Memra 3: The Physical And the Spiritual Ministry

Memra 3: On the Physical and the Spiritual Ministry A man grows from a man also in greenness and in milk. A man grows from a man also through these commandments that are given to everyone: just as the spiritual ministry is, that which is through great and humble commandments, a man grows who increases in humility. Thus also in the physical ministry: when one gives simply like Abraham to everyone who is in need, and does not ask what is fitting and what is not fitting, but receives in the name of the righteous and in the name of the poor, even when the poor and the righteous are not present. And he fears to sin in his words, lest he lose his reward. And that he may cast his debt upon the good and upon the evil, like the sun's service upon all who are good and evil. More especially, however, to the faithful and to the witnesses of the truth who are in the houses of faith. For not everyone has been made good, especially those in the houses of faith. For if one gives to the evil, it is the same as to the good. And if to those who have and work, when they are received in hospitality or on the road, you are obliged to receive them and to honor them, the same as, more especially, to him who has not and does not work, because he is idle concerning the teaching that the Lord commanded: that he not work and be concerned with the desires of the world, and it is possible that he may please him who chose him.

because the ministry of the Lord stands before him, as it is said: “Where I am, there also my ministry shall be with me and before me.” For the ministry is greater than the ministry, just as the commandment is greater than the commandment. For the commandment of the perfect is greater than the commandment of the heirs of the priests who come after the perfect. These priests have a lack of something or other, because they did not come to all the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do all his will—the great, the receiving, and the perfect—because they were not consecrated and sanctified. The Lord said to these priests: “If you cannot attain perfection, at least satisfy the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort the distressed, visit the prisoners, and fill their needs, and care for the orphans, and whatever you do for these, the Lord said to them: ‘It is for me that you have done this.’” Because of this, they did not inherit the kingdom. For if they were to be perfected, would these, who are in the taking and the dissolving of this world, be perfected? Or which of those who receive the Lord in hunger and nakedness, who are not hindered by lacks of something or other, because they labor in earthly matters, and cannot attain all the truth because they labor in the surface? For if so, would the one who received them not deceive them, when he said to them: “Come, inherit the kingdom”?

For He did not say, my Lord, that everyone who is not perfected does not live; but rather, the disciple whom this perfection that I have shown cannot reach, and does not attain that station which is lower than that which Adam inherited from the beginning. The remainder, however, which is lower than that, he inherits. If he is like the earthly ones, and his good deeds are many and he does not harm the tree, he is like the tree. And if he passes by and harms in place after place, and his good deeds are more than his evil deeds, mercy is upon him and he is healed and lives. For that great station which Jesus prepares for the perfect ones who are with him, in glory that does not pass away, they do not go; but rather those who are perfected, and also depart from this world without deficiencies, as they are found, so they are led. Because in battle stand athletes and in the arena, and they strike in it and are swallowed up in it. My Lord said to them: After you strike and are swallowed up, if you conquer and ascend from the arena and take a crown, and with that crown you depart from this world, your deficiencies will not be remembered against you; but rather, as you are found, you will be led in victory, while you are crowned. So also that station of the perfect ones is not inherited by the trees, the doers of good deeds, because they have not been separated from their faults and from their errors; but rather they inherit the station which is lower than that, which is lesser than it.

For He said, my Lord: “Because I was hungry and I fed you, and I was thirsty and I gave you drink, and I was a stranger and I sheltered you, and I was sick and I was in prison and I brought you to me; for this reason, then, inherit the kingdom that is prepared for you.” Because the perfect ones uproot all their deficiencies by the power of my Lord, by that which they earned their spirit and His face, and quickly He grants their requests and fulfills their petitions. For my Lord confessed that He would quickly fulfill their petition. And their request was every day of their lives, because they kept the commandments of my Lord and purified their thoughts from the evil ones of the battles that were with them every day, from within and from without, and they earned their spirit with their requests until they were purified and crowned and received the crown of victory, and then they departed from this world and went with my Lord in that station which is prepared for them, because it is the high rank, and is ready for those who served in a spiritual ministry with great commandments, and in the service of the Spirit and in perfection, and they uprooted all their deficiencies by the power of my Lord, as it is written above.

