Archpriest Viacheslav Reznikov's reflection on John 3:22–23. Christ is Risen! The path to the resurrection of Christ began in paradise, when God comforted the fallen ancestors, promising that one day the seed of the woman would erase the head of the serpent. Then God, through the prophets and righteous people, prepared people for a long time for the coming of the Savior, and after the Resurrection, through the Apostles and other saints, he helped them come to Him. God is eternal, and His work goes on through millennia, and the days of human life are “seventy years, and if He is able, eighty years” (Ps. 89:10). And everyone whom the Lord chooses is, for some time, at the very crest of God’s work, and then inevitably steps aside. But a man of God always remains a man of God. Today's readings show us examples of such people both in the prime and at the end of their ministry. Here are the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, performing miraculous healing. “Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.” What's wrong with people gathering? And, meanwhile, the Apostles seem to push them away from themselves, even reproach them for the fact that they have gathered: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” And then the Apostles - no, to forget the whole past - also begin to directly accuse those gathered of crimes against Jesus, whom they “delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But [they] denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to [them], and killed the Prince of life.” The apostles knew that the true children of salvation, those whom God called, cannot be repelled by words of just reproach, but rather will be led to tenderness and repentance. And only those who came running to gaze at them, as unprecedented miracle workers, will move away, be offended, and become angry. John the Baptist also did not delude himself that people were coming to him. And he did not caress the crowds who came, but denounced them with cruel words: “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7) And today we read about the time of its decline. Only recently “Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him” (Matthew 3:5). And now the other one has become the center of attention. He baptizes, He performs miracles, and everyone comes to Him, leaving John. The disciples worry about their teacher, but John himself does not grieve, does not talk about the unfaithfulness of human glory. He says: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” And we remember to what extent John degraded himself: to prison, to death, and what kind of death: they simply stabbed him to death in prison to please a sinful woman. But can we doubt that the lower this great man diminished, the more he rejoiced in the Heavenly Bridegroom, in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose glory increased every day! “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” This is how true workers try to take glory away from themselves and rejoice when the Lord Himself takes it away. Not everyone is given the opportunity to work for God’s work, but no one can escape humiliation. And with any diminishment, no matter what it comes from, we can say, like John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Even if we do not see Christ, as he saw, even if wickedness and all kinds of evil multiply around us endlessly, we still have no right to forget about the greatness of our Lord. Even if you no longer have the strength to continue your work, well, this only means that He will finally call on those more worthy, more selfless, and now God’s work will go the way it should go. But now the bright Paschal week has already diminished. Today is the last day of the holiday, and the Royal Doors will close in the evening. But let our faith in the Risen Lord grow. He must grow - in our lives, in our hearts, in our deeds. And we must humble ourselves before His infinite wisdom and power. Christ is Risen! |
