It consists in the fact that the light. Preface

The judgment is that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil; but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they were done in God.

John. 3, 19-21.

No misfortune worse than that when a person begins to fear the truth, lest it expose him.

Pascal.

The glory of the good is in their conscience, not in the mouths of men.

I write what I write only because I know one thing that can free people Christendom from those terrible bodily sufferings and, most importantly, from that spiritual corruption in which they are sinking further and further, I, standing on the edge of the coffin, cannot remain silent.

Nowadays it cannot but be clear to everyone thinking people that the life of people, not just Russian people, but all the peoples of the Christian world, with its ever-increasing need of the poor and the luxury of the rich, with its struggle of all against all, revolutionaries against governments, governments against revolutionaries, enslaved peoples against enslavers, the struggle of states between themselves, the West and the East, with their ever-growing armaments that absorb the strength of the people, their sophistication and depravity, that such a life cannot continue, that life Christian peoples, if it does not change, it will inevitably become more and more miserable.

This is clear to many, but, unfortunately, people often do not see the cause of this plight and even less see the means of deliverance. Many, very diverse conditions are recognized as the cause of this situation, and a wide variety of remedies are proposed. Meanwhile, there is one reason, one means of deliverance.

The reason for the plight of Christian peoples is the absence among Christian peoples of a common higher understanding of the meaning of life, faith and the guidance of behavior that follows from it.

The means of getting rid of this disastrous situation, and the means is not fantastic, not artificial, but the most natural, consists in the assimilation by the people of the Christian world of the higher understanding of life that was discovered by them 19 centuries ago, corresponding to the present age of mankind, and the guidance of behavior that follows from it, that is Christian teaching in its true sense.

One of the grossest superstitions is superstition scientific people that a person can live without faith.

True religion is such an attitude established by a person to the endless life around him, which connects his life with this infinity and guides his actions.

If you realize that you have no faith, know that you are in the most dangerous position a person can be in in this world.

People can and do live characteristic of people a reasonable and consistent life only when they are united by an understanding of the meaning of life, that is, by faith in the same thing, an equally satisfying understanding of the meaning of life for the majority of them and the guidance in actions arising from this understanding. When does something happen that cannot help but happen, since the explanation of the meaning of life and the guidance of behavior that follows from it is never the last, but is constantly becoming more and more clear? when it happens that the understanding of the meaning of life, which has become more precise and definite, requires a guide of behavior that follows from this understanding, different from the previous one, but the life of a people or peoples continues to go on as before, then the life of such peoples is both disunited and disastrous. And this disunity and misery continually increase as people, not having assimilated the religious understanding characteristic of the time and the guidance of behavior that follows from it, continue to live according to the guidance that follows from the previous, outdated understanding of life, and, in addition, in order to assimilate the characteristic religious understanding of time, they try to artificially come up with such an understanding of life that would justify their structure of life, which no longer corresponds to the spiritual requirements of most people.

This has been repeated many times in history, but never, I think, has this discord between the way of life of people who have lagged behind the religious understanding of the meaning of life and the guidance of behavior that follows from it, been as great as it is now among Christian peoples who have not accepted the Christian faith revealed to them. teachings in its true meaning and the guidance of behavior arising from this teaching, while living and continuing to live their former pagan life.

This discord in the life of Christian peoples is especially great, I think, because the explanation of the understanding of life introduced by Christianity into the consciousness of peoples too far determined the way of life of the peoples who accepted it, and therefore the guidance of behavior resulting from it was too contrary not only to personal habits of people, but also the entire way of life of pagan peoples who accepted Christian teaching.

This is what gave rise to that amazing disunity, immorality, misery, and foolishness in the life of Christian peoples.

This happened because the people of the Christian world, having accepted, under the guise of Christianity, a church teaching that differed in its foundations from paganism only in its insincerity and artificiality, very soon stopped believing in this teaching, without replacing it with any other. So the people of the Christian world, more and more freed from faith in the perverted Christian teaching, have finally reached the situation in which they find themselves at the present time, where the majority of them have no explanation for the meaning of their lives, that is, no religion, faith and no general guidance of behavior. The majority of people, the working people, although outwardly they adhere to the old, church faith, no longer believe in it, are not guided by it in life, but adhere to it only out of habit, tradition and for the sake of decency. The minority, the so-called educated classes, for the most part or they no longer consciously believe in anything, and only for the sake of political purposes, some of them pretend that they still believe in church Christianity, or - the smallest minority - sincerely believe in a teaching that is incompatible with life and lagging behind it, and various complex sophisms trying to justify their faith.

This is the main and the only reason the plight experienced by Christian peoples in our time.

This disastrous situation is further intensified by the fact that, since this state of unbelief has been going on for a long time, it has become that among the people of the Christian world those who benefit from this state of unbelief, all the ruling classes, either most shamelessly pretend to believe in something that they do not believe and cannot believe, or, especially the most depraved of them, scientists directly preach that for the people of our time there is no need at all for any explanation of the meaning of life - faith, or any kind guidance of actions arising from faith, and that the only fundamental law of human life is the law of development and struggle for existence, and that therefore people’s lives can and should be guided only by human lusts and passions.

It is this unconscious unbelief of the people and the conscious denial of the faith of the so-called educated people of the Christian world that lies the cause of the misfortunes of the people of this world.

Man has an irresistible urge to believe that he is not seen when he sees nothing, like children who close their eyes so as not to be seen.

Lichtenberg.

People of our time believe that all the meaninglessness and cruelty of our life, with the insane wealth of a few, with the envious embittered poverty of the majority, with violence, weapons and wars, are not visible to anyone and that nothing prevents us from continuing to live such a life.

A delusion does not cease to be a delusion just because the majority shares it.

The people of the Christian world, having accepted, under the guise of Christian teaching, a perversion of it compiled by the church, which replaced paganism and at first partly satisfied people with its new forms, eventually ceased to believe in this Christianity perverted by the church and finally reached the point where they were left without any religious understanding of life and the resulting consequences. from it are guidelines for behavior. And since without such a common to all, or at least common to most people, understanding of the meaning and the general guidance of actions arising from it, the life of people cannot but be both unreasonable and disastrous, then the longer such a life of the people of the Christian world continued, the more it became more and more unreasonable and disastrous. And this life in our time has reached that degree of unreason and misery at which it can no longer continue in its previous forms.

The majority of the working people, deprived of land and therefore the opportunity to use the products of their labor, hate the landowners and capitalists who keep them in slavery. Landowners and capitalists, knowing the attitude of the workers towards them, fear and hate them and, with the help of government-organized violence, keep them in slavery. And evenly, without ceasing, the situation of the workers worsens, their dependence on the rich increases, and just as evenly, without ceasing, the wealth of the rich, their power over the working people and their fear and hatred increase. The armaments of peoples against peoples, which cannot have an end, are also uniformly increasing, spending ever greater and great work slave workers for land, water, underwater, air structures, with the sole purpose of preparing for international massacres. And these murders were committed, are being committed and cannot but be committed, since all Christian peoples (not as people, but as nations), united in states, hate each other and other, non-Christian states and are ready to attack each other at any moment. In addition, there is not a single large Christian state that, according to some unnecessary patriotic legends, does not hold, against their will, in its power one or more not large nations, forced to participate in the life of a large people they hated: Austria, Prussia, England, Russia, France with their conquered peoples: Poland, Ireland, India, Finland, the Caucasus, Algeria, etc. So, in addition to the ever-growing hatred of the poor against the rich, With the same hatred of large peoples against each other, the hatred of the oppressed peoples against the oppressors is still growing and growing. And what’s worse is that all these hatreds, the most contrary to human nature, both of large nations towards each other, and of conquered peoples towards their conquerors and vice versa, are not only not condemned, like any unkind feeling of people towards people, but, on the contrary , are praised, elevated to merit, to virtue. The hatred of oppressed workers for the rich and powerful is praised as love for freedom, for fraternity, for equality. The hatred of the Germans for the French, the British for the Yankees and the Russians for the Japanese, etc. and vice versa is considered the virtue of patriotism. The patriotic hatred of Poles for Russians and Prussians and Prussians for Poles, Finns and vice versa is also valued even more.