The Apostle said concerning those who are evil, all of their works, thus: that they have no inheritance in the kingdom of God, those who do these works of the flesh: fornication, singing, murder, drunkenness, marriage, and uncleanness. And because they do nothing good, it is known that they will not inherit the kingdom, nor will their lives. If, however, there is a person who does good works at times, and performs what is good occasionally, the Apostle said thus: “He will be repaid on that day of judgment according to his works, whether good or evil.” And that I said there is a ministry higher than ministry, my Lord made known concerning both when He said: “He who does not separate himself from everything he has, and takes up his cross and comes after me and imitates me, is not worthy of me.” Here He examined the great and high place. And when He said: “Come, blessed ones, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you,” here He examined something that is less than that first ministry. “I was a stranger and you did not receive me, and I was sad and you did not console me.” What is this, that one who consoles strangers when he does not possess a house? As He said: “That he be freed from cares and from possessions.” “I was hungry and you did not feed me.” What is this, that one who satisfies the hungry when he is destitute and possesses nothing? As my Lord said: “He who possesses something is not worthy of me.” Is it not known that the inheritance of the lesser is proclaimed from that first one?

I was a circumciser for you and I clothed you. What is this, that one clothes the circumcised while he is empty and does not possess anything? Or if he does not possess anything, but he is a distributor of the poor and takes the burden of the sick, and the rest of the other poor, the sick and the circumcised and the strangers, because he takes from what he has and gives to what he does not have, it is good and fitting. But even this is not empty, according to the word of the Lord: that not even for yourself shall you be saved by the thought of old age and clothing, but give all that you have for yourself in one day or one month to the poor. And you, take your cross and come after me. But when he does not possess anything, if he takes from that one and gives to that one, he also stands in taking and giving and in receiving and giving of this world. And it is not empty, as the Lord said: that you were commanded from the earth and you were not saved. And as the Apostle said: that they went up and they went down. For it was fitting for him to teach the masters of the purses, that they were doing good deeds. They took from their purses in their hands for all who were distressed and oppressed, as the Apostle said: that he taught the rich who are in this world that they were ready for good works, and he placed for them treasures in heaven. And their hope was not upon transient wealth.

Thus it is fitting for him to do this, which lies in the duty of taking and giving: to teach the poor the ways of the church, to distribute to the needy the alms that are in your hands from what is the church's. And he is to be diligent in prayer, in supplication, in service, in reading, and in the word of God. And he is to be present and pleasant to everyone who is in need of instruction and of the word of truth of the Lord. As the Lord and his apostles did thus. And they established deacons for the sick, for the circumcised, for the strangers, for the prisoners, and for all the needy, and they commanded them to serve the word of God and prayer. Thus he is a man who takes up the cross and receives the Paraclete and is perfected, while he has no need of these visible things. But if he loves these things, he is a hireling and not perfect, because he has not been separated from these visible things. Rather, they see the rich, where there is distress, and they show them their poverty only, where there are the needy. Instead of that, he takes them to his house and falls into great confusion, so that many are angry with him and embitter his spirit, and they do not allow him to be perfected, because one who has distributed rejoices, and one who has not given through his hands, because he distributed, lo, he receives upon himself and is angry that he took and did not give to you, and they do evil to him when he approaches these visible things.

...but he should strip away from his own possessions a complete offering and devote himself to the needy who are lacking knowledge of the Lord, and to all the sons of men, that they may live and be perfected. And he should be steadfast in prayer, supplication, and the service of the Word of God, on behalf of all the sons of men and for himself. And thus he benefits every man and himself through prayer and the discipline of a new life. For he who takes up the cross and teaches the Word cannot take from one and give to another, nor buy and sell, nor can he even take a burden for himself, unless he is greatly compelled by necessity. Because the Lord said, "Do not be anxious about what body you will wear or what soul you will cover." How then can this one who takes up the cross and commands not to be anxious take upon himself the burden of others in these visible things? Therefore, he who takes up the cross instead of these visible things takes upon himself the burden of praying for all the sons of men, and he trembles and teaches in humility all the sons of men, both good and evil. And he reconciles one with another and makes peace between them. Whether they wish to listen to him or not, whether they listen to him or not, he is obligated to teach humbly every man, whether worthy or unworthy, because thus the Lord desires that he teach even his murderers and pray for all who do evil to him and for all who love him.

There is, then, a man who is hungry for the bread that is seen, and there is one who is hungry for righteousness and for life. And there are those who are naked of the garment that is not seen, and of light, and of life, and of the kingdom. Therefore, those men who possess visible treasures clothe the visible naked and feed the visible hungry. And those who are in the spirit and possess something that is not seen by the eyes of the flesh clothe the man who is naked of the garment that does not pass away, and of light, and of life, through their good teaching. They sow in the pure hearing, as it is written: that the streams of living waters flow from the wombs of those who believe in Jesus and keep all his commandments and do all his will. For this reason they feed the man who is hungry for righteousness and for true food, and they raise up every person as perfected in Christ, as it was written for you, my Lord, and they showed concerning perfection. For he said that you should be perfect, like your Father who is in heaven is perfect, and as the Apostle wrote: that this toil and my labor in the work that is sought after in me by the power of my Lord, that I might raise up every person as perfected in Christ. Therefore, concerning these two aspects, these words of my Lord are complete: I was hungry and you fed me, and I was naked and you clothed me.

