The order of reading the Easter Gospel in several languages ​​is as follows. After the senior deacon asks for the blessing “Bless, Master, Evangelist” and the primate gives this blessing with the words “God through prayers,” the primate proclaims “Wisdom, forgive, let us hear the Holy Gospel.” These same words are repeated after the primate by all the priests and deacons, ending with the senior deacon - each, if possible, in the language in which he will read the Gospel. Then the primate says “Peace to all.” None of the clergy repeat this exclamation. The singers answer “And your spirit.”

The primate proclaims “Reading of the Holy Gospel from John.” All the priests and dacons repeat these words after him, also, if possible, in the language in which the Gospel will be read. After all the clergy, ending with the senior deacon, say these words, the singers sing “Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee.” Primate - “Let us hear.” The same goes for all the clergy, ending with the senior deacon, each also in the language in which he will read the Gospel. The primate begins the 1st article, followed by the priests and deacons, and lastly, the senior deacon. The 2nd and 3rd articles are read in the same order.

During the reading of the Gospel in the bell tower, the so-called “enumeration” is performed, that is, all bells are struck once, starting from the small ones. At the end of the Gospel there is a short peal. When the senior deacon finishes the 3rd article, the singers sing “Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee.”

The senior deacon gives the Gospel to the primate. The other deacons follow him into the altar with the Gospels and take them to their places.

English (from the King James Bible)

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. The same was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that comes into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we were held his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Listen:

Belorussian

1. There were Words on the packet, and Words were for God, and Words were for Gods.
2. I was like God:
3. Everything was hurting Iago, and without Iago nothing was hurting because it was hurting.
4. They had a life, and the life was holy of people.
5. I am holy and the earth is blessed, and the earth did not destroy it.
6. There was a chalavek, shepherded by God’s hell; The name of the pit is Yang;
7. Once upon a time, when everyone believed in the goodness of Iago;
8. He wouldn’t be holy, but he would be paslany, if he were the great saint.
9. There was a Holy Sapraudnaya, Such a holy man’s skin that walked in the world.
10. The world had, and Iago’s light was dying, and Iago’s light was not known;
11. the past and theirs, and theirs did not accept Iago;
12. And to you, who have taken Iago, who believe in the name of Iagonae, may I rule the world of God,
13. This is not the hell of a roof, nor the hell of a precious place, nor the hell of a precious husband, but the hell of God has been taken care of.
14. I Words became common, and they became common among us; And we received the glory of Yagon, glory like Adzinarodnaga ad Aitz.
15. Yang is the svedchyts pra Yago and ўsklіkayuchy kazha: Geta was the one, pra Yakoga I will say that the one who is behind me, apriedzіў māne, because would have been earlier for me.
16. And Iago’s hell has fallen, we have all fallen into hell and sweetness;
17. Because the law of dazena is the law of Maisei, and the law of justice has become the law of Jesus Christ.

Bulgarian

From John the Holy Gospel. Chapter 1

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.
2. That’s the beginning with God.
3. Everything came to be through Him, and without Him nothing was made anew, and some things came to be.
4. There is life in Him and there is life, and there is life and light in the world.
5. And that light shines in the darkness, and I do not see the darkness.
6. And there is one man who is from God, that is, John;
7. He will come for the testimony, and the testimony for the light is that, that all the chicks will tear through him.
8. That is not be she svetlina ta, but be praten and testify for svetlina ta.
9. There is light in your life, somehow enlightening all people, and two in the world.
10. There is light in the light, and there is light through Him, but He does not know the light.
11. You get to Svoite Si, and Svoite Go did not arrive.
12. And for all the things that Go has arrived, you are ready for God’s sake;
13. These are not from blood, nor from the lusts of the flesh, nor from the lusts of the flesh, but from God of this birth.
14. And the Word came from here to the land, and living among us, it was full of grace and truth; and seeing the glory of Mu, glory to the Only Begotten of the Father.
15. Johan bore witness for Him and vi kashe, dumaiki: So I be, for Whom I say: They are coming after me from before, for that is why you have come before me.
16. And from Him the fullness of all things came, and all grace came;
17. Why did the Law come through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus and Christ?

Gagauz

II KHABER IOANDAN
Sӧz adam oldu

1 Bashtan Sӧz varda, Sӧz Allahtaida, Sӧz Allahty.
2 Bashtan O Allahtaida.
3 Hepsi Onunnan kuruldu, Onsuz bishey kurulmada.
4 Onda yashamak vardy. Yashamak insan ichin aydinnykty.
5 Aydinnyk karannykta shafk eder, karannyk onu enseiämedi.
6 Allahtan bir adam geldi, onun ady John.
7 Geldi Aydinnyk ichin shaatlyk etsin, hepsi insan onun ashyry inansin.
8 About Kendi diildi Aydinnyk, ama geldi Aydynnyk ichin solesin.
9 Odur hakyna Aydinnyk, Angysy kherbir adamy, bu donneya gelän, aydinnader.
10 About Kendi bu donneyo geldi. Donno Onun ashyry yaradyldy, ama donna Onu tanymada.
11 Kendikilerina geldi, kendikileri Onu kabletmed.
12 Ama hepsi onnar, kim Onu cabletti, kim Onun adyn inanda, O izin verdi onnar olsun Allahyn ushaklary,
13 angylary diil kandan, diil ettan hem diil adam istediindan, ama Allahtan duudu.
14 Soz adam oldu, bizim aramyzda yashady, ivergiylan hem aslylyklan dolu. Onun metinniin görðÿk, nía Bobadan biriöik Oolun metinniin.
15 Ioan Onun ichin shaatlyk etti da bÿÿk seslän bölä dedi: “Budur O, Kimin ichin haberledim: “Oh, Kim bendän sora geler, taa ÿstÿbendä ́n, zerä Bendän taa ileriidi.”
16 Onun dolušundan hepsimiz iivergi ÿstÿnä iivergi edendik.”
17 Zerä Law Moses ashyry verdi, ama hayyr hem aslylyk Jesus Christ ashyry geldi.

Greek

Greek language

Transcription

1. ἐν ἀρχῇἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος 2. οὗτος ἦνἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν 3. νεν 4. 5. 6. ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος ἀπετῷ Ἰωάννης 7. ες πιστεύσωσιν δι᾿ αὐτοῦ 8. 9. τὸν κόσμον 10. ὸν οὐκ ἔγνω 11. ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον #12 τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ 13. ἀνδρὸς ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν 14. ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα ???? ἀληθείας 15. ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν 16. τὶ χάριτος 17. ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο

With ofi a, orfi, aku somen to agi u Evangeliu. (Wisdom, forgive me...) And ri ni pa si. (Peace to all) 1. En archi in about Logos, ke about Logos in pro s ton Feon, ke Feo s, in about Logos. 2. U tos i n en archi pro s ton Feon. 3. Panda di avtu ege neto, ki hori s avtu egen neto u eden, o e gonon. 4. En auto zoi in, ke and zoi in to fo s anthropon. 5. Ke to fo s, en ti skoti a feni, ke and skoti a auto u kate laven. 6. Ege neto a anthropos, apestalme nos para Feu, o noma auto Ioannis. 7. Uto s ilfen is martiri an i na martiri si peri tu photo s, i na pandis pister rsusin di avtu. 8. Uk in ekino s to fo s, all i na martiri si pe ri tu foto s. 9. In to fo s to alifinon, o foti si panda a nfropon, erkhomenon is ton gozmon. 10. En do kozmo in, ki o kozmos di avtu ege neto, ki on kozmos, avtu uk igno. 11. Is ta i dya i lfen, ki oi i dii auto n un pare labon. 12. O si di e labon a vton, e doken, avti with exusi an te kna Fe u gene ste tis piste nusin is to o noma aftu, 13. I and uk es imaton ude ek Feli matos sarko s ude ek Feli matos andro s all ek Feu egenni tisan. 14. Ke o Lo gos sa rks ege neto ke eski nosen en imin, ke easa mefa tin do ksan avtu, do ksan oz monoenu s para patro s, pl ris ha ritus ke alifi as. 15. Ioannis martiri peri, avtu ke, ke kregen legon, Utos in on ipon, O opi so mu ercho menos emprosfen mu e gonen, o ti pro doz mu in. 16. O ti ek tu pliro matos avtu imi s pandes, ela bomen, ke harin anti haritos. 17. O ti o no mos, dia Moise os edo fi, and ha ris ke i elifia dia Iesu Christu ege neto.

Hebrew

1. bəreshit hayа hadavar, vəhadavar hayа et haəlohim, velohim hayа hadavar
2. hu haya bereshit etzel halohim.
3. hakol nihya ‘al-yado umibal’adav lo nihya kal-asher nihya.
4. bo hayyu hayyim, vəhayyim hayyu or bəne ha-adam.
5. vehaor bahoshekh zarah vehahosheh lo hishigo.
6. vayhi ish shaluah meet halohim, ushmo yochanan
7. hu ba lə‘edut ləha‘id ‘al-haor ləma‘an ya-aminu hulam ‘al-yado’.
8. hu lo hayah haor ki im-ləha‘id ‘al-haor.
9. haor ha-amitti hameir ləhal-adam haya va el-ha‘olam.
10. ba'olam haya ve'al-yado nihya ha'olam, veha'olam lo hikiro.
11. hu va el-asher lo, va-asher hemma lo, lo qibəluhu.
12. vəhamqablim oto natan ‘oz lamo lihot banim lelohim hama-aminim bishmo.
13. asher lo midam, velo-mehefetz habashar, af lo-mehefetz gaver, ki im-melohim noladu.
14. vəhadavavar nihya vasar, vayishkon betokhenu vanheze tif-arto, kati

[‘] is a guttural consonant, formed deep in the throat, very compressed.
[ə] – reduced, very short sound, almost disappears.
[x] – guttural, like Russian [x], but is formed much deeper, as when expectorating
[h] – exhalation sound
[a] – always unstressed, more of an overtone than a sound.
[q] – guttural, like Russian [k], but is formed much deeper

