On the Power of Repentance

Of Mar Jacob, Memra 28, On the Power of Repentance. The vision of the world is full of snares for him who enters it. Weep, my Lord, for you have filled the snares for him who enters you. The world is darkness, and its path is void of hopes. By your light, my Lord, guide him with you to the place of your Father. The world is a dream, and in it a straying one finds a dwelling. Awaken for us, my Lord, for you are the dawn that awakens the natures. The path of the world is full of traps and snares. Be for us a path, a clear way, and walk in you. In the passages of the world, falsehood and deception take hold of faces. Sin, to its belly, its merchandise is all losses. On its heads is bribery, and on its judges, theft. In its streets is iniquity, and in its marketplaces, deception takes hold of faces. Its peace consumes its love, its beauty leads astray. All of it is bitter and full of woe for those who love it. At its gates, demons stand in the darkness. And they set snares and hide pits for those who enter it. The path of truth, demons have covered with their filth, so that no man may see a snare and turn aside, and not fall into it. Freedom, however, has been abolished, it has slept with the good, and behold, iniquity and oppression are awake in all of creation. Every man stretches his foot into the snare that he falls into, for the snare does not run to hunt him who falls into it. The evil one casts and casts down, and disturbs and disturbs, for he is not able to overcome freedom by force.

It covers its snares, and whoever wishes to see, let him see. He turns aside and passes by and is caught in the hidden snare. For not everyone is careful to look and see the snare. And if he wished to pass by, it would be for him, and it would not catch him. The error is great; demons spread nets upon the roads. And of the error, everyone knows if he wishes. But he does not know that at the end of life, death is. And it is like a sudden blow, the day of the end, over his head. But he does not know that the world is a dream and a shadow. And he rejoices in it and is not consumed in the hunt for his beloved ones. But he does not know that the path of the world is set for the grave. He delays a little, and a little before, behold, he is there. But he does not know that if the treasures of the stars were gathered, to the grave that he enters, nothing gives him anything. But he does not know that even if he becomes rich like the day, his wealth from him at the time of his death remains here. But he does not know that if he gave all his gold, at the time of his end, a bribe from him is not accepted. But he does not know that virginity is better than marriage, and holiness is better than the spoils of marriage. But he does not stop at the place where he would be satisfied with what he sees, and he flees, increases from his fullness while he rejoices in it. But he who loves the place that shines, is pure and clear, and swims, grows old, and is not ashamed of the venerable ones.

He does not hate falsehood and wickedness, nor does he at all flee from their doers. The snares of the slanderer are now revealed. And when a man looks, he stretches out his foot and falls into them. And the lover of gold, though he knows it is not to be possessed, even the covetous man, when he looks at it, is deceived by it. And as for wickedness, though he hates it, he does not abandon it. And the wine-bibber, though he is rebuked by the one who knows, yet he drinks. For nature is also beautiful, a good creation, and beautiful are the beautiful things that are done. And nature hates evil things when they are done. And when it hates them, it serves them lovingly. And who does not weep over the freedom of so many who love the good and yet do evil every day? And when God wills the good and gives reward, and even nature, which is hidden in him, helps him. And she is beautiful and she is praiseworthy among the beholders. No man wishes to do good, though he loves it. And when he hates evil, everyone rejects and abhors it. But God also hates it and does not will it. And again, nature, which is not evil in him, hates it. And when it is good, it is served diligently. When God created nature, it was beautiful. And whatever is in it now that hates is not from him.

When God saw what he had done, it was good and fair. And these poisonous blemishes entered upon freedom. And upon sin the Creator does not weep. He is broken and stretched out where nature sins every day. And a foul habit from outside the cause came upon the fair one. It (the habit) disturbs him so that he loses his former beauty. And because of this, when sin goes too far for the soul, shame and disgrace, and sin is not fair to sins. And when bound tightly, the soul is not led to sin. As the tight one leads her from affliction over her evils. And if she had not willed to sin, she would have been bitter to herself. And why would she not turn aside except that she herself is in all her transgression? The proud Pharaoh, who was a son of a king from Abraham, a boastful king from the Galoyaya, who shone in the land. And the king's table was not pleasant to that free-born woman. Like that small piece of bread that was left in Abraham's house. On his high couch, the king's table was set with delicacies. And she did not taste the six hundred dishes because of her husband. In that Galoyaya she bound her love, and his error was not hers. When the king's dishes were arranged on her table, and Pharaoh's wealth was spread before her eyes, and affliction in it, she was constrained to hide herself from Abraham.

