Беседа 28

“And when He entered into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there was a great disturbance on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves; and He was sleeping." (Matt. 8:23–24) Exposition 8:23–34. Why did Christ take only the disciples and let them be overwhelmed by the waves? – The difference between the miracle of Christ and the miracle of Moses. – Demons confess the deity of Christ. – The agreement of the evangelists in the story of the healing of the demoniac. – Why did the possessed live in coffins? – The soul that leaves the body does not remain on earth. – God provides for every person. – Why did Christ allow demons to drown the pigs? - Money lovers suffer from a more serious illness than those possessed by demons. – Image of a money lover. – The love of money harms the very acquisition of wealth. 1. Luke, without going into the study of the order of times, says this: “one day He entered into a boat with His disciples” (Luke 8:22). Mark says the same thing. But Matthew does not do this: he observes the very order of events here. Not all evangelists wrote about everything in the same way, as I said before, so that someone would not conclude from the omission that there is disagreement between the evangelists. So, Christ sent the people first, and took the disciples with Him, as they testify; He took them not without purpose and not without intention, but in order to make them spectators of the miracle that was about to happen. He, as a certain best teacher of children, taught them that on the one hand they should be fearless in the midst of disasters, and on the other hand, they should be humble in the midst of honors. So that they would not be proud of the fact that the Savior, having sent away the others, kept them with Him - to achieve this goal and together to accustom them to courageously endure temptations, He allowed them to be overwhelmed by the waves. Although, of course, the previous miracles were great, the present miracle contained considerable edification and was a sign similar to the ancient one. That is why the Savior takes with Him only disciples. Where only miracles were performed, Christ allowed the people to be there; but where temptations and horrors lay ahead, there He took with Him only the ascetics of the universe, whom He wanted to teach. Next, Matthew simply says that Jesus "slept"; and Luke says that He “slept on the head,” showing through that His humility, and teaching us great wisdom. So, when a storm arose and the sea was very agitated, the disciples woke Him up, saying: “Lord! save us, we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25). The Savior, before pacifying the sea, addressed them with reproof. The storm, as I said, was released to teach the disciples; this was an image of the temptations that would befall them, since even after that the Savior often allowed them to fall into the most severe disasters, and through this strengthened their spirit. That is why Paul said: “we do not want to leave you, brothers, in ignorance, because we were burdened beyond measure and beyond our strength, so that we did not hope to survive” (2 Cor. 1:8). And then he says again: “Who delivered us from such a near death” (2 Cor. 1:10). So, Jesus first of all rebuked His disciples, showing them that they must be courageous and in the midst of the strongest storm of waves, that He arranges everything for good. So their very confusion brought them benefit, since the miracle seemed to them much more important, and the incident was forever preserved in their memory. When God intends to do something miraculous, He first arranges a lot to establish it in the memory of people, so that they do not forget the miracle He performed. So Moses first fears the serpent, and not just fears it, but with great confusion, and then he sees a miracle taking place; So the disciples first expected their own destruction, and then received salvation, so that, through the confidence of danger, they would know the greatness of the miracle. That is why the Savior indulges in sleep. In fact, if the storm had happened while He was awake, they would either not have been afraid, or would not have asked Him, and perhaps would not even have thought that He could perform such a miracle. That is why He indulged in sleep, to give them time to experience fear, and to make them feel more strongly what was happening. A person looks differently at what happens to other people and what happens to himself. Since the disciples saw everyone else as being benefited, but themselves not receiving any benefit, and were carefree (they were neither lame nor had any other similar illness), and therefore they had to experience His benefits with their own feelings, He allows the storm to rise, so that through salvation from it they would feel His benefits more strongly. That is why the Savior performs a miracle not in the presence of the people, so that the disciples would not be accused of lack of faith; but, taking them alone with Him, he corrects them, and before taming the troubles of the waters, he tames the agitation of their souls, reproaching them with these words: “Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith” (Matthew 