Spanish

LECTURA DEL SANTO EVANGELIO SEGÚN SAN JUAN

1 En el principio existía el Verbo, y el Verbo estaba con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios.
2 Él estaba en el principio con Dios.
3 Por Él fueron hechas todas las cosas, y sin Él no se ha hecho cosa alguna de cuantas han sido hechas.
4 En Él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de los hombres.
5 Y la luz resplandece en medio de las tinieblas, y las tinieblas no pudieron retenerla.
6 Hubo un hombre enviado por Dios que se llamaba Juan.
7 Este vino como testigo para dar testimonio de la luz, a fin de que por medio de él todos creyeran.
8 No era él la luz, sino quien daría testimonio de la luz.
9 El Verbo era la luz verdadera que alumbra a todo hombre que viene al mundo.
10 En el mundo estaba, y el mundo fue por Él hecho, pero el mundo no lo conoció.
11 Vino a su propia casa, y los suyos no lo recibieron.
12 Pero a todos los que lo recibieron, que son los que creen en su Nombre, les dio poder de llegar a ser hijos de Dios.
13 Los cuales no nacieron de sangre, ni de deseo de carne, ni de voluntad de hombre, sino que de Dios nacieron.
14 Y el Verbo se hizo carne y habitó entre nosotros; y nosotros hemos visto su gloria, gloria que tiene del Padre como el Unigénito, lleno de gracia y de verdad.
15 De Él da testimonio Juan, y clama diciendo: He aquí Aquél de quien yo les decía: el que viene detrás de mí, se ha puesto delante de mí, por cuanto era antes que yo.
16 Así pues de la plenitud de Él hemos participado todos nosotros y recibido gracia sobre gracia.
17 Porque la Ley fue dada por Moises; mas la Gracia y la Verdad fueron traídas por Jesucristo.

Transcription

1 en el principio era el barbo, and el barbo era con dios, and el barbo era dios
2 este era en el principio con dios
3 todas las cosas por el fueron echas, and sin el nada de lo que a sido echo fue echo
4 en el estaba la bida, y la bida era la luz de los ombres
5 la luz en las tinyeblas rasplandesa, y las tinyeblas no prebalecieron contra eia
6 ubo un ombre enbiado de dios, el cual se yamaba Juan
7 este bino por testimonyo, para que diese testimonyo de la luz, a fin de que todos criesen por el.
8 but era la luz, sino para que diese testimonyo de la luz
9 akeya lus berdadera, que alumbra a todo ombre, benia a este mundo
10 en el mundo estaba, and el mundo por el fue echo, pero el mundo no le conocio.
11 a lo suyo bino, and los suyos no le recibieron
12 mas a todos los que le recibieron, a los que craen en su nombre, les dio potestad de sir echos ijos de dios
13 los cuales no son engendrados de sangre, ni de boluntad de carne, ni de boluntad de baron, sino de dios
14 and akel berbo fue echo carne, and abito entre nosotros, and bimos su gloria como del unigenito del padre, yeno de gracia and de berdad
15 Juan dio testimono de el, and clamo disiendo, este es de quien yo desia, el que biene despues de mi, es antes de mi, porque era primero que yo
16 porque de su planetitud tomamos todos, and gracia sobre gracia
17 pues la lay por madio de moises fue dada, pero la grace et la berdad bigneron por madio de Hesucristo

с = [θ]
b = [β] (sound between [b] and [v])
y = [w] (very short non-syllabic [u])
d = [đ] (very weak [d], from which only an overtone remains)

Italian

LETTURA DAL SANTO VANGELO SECONDO GIOVANNI

1 In principio era il Verbo, il Verbo era presso Dio e il Verbo era Dio.
2 Egli era in principio presso Dio:
3 Tutto è stato fatto per mezzo di lui, e senza di lui niente è stato fatto di tutto ciò che esiste.
4 In lui era la vita e la vita era la luce degli uomini;
5 La luce splende nelle tenebre, ma le tenebre non l’hanno accolta.
6 Venne un uomo mandato da Dio e il suo nome era Giovanni.
7 Egli venne come testimone per rendere testimonianza alla luce, perché tutti credessero per mezzo di lui.
8 Egli non era la luce, ma doveva render testimonianza alla luce.
9 Veniva nel mondo la luce vera, quella che illumina ogni uomo.
10 Egli era nel mondo, e il mondo fu fatto per mezzo di lui, eppure il mondo non lo riconobbe.
11 Venne fra la sua gente, ma i suoi non l’hanno accolto.
12 A quanti però l’hanno accolto, ha dato potere di diventare figli di Dio: a quelli che credono nel suo nome,
13 I quali non da sangue, né da volere di carne, né da volere di uomo, ma da Dio sono stati generati.
14 E il Verbo si fece carne e venne ad abitare in mezzo a noi; e noi vedemmo la sua gloria, gloria come di unigenito dal Padre, pieno di grazia e di verità.
15 Giovanni gli rende testimonianza e grida: Ecco l’uomo di cui io dissi: Colui che viene dopo di me mi è passato avanti, perché era prima di me.
16 Dalla sua pienezza noi tutti abbiamo ricevuto e grazia su grazia.
17 Perché la legge fu data per mezzo di Mosè, la grazia e la verità vennero per mezzo di Gesù Cristo.

Chinese

Chinese

Transcription

1 太初有道，道與神同在，道就是神。 2 這 道 太 初 與 神 同 在 。 3 4 生命在他裡頭，這生命就是人的光。 5 光照在黑暗裡，黑暗卻不接受光。 6 7 這人來，為要作見證，就是為光作見證，叫眾人因他可以信。 8 他不是那光，乃是要為光作見證。 9 那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人。 10 他在世界，世界也是藉著他造的，世界卻不認識他。 11，自己的人倒不接待他。 12 13從神生的。 14 ，正是父獨生子的榮光。 15成了在我以前的，因他本來在我以前。 』」 16 17

1 Tàichū yǒu dào, dào yǔ shén tóng zài, dào jiùshì shén. 2 Zhè dào tàichū yǔ shén tóng zài. 3 Wànwù shì jízhe tā zào de; fán bèi zào de, méiyǒu yīyàng bùshì jízhe tā zào de. 4 Shēngmìng zài tā lǐ tóu, zhè shēngmìng jiùshì rén de guāng. 5 Guāngzhào zài hēi’àn lǐ, hēi’àn què bù jiēshòu guāng. 6 Yǒuyī gèrén, shì cóng shén nàlǐ chà lái de, míng jiào yuēhàn. 7 Zhè rén lái, wèi yào zuò jiànzhèng, jiùshì wèi guāng zuò jiànzhèng, jiào zhòngrén yīn tā kěyǐ xìn. 8 Tā bùshì nà guāng, nǎi shì yào wèi guāng zuò jiànzhèng. 9 Nà guāng shì zhēnguāng, zhào liàng yīqiè shēng zài shìshàng de rén. 10 Tā zài shìjiè, shìjiè yěshì jízhe tā zào de, shìjiè què bù rènshí tā. 11 Tā dào zìjǐ de dìfāng lái, zìjǐ de rén dào bù jiēdài tā. 12 Fán jiēdài tā de, jiùshì xìn tā míng de rén, tā jiù cì tāmen quánbǐng, zuò shén de érnǚ. 13. 14 Dàochéngle ròushēn, zhù zài wǒmen zhōngjiān, chōng chōngmǎn mǎn de yǒu ēndiǎn yǒu zhēnlǐ. Wǒmen yě jiànguò tā de róngguāng, zhèng shì fù dú shēng zi de róngguāng. 15 Yuēhàn wèi tā zuò jiànzhèng, hǎnzhe shuō: `Zhè jiùshì wǒ céng shuō: “Nà zài wǒ yǐ hòulái de, fǎn chéngle zài wǒ yǐqián de, yīn t ā běnlái zài wǒ yǐqián. 16 Cóng tā fēngmǎn de ēndiǎn lǐ, wǒmen dōu lǐngshòule, érqiě ēn shàng jiā ēn. 17 Lǜ fǎ běn shì jízhe móxī chuán de; ēndiǎn hé zhēnlǐ dōu shì yóu yé sū jīdū lái de.

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Latin

Latin language

Transcription

1. In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. 2. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 3. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est; 4. in ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum, 5. et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. 6. Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Ioannes; 7. hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent per illum. 8. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. 9. Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem, veniens in mundum. 10. In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. 11. In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt. 12. Quotquot autem acceperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his, qui credunt in nomine eius, 13. qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. 14. Et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis; et vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis. 15. Ioannes testimonium perhibet de ipso et clamat dicens: “Hic erat, quem dixi: Qui post me venturus est, ante me factus est, quia prior me erat.” 16. Et de plenitudine eius nos omnes accepimus, et gratiam pro gratia; 17. quia lex per Moysen data est, gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est.