Woe to you, O soul, who conduct yourself evilly away from God. The bread did not taste good to you with him who kills the serpent. Pray to God as Sarah prayed to Abraham. Be from your sin, do not trust in the deceiver. When Sarah did not wish to go to the house of that Pharaoh: Great is your mercy, that you came when you wished; behold, you have been enslaved. Remember, O soul, his great image that is formed upon your sign, and that salvation which he made for you in his solitude. Mix with him (and write yourself in his name), and behold, you are his: you came. And what is this that sits in your hand and releases you from him? The world with its deceits disturbs you, leading you to its pleasures. And behold, in its traps, like hard chains, it binds you. Like the table of the king of Egypt, behold, it is arranged and full: the evil world, the delights of the abyss that cannot be quenched. To Sarah the free woman, that table did not please. Look at her, O soul, and the world did not taste good to you, the evil world. Remember God as Sarah remembered Abraham, and pray to him as she prayed to her partner. Behold, the Egyptians guard the doors; they will not let you pass. (You will be cast to the dog that howls) and it will drag you. The demons will oppress you if you are cast away from God. It will be hard for you if you go; in your repentance, fill the vacancies.

It is good for you to live with God, O soul, and not with the world which is filled with death, for Pharaoh seeks to take you away from God. See that you do not destroy your partnership, which is full of beauties. O daughter of Sarah, turn like Sarah toward the righteous one. Do not consort with the wicked one who seeks your soul. On the day you depart from the house of Pharaoh, the cities will rejoice. The Egyptians, however, will sit in mourning over your deliverance. To the house of Ham they led you, and to the Egyptians they gave you in wickedness. And you were lowly in the tent of the servants whom they sent to lead you. Flee from the world, O soul that loves beautiful things. Flee from Pharaoh, the free woman whose husband took her from her partnership. Do not trust the Egyptian who disturbs you with vain pleasures and poisonous foods. Let not the world deceive you, which passes like a shadow. Its beauty is a dream; look to God, who does not change. Sever your bond from the Egyptians, who are deceivers; do not let the demons of the air lead you astray with their vanities. How sweet is Pharaoh’s bread for you to eat! Remember God and come like Sarah to Abraham. O free soul, full of beauties and without blemish, bride of the king and great image of divinity, creation higher than creatures in the beauty that is upon her, daughter of the elect ones whom the great one chose and in whom he imprinted his image.

The beloved image of the great and high one among images: Do not destroy these beauties that are adorned with weeping. Sin assailed me and took my beauty and changed my images, and filled them with blemishes and darkened the beauties that were beloved. Pharaoh carried me away from God who loves me, and cast me into his prison, and behold he mocks me. Sin struck me like a leopard with the radiance of my face, and behold I am blind and I am darkness because of the iniquity I have done. Upon me, the daughter of the free, the accuser raged like an Egyptian, and separated me from God who mocks me. And behold, demons watch me for prey in the dwellings of darkness, like Egyptians, so that I may never again turn toward God. The world deceived me and the pleasures of iniquity imprisoned me, and what brings me out of the darkness in which I dwell? I sinned and was broken, I did evil and was ashamed before you. What grieves me and what says to me that I am forgivable? The beauty of my creation was destroyed by the iniquity of my hands, and if I am healed, I am blind; what will open me? They do not allow me to enter the place from which I departed, and to see the bridegroom who greatly loves beautiful things. Come to yourself, O soul, for you have served iniquity in the evil world; turn to God, and he will restore to you the wealth that you lost.

Even Abraham received Sarah when she was impure, and she was sanctified by him, and through purity he mingled with her. Pharaoh expelled her when impurity was upon her limbs, and immediately the pure Abraham took her as his prey. He did not scorn her, nor did he reject that noble woman; rather, he rejoiced in her, and she was with him in pure union. So too, O weeping one, rejoice, for the Lord who desires to be reconciled with you receives you, sanctifies you, and purifies you. Come forth, go out from the impurity that has overwhelmed you, and the holy one will not hesitate to purify you through him. Just as Sarah, who passed over impurity, was sanctified, so the Lord of Abraham sanctifies you from his mixture. O penitent soul, come, ascend to God; through repentance, which opens the door and loosens the knots. Come forth, go out from the violence of that iniquitous one, and immediately the Lord, your Lord, will open the door to receive you. He will spread out his arms and receive you, and embrace you, and rejoice in you as if you had never done evil. He will not scorn you because of your sin, nor will he reject you; rather, he will rejoice because you have turned, and he will love you. So that you may meet the one who stands, but not the one who stands and receives, for he was prepared to go out to meet you when you repented. (Nor should you hasten to repentance, O one who stands, for the woman who trusts that the door is open to the one who receives.)

Nor does Pharaoh have a tether of purity toward you, for as soon as you wish, you can depart from him, and he will not clothe you. Go to the one who will clothe you, even though he has not yet clothed you, behold, he is with him. And if you wish to serve, he will not refuse you. Behold, the sanctifier of the impure stands and awaits you. And the bond of the covenant of his blood, which purifies you, has been cast. If you wish to approach him, he will mingle with you. And when he has mingled with you, because of him, you are sanctified. For she is sanctified, even the unbelieving one, by what she believes. How much more so by the Lord of sanctities, if she cleaves to him. Through repentance the soul enters toward God and cleaves to him and becomes one spirit with him. And just as Sarah was received, who came from the house of Pharaoh, so she is received from God, the Lord of Abraham. Come, come, and the one who receives is standing here. And he fills the bosom and opens his door to whoever comes. Woe to you, O soul, at whom the world marvels because of its pleasures. Flee from the world, the house of Pharaoh, which is full of iniquity. That sweet thing of the Egyptians does not please you. Cast away the pleasures and the pollutions. Do not let the house of Pharaoh, which is full of delights, deceive you. The world, in which there are evil pleasures that are not true. With God, the fire and the sword, if they meet you, and not with the pleasures and the diverse delights with Satan.

The soul says in its pains, the sick soul, "What has the judge given me? These beauties of which I was clothed until I sinned. If the God who has mercy receives me, the beauties that I lost, how can He restore them to me? A beautiful appearance, that which shone like the day, has darkened and been extinguished; who will illuminate it so that it may be beautiful? If by petition it is covered, I am from sins, upon that rank from which I fell, who will raise me up? Only if He leaves me, if He leaves me all that I sinned, very great is it for me to hope again for more. That beauty, then, which my creation had until I sinned, where now shall I see it, since I destroyed it? Come to you, soul, the image of the king whose beauty has perished. Behold, in His hands is He who is your Lord, your beauty, and He has preserved it for you. As soon as you come, He gives it to you, just as He had laid it down, and He was careful with it, and for you He preserved it, that He might restore it to you. Not like a physician who labors, the Lord your Lord, for a physician leaves a scar in the body when he heals it. And with compresses and bandages and ointments, he agitates the body so that no scar remains in it completely. A scar remains, either small or great, for the physician cannot make the body as it was before.

The sick soul says to God, "Show me your scars." When the wound pains you in your body, do not let it go. Not like a physician who cuts flesh from limbs so that the wound may be in the place from which he took flesh. He from his own body places patches and with the body's companion he makes the scar equal when he heals it. When the deep incision is to become a scar, he kindles in it his body, a cautery before the proud body. Not roots or hot or cold things does he mix; he makes a medicine for the scars that have pained you. His body he kindles with his love and places upon the wounds a new creation, which he makes without pain except from him. Where have you seen a physician who places his own body on scars? But our Lord who is zealous and pained for the wounded. For what are all medicines taken from the body? And here is a physician who casts from himself patches. What physician has poured out his blood on scars? But Christ who opened his side and with his blood pressed. Others take, but he gives what is poured out: his blood he gave so that the whole creation might be healed by it. His body on scars and his blood he places as patches, and the wound of evil is not known in the soul at all. He raises up a new creation, a forgiveness from God, and as in a mirror the soul sees his face in its beauties.

