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As long as the apostles and evangelists were with Christ, they did not know Him perfectly. St. Peter said he believed, but then denied it because he wasn’t completely sure. One day they came to a village in Samaria and were not received there, because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem, and the disciples said: Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But the Savior answered them meekly: Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of (Lk. 9:53–55).
They did not know that they were with God, talking with Him, sitting at the same table with Him, and walking with Him. So He tells them: For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost (Mt. 18:11).
And another time the sons of Zebedee took it into their heads to say: Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory (Mk. 10:37). Another time, St. Peter argued with the others as to which of them was greater. And one day St. Philip asked Him: Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. And Jesus answered him: Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father (Jn. 14:8).
Do you see? The disciples did not know their Master, they did not know Christ—the Savior of the world Who performed so many miracles. He raised the dead, multiplied loaves, and cast out demons, but they still did not know that He was the true God.
Who revealed to them the mystery of God’s coming to earth and the incarnation of God the Word? The Holy Spirit. For Jesus said: When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth (Jn. 16:13).
Do you know what Christ did? It was as if a great king, the most glorious in the world, had come and hidden his crown, robe, and all the insignia of his royal power, going to live with a peasant in some village, coming there as a poor man where no one knew about him, with locals mocking and dishonoring him. Wasn’t Christ dishonored by the Jews? Did they not tell Him that He was a “Samaritan”, that He was “possessed with a demon” and “cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub”?
However, after some time the king would have put on his crown, scepter, and robe and told them: “This is who I am! I have lived with you as a slave, but I am the king of the whole world.” How much fear, remorse and regret would have been felt by the people who had beaten the king when he was a slave, but they had not recognized him!
The disciples experienced the same thing today. They wept and great anguish was in their hearts: “He is God, and we walked with Him—and so many times we answered Him boldly, did not believe His miracles and wanted to do something different from what was pleasing to Him!” And the disciples were sorry, because now they truly knew that He was God Himself.
After all, the Savior had told them, And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven (Jn. 3:13). For He alone ascended to heaven; the others, as I told you, did not ascend to heaven, but “as if to heaven”. Listen to what the holy King and Prophet David says: Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and Thy glory above all the earth (Ps. 107:6).
So, today Jesus Christ has ascended above all the heavens, and I have shown you the reasons why He ascended:
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Firstly, to send us the Holy Spirit;
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Secondly, to fulfill the designation about us;
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And thirdly, to lift us up from death to life, from hell to heaven, and from sin to virtue. To make us not angels, but gods by grace.
So, man, being created in His image and likeness, ascends as far as it is possible for him. If he believes and walks up the steps of spiritual ascent, which I mentioned to you, he also becomes god—but by grace, not by nature. For do you hear what St. Basil the Great says? “God made man the king over all the earth and made him god over all God’s creations.”
Do you hear? Man is the king of the earth and god over all God’s creations! That’s what He wanted to make us. But man mixes with beasts, becomes like them, gets used to bestial life, and becomes worse than demons. And that’s what the fall that brings us down is—it’s sin. And what lifts us up is the grace of God, which elevates souls.
It was not only Enoch and Elias, not only some patriarchs and prophets who were taken up; simultaneously with the Ascension of Christ all the saints and all those whom Christ had brought out of hell ascended as well. Though not to heaven, but to Paradise, because only Christ entered heaven. And after the Last Judgment, all the saved will enter heaven. For the Gospel proclaims, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 5:3). It doesn’t say, “Theirs is Paradise.” For it is said that Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5:20). Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, but the coming of Christ against satan gives greater glory to Adam’s family. He does not bring it back to paradise; all the saints and righteous of God stay in Paradise only until the Last Judgment; and after the Last Judgment God will not bring the saints to Paradise, but to heaven.
Thus, man was expelled from Paradise, but if by the grace of Christ he struggles and is saved, then his abode will be in heaven—in the Heavenly Kingdom.
Thus the grace of God, given to human nature, abounded. And St. John Damascene asks the question: What for? For the body! But why didn’t He have mercy on the demons? After all, they fell from heaven and became demons. They fell without any bodies, and what is death for man is the fall for the angels. The angels cannot improve themselves after the fall, but man—thanks to the body—is given repentance until death, until his last breath.
If he repents, God accepts him and can turn a demon-like man into an angel and god by grace, and lift him up to heaven. After all, for the sake of the weakness of the body God was crucified, came and clothed Himself with flesh in order to exalt our nature—not to the height of the angels, not to the Cherubim, but to the right hand of the Father. Human nature is seated on the throne of Divinity where Jesus Christ is. And this is in spite of satan. For what did God say?
“Did you have man banished from Paradise? But I will deify human nature, take it up to heaven, clothe Myself with his nature, and sit it on the throne with the Father, and you will see the flower—which you plucked in Paradise and trampled—sitting on the throne of Divinity!”
