never have been so beautiful in the eyes of the elect if it had not been spat upon. The look of His dear eyes would never have been so irresistible if it had not once dimmed in mortal torment for sinners. His hands are in gold rings with faceted beryl, but the most striking decorations are traces of cruel nails.

All the glory of Christ was his by nature, as the Son of God; but as the Son of Man, He gained His present greatness through the cross and the shame that surrounded Him when He took our sins upon Himself. We must never forget this, and if we ever fall into the temptation to replace the crucified Savior with the coming King, we must be deterred by the fact that in doing so we will deprive our Lord of His highest honor. When you hear someone speak without hesitation about redemption, immediately stand up for redemption, because from it comes the main glory of your Lord and Master. They say, "Let Him come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him." If He came down, what would be left to believe then? It is on the cross, it is from the cross, it is through the cross that Jesus ascends to His throne. Today the Son of Man has a special honor in heaven because He was slain and redeemed us to God with His blood.

The next paradox is that Jesus must retire, otherwise He will be left alone. Pay attention to these words: "If a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die (and thus does not retire), then one remains." The Son of Man must be alone in the tomb, or He will be alone in heaven. He must fall into the earth like a grain of wheat, and remain there in the solitude of death, otherwise he will be left alone.

This paradox is fairly easy to explain. If our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son of Man, had not trampled the winepress alone, if He had not been alone in the struggle under the olive trees of Gethsemane, as if plunging into the ground before His death, if He had not been alone on the cross and exclaimed: “God My, my God! Why did you leave me?" - He felt abandoned and alone, like a buried grain of wheat - He could not save us. If He had not died, then as a Man he would have remained alone forever. No, He would not be deprived of the eternal Father and the Spirit of God or the company of Angels; but there would be no man with him to share fellowship with him.

Our Lord Jesus cannot bear to be alone. A head without limbs is a terrible sight, no matter how you crown it. Do you know that the Church is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all? Without His people, Jesus would have been a Shepherd without sheep; and being a shepherd without sheep is not a very honorable service. He would be a husband without a wife; but He loves His Bride so much that for this He left His Father and became one flesh with the one He chose. He clung to her and died for her; and if He had not done this, He would have remained a bridegroom without a bride. This could never be. His heart is not one to selfishly enjoy happiness that no one else shares.

If you have read the Song of Songs of Solomon, where the Bridegroom's heart is revealed, then you know how He desires the company of His beloved, His dove, His pure one. His delight is the sons of men. Simeon The Stylite at the top of the pillar is not Jesus Christ; a hermit in his cave may have good intentions, but he will find no reason for his solitude in the One whose cross he says he honors. Jesus was a friend of people, he did not avoid them, he was looking for the dead. It was truly said of Him: "He receives sinners and eats with them." He draws all to Himself, and for this reason He was taken up from the earth. And yet this great, attractive Man would have had to be alone in heaven if He had not been alone in Gethsemane, alone before Pilate, alone when the soldiers mocked Him, and alone on the cross. If this precious grain of wheat had not fallen into the terrible loneliness of death, it would have remained alone, but because He died, He "brings much fruit."

This brings us to the fourth paradox - Christ must die to give life. “If a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, then only one will remain; and if he dies, he will bring forth much fruit.” Christ must die to give life to others. People make the mistake of confusing death with non-existence and life with existence, and these are very, very different things. “The soul that sins, it will die”; she will never cease to exist, but will die separated from God, who is her life.

There are many people who exist, but do not have true life and will not see life, but "the wrath of God abides on them."

A grain of wheat put into the ground dies, but do we mean that it ceases to exist? Not at all. What is death? This is the decomposition of something that has life into its initial elements. For us, death is the separation of the body from the soul, and for a grain of wheat, it is the decomposition of the elements that make up the grain. Our divine Lord, being laid in the ground, did not see corruption; when He died, His soul left the body for a while. And if He had not died literally and really, He would not have been able to give life to any of us.

Beloved friends, from this we learn what is the vital issue of Christianity: the death of Christ is the life of His teaching. Look: if the most important thing was the preaching of Christ or His example, then He would bear fruit and multiply Christians through preaching and personal example. But He declares that unless He dies, He will bear no fruit. I am told it is because His death was to be the completion of His example and the seal of His sermons? I admit that it is.