In the pain of the wound, do not let the scar remain in the limb, so that the place of the wound is not known when it heals. All the beauty that the sick one has is taken away. For the Lord said, "Behold, it is good and fair," as he had said. Through repentance he renews his creation from forgiveness, and does not let the scar of iniquity remain so that it may be a support. Like God, not like a physician, he tends the wound. For God, the creator, creates and is simple. That beauty which he gave to the sick one when he created him, he restores to him through repentance when he forgives him. And if he had let the scar remain, it would be a disgrace to the one who bears it. If he lets the scar remain in the soul when it pains her, he is disgraced who healed the wound, and its blemish remains. And it would be said, "Either he was able and did not heal, or it is evil that he healed the wound and left the blemish." For glory, contests, and discourses are taken from the knowledge of him who is full of mercies that cannot be measured. There was a wound in the soul of Simon, the head of the disciples, for iniquity had darkened him and cast his rebellion into denial. And when he was stirred by repentance and brought tears, Christ healed him and gave him that former beauty. Until he sinned, he had been the head of the discipleship, and after he denied, through repentance he gave him his place.

He did not bring him down from the fifth or the third step, but set him up on his first rank. The great steward of the house was, and he denied and went out. And he brought him in and added, giving him the keys of his city. He gave him the keys of those he had lost when he denied. And he added for him again flocks and herds and possessions. As beauty was added to him through repentance, he also added for him authority over the cities that were found. She loved her city and the Son of God died on her account, and gave her to Simon, who trusted that he would guard her. And behold, this man is her disciple, that of repentance, and she is the one who brought him in, who had gone out, if not for her. He denied his Lord and swore and cursed without knowing, and became angry and went out from the house (and behold, he went away). And repentance ran after him while he fled, and she turned him back, and upon the threshold of his Lord he knelt. And she taught him to bring tears instead of offerings, and he took and brought as he was instructed by repentance. And immediately when he looked upon him, Christ was fair, and as if he had not denied, his portion was with him. And after this, all the city that died on her account, he gave her to him as to a lover who had never sinned at all.

And for the penitents he made an image, even a spectacle, so that they might know what the power of repentance is. And in that beauty which exists for the chaste until sin, as soon as one repents, he enters and stands in the house of God. And for the sinner who repents, even the angels rejoice, because the image of the king who was lost has been found. Henceforth, O soul, come, confident and certain, for you, that your beauty is revealed to you, come to God. Just as it was revealed to Simon, the head of the apostleship, so is all that beauty of your chastity revealed to you. And just as Sarah was sanctified with her husband from defilement, so does the Lord of Abraham sanctify you from your evils. Pharaoh rejected the partnership of the house of Abraham, and in his rebellion, a member of the body was severed, a stone. So too, the evil one takes you and separates you from God, and cuts you off from the mixture of that multitude. But Sarah turned and came to her place, even the member, and the body of David became that Egyptian. Thus also you, O soul, if you turn to God, he will set you in him and mix you with his multitude. And the righteousness which the evil one did between you and God, as if it had never been and never will be, is nothing. For the chaste one was not considered a stranger in the house of Abraham, because she went and came and was free as if she had not gone.