8:25)? and together teaching that it is not the invasion of temptations, but weakness of spirit that produces fear. And if anyone says that the disciples did not come to Jesus out of fear or lack of faith and woke Him up, then I will say that this most especially was proof of their improper opinion of Him. They were confident that He, rising, could calm the storm; but that this could also be done during sleep - they were not sure of this. And why be surprised at their imperfection in the present case, when even after many other miracles they still remained very imperfect? That is why Christ often reproaches them; so, for example, when he says: “Do you really not yet understand” (Matthew 15:16)? So, do not be surprised if the people did not have a high concept of Him, when the disciples themselves were imperfect. “Astonished,” says the evangelist, “they said, Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him” (Matthew 8:27)? However, Christ did not accuse them of calling Him a man; but he waited, convincing them with miracles for the time being that their opinion of Him was wrong. Why was He considered a man? Because He had human form, slept and was on the ship. That’s why they were perplexed and said: “Who is this?” While sleep and appearance showed a man in Him, the sea and silence showed God in Him. 2. Although Moses once performed a similar miracle, here too the advantage of Christ is revealed, because Moses performed miracles as a slave, and Christ as a Lord. Christ did not stretch out his rod, like Moses, did not raise his hands to heaven, had no need for prayer; but, as the Lord, who commands the servant and the Creator of creation, with a single word and command He tamed and pacified the sea, and the storm immediately completely subsided, so that no trace of disturbance remained. The evangelist depicted it this way: “and there was great silence.” And what was said about the greatness of His Father, He again revealed in His works. What was said about the Father? “He will say,” says the prophet, “and a stormy wind will arise” (Psalm 106:25). So it says here: he said, “and there was great silence.” That is why people were especially surprised at Him; meanwhile, they would not have been surprised if He acted like Moses. After Christ departed from the sea, another, most terrible miracle followed. The raging ones, like evil fugitives, when they saw the Lord, said: “What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? You came here before the time to torment us” (Matthew 8:29). While the people revered Him as a man, the demons came to confess His deity, and those who remained deaf during the disturbance and taming of the sea heard the demons crying out about what the sea announced with its silence. Then, so that their words do not seem like flattery, they prove their truth by experience: “You came here,” they cried, “to torment us before the time.” That is why, first of all, they confess to their enmity, so that their request would not be subject to suspicion. Indeed, being pierced, set on fire and suffering unbearable torment from the mere presence of Christ, they were invisibly tortured and overwhelmed more than the sea. While no one dared to approach them, Christ himself approaches them. According to Matthew, they said: “You are here before the time to torment us.” Others added to this that the demons begged Him and conjured Him not to cast them into the abyss. They thought that the time had already come for their punishment, and they were afraid, as if they were already about to be subjected to torment. The fact that Luke mentions one demon, while Matthew speaks of two, does not show any disagreement between them. There would be a disagreement between them only when Luke said that only one was mad, and the other was not. When one speaks about one thing, and the other about two, this is not a sign of contradiction, but only shows a different way of narration. And it seems to me that Luke only mentioned the one who was the fiercest of them, which is why his misfortune is more deplorable, saying, for example, that he, breaking bonds and shackles, wandered through the desert; and Mark testifies that he still beat himself against the stones. And their very words sufficiently reveal their cruelty and shamelessness, because they said: “You come here ahead of time to torment us.” They could not say that they had not sinned; but they ask Him not to punish them ahead of time. Since the Savior found them committing unbearable cruelties and atrocities, and in every way disfiguring and tormenting His creation, the demons thought that He, due to their excessive atrocities, would not delay the time of punishment. That's why they asked and begged Him. Thus, those whom iron bonds could not hold back come bound; those who ran through the mountains come out onto the field; those who blocked the path of others stop when they see someone blocking their own path. But why did they like to live in coffins? Because they wanted to sow a harmful doctrine in many, that is, that the souls of the dead turn into demons, which should never even be imagined in the mind. What do you say, someone will ask, that many of the sorcerers slaughter children with the goal that their souls will then assist them? How is this known? Many people talk about slaughtering children. But that the souls of those who were slain are with those who slaughtered them, tell me, how did you know about this? You will say that the possessed themselves cry out: I am the soul of such and such a person! But this is also the trick and deception of the devil. It is not the soul of some dead person who cries out, but a demon pretending to do so to deceive the listeners. If the soul could enter a devilish being, then even more so could it enter its own body. Moreover, it is impossible to imagine that an offended soul would begin to assist the one who offended it, or that a person would be able to change his incorporeal nature into another being. If this is impossible in relation to bodies, since no one can turn a human body into the body of a donkey, then it is even more impossible in relation to the invisible soul, which no one can turn into a demonic being. 3. So, these are the ravings of drunken old women and children's fears. It is no longer possible for the soul, separated from the body, to wander here, because “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God” (Wisdom Sol. 3:1). If the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, then so are the souls of children, since they have not yet become evil. And the souls of sinners are immediately removed from here. This is clear from the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. And in another place Christ says: “this night your soul will be taken from you” (Luke 12:20). And it cannot be that the soul that left the body wandered here. And this is quite consistent with reason. In fact, if we, walking on a land familiar and known to us, and being clothed with a body, when we travel in foreign countries, do not know without a guide which road to take, then how can a soul, separated from the body and renounced from all earthly connections, know without a guide where it should go? Also, from many other proofs, anyone can easily see that the soul, having left the body, can no longer remain here. So, Stephen said: “Receive my spirit” (Acts. 7:59); and Paul says: “to be resolved and to be with Christ, for this is incomparably better” (Phil. 1:23). Scripture also says about the patriarch: “and he was gathered to his people, and died in a good old age” (Gen. 25:8). And that the souls of sinners cannot remain here after death, listen to the rich man who asked for a lot and did not receive what he wanted. If this had been possible, he himself would have come and announced what was happening there. From this it is clear that souls, after leaving here, are taken to a certain country and, no longer able to return from there, await that terrible day. But perhaps someone will ask: why did Christ fulfill the request of the demons, allowing them to enter the herd of pigs? To this I will say that He did this not because He was convinced by them, but for many wise purposes. Firstly, in order to show those freed from these evil tormentors the greatness of the harm caused to them by these attackers; secondly, in order to convince everyone that demons, without His permission, do not even dare to touch pigs; thirdly, in order to make it known that demons would have done even worse to people than to pigs, if in such misfortune they had not been rewarded with the great providence of God. Everyone knows that demons hate us more than dumb animals. Consequently, if they did not spare the pigs, but in one instant cast them all into the abyss, then all the more would they have done this to the people possessed by them, whom they dragged and dragged through the deserts, if the providence of God, even with the most severe torment, had not curbed and restrained their further desire. From this it is clear that there is not a single person for whom God does not provide. If He does not care for everyone in the same way, then this is the greatest sign of His providence. God reveals His providence in accordance with the benefit of everyone. In addition to what has been said, we also learn from here that God provides not only for everyone in general, but also for each person in particular - which the Lord showed in relation to His disciples, saying: “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). Everyone can clearly see the same thing from the example of these demoniacs, who would have been strangled long ago if they had not been preserved by great care from above. For these reasons, the Savior allowed demons to enter the herd of swine, so that the inhabitants of those countries would know His omnipotence. Where His name was known, there He did not show Himself very much; but where no one knew Him and everyone was insensible, there He performed glorious miracles to attract them to the knowledge of His divinity. And that the inhabitants of that city were insensible, this can be seen from the end of the incident. They should have worshiped Christ and marveled at His power; and they sent Him away and “asked” Him to depart “from their borders” (Matthew 8:34). But why did the demons kill the pigs? Demons constantly try to lead people to despair, and always rejoice at their death. This is what the devil did with Job. Although God allowed here, he allowed it not because he was convinced by the devil, but in order to further glorify His servant, to take away from the devil any pretext for shamelessness, and to turn his actions with the righteous onto his own head. So in the present case, something contrary to their wishes happened. And the power of Christ was solemnly preached, and the malice of the demons, from which He freed those possessed by them, was revealed more clearly, and it was revealed that without the permission of the God of all, they cannot even touch pigs. 4. No one is in the least prevented from understanding this story in a mysterious sense. Although this is a story, you should know that people who are like pigs are easily caught by the action of demons, and those who suffer from them can often defeat them, if only they are people. But when they become completely like pigs, then they are not only possessed by demons, but are also cast into the abyss. Moreover, so that someone does not call this incident a fable, but in order to completely believe the descent of demons, for this it is proven by the death of pigs. Notice the meekness of Jesus Christ combined with power! When the inhabitants of that country, so favored by Him, forced Him to leave, He withdrew without resistance and left those who showed themselves unworthy of His teaching, giving them as mentors freed from demons and grazing pigs, so that they would learn from them about everything that had happened, and He himself, having retired, left them in great fear. Indeed, the great loss spread rumors of what had happened, and the event occupied their minds. Rumors about an extraordinary miracle spread from everywhere, both from those who were healed, and from the owners of the drowned pigs, and from their shepherds. And now one can see such incidents, and many demoniacs living in coffins, whom nothing restrains from going berserk: neither iron, nor shackles, nor a multitude of people, nor exhortation, nor persuasion, nor fear, nor threats, nor anything else like that. Thus, when a voluptuous person is captivated by all bodily beauty, then he is in no way different from a possessed person. Being clothed with clothing, but not having true clothing and deprived of the glory befitting him, he runs everywhere naked, like a demon possessed, striking himself not with stones, but with iniquities, which are much heavier than many stones. So, who can bind and tame such a shameless and frantic one, who is never in himself, but always walks with the graves? These are truly the dwellings of fornicators, filled with great stench and rottenness. What can we say about the money lover? Isn't he like that too? Who can ever tie it? Everyday fears, threats, admonitions and advice? But he breaks all these bonds, and if anyone comes to free him from the bonds, he conjures not to free him, considering it the greatest torment for himself not to be in torment. What could be worse than this? The demon, although he despised people, obeyed the command of Christ and immediately left the body. But this one does not obey the command of Christ, although He hears His words every day: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24), and the threat of Gehenna and unbearable torment, and yet does not obey - not because he is more powerful than Christ, but because Christ, against our will, does not lead us to correction. That is why such people, even living in cities, live as if in deserts. Indeed, what reasonable person would want to deal with such people? I, at least, would like to live better with many people who are raging than with one of those suffering from such a disease. And that I am not mistaken is evident from the suffering that money lovers and those who are mad endure. Money lovers consider as their enemy a person who has not caused them any harm, they want to make a free man a slave and plunge him into countless disasters; on the contrary, those who are raging do nothing else but feed the disease within themselves. The first overthrow many houses, cause the name of God to be blasphemed, and are the plague of cities and the entire universe; and those tormented by demons are more worthy of pity and tears. These latter do a lot in insensibility; on the contrary, the first, having intelligence, go crazy, go berserk among the cities and are raging with some new rage. In fact, do all those who are raging do anything similar to what Judas, who committed an unheard-of crime, dared to do? And all those who imitate him, like wild animals escaping from the fence, disturb the cities, being restrained by no one. Although they are surrounded by bonds from everywhere, such as: the fear of judges, the threat of laws, contempt from people and much more, but they, breaking them, pervert everything. And if someone were to completely take away those bonds from them, then they would clearly see in them a demon much more fierce and cruel than that which came out of the demon-possessed person mentioned now. 5. But since this is impossible, then, at least, let us assume this in words, and remove those shackles from the money-lover, and then we will clearly recognize his extreme fury. However, do not be afraid of the beast when I reveal it - this is only an image in words, and not true reality. So, let us imagine a man spewing fire from his eyes, black, having dragons hanging on both shoulders instead of hands; Let us imagine his mouth, in which instead of teeth sharp swords are stuck, and instead of a tongue there is a source pouring out poison and emitting a deadly drink; Let us imagine that his belly devours more than any furnace, destroys everything that is thrown into him, and his legs are as if winged and faster than any flame. Let his face be composed of a dog and a wolf; let him not utter anything human, but make discordant, disgusting and terrible sounds from himself; let him also have a flame in his hands. Perhaps what I said seems terrible to you; but I have not yet depicted it properly. To what has been said, one more thing must be added: let him strike those who meet him, devour and tear their flesh. But a money lover is much worse than such a monster. He attacks everyone, consumes everything like hell, walks everywhere as the common enemy of the human race. He wants there not to be a single person, so that he alone can have everything. Moreover, he doesn’t stop there. But when he destroys everyone, according to his own desire, then he wants to destroy the very essence of the earth, and see gold in its place; and not only the earth, but also mountains, and forests, and springs, in a word, everything visible. And so that you know that we have not yet fully depicted his fury, imagine that no one will accuse or intimidate him, destroy, at least in words, fear from the laws, and you will see how he, grabbing a sword, exterminates everyone, sparing no one, not a friend, not a relative, not a brother, not a parent himself. Or rather, we don’t need to make any assumptions, but let’s ask him himself: doesn’t he always build such dreams in his imagination, and doesn’t he attack everyone, mentally killing his friends, relatives, and parents themselves? But there is no need to even ask him; everyone knows that those possessed by the disease of selfishness are burdened by their father’s old age, and they consider childbearing, pleasant and desired by everyone, to be difficult and unbearable. Because of this, many find pleasure in infertility, making their nature infertile, not only killing born children, but also preventing them from being born. So, do not be surprised if this is how I portrayed the money lover to you (he is much worse than we presented him), but let’s see how we can free him from the demon. How will we free him? If he clearly learns that the love of money is harmful to him and to the acquisition of wealth itself. In fact, those who want to acquire something of little value always suffer great damage, which is why there is even a proverb about this. So many, wanting to lend with high interest, in the hope of receiving a profit from it, but without testing those who borrow, often lost all their own property along with the profits. Others, having been exposed to some dangers and not wanting to lose little, lost their very soul along with their property; and others, while they could have acquired profitable advantages for money, or something else like that, due to their excessive stinginess, lost everything. Since they do not know how to sow, and always care only about collecting fruits, they often do not receive them. It is impossible to always collect fruits; So it’s definitely impossible to constantly acquire treasures. That is why selfish people, not wanting to waste, do not know how to acquire. When they need to get married, even then they encounter the same disadvantages, because they are either deceived when they marry a poor woman instead of a rich one, or if they take a rich woman, but with countless shortcomings, they again suffer the greatest harm. Truly, it is not the abundance of property, but virtue that produces wealth. What is the use of wealth when the wife is a spendthrift and spendthrift and all the property is carried away faster than the wind? What good is it if she is dissolute and takes countless lovers? What is the use of indulging in drunkenness? Will she not soon make her husband the poorest of all? But it is not only when getting married that money lovers are deceived, but also when buying slaves, when, out of great stinginess, they try to buy not hardworking ones, but cheap ones. So, having imagined all this in your mind (after all, you cannot yet listen to words about Gehenna and the kingdom), and having thought about the failures that, due to your greed, you often suffer when giving money on interest, and when buying, and when getting married, and in relationships with authorities, and in everything else - give up the addiction to wealth. Then you will safely lead your present life, and, having somewhat succeeded, you will be able to listen to the teaching of wisdom, and, having cleared your eyes a little, you will see the very Sun of Truth, and receive the benefits promised by the Lord, of which may we all be worthy to be partakers of the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: