Глава VIII.

Matthew 8:1–2. When He came down from the mountain, many people followed Him. And so the leper came up and, bowing to Him, said: When the Lord came down from the mountain, the crowds ran towards him, because they could not rise higher. And the leper was the first to meet him, for with leprosy he could not yet listen to such a long word of the Savior on the mountain. And it should be noted that he was the first to be healed in a special way, then the centurion’s son, then Peter’s mother-in-law in Capernaum, who was lying in a fever, and finally those brought to Him, possessed by unclean spirits, which He cast out with a word when He healed all the sick. “And behold, a leper came up and bowed to Him and said.” Immediately after the sermon 142 and teaching, an opportunity presents itself for an external sign in order to reinforce the previous word among those listening by the power of a miracle. Matthew 8:2. [end]: Lord! if you want, you can cleanse me. The one who asks permission does not doubt the power [to do what he asks]. Matthew 8:3. Jesus, stretching out his hand, touched him and said: I want you to be clean. And he was immediately cleansed from leprosy. Leprosy is cleansed immediately as soon as the Lord stretches out His hand. Think 143 at the same time with what humility and without boastfulness the answer is given. He said: “If you want.” The Lord answers: “I want.” He prefaces the words: “You can cleanse me.” The Lord adds the word “Cleanse yourself.” So, the words of the Lord need to be combined not as many of the Latins believe, there is no need to [read them together]: “I want to cleanse,” but separately: so first he says: “I want,” and then he commands, saying: “Cleanse yourself”: [or commands you to cleanse yourself]. Matthew 8:4. And Jesus said to him: Be careful, don’t tell anyone. And indeed, what kind of need was there to talk boastfully about what [his] body clearly revealed? But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. He sends the healed person to the priests for various reasons. Firstly, out of humility, so that they can see that he gives honor to the priests, for it was ordered in the law that those who had been cleansed of leprosy should bring gifts to the priests. Then he [sends him] for the purpose that they would either believe in the Savior, seeing the cleansed leper, or not believe. If they believed, they would be saved, and if they did not believe, they would be unrequited. Finally, [he sends him] so as not to appear to be a lawbreaker, which they accused Him of very often. Matthew 8:5–8. [end of chapter 5] The centurion came to Him, asking Him and saying: Lord, my boy is lying at home paralyzed and in great pain. And Jesus said to him: I will come and heal him. But the centurion said in response [To him]: “Lord! I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; but just say the word, and my lad will be healthy." 144 We should not assume vanity in the Lord: He promises to go right away and heal the boy, because He sees the faith, humility and prudence of the centurion. My faith is that he, one of the pagans, believed in the possibility of the Savior healing the paralytic. Humility lies in the fact that he considered himself unworthy for the Lord to enter under his roof. Prudence lies in the fact that he saw the hidden Divinity under the bodily shell, for he knew that what would help him was not what was visible even to non-believers, but what was hidden inside. This prudence prompts him to say the following: [or with the addition: placed] under authority, “having soldiers under him: and I say to this: “Go,” and he goes; and I say to him, “Come,” and he comes, and to his servant, “Do,” and he does,” 145 by which he wants to show that the Lord, not only by His bodily presence, but also through the ministry of the Angels, can fulfill what he wants. Matthew 8:10. When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and spoke to those following Him. He was surprised, for he saw that the centurion understood His greatness. In fact, both hostile forces and weakness of the body, as a result of which a person often reaches exhaustion, must be driven out both by the word of God and the ministry of angels. Truly I say to you, even in Israel I have not found such faith. This is said about contemporary [Him], and not about ancient patriarchs and prophets; at least in the person of the centurion, perhaps, the faith of the pagans is put ahead of [the faith of] Israel. Matthew 8:11. I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Since the God of Abraham, the Creator of heaven, is the Father of Christ, then in the Kingdom of Heaven 146 there is also Abraham, with whom the nations will lie down 147 who believe in Christ, the Son of the Creator. And He again fills in the meaning that we indicated above, i.e., that the advantage of the pagans lies in the faith of the centurion, since regarding his faith the nations from the east and west are indicated who will believe. 