1. in principle pio er rat ve rbum, et ve rbum er rat a pud de um, et de us er rat ve rbum 2. hok er rat in principle pio a pud de um 3. o mnia per i psum fakta sunt, et si ne i pso faktum est ni hil kvod faktum est 4. in i pso vi ta er rat, et vi ta er rat lux ho minum 5. et lux in tene bris lucet, et tene bre e am non konprehe nderunt 6. fu it ho mo mi ssus a De o ku i no men e rat Johannes 7. hik ve nit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhi beret de lu mine, ut o mnes kre derent per i llum 8. non er rat i lle lux, sed ut testimo nium perhi beret de lu mine 9. er rat lux que inluminat o mne ho minem venie ntem in mundum 10. in mundo erat, et mundus per i psum factus est, et mundus e um non cognovit 11. in pro pria venit, et su i e um non retse parunt 12. kvo tkvot a utem retse perunt e um de dit e is pote statem filios De i fie ri his kvi kradunt in no mine e yus 13. qui non ex sanguinibus, ne que ex vol ntate karnis, ne que ex vol ntate vi ri, sed ex De o na ti sunt 14. et Värbum ka ro faktum est, et habita vit in no bis, et vidi mus glo riam e yus, glo riam quasi unige niti a Pa tre ple num gra cie et verita tis 15. Yoha nnes testimo nium perhi bet de i pso et klya mat ditsen ns, hik er rat quem di xi vo bis qui post me ve nturus est, a nte me factus est, qui a pri or me e rat 16. et de plenitu dine e yus nose o mnes acce pimus et graciam pro gracia 17. kvi a lex per Mo zen da ta est, et ve ritas per Ye zum Khristum fakta est

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German

LESUNG AUS DEM HEILIGEN EVANGELIUM NACH JOHANNES

1 Im Amfang war das Wort, und das Wort war bei Gott, und Gott war das Wort.
2 Dasselbe war im Anfang bei Gott.
3 Alle Dinge sind durch dasselbe gemacht, und ohne dasselbe ist nichts gemacht, was gemacht ist.
4 In ihm war das Leben, und das Leben war das Licht der Menschen.
5 Und das Licht scheint in der Finsternis, und die Finsternis hat’s nicht begriffen.
6 Es ward ein Mensch, von Gott gesandt, der hieß Johannes.
7 Dieser kam zum Zeugnis, daß er von dem Licht zeugete, auf daß sie alle durch ihn glaubten.
8 Er war nicht das Licht, sondern daß er zeugete von dem Licht.
9 Das war das wahrhaftige Licht, welches alle Menschen erleuchtet, die in diese Welt kommen.
10 Es war in der Welt, und die Welt ist durch dasselbe gemacht; und die Welt kannte es nicht.
11 Er kam in sein Eigentum; und die Seinen nahmen ihn nicht auf.
12 Wie viele ihn aber aufnahmen, denen gab er Macht, Gottes Kinder zu warden, die an seinen Namen glauben;
13 Welche nicht von dem Geblüt noch von dem Willen des Fleisches noch von dem Willen eines Mannes, sondern von Gott geboren sind.
14 Und das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnte unter uns, und wir sahen seine Herrlichkeit, eine Herrlichkeit als des eingebornen Sohnes vom Vater, voller Gnade und Wahrheit.
15 Johannes zeugt von ihm, ruft und spricht: Dieser war es, von dem ich gesagt habe: Nach mir wird kommen, der vor mir gewesen ist; den er war eher den ich.
16 Und von seiner Fülle haben wir alle genommen Gnade um Gnade.
17 Denn das Gesetz ist durch Mose gegeben; die Gnade und Wahrheit ist durch Jesum Christum geworden.

Transcription

1 im anfaŋ vaa das voat, unt das voat vaa bye got, unt got vaa das vort.
2 daszelbə vaa im anfaŋ bai goth.
3 alə díŋə zint duaç daszelbə gəmakht, unt o:nə daszelbə ist niçts gəmakht, you gəmakht ist.
4 in i:m vaa das lé:bən, unt das lé:bən vaa das liçt dea manshən.
5 unt das liçt shaynt in dəa finsteanis, unt di finsteanis hats niçt bəgrifən
6 es vaat ain mensh von goth gəzant, dəa hi:s johanəs
7 dizəa kam tsum tsoiknis, das ea von dam liçt tsoiktə, auf das zi: alə duaç i:n glauptən
8 ea vaa niçt das lçt, zondəan das ea tsoiktə von dəm lçt
9 das vaa das va:ahaftigə litət, welçəs alə manshən ealoyçtət, di in dí:zə welt comən
10 es vaa in dəa velt, unt di velt ist durç daszelbə gəmakht, unt di velt kantə es niçt.
11 ea ka:m in zayn aigəntum, unt di zaynən na:mən i:n niçt auf
12 vi fi:lə i:n abəa aufna:mən, dénən ga:p ea makht kindəa gotəs zu véadən, di an zainən na:mən glaubən,
13 vélçə niçt von dəm gəblu:t noh von dəm wī́lən dəs flyshəs noh von dəm wilən ainəs manəs, zondəan von goth gəbo:an zint.
14 unt das voat vaat flysh unt vo:ntə una uns, unt via for:ən zainə healiçkayt, ainə healiçkayt als dəs ainəborənən zo:nəs fom fatəa, fó ləa gna:də unt va:ahayt.
15 johans tsoikt von i:m, ruft unt spricht, di:zəa vaa es, von dəm iç gəzakt ha:bə, nah mia viat komən, dəa foa mia gəve:zən ist, den éa vaa e: a als iç
16 unt background zaynəa fülə ha:bən via alə gənómən gna:də um gna:də
17 den das gəzets ist duaç mo:zəs gəge:bən, di gna:də unt va:ahayt ist duaç yezum kristum gəvoadən

[ə] - reduced, very short sound, almost disappears.
[ç] - a dull parallel to the sound [j], similar to a very soft Russian [x]
[h] - exhalation sound
[a] - vocalized [r] (same in English), like a very unclear, disappearing [a]
- long vowel
[ŋ] - nasal [n]

Ukrainian

1 From the beginning the Word became, and the Word became into God, and God became the Word.
2 There was peace in God.
3 Everything stood up through Him, and nothing that stood up stood up without Him.
4 And life was in Him, and life was the Light of people.
5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not burn him.
6 There was one man who received messages from God, my name was Ivan.
7 We came to the testimony to testify about Svetlo, so that everyone would believe through him.
8 I was not in this Svetlo, but you can also tell me about Svetlo.
9 The truthful light is the One who shines through the skin of a person who comes into the world.
10 It was in the world, and the world came through Him, but the world did not know Him.
11 Before Vono arrived, Yogo had a fight with his friends.
12 And to all who received Him, He gave His power as children of God, to those who trust in His Name,
13 What is not by blood, nor by the greed of the body, nor by the greed of a man, but by the greed of God.
14 And the Word became body, and was among us, outside of grace and truth, and we saw His glory, the glory of the One-begotten before the Father.
15 Ivan testified about Him, and they called out and said: This is the One that I said about Him: He who will come for me, having stood before me, for He was first, below me.
16 And yet again we have all won, and then grace upon grace.
17 The law came through Moses, and grace and righteousness came through Jesus Christ.

French

LECTURE DU SAINT EVANGILE SELON SAINT JEAN

1 Au commencement était le Verbe, et le Verbe était avec Dieu, et le Verbe était Dieu.
2 Il était au commencement avec Dieu.
3 Toutes choses ont été faites par lui, et rien de ce qui a été fait nˋa été fait sans lui.
4 En lui était la vie, et la vie était la lumière des hommes.
5 Et la lumière luit dans les ténèbres, et les ténèbres ne lˋont point comprise.
6 Il y eut un homme, appelé Jean, qui fut envoyé de Dieu.
7 Il vint pour servir de témoin, et pour rendre témoignage à la lumière, afin que tous crussent par lui.
8 Il n’était pas la lumière, mais avait à rendre témoignage à la lumière.
9 Le Verbe était la vraie lumière, qui éclaire tout homme venant en ce monde.
10 Il était dans le monde, et le monde a été fait par lui, et le monde ne lˋa point connu.
11 Il est venu chez lui; et les siens ne lˋont point reçu.
12 Mais à tous ceux qui l’ont reçu, il a donné le pouvoir de devenir les enfants de Dieu, à ceux qui croient en son nom,
13 Lui qui n'est pas né du sang, ni de la volonté de la chair, ni de la volonté de lˋhomme, mais de Dieu.
14 Et le Verbe a été fait chair, et il a habité parmi nous, plein de grâce et de vérité; et nous avons vu sa gloire, gloire qu’il tient de son Père comme Fils Unique.
15 Jean rend témoignage de lui, et il crie, disant: C'est de lui que j'ai dit: Celui qui vient après moi, le voilà passé devant moi, parce quˋil était avant moi.
16 Et nous avons tous reçu de sa plénitude, et grâce pour grâce.
17 Car la loi a été donnée par Moïse; mais la grâce et la vérité sont venues par Jésus-Christ.

Beginning with a monogram

It has a deep symbolic meaning that, as a rule, the Easter Gospel is read in ten languages: Church Slavonic, Russian, Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. This “multilingualism” symbolizes that the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ has meaning for each of us and is addressed to all humanity, regardless of where people live and what languages ​​they speak.

An integral part is reading the Gospel of John - one of the most beautiful and majestic sacred texts. During the festive service, the beginning of this holy scripture is heard, which does not talk about the miracle of the Resurrection of Christ, but tells about who God is and about the Light that he brings to us.

The Gospel of John is read for exactly 50 days, starting from Easter until the Feast of the Holy Trinity. That is, the entire period when in the hearts of the contemporaries of Jesus Christ, who saw with their own eyes his Resurrection and Ascension, there lived great joy from meeting the Savior and from the fact that they witnessed the greatest of miracles, which later formed the basis of the Orthodox faith.

The four Gospels are part of the books of the New Testament. These are texts in which contemporaries of Jesus Christ describe the period of his earthly life:

• the miracle of the birth of the Savior;
• his teaching:
• death;
• resurrection

Over time, the events of the life of Christ described in the Gospels formed the basis of almost all church celebrations. The composition of the books of Holy Scripture was determined by the church back in the 4th century. Despite the fact that there are many more Gospel texts, only four scriptures have been recognized as canonical. Books whose authors are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are considered true.

Authors	What is the book about?
Matthew.	Former tax collector, one of the 12 apostles. In his description, he talks about the period of the Savior’s life until his Ascension. In this work, the main importance is attached to the logic and content of the speeches and sermons of Jesus Christ.
Mark.	He was not one of the 12 apostles, but was one of those who preached with the disciples of Christ. His book is one of the shortest and most impulsive. It is written in living language and tells mainly about the miracles the Savior performed.
Luke.	A former doctor, who was also not one of the apostles and began to preach the teachings of Christ after his death and subsequent resurrection. With his characteristic scientific approach and with amazing meticulousness, he describes all the events that took place during the life of the Savior. At the same time, the reader can see between the lines with what warmth, love and faith the author writes about the Son of God.
John.	One of the apostles and close friend of Jesus Christ. It was to him that the Savior entrusted after his death to take care of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In his work, John tells how Jesus lived, what he did and said. At the same time, he pays great attention to the relationship between the Father and the Son. The bulk of the information presented in this work is not found in any other description of the period of the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

There are, of course, overlaps in these works, but these are four different books. The authors of these Gospels did not simply retell each other’s texts, but described the events of Christ’s earthly life as they saw them, placing their own emphasis. Jesus Christ was sent to us in order to tell people how they should live on earth in order to then ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven. And his words, which are a revelation of God’s will, were preserved for posterity on the pages of the Gospels.