And that's not it. All these disasters would not yet show that the life of Christian peoples cannot continue in the same direction. These disasters could have been an accidental, temporary phenomenon, if among these peoples there had been some kind of religious guiding principle common to all of them. But this is not the case; there is nothing like a common guiding religious principle among the peoples of the Christian world. There is a religious, church lie, and not just one, but several different ones, hostile to each other: Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, etc., there is a scientific lie - and also many different ones, hostile to each other. There are political lies, international lies, party lies, there are lies of art, lies of legends and habits; there are many different lies, but there is no guidance, no moral guidance, arising from a religious worldview. And the people of the Christian world live like animals, guided in their lives only by personal interests and struggle with each other, only differing from animals in that animals have remained since time immemorial with the same stomach, claws and fangs; people are moving with greater and greater speed from dirt roads to railroads, from horses to steam, from oral preaching and writing to printing, to telegraphs, telephones, from boats with sails to ocean-going steamers, from edged weapons to gunpowder, cannons, and Mausers. , bombs and airplanes. And life with telegraphs, telephones, electricity, bombs and airplanes and with the hatred of all against all, guided not by some spiritual principle that unites people, but, on the contrary, by animal instincts that separate everyone, using mental powers for their satisfaction, becomes crazier and crazier , more and more miserable.

Those who think that it is impossible to lead people except by violence, neglecting their reason, do to people the same as they do to horses, blinding them so that they walk more quietly in a circle.

What is the purpose of people's minds if they can only be influenced by violence? The right of the strong is not a right, but a simple fact that can be a right only as long as it does not meet with protest and resistance. It’s like cold, darkness, heaviness that must be endured until you find heating, lighting, leverage. All human industry is liberation from the power of brute nature; the progress of justice is nothing more than a series of restrictions to which the tyranny of the strong was subjected. Just as medicine consists in victory over disease, so goodness consists in victory over the blind brutality and unbridled lusts of the human beast. Thus, I always see the same law, the increasing liberation of the individual, the ascent of the whole being in life to goodness, to justice, to wisdom. Covetous greed is the starting point; reasonable generosity is the point of achievement.

Amiel.

From the fact that it is possible to subject people to justice by force, it does not at all follow that it is just to subject people to violence.

Pascal.

Violence produces only a semblance of justice, but removes people from the opportunity to live justly without violence.

The majority of people in the Christian world feel the ever-increasing misery of their situation and use to deliver themselves the means that, according to their worldview, they alone consider valid. This means is the violence of some people over others. Some people, who consider the existing order beneficial for themselves, use violence government activities try to maintain this order, others use the same violence revolutionary activities they try to destroy the existing device and install another, better one in its place.

There were many revolutions and their suppression in the Christian world. External forms changed, but the essence government structure: power of the few over many, depravity, lies and fear of the oppressed ruling classes, oppression, enslavement, stupor and embitterment masses even if they changed in form, in essence they not only did not decrease, but noticeably increased and are increasing. What is happening now in Russia especially clearly exposes not only the aimlessness, but the obvious harmfulness of using violence as a means of uniting people.

Every newspaper of late contains less and less news about where and how the cash register was robbed, where a gendarme, an officer, policemen were killed, where an assassination attempt was discovered, and every newspaper contains more and more often news about executions and death sentences.

They have been shooting and hanging non-stop for a year or two, and thousands have been strangled and shot. Thousands were also beaten and torn apart by revolutionary bombs; but since in Lately killed more and more by those in power, and killed by revolutionaries less and less, then the ruling classes triumph, and it seems to them that they have won and that they will now continue their ordinary life, supporting deception with violence and supporting violence with deception.

The essence of the error of all possible political teachings, both the most conservative and the most advanced, which led people to their plight, is that the people of this world considered and consider it possible through force to unite people so that they all, without resisting, submit to one and the same structure of life and the resulting guidance in behavior. It is clear that people can, submitting to passion, force people who disagree with them to carry out their will through violence. You can forcefully push a person out or drag him somewhere he doesn’t want to go. (Both animals and people always do this under the influence of passion.) And this is understandable, but the reasoning that violence can be a means of inducing people to commit the actions we desire is completely incomprehensible.

All violence consists of some people, under the threat of suffering or death, forcing other people to do something that those being raped do not want. And therefore, those being raped do what they do not want, only as long as they are weaker than those who are raping and cannot get rid of what threatens them for not doing what is required. As soon as they are stronger, they naturally not only stop doing what they don’t want, but, irritated by the struggle with those who raped them and everything they suffered from them, they first free themselves from the rapists, and then force those who disagree with them to do what they think good and necessary for yourself. And therefore it would seem clear that the struggle between the rapists and the raped cannot in any way unite people, but, on the contrary, the further it continues, the more it separates them. It would seem that this is so clear that it would not be worth talking about it if for a long time the deception that the violence of some people over others can be useful to people and unite them had not been as widespread and accepted by tacit consent as the most an undoubted truth, not only by those who benefit from violence, but also by the majority of the very people who have suffered and are suffering most from violence. This deception has existed for a long time, both before Christianity and after it, and remained and remains in full force today throughout the entire Christian world.

The difference between what was in the old days, before the advent of Christianity, and what is now in the Christian world, is only that the unfoundedness of the assumption that the violence of some people over others could be useful to people and unite them, in the old days there was completely hidden from people, but now, expressed especially clearly in the teachings of Christ, the truth that the violence of some people over others cannot unite, but can only separate people, is becoming more and more clear. And as soon as people understand that the violence of some people over others, in addition to being painful for them, is also not reasonable: then immediately people who previously calmly endured violence become indignant and embittered against it.

This same thing is now happening in all nations among those who are raped. But not only are those who are raped more and more aware of this truth, in our time those who rape are also aware of it. In our time, those who rape themselves no longer have confidence that when they rape people, they are doing good and fair. This delusion is destroyed both for the rulers and for those fighting them. Carried away by their situation, both those and others - although they try to convince themselves with all kinds of convictions, most of them false, that violence is useful and necessary - deep down in their souls already know that by doing their cruel deeds, they achieve only a semblance of what what they want, and then only temporarily, in essence, it moves them away, and does not bring them closer to the goal.

It is this consciousness, more and more clearly assimilated by the people of the Christian world, that inevitably leads them to the way out that alone can lead them out of their present disastrous situation. This solution is in one thing: in the acceptance by humanity of the teachings of Christ hidden from people in its true meaning, still unknown to most people and the resulting guidance for behavior that excludes violence.

When among 100 people one rules over 99, this is unfair, this is despotism; when 10 rules over 90, this is also unfair; it is an oligarchy; when 51 rules over 49 (and then only in the imagination - in essence, again 10 or 11 of these 51) - then this is absolutely fair, this is freedom!