This is God’s work and His vengeance for satan’s envy.
My brothers, when Adam was 700 years old, as the above-mentioned Chronicle by the Byzantine Monk George Kedrenos says, he as an old man (Adam lived for 930 years, as the Scriptures say (cf. Gen. 5:5)) dozed off under an oak tree. And while he was asleep, the Archangel Uriel came to him. Let me remind you that the seven great spirits, the seven Archangels command the angelic hosts: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Barachiel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel and Uriel. The name “Uriel” means “Divine fire and light”.
So, when Adam woke up, he saw an angel at his head who said, “Adam! What are you doing?” Adam was not afraid of angels, since he had lived with them in the Garden of Eden. He answered: “Master, I’m resting.” “Adam, rise!” the angel said. “Do you know what your family will have to endure?”
“No, Master, but tell me what God is going to do with my family, for I see that it has been completely corrupted. I have so many thousands of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and they are all corrupt. Lord, Thou drovest me out of Paradise for just one sin, and what about them? They have become fornicators, drunkards, and vile, and the world is filled with them. What will God do with them? I know that God hates sin and can in no way be a friend to a sinner and an abominable person to forgive his sins without repentance. I know that nothing impure will enter the Heavenly Kingdom. What is God going to do with my kin?”
The Archangel Uriel answered him: “That is why God has sent me to tell you. Know, Adam, that people will multiply enormously, and the more they multiply, the worse they will become. And God will send two floods to earth.”
Adam wondered: “What is a flood, Master?”
“Adam, a flood means that a lot of water and a lot of fire will come. The water will rise and cover the whole planet, and a flood of fire will burn the entire world.”
“When will it happen?” The angel replied: “Adam, now get some sleep and rest, for I will be back another day.”
And Adam lay down to rest, and another time, when he was strong enough, the Archangel Uriel came back and said to him: “Adam, what do you want to know?”
“Tell me, Master, when will there be a flood? And which flood will be the first: that of water or of fire?”
And the Archangel Uriel responded: “Listen, Adam! God is telling you this: build a stone pillar forty-five cubits (c. 70 feet) high. When you set up this stone pillar, place a vessel of water on it, and build a big fire at its base. After you finish this job, you will be overcome by sleep. And when you wake up, then pay attention: if the fire has touched the stone and begun burning the pillar, then the fire will come first. But if the water spills from the vessel and puts out the fire, know that the water will come first.”
And Adam asked Uriel: “Master, are there any other signs?” Uriel replied: “There are other signs as well. For example, know that before the flood, people will drink water unrestrainedly day and night, and later, before the flood of fire, they will emit smoke.”
And Adam built the pillar, of which the Archangel Uriel had spoken. Then he told his sons and grandsons: “We have been commanded from above to make a tall pillar and place a vessel of water on it, and build a fire at its base, because then we will be shown which flood will come first: that of water or of fire.”
After Adam had finished the stone pillar, placed a vessel of water on its top, and kindled a fire at its base, he was overcome by sleep and fell asleep. When he awakened, he saw that the water had poured down on the pillar and extinguished the fire. So Adam learned reliably that the flood of water would be the first. And so it was. For, according to the ancient chronicles of some peoples, 2,642 years passed from the creation of the world to the Flood.
However, the angel also said that there would be another sign before the Flood. And it came true as well. Because sacred history and the Chronicles testify that people drank water without a break in the time preceding the Flood. No matter whether they had food or not, they drank water day and night and always carried it with them in goat waterskins, in clay and wooden vessels. Whenever they met, they would ask each other right away: “Do you have any water to drink?” “Yes, I do.” And they drank water, but they could not quench their thirst. It was a sign that human nature would ask God for punishment for intoxication with water.
And so, with the outbreak of the Flood, the water swallowed up everyone. There was only Noah left with seven other people who were with him in the ark. And people multiplied again from those eight. Noah thus became the second father of the human race, the second Adam, who along with his family and animals was saved in the ark.
And now people keep asking for fire and smoke: “Do you have a cigarette?” “Do you have a lighter?” On trains, trams, trolleybuses, in carts, and on every path, everyone asks each other: “Do you have a smoke? Give me a light.” Do you hear that? They’re looking for fire! Therefore, God will burn us with fire. Let’s be wary! People don’t know what they want and don’t know what they are asking for, seeking fire and smoke. They go to bed with fire and wake up with fire in the morning. They don’t offer up a prayer, but say instead: “Bring me a cigarette! Woman, give me a cigarette! Child, fetch me a cigarette!”
They ask for fire and smoke, and fire and smoke will overtake them. But let us be vigilant and extremely prudent, and let us repent of our sins and reject all malice. Let us be watchful, for no one knows about that day or hour.
To be continued…