Anyone who wants to know the will of the Lord and his word must turn to the holy books for this knowledge. That is why reading the Gospel is an integral part of church services, both everyday and holiday.

Gospel at Easter service

During the festive service in honor of the Holy Resurrection of Christ in churches, the Gospel of John is read, starting with the prologue, from its very first words, which says that God came to our world in order to give people Light and Salvation. Any Christian may wonder why on this great holiday this particular beginning of Holy Scripture is read, and not, for example, the text telling about the Resurrection of Christ.

In the first centuries of Christianity, one of the Gospel readings, telling about the Resurrection of Christ, was actually heard at Easter services. But then, around the 10th century, a kind of theological rethinking of everything that happened took place, and it was the beginning of the Gospel of John that was assigned for reading as one of the “highest”. The Holy Church decided that on Easter, when the entire Orthodox world glorifies the Resurrection of Christ, it is more important not to retell the story of the miracle that happened, but to remind people of why the Son of God came into our world and for which he died and then rose again.

For many years now, during Easter services in all churches, the prologue of John’s writing has been heard, where he says that God came into our lives to bring light and salvation into it.

The Gospel readings begin with the liturgy of Holy Pascha, in other words, on the day of Easter, the church's Easter year (or circle) of readings of the Holy Scripture opens. The schedule of these readings is placed at the end of the liturgical Gospel, in the index bearing the title “The Legend that Every Day Should Eat the Gospel of the Weeks of the Whole Summer” (also published in everyday editions of the Gospel and in editions of the New Testament). The readings, or conceptions, are given in the index for 50 weeks, which can be arranged in the following groups or sections: I. Colored Triodion - the period from Holy Pascha to Holy Pentecost - 7 weeks. II. The period from Pentecost to the Week (Sunday) after Enlightenment (Epiphany) is 33 weeks. The weeks, in turn, are divided into the weeks of Matthew - the evangelist Matthew (17) and the weeks of Lukin - the evangelist Luke (16). III. Lenten Triodion: 10 weeks (3 preparatory weeks for Lent and 7 weeks of Lent with Holy Week).

The first luminary above the church firmament rises the Evangelist John, already at the Easter liturgy illuminating us with the first words of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word.” The Gospel of John is read during the seven weeks of Pentecost, with the exception of three days: Easter Tuesday, the Week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, and Thursday, the Ascension of the Lord, when conceptions from other Gospels are read.

The reading of the Gospel of John ends with the liturgy of Pentecost (Trinity). On the Day of the Holy Spirit, the luminary of the Evangelist Matthew rises and reigns supreme for 11 weeks. In the next six weeks (12-17), Evangelist Mark announces the weekdays (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) with his gospel, leaving all Saturdays and Weeks (Sundays) to the Evangelist Matthew. These 17 weeks in the Charter are called Matthew weeks.

After the Evangelist Matthew, the Evangelist Luke preaches the gospel for 18 weeks: first for 12 full weeks alone, then with the Evangelist Mark, who occupies weekdays, leaving all Saturdays and Weeks to the Evangelist Luke.

The combination of the Gospels of Luke and Mark continues until the Lenten Triodion, weeks 13-16, then during the Triodion in the weeks of the tax collector and the Pharisee and the prodigal son, and ends on the Lenten Saturday. These 18 weeks in the Charter are called Lukin's.

They are followed by the Cheese Week with conceptions from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew; on Saturdays and the Weeks of Great Lent, the Evangelist Mark predominates, hitherto read only on weekdays.

The Gospel holiday readings are given for 50 weeks because in the annual circle of holidays the Church connects the solar and lunar astronomical calendars. According to the solar calendar (it has 52 weeks), the fixed holidays of the church year are located, and according to the lunar calendar (it has 50 weeks) - the Easter holiday, from which other holidays - moving ones - are counted.

According to ancient church regulations, Easter is celebrated after the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the lunar calendar, on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon. This Sunday either coincides with or directly follows the spring equinox (March 21). Due to the discrepancy between the lunar calendar and the solar calendar, this first Sunday after the first spring full moon in different years appears on different dates in March and April of the solar year - from March 22 to April 25. From one Easter to another there are not 52 weeks - there are either fewer or more - 50, 51, 54 and 55. Since the circle of Gospel holiday readings is associated with the Easter holiday, celebrated according to the lunar year, consisting of 50 weeks, the readings are given according to the number of lunar weeks - 50.

If there are 50 or 51 weeks in a year from Easter to Easter, then in a solar year consisting of 52 weeks there are two Easters, since the subsequent Easter is included within one solar year. This kind of Easter is called Inside-Easter. The Triodion of Inner-Easter begins either on the Sunday of Enlightenment, or on the first or second Sunday following it.

Easter years with 54 and 55 weeks are called Beyond-Easter. In such cases, there is one previous Easter in the solar year, and the subsequent Easter goes beyond its borders, outside. In these cases, between the Triodion of the future Easter, that is, the beginning of the next Easter year, and the Week of Enlightenment, a time interval of three to five weeks (two to four Sundays) is formed.

According to the Gospel Index of Readings, the Week of Enlightenment from January 7 to 13 falls on the 33rd Sunday of Pentecost; The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, which is listed as 33rd in the index, also falls on this Sunday. Such a coincidence occurs only during the earliest Inner Easter: the previous one is April 6, 7, 8, the next one is March 22, 23. In other years, both with Internal Easter and Outside Easter, the Week of Enlightenment occurs on the 33rd Sunday, earlier and later than it: on the 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd (with Internal Easter). Easter) or in the 33rd, 34th and 35th Weeks after Pentecost (at Outside Easter); and the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (from January 11 to February 14) may be in the 34th, 37th and 38th Sunday from Pentecost.

The table (at the end of this chapter) shows all 35 dates of March and April on which Easter occurs, and the beginning of the Triodion for each Easter. In the table, a semicolon separates Easters, the beginning of the Triodion of which differs from each other by one week, and a dash sign separates Easters, the beginning of which differs by almost a month.

1. With the future Easter on March 22, 23 or 24, there is no interval: on the Sunday of Enlightenment (33rd after Pentecost) there is also the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee.
2. During Easter, from March 25 to 31, the interval is one week: the Week of Enlightenment (32nd or 33rd after Pentecost) is followed by the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (33rd or 34th after Pentecost).
3. During Easter, from April 1 to April 7, there is an interval of two weeks: between the Week of Enlightenment (31st or 32nd after Pentecost) and the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (33rd or 34th after Pentecost) there is one more Sunday.
4. During Easter, from April 8 to April 14, there is an interval of three weeks: between the Week of Enlightenment (30th, 31st, 34th, 35th after Pentecost) and the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (33rd, 34th, respectively). The 37th and 38th after Pentecost) are two Sundays.
5. During Easter, from April 15 to 21, there is an interval of four weeks: from the Week of Enlightenment (33rd or 34th after Pentecost) to the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (37th or 38th after Pentecost) three more Sundays.
6. At the future Easter from April 22 to 25, the interval is five weeks: from the Week of Enlightenment (33rd after Pentecost) to the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (38th after Pentecost) four Sundays.

IN leap years data for March 24 are the same as for March 25; for March 31, as for April 1; for April 7, as for April 8; for April 14, as for April 15; and for April 21, as for April 22.

For weeks included in the time interval, there are no readings in the index. In this case, they return and retreat to the concepts previously read. This technique is called a retreat in the Church Rules.

When the need for a retreat arises, when compiling a new series of readings, one should distinguish between weekdays and Sundays. The rule for retreat on weekdays is given in the Typikon, under January 7 (6th “zri”): “It is fitting to read, as the Gospels and Apostles from the Week of the Meat, counting backwards, until the coming Week, which is the first Week after the Enlightenment. , on what day of the month before the Meat Week will be the Week of Publicans and Pharisees, and when you return to count back the week that has passed, begin the series of Weeks of Publicans and Pharisees. Based on this instruction of the Charter, the counting of weeks is carried out according to the size of the gap, going backwards, from the 33rd week. If the gap is, for example, three weeks, then for the retreat they take the readings of the 33rd, 32nd and 31st weeks.

These three weeks open a new series of readings, which begins on the Monday after the Week of Enlightenment and continues until the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee, connecting the distant Easter years with each other.

There is no retreat on Sundays. Although on these days the Gospels and Apostles of the past Weeks (Sundays) are also read, these readings, however, are not a repetition, as in the weekly retreat, but are read as missed in their time. In the church year there are Sundays when, in addition to readings according to the index, or, as they are often called, ordinary readings, there are also special ones: readings of the Week of the Holy Forefathers, Holy Fathers before the Nativity of Christ, after the Nativity of Christ, before the Enlightenment, after the Enlightenment. The Charter prescribes the ordinary readings of these Weeks either to be omitted completely, as in the Week of the Holy Forefathers and Holy Fathers, or allows to be read at the beginning, that is, two in a row, in the event “unless there is a retreat” (see Typikon under December 26, 9th "see"). On the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany of the Lord, which happened on Sunday, the ordinary Sunday conception is not read. All these unread ordinary Sunday conceptions are read during the retreat. If these conceptions are not enough (with a gap of four Sundays), then, according to the Charter, the conception of the 17th Week after Pentecost is read, about the Canaanite woman.

When reading during the apostasy, these conceptions are arranged in such a way that before the Week about the Publican and the Pharisee there is certainly Week 32 (about Zacchaeus), that is, as given in the index, so that counting back can only begin from Week 32- y. It is impossible to count from the 33rd week of the index (Luke, 89 chapters): this beginning is read only on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. The concept of the Canaanite woman, according to the Rule, should be placed before Zacchaeus. If the readings are not enough for four Sundays, then the conceptions of the 30th, 31st, 17th and 32nd Weeks after Pentecost are read sequentially in them.