For there is a man who thirsts for living waters, of whom our Lord said that whoever drinks from them will not thirst again. And there is one who is naked in body, and one who is naked in his mind. And there is one who is bound in the world by the senses, and one who is bound in his spirit by Satan, and does not receive the Spirit of the Lord as it is written. And there is a man whose remembrance is from humanity, and one whose remembrance is from God. And there are among the senses those who serve the needs of the body, and there are those who serve the needs of the spirit. Those men who serve in the spirit are very great. Those, then, who take up the burden of the needy and become openers of the door for others, because they take from one who has and give to one who has not, and those again who do good works from their own possessions—both of these, if they keep themselves from all evils and do not do to others anything of what they suffer, but as they wish that men would do to them, so they do to others—those who are thus, they are the blessed children of the Father, of whom he said to them, "Come, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you," which is beneath that good promise which our Lord granted to those who took up their crosses and were freed from everything visible and went after him and became like him, our Lord, and his apostles.

And all those who were unable to take up their crosses, these blessed ones of the Father, because they did not separate themselves from everything they possessed, but became entangled in taking up and laying down this world. For this reason they were hindered and were unable to receive the Paraclete Spirit, and to attain all truth and be perfected. For when one takes up the cross, he is raised above everything that is seen. For thus also our Lord, when he took up his visible cross, he was raised above the earth and above everything in it. Likewise, when one takes up his hidden cross, he is separated from the earth and from its service and from all its labor and from all its desire. For just as a man is bound while alive to the visible cross, so also he is bound while alive and walking on this earth by that hidden cross in spirit. For there are men whose vessels are empty of the approach of the Spirit, and concerning whom there is no Spirit of God, they are called "desolate," as the Apostle said: "If you have the Spirit of God, and not desolate, you are." And there are men in whom there is both from God and from Satan, and they do good deeds through the approach of the Holy Spirit that is in them, and they are overcome and do evil deeds because of the approach of sin that is in them. And that approach of the Holy Spirit urges them daily to pass from evil deeds and to do good deeds, and to crucify themselves with the evil one and to conquer him.

And if he who conquers it, they are the blessed ones; and if again they wish to be entangled, they are the perfect ones; and those who thus endure are rewarded on that day of judgment for their works, both evil and good; or they have mercy upon them and are saved and live. And there is a man who is purified from the pollution of Satan, and the Spirit of God fills all their days and all their hours, as our Lord said to him who takes up his cross in his likeness: "Behold, I send you the Paraclete Spirit, who will be with you until the end of the world." These, then, are the men who are thus: all the hours that our Lord is, they are; and our Lord is in them. But he who does not do even one good deed, neither in his body nor in his heart, and is not considered even as good, he is empty of God and of his grace. For just as evil thoughts come from Satan in the heart, so also good thoughts come from God in it; and he who does both evil and good has in him both from God and from Satan. And he who does all good deeds and empties himself and sanctifies and loves every man and his enemies and is not diminished, he is perfected by our Lord and filled with his Spirit; and he who is filled with the Spirit of Christ does all good deeds and is concerned for every good deed, for the good and for the evil, and there is no lack in him.

And if something is found in him in the time of need, he struggles and uproots it, and above the ranks he is, while he is still in this world. And when he passes away, being perfect, he is with the Lord and sees him face to face. For there is a gift that is small compared to the Lord; there is in them a small blessing. This small gift is called the intercession from God. And there is a gift greater than all gifts that they receive; this is called the Paraclete Spirit, through which they are fulfilled and filled from God, and Christ dwells in them perfectly. From this, then, the person in whom the Paraclete Spirit is present is known, for they see that it teaches them to love all their fellow humans, and their enemies and their murderers, and to pray for them earnestly. For there are great gifts and there are small gifts, and there is intercession and there is blessing, just as the Lord said concerning Mary and Aaron, that their gifts were smaller than those of Moses, and just as those seventy elders were smaller than those who received from the gift of Moses. And just as the gift of Martha was smaller than that of Mary. Behold, all these the Lord spoke with them, and there was intercession from him in them, but not, however, as it was in Moses and in Mary his sister, the sister of Lazarus.