Could there be anything funnier, in its obvious absurdity, than such reasoning, and yet this very reasoning serves as the basis for the activities of all improvers of the state structure.

The nations of the earth tremble and tremble. Everywhere you can feel some kind of work of forces, as if preparing for an earthquake. Never before has a person had such enormous responsibility. Each moment brings with it more and more important concerns. It feels like something great is about to happen. But before the appearance of Christ, the world expected great events and, however, did not accept him when he came. So now the world can experience the pangs of childbirth before his new coming and still not understand what is happening.

Lucy Malory.

And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but fear more than that who can destroy both soul and body.

The Lord said: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. The judgment is that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil; For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil, but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God.

The love of God is in the giving of His Son for the world. A great thing is opening up to us gospel mystery: God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. Now that God gave His Son for us, we know that He loves us. In order to redeem and save man, it pleased God to give His Only Begotten Son. He gave Him up to suffer and die for us. His enemies could not have taken Him if the Heavenly Father had not delivered Him to them.

In this the love of God for the world was revealed. God so loved the world, so truly, so immeasurably. We will see this and be amazed that greatest God so loved nothing in itself meaningful world that the most holy God so loved the world lying in evil. The Jews were proud that the Messiah would be sent only for their people. But Christ tells them that He came with love to the whole world - to the pagans and Jews. He offers life and salvation to all.

God loved the world so much that He sent His Son into it with this incredible offer that whoever believes in Him will not perish. This is the most important calling of a person - to believe in Jesus Christ. And the greatest benefit that can be: whoever believes in Him will not perish. God frees us from our sins. We won't die. Forgiveness is purchased for us by His blood. To those who believe in Him belongs the joy of heaven—eternal life. He came into the world not to judge the world, but to save. Although the world was full of sin, the Lord did not begin with the judgment of condemnation, but brought it before the judgment seat of the throne of grace. God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself and saved it.

Therefore, he who believes in Him will not perish. But the sad state of those who persist in not wanting to know the truth. They have already been convicted. They don't believe in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God, Who is infinitely true and worthy of belief, and infinitely good and worthy of acceptance. God sent for our salvation the One who is infinitely dear to Him - will He really not be dear to us?

And this is the sentence for those who resist Christ: light came into the world, but they loved darkness more than light. They prefer ignorance and error to truth and truth. They prefer slavery to freedom, death to life. The real reason for preferring darkness to light is that their deeds are evil, and they want to hide them, out of shame or fear of punishment. They deliberately close their eyes so as not to see the light. This is the spiritual law: everyone who does evil hates the light. And what before the appearance of the light of Christ might not have been perceived as sin, now, in the light of His new commandment about love, can be revealed as extremely sinful. Some, including publicans and harlots, turn to the Lord with repentance, others, not wanting to part with sin, hate the light. Where does hatred towards Christ and His Church come from in the world? From love to sin. Those who do not go towards the light testify to their hidden hatred of the light. If persecution begins, they will be on the side of the persecutors. Christ and the Church interfere with life, and they must be eliminated. And those who live by the truth come to the light. Because the light confirms and comforts those who walk in integrity.

A person is only as human as he strives to live according to truth and righteousness. Although he may at times shy away from doing good, again and again, despite his weaknesses, he returns to the light. He who lives by the truth desires to know the truth and the will of God, and he has the determination to fulfill it, even if this requires him to renounce his own will. The seal of every truly good deed is that it is accomplished through God. Our deeds are then truly good when they are filled with the strength of God, when we do them for the sake of God. They are involved in the will of God on the cross, and they will be crowned with the glory of His Resurrection.

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar died. Maybe he died, maybe they helped. They could help, to the point that after the murder of Litvinenko they officially talked about poisoning Gaidar with polonium.

What did Gaidar do in last years, the population was not supposed to know. They say, get off the nit, the person is “working with documents.”

All sorts of stupid stupidities of village communists about the “ghoul Gaidar” can be dismissed without looking. Yegor Timurovich was neither excessively infernal nor particularly cruel. Intelligent person, not stupid. I think personally kind and conscientious. Because he's intelligent. After all, culture and morality go hand in hand. Graduated primary school, became not only smarter, but also better. high school- even better and kinder. The highest is also a moral step. Morality and culture are very connected. There are exceptions, but they are rare. Gaidar was not one of these exceptions. I didn’t break people’s hands on the tatami, I read books.

As a result, including his activities, we have what we have - a criminal Half-Columbia with a thoroughly corrupt and partly criminalized government. But was this Gaidar’s conscious goal? I think that until he gave up on the Russian Federation in the style of “what has grown has grown,” such a prospect terrified him. Moreover, he assessed the situation too optimistically and considered this unlikely.

Therefore, from the point of view of the style of the era (and this is a generally powerful thing, and in Russia it is EXTREMELY powerful), it would be correct for him to be killed. He unwittingly participated in the creation of the system, the system slammed him. Also involuntarily. Logical.

People have a poor understanding of what reforms are (unless, of course, they are “reforms” of signs at tram stops). The reformer is a CRIMINAL, Raskolnikov's Napoleon, stepping over the Rules in the name of higher goals.

There are several heartbreaking versions of the sinking of the Titanic. Some consider the captain a coward and a fool, others a hero. The reality is that he was the captain. As far as I can tell, the situation developed like this.

The Titanic received a terrible hole, and it became clear to the captain that all this splendor - with hotels, restaurants and dance floors - would go to the bottom. Fast and hopeless. In that era, communications were just developing, Morse code was a novelty. There were no satellites or helicopters. The Titanic only had watercraft for some of its passengers. What was even worse was that we were not talking about the evacuation of a cruiser with a trained crew, but about a huge number of people who were at sea for the first time. Then the captain did this.

1. Battened down the hatches of the lower decks and blocked the least valuable contingent. That is, he doomed to death the people who traveled one way in 3rd or 4th class - poor emigrants. These paid less than others and received the service they signed up for. Then the newspapers explained that these unfortunates “were entangled in the labyrinth of corridors and could not get out to the upper deck.” Yes.

2. At the same time, an order was given to allow only women and children onto the boats. This was a mistake, because there were plenty of boats for passengers of classes 1-2. They came down from one side half empty, and from the other full - from the other side the officer got his bearings and did not blindly carry out the captain’s order. Those rich people who died on the Titanic died because of mismatched orders.

But what was done in that situation was a lot. It was a Man who acted. He gave orders through the blinding darkness of death. Which shined in the face. Then you don’t want anything anymore. The man becomes numb. This “coward and slob” on autopilot was able to make several orders and prevented a samoda that would have killed everyone.

This is what “reforms” are. A pale man with an otherworldly look stands on the deck and gives orders. Always with mistakes. But if it doesn't exist, there won't be anything at all. Lid.

The captain of the Titanic, of course, died on the bridge. The order to batten down the exits to the deck meant a death sentence - the captain was the last to leave the ship.

There are FEW such people. They are grown. Was Gaidar such a person?

A brilliant scene in Ping Floyd's "The Wall": the crazy hero tries to restore the world and creates a pattern on the floor from the fragments of broken and destroyed things. To the sad melancholy music.

Let's try to put together Gaidar's pattern.