The Easter circle of readings ends, according to the Charter, with the conceptions of the 33rd week before the Week of Enlightenment. But since this Week is not always the 33rd after Pentecost, then by the end of the Easter year there may be 33 weeks or less: 32, 31, 30; and more - 34, 35.

If Easter is early this year, by the end of the Easter circle of readings there will be more than 33 weeks, that is, the beginning of the index will be missing.

If Easter is late this year, by the end of the Easter year there will be less than 33 weeks, that is, there will be a surplus of conceptions.

By the Sunday of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, the reading of the Gospel of Matthew ends, and on the Monday after it, the reading of the Gospel of Luke begins.

With early Easter of the current year, the Matthew weeks end long before the Exaltation, so that there are no Matthews left to conceive until the Week after the Exaltation; If you start reading the Gospel of Luke before this Week, then by the end of the round of readings there will not be enough index. To avoid this, they make the Vozdvizhenskaya retreat. One or two quintuples of seven days may be missing before the Week of Exaltation. “The legend that accepts the Gospel number of the whole summer, and the evangelist’s acceptance, from where they begin, and to where they stop,” placed at the beginning of the liturgical Gospel, explains: “The seventh ten (week) is only Saturday and Week, and is read in a number of Matthew’s weeks only when Easter is on March 22: and when Easter is on the 15th of April and until the 25th, it is honored in the weeks of Lukin before the publican and the Pharisee: then the empty meat stretches out, and there are not enough Saturdays and weeks in Lutz. When both weeks are honored, it is appropriate to go back, and we do not want honor for five days...." (Service Gospel. M, 1904).

The words “to have only Saturday and Week” mean that the readings of the 17th week coincide with the readings of the 32nd, differing from them only in the conceptions for Saturday and Sunday. They are read during the winter retreat, when the upcoming Easter is very late.

The Exaltation Digression allows readings from Luke to begin exactly on the Monday after the Week of the Exaltation, so that the entire circle of readings will end thanks to this with the conception of the 33rd week.

The count of the Weeks from Pentecost must be kept.

During the late Easter of the current year, the 17th Week, which ends the Matthew series of readings (from September 6 to October 10, see table), goes far beyond the Week of the Exaltation, preventing Luke’s conceptions from beginning at the time prescribed by the Charter. The gap between the statutory and actual beginning of the readings of Luke can reach up to three weeks, during which, instead of the statutory Luke’s conceptions, the not yet completed Matthew’s conceptions appear.

This continuation of the Matfeevs was conceived in the week after the Exaltation - a non-statutory phenomenon. One must strictly observe the instructions of the Charter regarding the end of Matthew’s readings and the beginning of Luke’s readings, committing transgressions of Matthew’s readings in the event of such a transition during the week after the Exaltation, that is, not reading, transgressing them.

Without the Vozdvizhenskaya crime, all the beginnings of the index of readings will not end by the Week of Enlightenment, but will continue after this Week.

Thus, at the late Easter of the current year, the winter retreat would never have happened if the Vozdvizhenskaya crime had not been taken into account, but then not only are the instructions of the Charter about the end of the Matthew series and the beginning of Lukin’s series grossly violated, but the meaning of the Week of Enlightenment as the end of the Easter season is also abolished reading circle. With the past Easter on April 23-25 ​​and the upcoming April 8-9 (Inside Easter), the Week of Enlightenment will be the 30th, and the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee will be the 33rd from Pentecost. Before the Week of Enlightenment there are readings only for the 30th week, so even after this Week the reading of the beginning of the index has to be continued. There is an excess of readings, and yet there must be a retreat, since the Week of Enlightenment has arrived, and the future Triodion will begin only in three weeks.

Thanks to the Vozdvizhenskaya retreat or crime, solar and lunar calendars In the annual circle of holidays, they are combined into the Week of Enlightenment. To unite them in this Week, the index assigns 17 weeks for readings from Matthew and 16 from Luke, since from mid-September, from the Week of the Exaltation, which marks the transition from the summer order of services to the winter, until the Week of Enlightenment, 16 weeks pass.

Professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy N.D. Uspensky explains the emergence and practice of the September crime of the Gospel readings.

The first Christian holidays were established as the Church's testimony to the world about the Divine dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the historicity of His incarnation. None of the evangelists revealed the Divine personality of Jesus Christ as deeply as the Apostle John the Theologian, and nothing so powerfully confirms the Divine nature of the Lord as the fact of His Resurrection. Therefore, the Church established that from the Feast of Easter throughout the entire period of Pentecost, the Gospel of John should be read.

Of the holidays celebrated on fixed dates of the year, the oldest is the holiday of the Nativity of Christ. The establishment of this holiday on December 25 soon caused the appearance of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 25, as the day of Her conception of Jesus Christ. But the event of the Annunciation occurred in the sixth month after John the Baptist was conceived by the appearance of an angel to Saint Zechariah (Luke 1:26). Based on this, two holidays were established: the Conception of John the Baptist - September 23 and his Nativity - June 24. Only the Evangelist Luke tells about these sacred events that preceded the incarnation of the Son of God. Therefore, the Church established that on the Monday after the Week of the Exaltation, regardless of which Week the Gospels were read before, the Gospel of Monday of the 18th week (Luke 10) should be read and from there continue the regular readings from the Gospel of Luke. This is called the September (Vozdvizhenskaya) crime of the Gospel readings. (If long before the Week after the Exaltation the beginnings of the Gospel of Matthew end, then the Gospel of Luke should still not begin earlier than the above-mentioned period, but one should go back to the readings of the beginnings of Matthew, taking them as needed, and begin on Monday after the Week after the Exaltation reading the Gospel of Luke. This is called the September apostasy.) It must be remembered that the September transgression and apostasy do not concern the apostolic readings, because the Epistles of the Apostles, in terms of their content, were not related to the history of the establishment of the above holidays. Therefore, for all the Apostolic Epistles, starting with the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, there is one general account of conception, while each of the four Gospels has its own, special one.

The question of the September crime does not have a uniform solution among liturgists.

One of the starting points when compiling a series of readings from the Four Gospels has always been the concern that the Holy Scriptures be read in full during the year.

Table of Gospel and Apostolic readings

Easter this year	Weeks after Pentecost and the number of weeks from the last Triodion							Easter next year
	17th	33rd 50 weeks	34th 51st week	35th 52 weeks	36th 53rd week	37th 54 weeks	38th 55 weeks
March	September	December	January	January	January	January	January
22	6	27	3	10	17	24	31	11 April
							February
23	7	28	4	11	18	25	1	12th of April
24	8	29	5	12	19	26	2	12th of April
25	9	30	6	13	20	27	3	April 13
26	10	31	7	14	21	28	4	April 14, 15
		January
27	11	1	8	15	22	29	5	April 16
28	12	2	9	16	23	30	6	April 17
29	13	3	10	17	24	31	7	April 17, 18
						February
30	14	4	11	18	25	1	8	April 18, 19
31	15	5	12	19	26	2	9	April 13, 19, 20
April
1	16	6	13	20	27	3	10	April 14, 20, 21
2	17	7	14	21	28	4	11	March 25 - April 22
3	18	8	15	22	29	5	12	March 26 - April 22
4	19	9	16	23	30	6	13	March 27 - April 23, 24
5	20	10	17	24	31	7	14	March 27, 28 - April 18, 25
					February
6	21	11	18	25	1	8	-	March 22, 28 - April 19
7	22	12	19	26	2	9	-	March 23, 29, 30 - April 19
8	23	13	20	27	3	10	-	March 23, 31
9	24	14	21	28	4	11	-	March 24, 31; April 1
10	25	15	22	29	5	12	-	26 March; April 1
11	26	16	23	30	6	13	-	March 27; April 2, 3
12	27	17	24	31	7	14	-	March 28; April 4, 5;
				February
13	28	18	25	1	8	-	-	March 29; April 5, 6
14	29	19	26	2	9	-	-	March 29; April 6
15	30	20	27	3	10	-	-	March 31; April 6
	October
16	1	21	28	4	11	-	-	April 1; April 7, 8
17	2	22	29	5	12	-	-	April 2; April 8, 9
18	3	23	30	6	13	-	-	April 2, 3; April 10th
19	4	24	31	7	14	-	-	April 3; 11 April
			February
20	5	25	1	8	-	-	-	April, 4; April 11, 12
21	6	26	2	9	-	-	-	April 6; 12th of April
22	7	27	3	10	-	-	-	April 7; 14th of April
23	8	28	4	11	-	-	-	April 8
24	9	29	5	12	-	-	-	April 8
25	10	30	6	13	-	-	-	April 9

Current page: 1 (book has 8 pages in total) [available reading passage: 2 pages]

From Easter to Trinity: Sunday Apostolic and Gospel readings with brief interpretations
Compiled by Posadsky N.S.

IS R16-603-0090

Gospel

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

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

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

The first three Gospels are called synoptic, since their content has much in common. The purpose of writing the fourth Gospel was to complement the first three evangelists. That this is so is evidenced by the very content of the Gospel of John.

First Gospel – Matthew

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

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

And it will come to pass in that day that the Gentiles will turn to the root of Jesse, which will stand as a banner for the nations, and its rest will be the glory.(Isa. 11, 10). Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for Your inheritance and the ends of the earth for Your possession.(Ps. 2:8). All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the tribes of the heathen will bow before You.(Ps. 21, 28).

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

Second Gospel – Mark

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

Only this Gospel tells about an unknown young man who, on the night of Christ’s capture by soldiers, ran out into the street wearing only a blanket, and when one of the soldiers grabbed him, he broke free and left the blanket in the hands of a soldier, and ran away completely naked: One young man, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, followed Him; and the soldiers seized him. But he, leaving the veil, ran away from them naked(Mark 14:51–52). According to legend, this young man was the Evangelist Mark himself.

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

Third Gospel – Luke

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

The life of Christ in this Gospel is presented mainly from the historical side, and the story is thorough.