But imagine that our Lord chose to live on. If He were here, constantly walking around the world, preaching and living according to His teachings, if He continued to work miracles and use that wonderful attraction that always accompanied Him, a large number of disciples would surely follow Him. If His teaching and life were the means by which spiritual life could be bestowed without blood atonement, then why did the Savior not prolong His life on earth? But the fact remains that none of us can know anything about the spiritual life except through blood atonement. There is no other way to reach the knowledge of God except through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, through which we have access to the Father.

If, as some tell us, the moral foundation of Christianity is far more important than its characteristic doctrines, then why did Jesus die at all? The moral side would be more clearly manifested through a long life in holiness. He could live today if he wanted to, could still preach and be an example to the sons of men. But He assures us that only through death can He bear fruit. How, not with all that holy life? No. How, not by His incomparable sermon? No. None of us could have been saved from eternal death if Jesus' sacrifice had not made atonement. None of us would have been revived to spiritual life if Christ Himself had not died and risen from the dead.

Brethren, all the spiritual life that exists in the world is the result of the death of Christ. We live in a time that illustrates this truth to us. Life first came into the world through creation; she was lost in the garden. Since then, Noah has been the father of our race, and life through Noah came to us through figurative death, burial and resurrection. Noah entered the ark, was locked up in it, and was thus buried. In that ark, Noah was among the dead, wrapped in rain and buried in the ark. When the waters subsided, he emerged into a new world, as if he had risen again to life.

So it is today. We die with Christ, are buried with Christ, and come to life with Him. There is no true spiritual life in this world, except that which comes to us through death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. Do you know anything about this, friends? If not, then you have not known the life of God. You know the theory, but do you know the experiential power of this truth in your own spirit? Let us stand up for the doctrine of the atonement whenever we hear it attacked. Let's tell the world that although we value the life of Christ more than they do, we know that it is not Christ's example that saves people, but His death for us.

Had the blessed Christ lived here sinlessly all these nineteen hundred years, teaching all His wondrous commandments with majestic and simple eloquence, He would not have produced one atom of spiritual life among the sons of men. Without death He would not bear fruit.

If you want to live, my dear reader, you will not gain life by trying to imitate the example of Christ. In this way you will receive a certain benefit, but you will never receive spiritual life and eternal salvation. You must believe in Jesus that He died for you. You must understand that the Blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses us from all sin. You must be born again. As you learn these truths, you will study His life to your advantage. But if you do not recognize that the grain of wheat is thrown into the ground and must die, you will never find any fruit from it in your soul and you will not see fruit in the souls of others.

And another blessed lesson of deep divinity in our verse: since Jesus Christ really fell to the ground and died, we can expect a lot as a result. "And if he dies, he will bear much fruit." Some have a little Christ and expect little from Him. I have met good people who seem to believe that Jesus Christ died for the spiritually healthy people who attend the "Sigor" church, and more,

perhaps for a few persons from the Aven Yezer church in a neighboring town. They hope that one day a select few (and indeed a small company of them, and they do their best to reduce it by mutual strife) will praise God for the salvation of a very small remnant. I won't blame these dear brethren, but I wish their hearts were wider.

We do not yet know how much fruit will grow from our Lord Jesus. Can't the day come when millions of Londoners will worship God with one accord? I am waiting for the day when the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, when kings will fall on their faces before the Son of God and all nations will call Him blessed. "It's too much to expect," someone will say. "Missionary activity is spreading very slowly." I know this, but missions are not grain; all we expect is to come out of that grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died; which means it will bear a lot of fruit.

When I think of the blessed Person of my Master, the perfect Son of God and Son of Man, when I think of the boundless glory He left behind and the indescribable torments He endured, I ask: can the Angels calculate the value of His sacrifice? Only God knows the love of God revealed in the death of His Son. Do you really think that all this divine plan, labor and sacrifice of boundless love will give such an insignificant result? It won't look like God. The suffering of the Son of God will not produce so little good. The result will be commensurate with the means, and the effect will correspond to the work done. The Lord will reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!

Indeed, just as the angels were amazed at the groans of the cross, so the outcome of the cross will astonish the seraphim and make them delight in the indescribable manifestation of the glory that will result from the shameful death of their Lord. O beloved, there is much more to come from our Jesus. Be of good cheer, despondent ones. Be bold, warriors of the cross. Your banner will be victorious. Wait patiently, work hopefully, suffer joyfully, for the Kingdom is the Lord's, and He will rule the nations.

So, we have considered the depth of doctrinal teaching.