immediately that she came was not counted, nor that she went away. The participation of the chaste man, the pure one, made her. And this Simon, when he repented, immediately came. And he cast tears as if he had not denied, he was received. And you also, O soul, come now, entreat before God, as if you had not sinned, and the sin will be completely with you. After Sarah, the pure one, became in the house of the wicked, and Hagar was with her in the bond of one far from God. And she sat in his name upon impurity with great shame, and she was separated from Abraham, the chaste man. And the servants of Pharaoh followed her, the customs of the Egyptians, and that Egyptian, as he wished, governed her. And when she was with him, as an Egyptian woman, she ascended to his bed. And behold, she was lost from God and from Abraham. She turned to Abraham and destroyed something that was corrupting, and as if these things had not happened which were in the house of the Egyptians. And the chaste man received his wife back without blemish, and rejoiced that she came and that these things which had been heard were annulled. And God also, after she turned from the house of Pharaoh, gave her to Isaac from Abraham, the chaste man. Show, my Lord, that Sarah is pure from impurity, by the son he gave her, who is heir and son of the kingdom. And Sarah is buried in death, and the form of the soul is she, and upon her she went and upon her she came to Abraham.

that she might be a parable for the soul that returns: from evil deeds. For immediately when she repents, God receives her, and covers her, and cleanses her, and sanctifies her. And she is clothed and stands in all the beauties of the virtues that are in her. Both the promises and the powers that belong to God, He would give to repentance in their fullness. Nor does anything from the powers cease from her. Just as it did not cease for Sarah, who went out from impurity. Come, my heart, to the soul that fell from God, and arise, go to Him of the cross, who stands and beckons to you. All day long his hands are stretched out in crucifixion. And behold, He looks for you to go with Him to His place, that of His Father. From the house of sufferings, the crucified one cries out with a loud voice, that you may come and meet from the house of the impure Pharaoh who has rejected you. The soul that has lost its weight because of you cries out, and says, "Where, my Lord, with you shall I go to the place where your wife goes?" He denied Pharaoh and his satraps and his table, and his foods, the first courses of death that are full. He denied the world and despised its wealth and its luxuries, and also its honor and its name and its glory and its greatness. He denied the idols if they are far from your vision, and the temples if your cross does not enrich them. My cry, my deliverance and my sevenfold praise from the one who cast me down, return, bring me out from the house of Pharaoh, and I will be with you.

To me, do not come to you, for I am weak. You, come to me and leave the unclean one who has seven heads. The soul that the world has corrupted with its deceits. Turn and say to the Lord, "My Lord, your mercy is abundant. Leave the Egyptian and destroy my freedom and ruin my purity. And in the filth of iniquity I will sit with the wicked." To me, it is just that if I had not willed it, I would not have been led. And to him, the shame that I said, and my freedom left you. To me, be patient and bring me out from the filth in which I sit. To him, be patient and wait, because I said concerning your judgment. To me, woe is me, woe is me for all that I saw in the house of the wicked. And to him, their shame when his daughter was led away from him. To me, mingle with you and be sanctified in you and become yours. And to him, cast to destruction, become bread for the flame. Stamp your seal upon his face in the hour of iniquity. You, awaken me and lead me to you, and I will be with you. Sin entices me, and I come to you, but I am not able. Come, take what is yours, lest I perish from that which I have found you. Will in me, and mingle my will with your will. And to his will, be patient, the guardian who does not rejoice in me. I have sinned, I have erred, I have died because I willed. In you I will be wise, in you I will be healed, in you my face is ashamed. The scent of life breathes from you, the king, my savior. Come, bring me out from the rottenness in which I sit.

The stench of death has struck my face from Egypt. Let the oil of myrrh be for me, and let me be perfumed by you. Darken the ways of the world for me, and increase my stumbling blocks. Come, the day of Christ of my outer self, and let me be with you. A snare struck me, and I fell into it as I wished to fall. Come, break the snare, and free the soul that is choked in it. The evil one, with his seven heads, blocked my fair paths. And behold, I am running on the path of iniquity to you, bringing myself. Save me, my Lord, as Sarah was saved for Abraham. And be sanctified by you, and be yours, here and hereafter. Glory to you, my Lord, for how you have loved me through your mercy. That you might break me with mercies, and pursue me with mercies, and set me right with mercies. By those mercies with which you called me from the beginning. By those mercies, cover my sins, and have mercy on me. (The end of the homily on repentance.)