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

Fourth Gospel – John

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

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

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

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

Evangelist symbols

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

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

About celebrating Easter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the time of Easter celebration

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

According to the Old Testament law, the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered on the 14th of Nisan after noon. The Lord celebrated the Old Passover a day earlier, preparing the apostles for the upcoming New Testament supper, the true Passover. The bread this evening was sour, not unleavened.

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

Easter week

The Gospel reading, set on the very day of Christ's Bright Resurrection, represents a sublime teaching about the Face of Jesus Christ, His Divinity, His Divine relationship to the world and man and His incarnation for the salvation of people. Although it does not literally speak of the Resurrection of Christ, it sets out the truth of the Resurrection: He who was resurrected according to His will, by His own power, revealed Himself in all clarity as the true God, and was revealed to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead(Rom. 1:4). As a sign that the glory of the Risen Lord has spread to all nations, the Gospel is proclaimed during the Easter night service on different languages.

Apostolic reading
(Acts 1, 1–8)

The first word I made was about everyone, about Theophilus, which Jesus began to do and teach even to the day, in which he commanded the Apostle by the Holy Spirit, whom he chose and ascended: before them and set yourself alive after your suffering in many true signs, appearing forty days and speaking to them also about the Kingdom of God: with them also the poisonous one commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which they heard from Me: for as John baptized with water, but ye shall not be baptized with the Holy Spirit after many of these days. They then came together to ask Him, saying: Lord, will you establish the kingdom of Israel in this year? He said to them: you cannot understand the times and years that the Father has laid down in His power: but you will receive the power that the Holy Spirit has brought upon you, and you will be My witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the last of the earth.

I wrote the first book to you, Theophilus, about everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day on which He ascended, giving commands by the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He chose, to whom He revealed Himself alive, after His passion, with with many true proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God. And, having gathered them, He commanded them: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised from the Father, which you heard from Me, for John baptized with water, and a few days after this you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they came together and asked Him, saying: Are you at this time, O Lord, restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said to them: It is not your business to know the times or seasons that the Father has appointed in His authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.

About Theophilus- meaning the same Theophilus for whom the Apostle Luke wrote his Gospel.

Jesus began to create and teach. In His earthly life, the Lord only began to create and teach, but the apostles and their successors will continue His work until the end of time(Matt. 28:20).

Holy Spirit– Christ did everything by the Holy Spirit, because, as he says blessed Theophylact, “where the Son creates, the Spirit cooperates and is co-present as one in essence” (Commentary on the Acts of the Holy Apostles, p. 9).

To whom He showed Himself alive so that the apostles could testify to His Resurrection throughout the universe.

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

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

Gospel reading
(John 1, 1-17)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word. This is from time immemorial to God. Everything was by Him, and without Him nothing would have happened. In Tom there is life, and life is light as a man. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not embrace it. There was a man sent from God, his name was John: this one came as a witness, that he might testify about the Light, that all might have faith in him. Let it not be the light, but let it testify to the Light: it is the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world. In the world there was no, and the world was, and the world did not know Him. He came to his own people, but did not receive him from his own people. The little ones received Him, and gave them the space to become children of God, believing in His name, who were not born of blood, nor of carnal lust, nor of manly lust, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt in us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father, filled with grace and truth. John testifies of Him and calls out: He who comes after me is before me, as He was before me. And from His fulfillment we all received grace and grace was given: for the law was given by Moses, and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

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

At the beginning, the Word - the evangelist indicates with this expression the eternity of the Only Begotten. For this reason he called Him the Word, so that no one would think of a passionate birth: “Just as a word is born from the mind dispassionately,” writes Theophylact of Bulgaria, “so He is born from the Father dispassionately. Also: He called Him the Word because He told us about the properties of the Father, just as every word announces the mood of the mind, and at the same time in order to show that He is co-eternal with the Father. For just as it cannot be said that the mind is sometimes without words, so the Father and God were not without the Son” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 269).

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

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

And God is the Word. The Father and the Son have one nature, just as there is one Divinity. They, on the one hand, are different Personalities, and on the other hand, they are united, because they have the same nature - Divine.

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

Everything was by Him, and without Him nothing would have happened. All - because By Him were created everything that is in heaven and that is on earth, visible and invisible.(Col. 1:16). Them- only through the Word. Bysha– the world received a beginning, that is, without the power of the Word, nothing in created nature came into existence. As soon as possible- only what was created. However, “The Spirit does not belong to created nature,” says Blessed Theophylact, “therefore He did not receive existence from Him” (Interpretation of the Gospel of John, p. 273). The action of the Holy Spirit at the creation of the world is depicted in the Book of Genesis: The Spirit of God hovered over the waters(Gen. 1, 2). The image of the participation of each Person of the Holy Trinity in the work of creation can be briefly expressed in the words of St. Gregory the Theologian: “God thinks first of the angelic and heavenly powers. And this thought became a deed that was fulfilled by the Word and completed by the Spirit” (Word on the Epiphany, or on the Nativity of the Savior, p. 445).

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

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

The light of our soul - Christ - revealing to us through His word our sinful state, shows us the path to eternal life and makes us capable of bearing good fruits, while His gracious light begins to shine in our hearts and warm us with its warmth. The sensation of this light opens to the mental eye of faith the immeasurable depth of Divine mysteries, and at the same time, in place of a corrupted heart, a new heart is given (see: Jer. 32, 39), the believer enters in a wonderful... light(1 Pet. 2:9), becoming a new creation (see: 2 Cor. 5:17), and, having once been darkness, becomes light in the Lord(Eph. 5:8).

There was a man sent from God, his name was John. These words mean that he spoke nothing from himself or from people, but everything from God. That is why he is called an Angel in Old Testament prophecy (see Mal. 3:1), and the property of an Angel is not to say anything on his own. However, John was not an Angel by nature, but is called an Angel by deed and service: he preached a lot and foretold the Lord. By nature he was a man, which is why the evangelist says: Man was sent from God.

This one has come as a witness, so that he may testify about the Light, so that everyone may have faith in him. John came to testify about the Son of God, to show people the Messiah (see: John 1:29-36), and only through him were people supposed to recognize the Messiah and believe in Him - that all may have faith in Him.

Not without light, but let it testify to the Light. Since it often happens that a witness is higher than the one about whom he testifies, so that they would not think that John, who testified about Christ, was higher than Him, the evangelist says: No light.“We can call every saint light,” says Blessed Theophylact, “but a saint is light not by nature, but by communion, for he has light from the true Light” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 275). John was the same in relation to Christ.

Be the true Light. The Word was the light of the world always and before His incarnation, the Messiah as an original light, light in its very essence, and not borrowed, the source of all light and enlightenment for every person coming into the world. But the world, of course, is predominantly pagan, I don't know him as his God and, deviating from the truth of God, created for himself many gods instead of the one true God.

When I come, that is, to the Jews, the chosen people, and did not accept His own, at least not all, as one might expect from God's chosen people. And before the incarnation of the Word, despite the prophecies, promises about Him, theophany, he did not accept Him, and when He became incarnate, these people rejected and crucified Him, their Teacher and Redeemer.

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

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

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

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

Unapproachable glory was manifested in His life, in His teaching, in His deeds, in miracles and signs, at the Transfiguration, Ascension, Resurrection in such extraordinary power and radiant radiance that only glory can shine. as the Only Begotten from the Father, Lord of glory.

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

This same one, Whom he killed, who came for me, was before me, as if he were before me,- this is how John the Baptist testified about Christ when he had not even seen Him yet. Those who are like me are coming, that is, Coming after me, means that Christ appeared in time later than John the Baptist, being six months younger than him in the flesh. However, He became more glorious, more venerable because of the miracles that He performed, because of His birth, because of His wisdom. And this is fair, because the Son of God first Joanna bah, by pre-eternal birth from the Father, although by appearing in the flesh he came for him.

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

The Old Testament, and during the New Testament, received from the fullness of Christ forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, redemption through His blood(Eph. 1:7), manifold spiritual gifts, adoption as sons to God.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth were given by Jesus Christ. The Law was given through Moses, and he was only as a minister(Heb. 3:5), who had to convey to others only what he himself had received. That is, to give the Old Testament, God used a man as a mediator, namely Moses, but the New Testament was given through Jesus Christ, the God-man. “It is also called grace,” says Blessed Theophylact, “because God granted us not only forgiveness of sins, but also sonship; it is also called truth, because He clearly preached what the Old Testament saw or spoke figuratively. The New Testament, called both grace and truth, had as its mediator not an ordinary man, but the Son of God. The evangelist said about the old law: given through Moses for he was a subordinate and a servant, and about the new he did not say “given,” but “came” to show that he came from our Lord Jesus Christ as Master, and not from a slave, and in the end he achieved grace and truth.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, p. 283).

The grace of Christ removes the legal curse from a person, justifies him before God, reconciling him with Him (see: Gal. 3:13; Rom. 5:9-10), forgives and cleanses sins, imparts many different spiritual gifts according to the measure of faith, gives strength to fulfill the New Testament law so that it seems like a good yoke and a light burden (see: Matt. 11:30). Everything that the law portrayed as a shadow, having the truth ahead, was clearly, openly fulfilled and actually accomplished by Jesus Christ.

At the Easter Divine Liturgy, a fragment from the first chapter of the Gospel of John is read (verses 1–17):

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

It was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being. In Him was life, and life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God; his name is John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that through him all might believe. He was not light, but was sent to testify to the Light. There was the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him. And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the power to become children of God, who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father. John testifies of Him and, exclaiming, says: This was He of whom I said that He who came after me stood before me, because He was before me. And from His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

At first glance, it is surprising that a passage was chosen for reading during the Easter Divine Liturgy in which not a word is said about the Resurrection of Christ. This is due to the fact that, according to the oldest church tradition, the entire Gospel text (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) is divided into fragments in such a way that the Gospel can be read in full within a year. And since the Gospel of John is the deepest, rich in theological concepts and difficult for a beginner to understand, the beginning of reading this Gospel was timed to coincide with the moment when there were practically no “newcomers” left in the church. During the pre-Easter Lent, those who believed in Christ, but were not baptized, went through the process of “catechumen,” that is, they studied the fundamentals of the Christian faith. And on the eve of Easter, at the liturgy of Holy Saturday, a mass baptism of Christians prepared for this event took place.