I will end with a few words about PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION. Know, then, that what is true of Christ is to some extent true of every child of God: and if he dies, he will bring forth much fruit.” This applies to us as well, as the following verse indicates: “He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his soul in this world will keep it to eternal life.”

First of all, we must die in order to live. There is no spiritual life for you, or for me, or for anyone else, except through death for it. Do you hide behind a cunningly woven righteousness of your own? She must die. Do you believe in yourself? Such faith must die. You must bear the death sentence within you, and then you will enter into life. Before you can know the quickening influence of the Spirit of God, you must experience His destructive power: "The grass dries up, the flower withers when the breath of the Lord blows on it." The sword of the Spirit must kill you before the breath of the Spirit can revive you.

Next, we must give everything to save life. "He who loves his soul will destroy it." Brother, you can never have spiritual life, hope, joy, peace, heaven, except by putting everything into the hands of God. If you are willing to give up all that is yours, you will find all in Christ. You must lower your weapons of rebellion to the ground, drop the feathers of pride; you must give into the hand of God all that you are and have. If you do not agree to voluntarily give it up, then you will really lose everything, and you have already lost it. Total surrender to God is the only way to save it.

Some of God's people have found this to be literally so. I knew a mother who kept her child from God and he died. Rich people worshiped their wealth, and because they were God's people, He smashed their idols to pieces. You must lose everything if you want to keep Him; give up what is most valuable to you if you want to save it.

Then, we must lose our self in order to find Him. "But he who hates his soul will keep it to eternal life." You must completely give up living for yourself and then you will live. A man who lives for himself does not live; he loses the essence, the pleasure, the crown of existence. But if you live for others and for God, you will find the fullness of life. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you.” There is no better way to find joy for yourself than to lose yourself while bringing joy to others.

And lastly, if you want to be a means of life for others, you must die in a certain way yourself. “Ah,” you say, “will it really come to death?” Maybe not, but you should be prepared for it if you need to. Who has been the greatest blessing for this age? I'll tell you. I believe we owe the freedom of the gospel mainly to those poor men and women who were burned alive for their faith. Call them Lollards, Anabaptists, or whatever you want - people who died for the faith gave life to a holy cause. This has been done by people of all ranks, from bishops to poor boys. Many of them could not preach from their pulpits, but more exalted sermons were delivered from bundles of brushwood than all the Reformers proclaimed from their pulpits. They fell into the ground and died, and "much fruit" remains to this day. The sacrificial death of the saints of the Church was her life and growth.

If we are to achieve a great goal, establish a great truth, and awaken a great power to do good, it must come about by giving ourselves, even our whole life, to this all-consuming goal. Otherwise we will not be successful. It is impossible to give to others without taking much from yourself. The one who serves God and finds it easy will find it difficult to give an account at the end. A sermon that cost nothing has no value; if it has not come out of the heart, it will not reach the heart. As a rule, fatigue must reach exhaustion in order for us to be widely used. Death precedes growth. The Savior of others cannot save Himself. Therefore, the lives of those who die in the terrible climate of Africa should not be pitied if they die for Christ. It is impossible to grumble if here and there the best servants of God are undermined by overwork of the brain; this is the law of divine conduct: growth comes through death.

And you, dear friend, don't have to say, “Oh, I can't teach Sunday school anymore; I've been working so hard all week that I...” Finish this sentence for you? You work so hard for yourself all week that you can't work for God one day a week. Is not it? "No, not really, I'm just so tired." Quite right, but think of your Lord. He knew what fatigue meant to you, and yet He did not tire of doing good. You will never get to the point of dropping sweat like drops of blood like He does.

O dear friend, will you be a grain of wheat laid alone on a shelf? Will you be like wheat in the hand of a mummy, barren and forgotten, or will you grow? I hear your words: "Sow me somewhere." I will try to do it. Come on, I'll drop you in the Sunday school field, or in the tract distribution ground, or in the preaching garden in the streets. “But if I put in a lot of effort, it will surely ruin me.” Yes, and if it completely destroys you, you will confirm the verse: "... and if it dies, it will bear much fruit." Today, there are not many who have completely wasted themselves in the service of the Lord, so that we are overcome by fear about the possibility of a total sacrifice of life. At the moment, there is little reason to curb bigotry; many more of them to condemn self-interest.

O brethren, let us devote ourselves to that which is more worthy of our Lord and His glorious work; let us be like buried, hidden, dying, and yet fruitful wheat to the glory of our Lord.