The founder of the family of Soviet lords Gaidarov is considered to be a certain “Golikov”. It is unclear who this is. He wrote very, very strange stories and tales from the life of the Red Scouts, and he himself was cut by a safety razor - several hundred scars on his lower abdomen and on his arms. I cut myself long time was in a mental hospital. An early biography is known from his words, although according to him he suffered from pathological deceit. There are only five versions of the origin of his pseudonym. As I understand it, no one has yet seriously studied the origins of Golikov-Perekatov. They repeat the nonsense about “a regiment commander at 15 years old.”

One of Golikov’s wives was a certain Rakhil Lazarevna Solomyanskaya, who somehow gradually became Leah. Or Ruva. Or Raleigh. As befits gypsies, Rachel-Liya-Ruva-Rala led a festive life. For example, in 1938 she was imprisoned as the wife of an enemy of the people, and in 1940 she was returned to her place. Like, sorry, auntie, there was a mistake. However, the husband was shot. Worked for the newspaper “For the Food Industry”. His name was also festive, with a sparkle: “Israel Mikhailovich Razin.” The next husband was “Samson Volfovich Glazer”. Good too. He went ice skating and, together with his wife, wrote books like “The Olympics in the yard where the “funny siskins” live.” The ducklings kicked such siskins with their flippers. In addition to skating with her husband, Rachel-Liya-Ruva-Ralya also wrote this book: “Ivan Mordekhaevich Bolotnikov.” In the series “school historical library”. About how the working people fought against tsarism.

And in the 60s, Rachel-Liya-Ruva-Ralya wrote a cartoon script for Soviet children based on Kipling’s fairy tale “Riki-Tiki-Tavi”.

Timur seemed to become a respectable person, a Captain. Even an admiral. Only Rear Admiral Timur Gaidar is fake. A party agitator, he practically never served in the navy. In addition to senseless, mediocre propaganda, he spied on his own, but in the countries of “people’s democracy.” It’s not like on the Titanic - you can’t do it on a barge. Drown.

But the cardboard sailor's wife seems to be a respectable one. Daughter famous writer Bazhova. Oho-ho. With this name, naive people probably imagine a Ural storyteller with a harp. A truly Russian person. Not certainly in that way. Bazhov was an active Socialist Revolutionary in 1917, and became a Bolshevik in 1918. In 1940-1950 he headed the writers' organization of the Sverdlovsk region, before which he at one time headed the censorship department. Did he write his stories himself? big question. To understand the mentality of the little man, it is enough to give just one quote from a contemporary:

“Pavel Petrovich’s public speeches have always been an example of Bolshevik integrity. He criticized sharply and directly, without any roundaboutness. But no one heard a rude word from him, spoken in irritation. Like a true communist, he helped correct mistakes. Where he saw a non-Soviet attitude to the matter, Pavel Petrovich was merciless. So, for example, Bazhov decisively spoke out in favor of expelling Ryabinin from the party when he was convinced of his non-partisan behavior.”

These are the “Ural tales”. In 1941, people were evacuated to the Urals big number writers from the capitals: Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv. All of them came under the formal subordination of Bazhov. He was in charge of allocating housing, cards, and employment. Suddenly the old man began to have a burst of creativity. Let's go "Malachite Boxes". A collection of tales was published in the capital, and in next year and in the metropolis - in the London publishing house Hutchinson. In 1945, a second edition was published in England, and in 1946 a film was made about Danila the master and his cup, which made Bazhov an all-Union storyteller. Bazhov was promoted to Human Good will and was introduced into the international “Peace Movement”. The master's bowl turned out great.

It is curious that Bazhov himself actually has a relationship with skaz, but rather an ideological one. In the 20s and 30s, he developed the idea of ​​“work fairy tales.” Like, peasants have “fairy tales”, and workers have “tales”. They must be collected from class-conscious old workers. Give the old man a half-liter, and he will tell you a story right at the lathe. About the Jumping Firefly or some kind of Lizard. That’s what he wrote: the tales were told by the old worker Khmelinin-Slyshko, nicknamed “Glass.” For a glass, that means he told Masonic tales. A smart people They took it on pencil and published it in London.

No doubt, Bazhov, or more precisely Bazhev, is Russian. Mother’s name was really Augusta Stefanovna. Well, there is a special faith in this. Can a Russian be a Bolshevik? Why the hell is there a cross-faced freak there... That's right. You guessed it. If from the sectarians of the Austrian consent, then they will be considered pests. USEFUL. Again, he looks like real Russians. You can point with a pointer. You say that the RSDLP consists of only Jews, Poles, Latvians and Chuchmeks. No way. Here is Evlampy Kharitonovich Syroezhkin. And a beard, and a potato nose, and blue eyes. And the fact that he is wearing a special paneva means he is a member of the Galactic Brotherhood of Chgrugmazhogl of Cumberland. A truly Russian man.

Bazhov describes his meeting with Sverdlov in 1905: “I was recommended to Yakov Mikhailovich then as follows: “A very peculiar eccentric who expects that the working class will be helped by Old Believer moneybags.”

Only he lies everything. Just like Gaidar. Bazhov allegedly was Soviet intelligence officer in Kolchak’s rear, got used to the image, after the war he lived under the fictitious name of Bakheev, etc. and so on.

Before us are ASSHOLES and we don’t need to believe a single word of the storytellers. Only an investigator, only with protocols and inventories. These are not respected people, but shantrapas, swindlers, and erratic people. And even hit in the head.

Well, let's come to the finale. “There is no sadder story in the world.” In 1956, the sunny Egorka was born into the family of a Soviet lord. Normal boy. With dad and mom. Without galactic sects, ritual circumcisions, striping with razors, without the tales of alcoholic mechanics about damned tsarism. There is no longer any Stalin. There is the sixties, there is a normal non-military childhood, school, university. Even the West, which has a loving father on its little head, shows: look, son, how people live.

Well, not a castle, not a family estate with paintings of ancestors. But there is a city apartment with photographs... And in the photographs underground devils wink, make faces, and play leapfrog.

Egorka rushes to his wife, wants to start a new life. Normal, without carnivalism. And my wife has her own album. She is the daughter of one of the Strugatskys. Rumats, Vumats, progressors-ludens, it’s hard to be a swan, a snail on the slope. The Strugatskys have a dog-headed father snail dancing a tarantella in a frying pan: “revolutionary Nathan Solomonovich Strugatsky.”

The medical history of the talented Asian is as follows:

In February-November 1917, an employee of the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, then head of the public education department of the Pskov Gubernia Revolutionary Committee, commissar of a food detachment, instructor of the political department of the 2nd Cavalry Army on the Southern Front, military commissar of the cavalry brigade and deputy head of the political department of the 5th Division of the North Caucasus military district, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Trudovoy Adzharistan" in Batum, deputy head of the press department of the Leningrad regional committee of the CPSU (b), head of the methodological part of the museum and excursion sector of the department of public education (ONO), researcher at the State Russian Museum, head of the political department of the grain state farms "Giant" " and "Zelenovsky" in the Stalingrad region; head of the regional arts department in Stalingrad, chief librarian of the prints department in the Leningrad region Public library named after M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. author of a catalog book of Soviet posters during the Civil War.

I think this is crazy. The gypsy is spinning around, but I want to come up and say:

Listen, uncle. You should go and rest. The Europeans will cope without you. You dance somewhere else, or just sleep a little. Tired of you. You can, like your ancestors, collect rags from the yards.

Moreover, all carnivalists have several marriages, the children are often adopted. The biographies are the most bizarre. For example, from one of Yegor Timurovich’s wives a daughter is born, who then leaves with her stepfather for Bolivia and lives in beautiful Cochabamba. Then, having grown stronger, he comes to the Russian Federation to engage in politics. In style

I am a little girl,
I don't go to school.
Give me a penny
I'll show you my ass.

Carnivalism, postmodernism.

Which, I emphasize, is not in Gaidar himself. It was simply put together from the scraps of a destroyed world. And his feat, his life task- it’s not about standing on the captain’s bridge and drawing a route along a ruler in the icy wind, but about trying to assemble yourself from what has been soldered together ordinary person. Everyman.

In this sense, for me the figure of Gaidar is tragic and I sincerely sympathized with him. He was smarter and better than his surroundings. But clever man, an intellectual could appear in the Russian Federation only from scraps and scraps. In the sense of OWN, not hostile to the Soviet world in its foundations. Who would consider the USSR his own and be the master there. But the world of the USSR is a Frankenstein world soldered together. And Gaidar himself is Frankenstein. It seems to be a terrible creature with its artificiality. But essentially dependent and weak. In any case, this is not the owner. Can Frankenstein change his life? NEVER. No owners - no reforms. Just trial and error.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.

The judgment is that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil; For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil, but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God.

John 3:16-21

Interpretation of the Gospel of the Blessed
Theophylact of Bulgaria

John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,

God’s love for the world is great and extended to such an extent that He gave not an angel, not a prophet, but His Son, and, moreover, the only begotten (1 John 4:9). If He had given away an angel, then this matter would not have been small. Why? Because the angel is His faithful and obedient servant, and we are enemies and apostates. Now, when he gave his Son, what superiority of love did He show?! Again, if He had many sons and gave one, then this would be a very great thing. And now He gave the Only Begotten. Is it possible to praise His goodness worthily?

The Arians say that the Son is called the Only Begotten because He alone was produced and created by God, and everything else was already created by Him. The answer to them is simple. If He were called the Only Begotten without the word “Son,” then your subtle invention would have a basis. But now, when He is called the Only Begotten and the Son, the word “Only Begotten” cannot be understood as you do, but in such a way that He alone is begotten of the Father.

Please note, I ask you, that just as He said above that the Son of Man came down from heaven, although the flesh did not descend from heaven, but added to man what belonged to God because of the unity of the Person and the unity of the Hypostasis, so here again He adds what belongs to man to God. To the word. “God gave His Son to die,” he says. Although God remained impassive, since according to Hypostasis both God the Word and Man, subject to suffering, were one and the same, it is said that the Son, who actually suffered in his own flesh, is given up to death.

so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

What is the benefit of giving the Son? Great and unthinkable for man is that everyone who believes in Him will receive two benefits: one, so that he does not perish; another is to have life, and eternal life at that. The Old Testament promised long life to those who pleased God in it, but the Gospel rewards such with life not temporary, but eternal and indestructible.

John 3:17. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Since there are two comings of Christ, one already past and the other future, then about the first coming he says that the Son was not sent to judge the world (because if He had come for this, then everyone would have been condemned, since everyone sinned, just as Paul says (Rom. 3:23), but he came primarily to save the world. This was His goal. But in reality it turned out that he condemned those who did not believe. The Mosaic Law came primarily to convict sin (Rom. 3:20) and the condemnation of criminals. For he did not forgive anyone, but as soon as he found someone sinning in something, at the same time he imposed punishment. So, the first coming was not intended to judge, except for those who actually did not believe, for they are already condemned; and the second coming will be decisive in order to judge everyone and reward everyone according to his deeds.

John 3:18. He who believes in Him is not condemned,

What does it mean that “he who believes in the Son is not condemned”? Is it really not sued if his life is unclean? Very litigious. For even Paul does not call such people sincere believers. “They show,” he says, “that they know God, but by deeds they deny Him” (Titus 1:16). However, here he says that he is not judged by the very fact that he believed: although in evil deeds will give the strictest account, but will not be punished for disbelief, because he believed at once.

but the unbeliever is already condemned, because he did not believe in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.

“But the unbeliever is already condemned.” How? Firstly, because unbelief itself is condemnation; for to be out of the light - this alone - is the greatest punishment. Then, although here it is not yet given over to Gehenna, here it has combined everything that leads to future punishment; just as a murderer, even if he was not sentenced to punishment by a judge’s verdict, was condemned by the essence of the case. And Adam died on the same day that he ate of the forbidden tree; although he was alive, according to the verdict and the merits of the case, he was dead. So, every unbeliever is already condemned here, as undoubtedly subject to punishment and not having to come to judgment, according to what has been said: “The wicked will not rise to judgment” (Ps. 1:5). For no account will be required from the wicked, any more than from the devil: they will rise not to judgment, but to condemnation. So in the Gospel the Lord says that the prince of this world is already condemned (John 16:11), both because he himself did not believe, and because he made Judas a traitor and prepared destruction for others. If in parables (Matt. 23:14-32; Luke 19:11-27) the Lord introduces those who are subject to punishment as those who give an account, then do not be surprised, firstly, because what is said is a parable, and what is said in parables is not necessary accept everything as laws and rules. For on that day everyone, having an infallible judge in his conscience, will not require any other reproof, but will go away bound from himself; secondly, because the Lord makes those who give account not unbelievers, but believers, but uncompassionate and unmerciful. We are talking about the wicked and unbelievers; and some - wicked and unbelieving, and others - unmerciful and sinful.

John 3:19. The judgment is that light has come into the world;

Here the unbelievers are shown to be deprived of all justification. “This,” he says, “is the judgment, that the light came to them, but they did not rush towards it.” They sinned not only by not seeking the light themselves, but, worst of all, by the fact that it came to them, and they, however, did not accept it. That is why they are condemned. If the light had not come, people could plead ignorance of good. And when God the Word came and delivered His teaching to enlighten them, and they did not accept it, then they were already deprived of all justification.

but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil;

Lest anyone say that no one would prefer darkness to light, he also states the reason why people turned to darkness: “Because,” he says, “their deeds were evil.” Since Christianity requires not only a right way of thinking, but also an honest life, and they wanted to wallow in the mud of sin, therefore those who do evil deeds did not want to go to the light of Christianity and obey My laws.

John 3:20. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil.
John 3:21. But he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God.

“But he who acts in truth,” that is, leading an honest and godly life, strives for Christianity as for light, in order to further succeed in goodness and so that his deeds according to God may be evident. For such a one, believing correctly and leading an honest life, shines for all people, and God is glorified in him. Therefore, the reason for the unbelief of the pagans was the uncleanness of their lives.

Perhaps someone else will say: “Well, aren’t there vicious Christians and pagans who approve of life?” That there are vicious Christians, I will say this myself; But I cannot say decisively that good pagans will be found. Some may be found “by nature” to be meek and kind, but this is not a virtue, and no one is good “from deeds” and practicing goodness. If some seemed good, then they did everything because of glory; he who does it for glory, and not for the good itself, will willingly indulge in an evil desire when he finds an opportunity for it. For if with us the threat of Gehenna, and any other care, and the examples of countless saints barely keep people in virtue, then the nonsense and vileness of the pagans will keep them in goodness even less. It’s great if they don’t make them completely evil.

In contact with

Explanatory Bible Commentary on the Gospel of John

“To see” means to enter, to take part, to take advantage of the benefits of the new Kingdom (cf.).

. Nicodemus said to Him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he really enter his mother’s womb another time and be born?