Thus, practically only the “faithful” participated in the Easter Divine Liturgy, who, according to the understanding of the Church, were prepared to listen to the most complex content of the Gospel.

Explanation of the Easter Gospel reading

Prologue of the Gospel of John

The Prologue of the Gospel of John is the greatest and most important of the inspired writings of the New Testament. It can rightly be called the highest masterpiece of human genius, insofar as the latter independently manifested itself under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Both in terms of the incomparable beauty of expression and the bottomless depth of meaning, the Prologue remains to this day an unsurpassed religious and philosophical monument, and for Christians of all denominations - the most authoritative doctrinal text.

This is a sublime hymn in honor of the Incarnate Word of God, written in the poetic genre, namely rhythmic prose. Twice (vv. 6-8 and 15) the hymn is interrupted by an appeal to the testimony of John the Baptist as the last prophet of the Old Testament (after a 400-year absence of prophecy among the people of God) and as a man highly revered by the people and even during his lifetime recognized by many as Messiah.

God the Word - Life and Light of Creation

1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 It was with God in the beginning.
3 All things came into being through Him,
and without Him nothing began to be,
what began to be.
4 In Him was life,
and life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness,
and darkness did not overcome him.

Verse 1: In the beginning was the Word

Expression At first refers to the first verse of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Apostle John the Theologian begins his Easter gospel from the very beginning, like the sacred chronicle of the origin of everything that exists - the Book of Genesis. The evangelist leads the readers' thoughts beyond the boundaries of the world and time, to the eternal existence of the Creator. At first creation the Word is already was, which means that It was before creation, therefore, it was eternal, outside of time and creation, since time itself began with creation. So, the Word exists eternally, and It is not created, uncreated. But what is this Word?

Greek concept logo, rendered in Russian as word, means a complete, coherent, distinct thought (meaning). In other words, logo cannot be understood as a separate word, but only as a complete speech, a statement. This is the meaning of the concept word preserved in the Russian language in such combinations as “God’s word”, “The Lay of Igor’s Campaign”, “word of honor”, ​​“in one word”, etc.

By the Apostle John Word means here the Meaning, the inner Speech and Thinking of God. This Meaning is an independent Person (Personality) and is called below the Only Begotten Son of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So the term Word chosen here as the name of the Son of God, Who in His earthly Incarnation received the name Jesus Christ.

Ap. John chose here such a name for the Son of God in order to give the most spiritual, extremely sublime concept of Him and His origin from the Father, since the term Word to the least extent compared to other names (Son of God, Jesus Christ, etc.) is associated with earthly ideas. Just as a word-thought is dispassionately (without cutting, dividing, etc.) born from the mind, fully represents the mind and is by nature the same as the mind, so the Son of God is dispassionately (immaterial, timeless, spaceless) born from the Father, reveals Him in a perfect way and is consubstantial with Him, i.e. the same essence (nature) as the Father.

The next thing we hear about this amazing Word is that It God had it, or, as this phrase can be rendered from Greek, “was turned to God” or even: “was face to face with God.” The Gospel, as is usual for all Holy Scripture, uses the term “God” to refer to God the Father. It is emphasized here that the Word and God the Father are different Persons, but at the same time, that They are in living personal communication, in front of each other.

And finally, the Evangelist tells us the main thing about the essence of this Word: The Word was God. Here the term “God” does not designate the Personality of God the Father, as in the previous line, but the Divine essence (nature, nature). This is marked by a feature of the Greek text (the absence of a definite article here, whereas in the previous line it appears with the word “God”). That's why this line can be rendered as follows: “The Word was God in His essence,” or: “The Word was the same as God” (as some modern translators translate).

In other words, the Word, being another Person (Personality, or, in later theological language, Hypostasis, which means independent existence), is, nevertheless, one and the same with God the Father in the sense of essence (nature, nature), i.e. Divinity. The Logos is the same God as the Father, but He is not the same as the Father, He is someone else, a different Person. At the same time, in no case can one speak of two Gods due to identities(and not only similarities) of the essence of the Father and the Son: God is one, since the Divinity (the very content of God, that thanks to which He is God and not something else) is one; Father and Son have the same thing(and not only similar) nature - Divinity. However, the Logos of God, eternally occurring, born from God the Father, is an independent, self-active, self-conscious Being, Personality.

So the term Word denotes here the Person (Hypostasis) of the Son of God, the term God in the second line (in the Greek text with the definite article) - the Face of God the Father, and God in the third line (in Greek without a definite article) - God's essence (nature, nature).

Art. 2: It was in the beginning with God

In view of the above, this verse means: “The Divine Word is eternal (before and outside of creation) in a living and personal relationship with God the Father.”

Art. 3: All things came into being through Him.

After the message about the pre-peaceful existence of the Words of St. John moves on to the idea of ​​the creation of the world. This phrase can be expressed this way: “Everything began to be (appeared, arose) thanks to Him,” or even better: “Everything was created thanks to Him.”

According to the teachings of the Church, God the Father created the world with the help of God the Son, but not as an instrument or means, but together with Him as a living, independently acting Person. Along with the Father and the Son, the Spirit also participated in creation. Every action of the Trinity is performed by all Persons together. Moreover, the beginning of every work is the Father, the very implementation of the work is the Son, and the fulfillment and completion is the Spirit.

Art. 4: In Him was life, and life was the light of men

The life of all creation was originally contained in the Word. In people this life reaches its highest flowering in the light of reason, self-awareness, and conscience. Thus, the life of the entire created world, the rationality and morality of people are contained in the Word, flow from Him, and are His gifts.

Further in the Gospel we meet Life and Light as names of Jesus Christ. This verse talks about Him as the Life of all life and the Light in people: He Himself is the animating principle of everything, and He is the beginning of consciousness and conscience in every person

Art. 5: And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

The irreconcilable confrontation between Light and Darkness is a characteristic theme of the fourth Gospel. Dark didn't embrace Light that can be conveyed: didn't capture or didn't catch up. This ambiguous verb can also be translated: didn’t comprehend (didn’t understand, didn’t understand). In the latter case, Darkness should designate people hostile to God.

Due to the multiple meanings of the symbolism of light and darkness, it remains unclear what exactly John meant. We can talk about the darkness of evil and sin into which the world has been immersed since the Fall: despite the apostasy from God, people have always had the opportunity to turn to Him. But John, perhaps, was thinking about the decisive battle between Light and Darkness on Golgotha: by the murder of Jesus Christ, Darkness did not overcome the Light, and He rose with new power in the Resurrection.

Witness to the Light

6 There was a man sent from God; his name is John.
7 He came for a testimony, so that
to bear witness to the Light, so that all may believe through it.
8 He was not Light, but (was sent) to testify about the Light.

Art. 6: There was a man sent from God; his name is John

Turning to the testimony of John the Baptist means, as it were, summing up the prophecies about the coming Christ of the entire Old Testament: John the Baptist is the last prophet of this passing era, its worthy crowning and the connecting link of both Testaments, in which all the prophecies are collected and taken into account. The irresistible power of his testimony lies both in the high spiritual life that distinguished him, and in the fact that he personally met the One about whom he prophesied, and even baptized Him with his own hand, which makes his reference to Jesus as the Messiah (Christ) actually certificate, not a prophecy.

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

Concept evidence typical for ap. John. Obviously, this concept is connected with another term characteristic of John - true. One of the most significant features of the Fourth Gospel is its insistence on the truth of the events described and the statements made.

Art. 8: He was not Light, but (was sent) to testify about the Light

In the original, there is no verb in the second part of the verse (in the Russian translation it was added by the translators: “was sent”). This gives special strength and expressiveness to the statement made. The verb from the previous part of the verse suggests itself - was: "But was“to testify to the Light,” which makes sense: the entire existence of John the Baptist was subordinated to one single purpose - witnessing to Christ (cf. 1:23).

Word in the world

9 There was true Light,
who enlightens every man,
coming into the world.
10 I was in the world,
and the world came into being through Him,
and the world did not know Him.

Art. 9: True light here means authentic, i.e. fully consistent with its name (its idea) Light. Obviously, app. John wants to say that Light in the full sense of the word, the only one worthy of the idea of ​​perfect light (in the sense of a religious, spiritual symbol), is the Word (cf. 6:32.35, 15:1). This Light is the Word enlightens every person coming into the world

All people, by the very fact of their participation in the human race, are enlightened by the Light of the Divine Logos, therefore, they have a certain primary knowledge of God, moral consciousness, conscience, a mystical vision of God in His Logos.

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

This phrase again refers to the worldview of the era, according to which the world is formed, contained and governed by a creative cosmic Logos.

Concept peace at ap. John is very unique. Like some of his other terms, it is ambiguous, because it is rooted in Jewish thinking, but it does not lose sight of the Greek meaning of the corresponding word - space.

For the Evangelist John, the world is, first of all, the human world, the state of humanity, and usually a sinful state hostile to God.

This verse seems to play on the concept world-space, which is taken in two different meanings - the universe and the fallen state of humanity. In triple repetition of the word world the bitterness of the author sounds, covering the whole story with one glance peace who did not fulfill his purpose. Here we are talking about the pagan world before the Incarnation of the Word: the Logos was in the world as His Creator and Provider and was even partly guessed by philosophers, but was not known them in the biblical meaning of the word, i.e. in the sense of knowledge as faith, trust, obedience and love (cf. Acts 17:23-28, Rom. 1:19-25).

Rejection and Acceptance

11 He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.
12 And to those who received Him, to those who believe on His name,
gave the power to become children of God,
13 which are neither of blood nor of the will of the flesh,
They were born not of the will of a man, but of God.

Art. 11: Came to his own, more precisely to my or in your. Here we mean “one’s possession” or “one’s people”, i.e. Jews, God's chosen people.

Even greater bitterness can be heard in the words of the Evangelist: even those whom the Lord chose and distinguished from other nations, “their own” did not recognize and did not accept their Lord and Savior.