The Lord wrote us a very simple comparison that clearly explains the meaning of the life of a Christian. We, like this grain of wheat, must die to life in sinful flesh, and only then will we give much spiritual fruit. Here is the evidence of death and resurrection.

Arrived at the funeral of a relative, where a lot of people gathered. I knew it was my duty to proclaim the gospel and the funeral was the right place for it. But in my heart I found that I could not do it. There was fear and shame. Satan approached and began to frighten: “You are like an upstart among relatives, everyone has long been tired of your talking about the saving death of Christ, which you speak at every funeral. This whispering of Satan made me even more afraid. Satan continued to intimidate me and gave me advice on how to get out of this fiery trial: "You came, said condolences to the family of the deceased, brought flowers and leave. Leave the dead to bury their dead." This was good advice for me, because I longed for liberation and freedom for my soul, which seemed to be outside the door of this funeral hall. And I really thought that I should leave.

But the Holy Spirit Teacher reminded me that in my weakness His strength should be manifested. I need to kill the lusts of the sinful flesh: Shame and fear. I also need to defeat Satan, who, like a roaring lion, walks around wanting to swallow me. I need to go through the stage of mortification of sinful flesh and rise in the Lord's flesh in order to enjoy the fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, joy, peace. For it is written:

“So, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God” (Rym 8:12-14).

I asked the Lord to begin the work of mortifying my sinful flesh, driving the evil spirits out of this hall. And the Lord began his mighty action. I felt how the shame and fear in my heart began to decrease, oh love, joy and peace began to increase. At last I was filled with the fruits of the Holy Spirit and came into the full freedom of the children of the Lord as it is written:

“The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with open face, as in a mirror, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

In practical life, I realized what it means if a seed that falls into the ground does not die, then only one will remain. If in this situation he did not want to fulfill the will of the Lord in proclaiming the gospel. If I did not remember that the strength of the Lord should manifest itself in my weakness and did not call on the Lord for help, then the demons did not leave. In a place of fear and shame, having received the fruits of the Spirit, he had no obstacles to loudly and joyfully proclaim the saving death of Christ. This is what it means if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, then only one remains; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, it will remain alone; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit. He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (Jn 12:24-25).

St. John Chrysostom

St. Tikhon Zadonsky

amen, amen I say to you: if a grain of wheat that falls on the earth does not die, then it remains one: if it dies, it will bring forth much fruit

You see that the seed that falls on the ground dies and, having vegetated, comes out of the ground. This example clearly shows you that in this way our bodies, although they die and are buried, nevertheless, by the power of God, in due time they will come to life again and put on the garment of immortality. What the apostle says: It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; sown in humiliation, raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; a spiritual body is sown, a spiritual body is raised(1 Cor. 15:42-44) . And so stand, be affirmed in the faith, tea for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the future age.

About true Christianity.

Blzh. Theophylact of Bulgaria

Evfimy Zigaben

Amen, amen, I say to you: if a grain of wheat that falls on the earth does not die, then it remains one: if it dies, it will bring forth much fruit.

With these words, Jesus Christ consoles His disciples, showing them by example that His death is useful and necessary, and that it, like a grain of wheat, will bear many fruits. For the above reason, Jesus Christ had to send His disciples after His death on the Cross to all nations, so that His death would become life for the Gentiles. Under the death of a grain of wheat, understand, of course, the rotting of the sown grain. Then He urges the disciples to despise death and not spare their lives in the dangers that threaten them for believing in Him.

Lopukhin A.P.

Truly, truly, I say to you, if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, it will remain alone; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit

Since the disciples, under the influence of the solemn meeting of Christ with the people, could interpret Christ's words about glorifying Him in the sense of promising some new miracles, the Lord with special power (repeated twice " true”) rejects this understanding of His words. No, it is not external glorification that awaits Him now, but, on the contrary, humiliation, death. But this death is a necessary condition for the emergence of a new, richer and more diverse life. He must give His soul or life in order that the salvation He brought would go beyond the limited limits of Judaism and become the property of the whole world. Such is the meaning of this parable about the grain, which, dying, that is, decomposing in the ground, gives from itself a new sprout, on which many grains (fruits) already appear. Thus, the idea is expressed here that the life of the whole Church is contained in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that each believer reflects Christ in himself, lives with Him and in Him.

It should be noted that if the pagans began to listen to the words of Christ, then they too could somewhat comprehend their meaning, since in their mysteries, too, grain played a large role as a symbol of life.