From the words of Christ, Nicodemus had to conclude that He recognizes that it is not “learning” that is necessary for entry into the new Kingdom, but “renewal” of all life, such an internal change in a person that can only be compared with natural birth. And Nicodemus really understood that Christ here demands something completely different than John the Baptist, who called for repentance (μετανοεῖσθαι). In repentance, man himself, although not without God’s help, tried to change his life, and in that new birth that Christ spoke to Nicodemus about, man was a suffering being, completely subordinate to the power of God, just as a child is born into the world without any of his own consent. (Christ does not yet speak about the conditions that are presented to the person seeking rebirth; they will be discussed specifically in verses 12–21). Nicodemus would like to relive his life, which he had almost lived so unsuccessfully. But is it possible to hope that in this new second life - if it were possible - he would be free from his natural weaknesses and sinful habits that made it impossible for him to achieve the ideal? Where is the guarantee that such new life, life “from the beginning” could really go differently? This is the meaning of Nicodemus’s first question. With the second question, he wants to say that the impossibility of repeating birth is quite clear to him and that, therefore, he cannot satisfy Christ’s demand (see verse 3).

. Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus did not understand how a person can be born for a new life, and Christ shows him two factors under the influence of which this new birth is possible. This is, firstly, “water”, i.e. what is closest is water, which in John’s baptism served as a symbol of cleansing from sins. Nicodemus must first be baptized with the baptism of John and confess his sins with all sincerity. This will be the first step towards revival for him. Then he must receive the Holy Spirit - this will be given to him from God over time. Both are necessary for everyone who wants to enter the Kingdom of God.

And it was not too late for Nicodemus to fulfill the first condition, because John still continued to baptize, and in addition, Christ Himself, through His disciples, also performed the baptism of repentance (). He was supposed to receive the Holy Spirit later. So, therefore, the first half of Nicodemus’ question has found its solution. Although he, Nicodemus, is old and has therefore become accustomed to his prejudices and inclinations, nevertheless he must realize and confess his sinfulness, and then the Holy Spirit will give him strength for a new life.

. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

In response to the second half of Nicodemus’ question, whether it is possible to be born again according to the flesh, Christ says that in such a second birth according to the flesh - which, of course, is impossible - there is no benefit. Everything that is born of the flesh is general rule, which also applies to that second birth that Nicodemus thinks about - “is flesh,” i.e. subject to sinful inclinations (etc.). A new spiritual, holy life can arise only under the influence of the Spirit of God. This will truly be a revival.

. Do not be surprised at what I said to you: you must be born again.

Christ sees that Nicodemus is surprised at such a decisive statement about the need for revival, and therefore invites Nicodemus to move from surprise to the speedy implementation of the demand presented to him by Christ.

. The Spirit breathes where it wants, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes: this is what happens to everyone born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus, apparently, never ceased to wonder how it was possible for him, an old man, to renounce all sinful inclinations and habits. He wanted to understand how this process of human spiritual rebirth takes place. But Christ explains to him in a parable that he cannot understand everything with his own mind. For example, “wind” (in Russian, inaccurately, “spirit”). Is Nicodemus able to explain to himself where the wind comes from and where it goes? In the same way, it is not surprising that Nicodemus does not understand how the Spirit of God works on man.

Let us, however, consider in detail the comparison used by Christ. First, He says of the wind that it has complete freedom of movement: man cannot calm the wind or force it to change its direction. Secondly, the effect of the wind is felt even when one protects oneself from it in every possible way: it can be heard even with the doors locked. Thirdly, they do not know the point from which the wind begins to move in each in this case, and the final point to which this movement reaches.

The action of the wind is similar to the action of the Spirit of God in man. Firstly, the Spirit acts where it wants (cf.), and It cannot be appropriated by force, but can only be received as a gift (). Secondly, the presence of the Spirit cannot but be noticed by those who are reborn by the Spirit: even others, who are not completely deaf and blind, feel that this Spirit is present and active in the reborn (). Thirdly, neither the regenerate himself nor anyone else can determine where, when and how the Spirit began to act on him. The reborn know just as little about their final state, to which the Spirit leads them (). The origin and consummation of the life of regenerate man is a mystery, and yet this does not prevent, or rather should not induce a person to doubt the truth of regeneration.

. Nicodemus answered Him: How can this be?

Nicodemus now asks how what Christ said (ταῦτα - “this”, plural) can come to fruition. What is heard here is not doubt about the possibility of the very fact of rebirth, but a desire to find out the path by which one can come to rebirth. At the same time, Nicodemus does not ask: “What should I do?” He wants to know what he needs to expect from God, since he has realized that regeneration must be God's work, not man's.

. Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?”

In a tone of slight reproach, Christ tells Nicodemus that he professional teacher Israelite people, the rabbi (cf. verse 1) should have known what the Old Testament taught about the process of regeneration itself. The prophets spoke a lot about the outpouring of a new spirit, about the gift of new hearts to people, about the fullness of the knowledge of God and about the awakening in man of an inclination to fulfill the will of God. They often said that a person’s turning to God, calling on God, is a necessary condition for receiving messianic salvation.

. Truly, truly, I say to you: We speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony.

Christ now begins to teach Nicodemus what he did not learn from Scripture, although he could have learned. First of all, He complains about the lack of faith of Nicodemus and the entire learned class of rabbis.

"We" . Christ in the Gospels nowhere speaks of Himself plural Therefore, here He means someone else besides Himself. Who? Your disciples? No, His disciples had not yet acted with Him as preachers. It is most natural to see here a reference to John the Baptist, who at that time successfully continued his activities (John 3ff.). The activity of John and the activity of Christ are two stages of the single revelation of God. Both of them are completely credible witnesses, because they say what they saw (John, of course, in a state of prophetic inspiration - cf.: “and I have seen and testified”, – and Christ by virtue of His continuous communion with the Father, ). However, Nicodemus and others like him “do not accept” the testimony of John and Christ. Thus, faith due to signs, which many who were at the Passover festival in Jerusalem discovered at that time, is not recognized by Christ as real faith - it can rather be called unbelief!

. If I told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

But John’s activity is already coming to an end, while Christ is just beginning His. Therefore, casting a glance at the near future, He speaks only about how the Jewish rabbis will treat Him. This attitude is unlikely to be friendly. They do not believe Christ even now when He tells them about earthly things (τὰ ἐπίγεια), i.e. about the Kingdom of God as it manifests itself in earthly relationships. Christ, by “earthly”, could mean here everything that He had hitherto () said about the temple and worship, about repentance and faith, about water baptism and rebirth. Can the rabbis accept with faith His teaching about “heavenly things” (τὰ ἐπουράνια)? Here Christ, of course, had in mind the higher, heavenly side of the Kingdom of God, which He could not help but tell His listeners over time, otherwise His teaching would have remained incomplete, and therefore only half true. But people like Nicodemus are unlikely to trust the testimony of Christ about such subjects that are beyond their understanding and generally cannot be verified by experience.

. No one has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man, who is in heaven, who came down from heaven.