Art. 12: And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God

Those who received Him- believers from Jews and pagans. Believe in His name means to believe in Him as He appears (reveals) to the believer in personal relationships and at the same time in Him as He really is, according to His essence.

Those who believe are given power become(this is more accurate to translate than be) children of God. It doesn't say that did their children of God, but gave power become as such. This emphasizes the non-violence of the action of grace, the freedom of believers and the need for effort on their part to become and be children of God.

Power means freedom, opportunity and strength act. This power belongs to God initially, by nature. The Son of God receives it from the Father (John 17:2) and possesses it Himself (John 10:18). Jesus Christ taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes (Mark 1:22). It is given to people from above. Some commentators tend to consider here power How right, but it is important that this is not just a legal category, but a real one Liberty And force.

Meaning of the expression children of God is revealed in the next verse: these are those who are spiritually born of God.

Art. 13: who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God

This phrase, with a triple negative, rejects the normal natural order for spiritual birth: pregnancy ( from blood, more precisely from blood), carnal desire ( desire of the flesh), the desire and decision of parents to have children ( husband's wish- as head of the family)

The Lord Jesus Christ talks with Nicodemus about the importance of the new birth from water and the Spirit, as described in the third chapter of the Gospel of John.

The Word became flesh

14 And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt with us,
full of grace and truth;
and we have seen His glory,
glory as the only begotten from the Father.

This is the central proclamation of the Evangelist John and the entire New Testament, the proclamation of an event unheard of, incredible and unimaginable for all ancient world, for all religions and worldviews. In pagan myths, gods descend to earth and circulate among people, but none of the ancient pagan theologians and philosophers could even imagine that the Supreme Absolute Himself could incarnate and live among people, because they did not know Him as personality, but were imagined as an impersonal, unknowable “Something” that had no living relationship to the human world. But even in Judaism by that time the living meaning of the Old Testament Epiphanies and prophecies had already been forgotten. Instead, the concept of God was formed as a Being completely beyond our world, in relation to Whom it makes no sense to talk about the Incarnation. For both the Greeks and the Jews, the idea of ​​the Incarnation of God was madness.

Contrary to all this. John proclaims his unthinkable gospel: The Word became flesh, i.e. a full-fledged person, took on human nature, since the word flesh, as we mentioned above, means the whole of human nature - body, soul, and spirit. Became flesh, of course, does not mean: turned to flesh. The Son of God became what He was not (man), without ceasing to be what He always was (God by nature).

The Holy Fathers pointed out that the phrase The Word became flesh amazingly accurately and completely expresses the Orthodox teaching about the Incarnation and exposes the main heresies about Christ. She rejects the false teaching of the so-called Gnostics and Docetes, who considered the advent of illusions in human flesh: The Word became flesh, that is, it really took into itself the entire fullness of human nature. This also rejects the heresy of the Monophysites, who falsely taught about the one, Divine nature of Jesus Christ after the Incarnation. But the Gospel says that the Word really became, became flesh, truly became incarnate, became a perfect man. Nestorius and his followers thought that there were two persons in Christ - the man Jesus and the Son of God, who entered into man at the time of Baptism in the Jordan. But ap. John clearly declares: The Word became flesh, and not merely dwelt in the flesh. During iconoclastic persecutions, defenders of icon veneration also quoted this verse: since the Word really became flesh, it means that by depicting the human flesh of Christ, we depict Him Himself, the Divine Logos, and if He Himself is depicted on the icon, then He can and should be worshiped.

In his First Council Epistle, St. John offers faith in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ as a criterion for distinguishing the Spirit of God from the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 4:1-3)

Becoming human, Word lived with us, which signifies, according to the biblical meaning of the verb used here, the presence of God among His people. Ap. John here expresses the idea that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ was the true and perfect presence of God among people, the completion and fulfillment of all the Old Testament types and prophecies about this.

Verb dwell stands here in such a form that it would rather be translated: Word settled among us.

According to the teaching of the Church, the Son of God became man not temporarily, but forever; This is evidenced by the dogma of the Ascension of Jesus Christ with His human glorified flesh “at the right hand” (“at the right hand”) of God the Father, that is, the ascension of the deified humanity of Christ into the closest proximity to the Divinity, into His Life and Glory.

At the beginning of his First Epistle, the Evangelist John repeats this thought that deeply worried him - about the indwelling of the Word among us, so that we could see and touch Him.

The Incarnate Logos was full grace and truth.

This is a biblical expression mercy and truth. It conveys the unity in God of two seemingly opposite, but in fact complementary, qualities: mercy, mercy, inclination to forgiveness - and justice, truth, fidelity to the law, court (cf. Ex. 34: 6-7). In messianic times, as the psalm says, “mercy and truth will meet, righteousness and peace will kiss each other” (Ps. 84:11). However, both terms used by John go beyond the meaning of this Old Testament expression and express something more.

Grace- this is not just mercy, but also a gift of Divine Life. Also true is not limited to the Old Testament meaning of justice and fidelity, but also means the fullness of the Revelation of God in Jesus Christ and the fulfillment in Him of all the Old Testament images and “shadows.”

On behalf of all the apostles, the Evangelist testifies that we have seen His glory. This glory here means the totality of the glorious deeds of Jesus Christ, miracles and especially such phenomena of the glory of His Divinity as the Transfiguration, Resurrection, Ascension.

But the Evangelist John uses the concept of glory in a special and unexpected sense - as pointing to His cross and suffering. In the biblical sense, glory is the revelation of the true essence of God. And perhaps here glory should also be understood in the sense of revealing the true essence of God as Love - in self-humiliation, service, sacrifice, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Who through all this gives true Life to those who believe in Him.

This glory of the Logos is described as follows: glory as the only begotten from the Father. Word only begotten means the only one son (or daughter) with parents. From here it acquired special additional meanings: unique, inimitable, and most beloved, most dear. Ap. John uses it to denote the unique relationship of Jesus Christ as the Son of God to the Father: He one there is a genuine one Son the Father, equal to the Father in everything, identical with Him by nature, while we are sons adopted out of mercy, by grace, not in the proper sense of the word.

Fullness of grace in Jesus Christ

15 John testifies of Him and exclaims, saying:
This was the One of whom I said that He was coming after me
stood before me because he was before me.
16 And from His fullness
we all accepted grace upon grace,
17 For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God;
The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed.

Art. 15: John testifies of Him...

John the Baptist testifies to the primacy of Jesus Christ, since John's disciples tended to consider him the promised Messiah.

John the Baptist recalls his previous words, known to listeners Coming after me(cf. John 1:26, Matt. 3:11), which means not behind me, and behind me in time, i.e. The One Who Comes After Me: Jesus Christ came out to preach only after the mission of John the Baptist was completed and he was thrown into prison. But the One Who Came Later stood in front of me,more precisely, turned out to be ahead of me, which means that Jesus became more glorious, more excellent, higher than John, surpassing him in dignity and importance.

The Forerunner points out why this is so: because he was before me. This is unusual for Greek language the expression means the primacy in time of the Son of God: Jesus Christ, who as a man was born and went out to preach later than John, was born in eternity from the Father.

Art. 16: And out of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace

The fullness of the Divinity in Jesus Christ made it possible to receive from Him the inexhaustible fullness of God's gifts. This is expressed in a very unusual way: grace upon grace.Literally it means grace instead of grace or grace after grace. The first reading may mean that the grace of the Old Testament is replaced by the grace of the New. The second means the countless number of gifts we have received and are receiving from the Lord - one gift after another, mercy after mercy, without end.

Art. 17: For the law was given through Moses...

The comparison of Christ with Moses is characteristic of the apostle. John more than for other evangelists. We find mention of Moses as a witness for Christ in John 5:45-47. In chapter 6, where the Bread of Life is compared to manna, we again see the comparison between Christ and Moses.

Art. 18 No one has ever seen God

We are talking about a fundamental religious truth: the essence of God, as it exists in itself, cannot be known by created beings (cf. 1 Tim. 6:16). In connection with the previous verse, one can assume here that Christ is opposed to Moses, about whom it is said several times that he saw God (Ex. 24:10, Num. 12:8).

And yet, the apostle proclaims. John in the final verse of the Prologue, this unsearchable and unknowable essence of God was revealed to people by the Son of God:

The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He revealed

Instead of Only Begotten Son the most authoritative ancient manuscripts have Only Begotten God. If we accept the latter option as the correct reading, then this very unusual expression will be parallel to the first verse, where it is said that “the Word was God,” i.e. term God(in Greek without the definite article) shows the nature of the Only Begotten: He is the same God as the Father, and that is why He can reveal, open God the Father.

who is in the bosom of the Father

Word real interpreters compare it with the name of God revealed to Moses: “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14). With this word, says St. John Chrysostom, depicts “constant being, beginningless being, being in the true and proper sense”

Who is in the bosom of the Father in the Greek original it is written in such a way that one should literally read: Who is in the bosom (womb) of the Father, i.e. the preposition “in” means movement inward or towards something. Then this expression becomes close to the expression of the first verse: God had the word, literally: to God what we conveyed as addressed to God.

This expression conveys the truth of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father (the identity of the essence, nature of the Father and the Son) and the love between them (in the Bible, the position in the bosom was a sign of true sonship, cf. “to be in the bosom of Abraham,” which means communion with the fathers of true sons).

He revealed - more precisely explained, interpreted or told, told. To the Greeks this term meant interpretation signs, dreams, sacred prophecies (from this verb comes the word “exegete” - interpreter, which was an official position in Athens). In later languages, this verb also meant “to translate” from language to language. We can say that Christ, as it were, “translated” the ineffable essence of the Father into human language. The inaccessible essence of God, proclaims the apostle. John, became accessible, “clearly stated,” “translated” into our language in Jesus Christ. The entire Gospel is devoted to the exposition of this Revelation. There is no doubt that this essence revealed to people is the same glory verse 14. In other words, in accordance with the deepest meaning of the concept of glory in the Bible and especially in the Fourth Gospel, this is the Revelation of God’s boundless love in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ: the unknowable essence of God paradoxically turns out to be unthinkable love before giving up his most dear to a shameful death, through which people receive the eternal Life of God.

Yuri Vestel