He who does not do even one good thing: the Spirit of the Lord does not mingle with him, and it rejects him. If, therefore, they take up the cross of humility and holiness, they are raised up after humiliation, just as he was raised up after the humiliation of his will, so that he might be for us a type. And as the Apostle said, "Be imitators of me," so also I in Christ. Thus, then, the portion of Mary was great compared to that of Martha, as the Lord testified concerning her, that Mary chose the good portion. Mary, however, took up the cross, which is the humiliation of the great commandments, and she died to the world and to its tumult, and lived in the Lord in spiritual things, and she served the Lord in spirit, and she was bound to him and was praising him the whole day, as the Spirit said concerning spiritual ones: "They praised God the whole day." And she taught and instructed and made disciples for the Lord, praising and serving together with those disciples who received the Paraclete and served the Lord in perfection. Martha, on the other hand, at that time was serving the Lord in clothing and in provision, him and the crowd with him, while she had a house and possessions, like Abraham. And when she was weary in her conduct, she did not, however, take up the cross.

Therefore, a person does not receive the Paraclete as long as he serves in a bodily manner, while he has old age and a parable, and his mind is bound to the earth. But if he lifts his eyes from the evil things of the earth and from all its beauty—that which is the opposite of perfection. For the perfect one is far removed from the commands of the kingdoms and from their relatives. For this reason, that which is not perfected is much smaller than the one who is fixed on the cross, whose hands and feet are bound, and who cannot be moved about on the earth. But he looks upward and seeks what is above, and is nourished by what is above—the place where Christ sits in the heights, on the right hand of God, and is dead to the world while alive. For those who are moved about in this world and distribute from it to the poor and to the apostles, while they do no harm to anyone, they live indeed, but they cannot receive the Paraclete. Rather, the thornbush of the Spirit of Holiness increases in them. For those who were in the Spirit, this requires that they be bound in his will firmly, by the sacrifice of the mind, by confession, by prayer, and by humility. While they are equal in separation to the martyrdom of every person, as the Spirit teaches them: that they be trained in life by humility, and that they make themselves servants of God for every person, as is fitting.

He is able to serve in a spiritual manner, for the spirit works in him; and he who is able to serve in a bodily manner is taught how to serve the Lord of the body in a bodily way. The bodily ministers are those who serve through old age and through clothing for the poor; the spiritual ministers, however, are those who interpret commandments and teach the true word and show everyone how to live and how to increase. Therefore, a person does not look to those who have nothing and do not perform visible good works, because their service is not this, nor does the Lord of this require it of them; but rather, the ministers of the word and of prayer, just as the apostles appointed seven ministers of old age and of the table, and they were teaching the word of God. Even from among these, the deacons, when he wishes to perfect himself and be crowned, comes to the great commandments and stands in perfection, as did Stephen, who was one of the seven ministers. And he was crowned and received the Paraclete, and they killed him while he was teaching the word, not while he was performing visible good works. For a person makes many ministers of visible good works, but one minister of the spirit, who teaches the faithful the truth and is crowned from the world; to be sufficient, he is in many labors and performs great commandments and teaches the faithful thus, and he is great.

and does more than was commanded, he is greatly praised by the Lord. For the Lord also wishes that these spiritual ministers should act. For the Lord has given a portion to these bodily ministers, that they may perform the visible righteous deeds and show them in this world. For it is not that God is distressed by them. For He who can bear the whole burden could have done everything that is difficult, like those higher worlds, which do not weary nor labor for clothing and sustenance, but gloriously praise that radiance of that greatness and do His will. And thus God wished that His praise be among the children of men, all of them, without labor; but Adam corrupted it, and not only did his sons not restore it, but they embittered and increased sin and iniquity among their creatures every day. For these spiritual ministers are greater than those bodily ones, as Simon was greater than Tabitha, who was the Lord's servant in bodily matters. And when she was a daughter of royalty, she was lesser than Simon and his inheritance, as he prayed and raised her up. Yet the service of Tabitha and Martha at that time was one, and that of Simon and Mary was one. Because Simon and Mary served the Lord spiritually, and Martha and Tabitha served the Lord bodily.

And when he established her, Simon, and saw that in that time the power of the spiritual ministry was not possible, he took her by the hand and delivered to her the keys, that she might be adorned and clothed and become a daughter of the kingdom of the lower from the perfect. For spiritual things are manifestly prepared for everyone. He who urges himself to ascend to perfection, perfection shows him and the spiritual ministers perform for him through the ministry which is spirit and life. And he who does not urge himself and seeks this opportunity, the bodily ministers perform for him, that is, that which is seen, the visible ministry. And he who is spiritual is a minister of that which is not seen by the eyes of flesh, but to the soul which is seen by the spiritual eye. For everyone it is simple: if he wishes to urge himself to be stripped and humbled and ascend to the great degree and be perfected, and again to increase and be humbled and be praised with the Lord. The end of Memra 3 on the bodily and spiritual ministry.