However, does Christ have the right to say that He also knows what is above the world, what constitutes the secret of heaven? Yes, He has such a right. In fact, it is entirely possible for someone who has been in heaven to speak about heavenly things, but Christ, and He alone, truly was and constantly continues to be in heaven. He came down from heaven. Some interpreters (for example, Prof. Bogoslovsky) understand the expression used here by Christ “to ascend into heaven” in figuratively, as meaning “full and perfect knowledge of the mysteries of God.” But we cannot agree with such an interpretation, because in this case we would have to deprive the verb “to ascend” (ἀναβαίνειν) from the connection with the verb “to descend” ( "descended from heaven"– καταβαίνειν), and there is undoubtedly a close relationship between these two verbs. If we understand the verb “to ascend” in a figurative sense, then in the same sense we must understand the verb “to descend.” But what, in this case, will the expression “descend from heaven” mean? Will this not destroy the idea of ​​the existence of the Logos and before His incarnations? Therefore, without imagining the ascension and descent of Christ from heaven in a gross spatial sense, it is still necessary to see in the passage under consideration the teaching that Christ as a person already existed in God before Your incarnation. And the meaning of verse 13 can be conveyed as follows: “no man (Angels are not meant here, since they “they always see the face of the Heavenly Father”, -) did not ascend into heaven - and therefore was not in heaven before living on earth - except for that Son of Man (see), Who came down from heaven and even now, with the divine side of His being, remains in heaven" (the expression "who is in heavens" is not found in all codes, but newest critics are more inclined to recognize it as genuine than as inserted after; see, for example, Tsang, p. 197)

. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

. so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

Christ had just told Nicodemus about His eternal existence according to His Divinity and about His incarnation. Now He tells him another great secret- the mystery of the salvation of all people by His godmother and His subsequent glorification. Christ reveals this teaching by comparing what Moses raised to the pole copper serpent with Himself. There, in the desert, Moses put a copper image of a serpent in front of the entire Israeli camp so that every Jew bitten by a snake could turn his gaze to this image and, with faith in Jehovah, expect healing. Christ will also be ascended first to the cross, and then to heaven (the expression ὑψωθῆναι - “to ascend” has a dual meaning here, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him (“he who believes in Him” is an inaccurate translation, because the expression ἐν αὐτῷ , “in Him,” cannot be made dependent on the verb πιστεύειν; the reading εἰς αὐτόν, “in Him,” is considered less attested). But with the similarity between the brass serpent and Christ, there is an important difference. Firstly, the saving action of the first extended only for one people, and the saving action of the Second will extend to humanity in general: “everyone" can be saved thanks to Christ. Secondly, the serpent gave salvation only from temporary death and then only in one case, but Christ gives “eternal” life, i.e. i.e. the believer in Christ will enter the Kingdom of God. It should be noted that all the fathers and teachers of the Church, on the basis of these words of Christ, consider the copper serpent as a prototype of the Messiah, and such a view has quite sufficient grounds (Tsang too narrows the meaning of Christ’s indication of the copper serpent, finding here “only a comparison” - p. 200).

. For he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The reason why the Only Begotten Son of God (see) must be exalted - first to the shameful instrument of execution, and then to the glorious throne of heaven - is that he loves people to the utmost.

"Loved" The evangelist speaks of the love of God as a fact already known from history (therefore, in the Greek text here the verb is put in the aorist form), because the coming of the Son of God to earth to save people was at that time a fact that had already happened.

"World" . By “world” here Christ does not mean nature in general, but conscious and responsible for their actions beings inhabiting the earth, i.e. all humanity is in a state of fall (cf. verse 17).

"Gave" . As can be concluded based on what was said in verses 14–15, here Christ had in mind God’s handing over of the Son to suffering and death (cf.).

. For He did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Christ mentioned twice that He came to give people eternal life or, what is the same, salvation. Such a statement might seem to Nicodemus somewhat inconsistent with Christ’s recent appearance in the temple, where He appeared as an accuser and judge over the desecrators of the temple. Moreover, Judaism of that time generally expected to see in the Messiah a Judge, and, moreover, a Judge, mainly, over the pagan world, which had hitherto oppressed the chosen Jewish nation. Therefore, Christ says that the most essential thing in His calling as the Messiah is precisely the salvation of the world, and not the execution of judgment on the world (this, of course, does not exclude the future judgment that Christ will eventually perform over the entire universe; see).

. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.

However, judgment on the world, and most importantly on the Jews, is already underway. This judgment, one might say, takes place by itself: some accept the Messiah and are not, cannot be, subjected to judgment in the sense of condemnation. Others have already clearly revealed their unbelief in Christ, and therefore their fate has already been decided: they are now condemned for not believing in the name of the Son of God, i.e. They did not recognize in Him the One who received such a clear and definite testimony about Himself from God’s messenger John as the Only Begotten Son of God, existing eternally in the bosom of the Father (). The last one Last Judgment, in fact, will not bring anything new in determining the fate of such people: it will only testify to everyone their guilt.

. The judgment is that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil;

Christ here makes clear what kind of "judgment" He had in mind in the preceding verse. The essence of this judgment is that the “light”, i.e. the light of Christ's truth shone in a world that was in the darkness of sins and all kinds of prejudices. “People”, i.e. Those unbelievers who were discussed in the previous verse (besides these, there were also people who believed in Christ) moved away from this light; they were pleased to remain in the former darkness. Why? Because “their works”, i.e. all their behavior, their moral character, did not allow them to go towards the light (πονηρὰ τὰ ἔργα - morally evil, insidious deeds).

. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil,

. but he who does righteousness comes to the light, so that his deeds may be revealed, because they are done in God.

Christ now spoke about a certain circle of people from the Jewish people who did not want to go to the light of Christ’s truth. Now He is first in relation to the evil ones, and then in relation to good people finds out the reason different attitude all people to the light of truth. To an evil man I don’t want the light to illuminate his deeds, which, due to their uselessness, do not deserve the respect that has hitherto been given to them (this is the meaning of the expression φαῦλα used in the 20th century - deeds that are insignificant, bad, although perhaps not always harmful or treacherous). So, the Apostle Paul says: “everything that is revealed is made manifest by the light”(). On the other hand, there are people who act “in truth” or, more precisely, do the truth ( ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ), i.e. people are honest, sincere, alien to any hypocrisy (cf.). Such people willingly go towards the light, strive to acquire the truth that has appeared in Christ - not in order, of course, to become famous before other people, but in order to know themselves and properly evaluate their behavior. Then such people “are inspired by even greater zeal to achieve the highest moral ideal"(Prof. Bogoslovsky). And they are not afraid of their deeds being discovered, because they know that they did them “in God,” i.e. for God and with His help.

It should be noted that by saying that a person who sincerely loves the truth is not afraid, so that “his works may be made manifest,” Christ thereby makes a certain reproach to Nicodemus, who considered himself a man who treasures the truth (cf. verse 2), and at the same time for a time he feared that his business - a visit to Christ - would be discovered, which is why he came to Christ only at night. This reproach obviously had an effect on Nicodemus, because he later even began to defend Christ in the Sanhedrin () and took part in His burial (). Tradition reports that after the resurrection of Christ he was baptized by the apostles Peter and John and died a martyr (his memory is celebrated on August 2).

The second half of the chapter deals with the activity of Christ in Judea. This activity was unusually successful, and the disciples of the Baptist even felt jealous of Christ (verses 22–26). Then the Baptist's final testimony about Christ is given. First the Baptist speaks of himself and his relationship to Christ (verses 27-30), and then of the divine dignity of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ (verses 31-36).

. After this Jesus came with His disciples to the land of Judea and lived there with them and baptized.

At the end of the holiday (“after this” - μετὰ ταῦτα, i.e. after all the incidents described from the 13th verse of the 2nd chapter) Christ set off from Jerusalem to the land of Judea. The “land of Judea” at that time meant the area bounded from the north by the extreme borders of Samaria, from the south by the edge of the desert near Bathsheba, from the west by the lowlands of the Philistine plain and from the east by the line of the Jordan and Dead Sea(Prof. Bogoslovsky, p. 248). Jerusalem is like main city the promised land stood out from this area. It is very likely that Christ’s stay in the land of Judea was quite long, so that He managed to preach the news of the approach of the Kingdom of Heaven throughout all the borders of Judea. During his preaching, he also performed the rite of baptism, like John, but there was quite a big difference between the baptism of John and the baptism of Christ. Firstly, Christ performed baptism not Himself, but through His disciples (), and secondly, His baptism was not only external sign repentance for those who were baptized, but a special rite through which people joined the ranks of the followers of Christ (cf.). Then, John baptized, preaching about the approach of the Messiah, and Christ - preaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. Of course, He pointed to Himself as the Founder of this Kingdom and began to form a large community of believers around Him (cf.). This He did not do when He was in Jerusalem.

. And John also baptized in Aenon, near Salem, because there was a lot of water there; and they came there and were baptized,

At this time, John the Baptist continued his activities, since he, having set out to serve at the command of God (), could not voluntarily, without a new command of God, stop his activities. But where was Aenon, in whose waters John baptized then? “Near Salim,” notes the evangelist. Meanwhile, we do not know where Salim was. There is no doubt that this place was located west of the Jordan, since the disciples of the Baptist in their appeal to John make it clear that they are with their teacher on west side Jordan (verse 26, where it should be more correctly read: “Rabbi, the One who was with you on the other side of the Jordan”, in the Russian translation - “beside the Jordan”). And the very dispute between John’s disciples about the comparative merits of the baptism of Christ and John becomes understandable only on the assumption that Christ and John were at that time in the same area, i.e. in Judea (see verse 25). It is impossible to pinpoint the exact location of Aenon. But it is likely that he was located near one of the streams that flowed into the Dead Sea from the west. There was a lot of water in this stream, which attracted the Baptist here.

. for John was not yet imprisoned.

The evangelist makes the remark that John was not yet imprisoned in prison due to the fact that, according to weather forecasters, for example, Matthew, John was imprisoned almost immediately after the baptism of Christ (), and, therefore, there is no time left for him activities that the Evangelist John speaks about in the section under consideration. So that readers are not tempted by the contradiction presented here, the evangelist hastens to correct the testimony of the weather forecasters about the time of the Baptist’s imprisonment.

. Then John's disciples had a dispute with the Jews about cleansing.

Some Jews (or, according to another reading, one Jew) entered into a competition with John’s disciples “about purification” ( περὶ καθαρισμοῦ ), that is, about the customs of the Jews to wash dishes and wash themselves (cf.), and from here, probably, they moved on to a dispute about the comparative merits of the baptism performed by John and the baptism performed by Christ. It may very well be that the Jews pointed out to the disciples of the Baptist the futility of his activities, when the One to whom John himself turned the gaze of his disciples already appeared. They also talked, of course, about the extraordinary success that the new preacher had.

. And they came to John and said to him: Rabbi! He who was with you at the Jordan and about whom you testified, behold He baptizes, and everyone comes to Him.

The activity of Christ aroused envy in the disciples of the Baptist and, at the same time, jealousy about the glory of their teacher, which now, apparently, was on the wane. They express their irritation to John, hoping that he will take some measures to induce Christ to withdraw from the area where John has chosen the place of his activity. After all, the Baptist did so much for Christ with his testimony of Him as the Messiah!

. John answered: a man cannot take upon himself anything unless it is given to him from heaven.

In response to his disciples, the Baptist first of all says that any success that anyone has in his business depends entirely on the will of God. This is a gift from God.

. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said: I am not the Christ, but I was sent before Him.

Next, John recalls to his disciples exactly the words that he said about Christ and which, of course, were not unknown to his disciples. And he said (cf.) that it was not he, John, Christ, but only sent before Him, i.e. before Jesus as the Christ.

. He who has the bride is the groom, and the friend of the groom, standing and listening to him, rejoices with joy, hearing the voice of the groom. This is my joy fulfilled.

Explaining his attitude towards Christ, the Baptist compares himself to the “friend of the groom,” who among the Jews played the main role in the entire process of marriage. Of course, this friend was very pleased when he saw that his matchmaking business had come to the desired end and when he heard the conversation of the newlywed couple. The Baptist also prepared people for the acceptance of Christ, Who was now gathering around Him a community of believers or, for the Church was the bride of This Heavenly Bridegroom (). From these words of the Baptist we have the right to conclude that he already knew, even earlier than his disciples reported, about the success that Christ had in Judea, and this gave him joyful confidence that the work of Christ would reach the desired goal.

. He must increase, but I must decrease.

If the activity of John is now coming to an end, and the activity of Christ is ever increasing, then this is how it should be. An explanation of this statement is given below in the discourse on the dignity of Christ.

. He who comes from above is above all; but he who is from the earth is and speaks as he who is from the earth; He who comes from heaven is above all,

The first advantage of the Face of the Lord Jesus Christ lies in His heavenly (“from above”) origin. The expression “coming from above” denotes precisely the ineffable birth of the Word from God the Father, and not the sending of Christ to serve (St. Cyril of Alexandria), because the Baptist himself was also sent from above (cf.). This superiority of Christ eliminates any thought that there could be any competition with Him: He is above all. But who does the Baptist further mean by “earthly” and “speaking from the earth”? Many interpreters believe that he is speaking here about himself, but one cannot agree with such an opinion. John was, after all, a prophet, awarded divine revelations and speaking to the people as a messenger of Heaven (). He testified before his disciples and the people about what he heard and saw (). It is better to see here an indication of other, ordinary Jewish teachers, with whom, of course, Christ was then compared as the new rabbi.

. and what He saw and heard, He testifies to; and no one accepts His testimony.

The second advantage of Christ is the incomparable excellence of His teaching. The Lord spoke only what he knew directly, what he heard and saw in heaven (cf. verse 11). That is why the number of followers of Christ, which seemed too large to the Baptist’s disciples, seems to him to be very insignificant, in view of the high dignity of Christ’s teaching.

. He who received His testimony has sealed that He is true,

John, however, hastens to divert the gaze of his disciples from sad picture, which was represented by the unbelievers' sermons of Christ, and draws their attention to the results that are experienced by those who believe in His word. The lives of these believers have completely changed, and they, receiving the grace of God in Christ (), thereby testify with all firmness (“put their seal”) that the promises that God gave them through John the Baptist () really come to fulfillment: they have become much better than they were before, and themselves are a “seal” certifying the truth of God’s promises.

. for He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for he does not give the Spirit by measure.

These promises, however, could not remain unfulfilled, because they were spoken by the messengers of God - the prophets and, in particular, John the Baptist himself. They were given revelation from the Spirit of God, and, moreover, not sparingly (“without measure” - οὐἐκ μέτρου).

The entire verse, according to the best codes, should look like this: “one sent from God” (or a messenger of God) speaks the words of God, for the Spirit gives (of course, his gifts) not by measure (that is, not stingily, but generously).

. The Father loves the Son and has given everything into His hand.

The third and final advantage of Christ is that, out of His special love for the Son, He gave Him all things into His power. John here calls Christ the Son of God because this name was revealed to him during the baptism of Christ in the Jordan ().

. He who believes in the Son has eternal life, and he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Here John points out high goal, which God had by giving such power to the Son (cf. verses 15-16), and thereby makes it clear to his disciples how much they are losing by not joining the ranks of the followers of Christ.