148 Matthew 8:12. And the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. He calls the Jews the sons of the kingdom, among whom God reigned. “They will be thrown out into outer darkness” (in tenebras exteriores). Darkness is always internal, not external. But since he who is driven out from the Lord (foras), as if through a gate, through a door, loses the light, that is why the darkness is called external. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Since crying is a property inherent in the eyes, and the gnashing of teeth indicates the bones, it [follows that] there will truly be a resurrection of bodies and the same members. Matthew 8:14–15. And when Jesus came to the house of Peter, he saw his mother-in-law lying down and suffering from a fever. [or: “with a fever” ] “and He touched her hand, and the fever left her.” 149 – A woman’s hand is touched, and after her deeds are healed, sinful infirmity disappears. The nature of people is such that after a fever the body weakens even more and with the return of health the evil consequences of the disease are felt. But the healing given from the Lord returns everything together; and [the mother-in-law] not only (pop sufficit) was healed, but - to show the complete return of strength - it was also added: “And she stood up and served them” - The same hand served that was touched and was healed. Matthew 8:16–18. When evening came, they brought to Him many who had demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word, and He healed [or: healed] all who were sick, so that the word spoken through the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled, who says: He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our diseases. Seeing large crowds around Him, Jesus ordered the disciples to cross the bay 150. Everyone is healed not in the morning, not at noon, but in the evening, when the sun should have set 151, that is, when the grain of wheat dies in the ground in order to bear numerous fruits (John 12). Matthew 8:19–20. Then one scribe came up and said to Him: Teacher! I will follow You wherever You go. And Jesus said to him: Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. If this lawful scribe, who knew only the letter that kills, had said: “Lord! I will follow you wherever you go,” then he would not have been rejected by the Lord. But since He saw [in the Lord] one of many teachers and was a follower of the letter - which in Greek is more significantly expressed by the word γραμματεύς - and was not a spiritual listener, then he did not have a place where 152 Jesus could lay His head. And we are given an indication through this rejected scribe that he wanted to follow the Lord, seeing the greatness of the signs, in order to benefit from miraculous deeds, that is, wanting the same thing that Simon the Magus wanted to buy from the Apostle Peter. Therefore, such faith is condemned by the righteous judgment (juste sententia) [or": by the verdict - juxta sententiam] of the Lord, and the scribe is told: “Why do you want to follow Me for the sake of wealth and for the sake of temporary (saeculi) benefits 153 when I am so poor that I do not even have shelter and do not use my own shelter?” Matthew 8:21. Another of His disciples said to Him: Lord! let me first go and bury my father. What is the similarity between the scribe and [this] disciple? The first calls Him teacher, the second confesses Him as Lord. The latter, out of his piety, wants to go to the burial of his father, and the former, having in mind to follow Him anywhere, expects to receive [something] for himself, seeking to have not a teacher, but benefit 154 from the Teacher. Matthew 8:22. But Jesus said to him, Follow Me and let the dead bury their own dead. The one who does not believe is dead. If a dead person buries a dead person, then we should not have concern for the dead, but for the living, lest we also receive the name of the dead while we care for the dead. Matthew 8:23. [and the beginning of the 24th]: And as He boarded the ship, the disciples followed him, and behold, there was a great commotion on the sea, so that the ship was covered with waves. 155 He performed the fifth sign when, entering the ship on the way from Capernaum, He commanded the winds and the sea. Sixth, when in the country of Gergesin (Gerasinov-Gerasenorum) he gave power to demons over pigs. Seventh, when, entering His city, He healed the second paralytic on the bed; and the first paralytic was the centurion's son. Matthew 8:24. [end, 25, beginning 26] And He was sleeping. Then His disciples, approaching Him, woke Him up and said: Lord! save us: we are perishing. And he says to them: Why are you so fearful, you of little faith? We read a prototype of this sign in the book of the prophet Jonah (Jon. 1), when he, among others who were in anxiety, was calm and serenely sleeping, and was awakened, and freed those who awakened him with his power and the mystery of his suffering. Matthew 8:26. [end]: Then, getting up, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great silence. And from this place we understand 156 that all creatures feel the Creator - both those who are forbidden [or: "forbidden"], and those who are commanded [or: "commanded"], feel the commander, and not because everything is animate, as the heretics think in their error, but because, due to the greatness of the Creator, the insensitive in relation to us reveals sensitivity to Him. Matthew 8:27–29. [beginning]: The people were amazed and said, “Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” And when He arrived on the other side in the country of Gergesin (Gerasenorum), He was met by two demoniacs who came out of the graves 157, very fierce, so that no one dared to pass that way. And so, they screamed. It was not the disciples who were surprised, but the shipbuilders and others who were on the ship. If anyone, out of love for controversy, wants to insist that these were disciples who were surprised, then we will answer that those who have not yet known the power of the Savior are rightly called people. Matthew 8:29. [end], 30–31 [beginning]: What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? You came here ahead of time to torment us. Far from them, a large herd of pigs was grazing. And the demons asked Him. This confession [of Jesus as the Son of God] is not a voluntary confession on the part of the demons, followed by a reward for the confessor, but it is a confession forced by necessity, which prompts them, like runaway slaves who, after a long time, see their master again, to ask for nothing other than deliverance from blows. So the demons, suddenly seeing the Lord walking on the earth, thought that He had come to judge them. The presence of the Savior is torment for demons. And some express the ridiculous opinion that demons know the Son of God, but the devil does not, and this is supposedly because they reveal less malice than the one whose companions they are. But since all knowledge of the disciples must be attributed to their teacher, then both regarding the devil and regarding demons it is necessary to understand 158 in such a way that they rather suspected only the Son of God in the Savior than knew with certainty, “for no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal it” (Matthew 11:27). Matthew 8:31. [end] 32–33: “If you drive us out, then send us to the herd of pigs. And He said to them: Go. And they went out and went into the swine herd. And so, the whole herd of pigs rushed down a steep slope into the sea and died in the water. The shepherds ran, and when they came to the city, they told about everything, and about what had happened to the demon-possessed.” The Savior said to the demons: “Go,” not because he yielded to their request, but in order to give people the opportunity (occasionem) to be saved by killing the pigs, for the shepherds immediately announced [the miracle] to the city. Let Manichaeus be covered with shame [at the thought]: how can two thousand pigs be drowned to save one person, if the souls of people and animals come from the same source (ex eodem auctore). Matthew 8:34. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they asked Him to depart from their borders What they ask for Him to remove from their borders, they do not out of pride, as some believe, but out of humility, for they consider themselves unworthy of the presence of the Lord, like Peter, while fishing, he fell at the feet of the Savior and said: “Depart from me, Lord! because I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). In the translation: The Gospel of Matthew - ed. In the translation: sermons - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “A centurion approached Him and asked Him: Lord! my servant lies at home in relaxation and suffers cruelly. Jesus says to him: I will come and heal him. The centurion, answering, said: Lord! I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; but fairy tales are only words, and my servant will recover” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “For I am a subordinate man, but having soldiers under my command, I say to one: “Go,” and he goes; and to another: “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant: “Do this,” and he does it” - ed. In the translation: the kingdom of heaven - ed. In the lane: they have to lie down - ed. In the lane: those who believe - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “Arriving at the house of Peter, Jesus saw his mother-in-law lying in a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her” - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “When evening came, many demon-possessed were brought to Him, and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, who says: “He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our illnesses.” When Jesus saw a large crowd around Him, He ordered (the disciples) to sail to the other side” - ed. At the lane: had to come in - ed. According to the new Synodal Russian translation: “And when He entered the boat, His disciples followed Him. And so, there was a great disturbance at sea, so that the boat was covered with waves - ed. In the lane: we understand - ed. You might be interested in: