Глава 14

Matthew 14:3. “For Herod took John, bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,” Matthew 14:4. “because John said to him, “You must not have it.” Matthew 14:5. “And he wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the people, because they revered him as a prophet.” Matthew 14:6. “During the celebration of Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the assembly and pleased Herod,” Matthew 14:7. “Therefore, he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.” Matthew 14:8. “She, at the instigation of her mother, said: Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” Matthew 14:9. “And the king was saddened, but for the sake of the oath and those who were reclining with him, he commanded that it be given to her,” Matthew 14:10. “And he sent to cut off John’s head in prison.” Matthew 14:11. “And they brought his head on a platter and gave it to the maiden, and she took it to her mother.” “Do not desire or seek a spacious and beautiful apartment; elegant, soft and expensive clothes; pleasant foods and drinks: honey, beer and others - all this pampers the body and spirit and makes the soul carnivorous and impatient; In general, do not want everything to happen according to your desire: because if you meet anything contrary to your desire, you will become irritated and indulge in anger - and thus you will lose the spirit of Christ’s meekness and humility, you will find yourself a despiser of His commandment: learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29). - Also: do not wear precious and soft clothes: they are God’s condemnation on the priest: so, it seems, the oath of God weighs on you. Remember the word of the Savior: Behold, he who wears soft clothes is in the king’s houses (Matthew 11:8). Don’t go to invited dinners, balls or evenings: this greatly weakens the soul and removes you from God. Love not the world, nor that which is in the world: for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of this world (1 John 2:15, 16). Don’t dance, for dancing is the work of an empty and frivolous soul, like Herodias (See: Matt. 14:3–11). The feet of a person, it is said, will proclaim what is about him (Sir. 19:27)" [10, 124]. Matthew 14:16. “But Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go, you give them something to eat.” Matthew 14:17. “They said to Him: We have here only five loaves and two fish.” Matthew 14:18 .. “He said, Bring them here to Me.” Matthew 14:19. “And he commanded the people to lie down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and two fishes, he looked up to heaven, blessed, and broke them, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the people.” Matthew 14:20. “And they all ate and were filled; and they took up the remaining pieces, twelve baskets full;" Matthew 14:21. “And those who ate were about five thousand people, besides women and children” “Five loaves and two fishes. Ch. 14, [v.] 19–21. And he ordered the people to lie down on the grass and, taking five loaves and two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and, breaking them, gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the people. And they all ate and were filled; and they took up the remaining pieces, twelve baskets full; and those who ate were about five thousand people, besides women and children. Five small loaves of bread and two fish were enough to feed five thousand men, exhausted and hungry, not to mention the women and children, of whom there were also probably many. Know, Christian, in your Sweetest Jesus Christ the omnipotent Creator of the world, Who, having no difficulty in creating out of insignificance such a huge, luminous and harmonious mechanism of the universe, of course, all the more could not find difficulty in the way of saturating the gross, material bodies of people. He could support their strength and life with His one omnipotent word, just as the whole universe is carried by His omnipotent word; but He was pleased to satisfy them with the food that He gave them in the beginning, that is, from earthly plants (what He did, He did forever well and He had nothing to correct Himself in), as such a means that corresponds to the earthly, elemental nature of man. I would have seen how these loaves of bread were broken, how long it took them to break them, how more than five thousand pieces came out of them, how then there were still more leftovers from these five loaves of bread than how many loaves there were! The Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ represents even in our time an example of this saturation of the nations with bread” [1, 74]. “Guests come to you, and in the stinginess of your heart you say: the imam has only five loaves and two fish (cf. Matthew 14:17) and is ready to send his guests away. But hear the voice of the Lord: the guests do not demand that you leave: give them food (cf. Matthew 14:16). Your Lord is omnipotent: He can quickly increase your wealth out of nothing, like once there were five loaves of bread and two fish in the desert (See: Matthew 14:19); offer without doubt with generosity the gifts of God to the people of God; and always try to have loving fellowship with them; do not be stingy: stinginess is the work of the ethereal enemy, who, carrying eternal poverty, wretchedness and destitution in his spirit, instills in us thoughts of dissatisfaction with everything, imaginary poverty with material goods and teaches us to be eternally poor, stingy and greedy" [8, 628]. Matthew 14:22. “And immediately Jesus compelled His disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, until He sent the people away.” Matthew 14:23. “And when He had sent the people away, He went up into the mountain to pray privately: and at evening He remained there alone.” “What was the Gospel read about today? Did you listen to it with attention, did you understand it, did you keep it in your memory, did you put it on your heart, did you apply it to yourself? And all this should be done. What was the gospel about? About the Savior's prayer in solitude; about His walking on the sea as on dry land; about the fear of His disciples when they saw a man walking on water; about how the Savior encouraged them; about Petrova’s request to come to Him on the water and about the Lord’s permission; about Peter’s lack of faith and fear, about drowning; about the salvation of a drowned person by the life-giving Right Hand; about the Lord’s reproach to Peter for his lack of faith; about calming the wind; about the disciples’ confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God (See: Matt. 14:22–33). Here is the entire Gospel: and everything is clear and understandable! Now we need to apply from it, what is possible and should, to each of us. After all, the Gospel was written for our edification, consolation and salvation. And the first thing you need to apply to yourself is prayer. The Lord, according to humanity, often prayed in solitude, at night. We should certainly pray, at all times. Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune, says the Lord (Matthew 26:41). We have many sins; there are many mental and physical needs; there are many temptations; That’s why you need to pray unceasingly, of course, most internally. And on holidays it is open in the church” [9, 210]. Matthew 14:25. “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” "St. 25 ff. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And the disciples, seeing Him walking on the sea, were alarmed and said, “It is a ghost,” and they cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately spoke to them and said, “Be of good cheer; It is I, do not be afraid (Matthew 14:25–27). Peter walks towards Him on the water, but begins to doubt whether he can stand on the water, because the wind was contrary, and he drowns. The Lord stretches out his hand to him, lifts him up and reproaches him for his lack of faith. The Lord and Peter climb into the ship - and the wind subsides. Those who were in the ship came and worshiped Him, saying: Truly You are the Son of God (Matthew 14:33). Yes, it is impossible, seeing this miracle, not to shout to Jesus Christ: truly You are the Son of God. Walking on water with the same feet as ours, and with the same body as ours, is possible only for God, for Whom, as the Creator, no creature can serve as an obstacle to the path that He walks. It would even be strange to imagine that, for example, air, or fire, or water, or earth could somehow hinder Him, because all creation can only serve Him as its Artist, Who gave it not only form and space, but also the very beginnings and essence. The abysses of the world are also nothing for Him. In one moment He is everywhere as the Creator, He is infinitely greater and higher than them” [1, 75]. Matthew 14:28. “Peter answered Him: Lord! If it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” “If you are, Christ, command me to come to You on the waters (Matthew 14:28). Come, the Lord said to Peter; and he walked on the waters, but then he doubted and began to drown. Similar things happen with priests of little faith. Prayers are the water along which we walk to the Savior. If we walk along them with faith, then we walk calmly, evenly, easily, but when we doubt, then We will begin to drown in them (with our mind, heart and tongue), and if faith is completely choked in us by confusion, then we can completely drown in prayerful words. This may be at public prayer. When the enemy attacks you, run under the wing of Christ: there is only one salvation. There are countless incomprehensible things on earth in everything that I see, and very much I must accept by faith: will I subject the heavenly mysteries to the action of reason? No, I must believe them unquestioningly, without reasoning: they are life-giving for me - what more? So that I know, I believe that the light of my mind is from God, the Lord often punishes me with darkness of mind, and so that I know that the spaciousness of the heart is from Him, He strikes me through the invisible enemy with heaviness and confusion of the heart. Hear the accusatory voice of the Lord from the prophets: Wherein your fathers found fault in Me” [2, 89]. Matthew 14:29. “He said: go. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to come to Jesus." Matthew 14:30. “But, seeing the strong wind, he got scared and, starting to drown, shouted: Lord! save me." Matthew 14:31. “Jesus immediately stretched out his hand, supported him and said to him: you of little faith! Why did you doubt? “You of little faith! Why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31) During the service, you must always have self-confidence, or better yet, faith in God and hope for His help. Try to constantly have a peaceful mood of soul. Calmly and as slowly as possible, read both the Gospel and the prayers contained in the Service Book or in the Breviary: then both faith and tenderness will be born in you. “The God of peace will visit you then and pacify your soul” [2, 339]. “You give glory to God with words, but you don’t give it with deeds. Glorify God more through deeds: abstinence, hard work, love, mercy, humility and patience. Do not doubt any truth; of little faith, why didst thou doubt [Matt. 14:31 ]? The trouble comes from our doubt and conceit” [5, vol. 2, 572]. “The boldness of the Apostle Peter is remarkable. Encouraged by the words of the Lord, he asks permission to walk to Him on the water, as if forgetting for a while the difference between himself - a man - and between the God-Man. The Lord, however, does not reject boldness and says: go. And a wonderful miracle! An omnipotent command sustains Peter as he walks on the water: he walks on the water, marveling at himself. But Petrov’s boldness did not last long: seeing the strong wind, he got scared, began to drown and shouted: Lord, save me! Jesus immediately stretched out his hand, supported him and said to him: you of little faith! why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:30–31.) Do not be surprised at Peter’s lack of faith: at that time he was not yet renewed by the life-giving, fiery breath of the Holy Spirit and therefore showed human weaknesses. But, after the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Saint Peter was above all doubts and had the faith of God, with which he raised the dead. And we ourselves will take care of our faith. Peter had just begun to drown, and immediately cried out for salvation: “Lord, save me!” But many of us are completely drowning in sins, and do not come to the Savior and say: “Lord, save me.” And how close the Savior is to all of us: just look to Him, brother, with the eyes of your heart with faith, hope, that He is right here in front of you, and He will save you, if you really want salvation, He will save you, He will certainly save you; you will see for yourself how he will save you, you will see, of course, with the eyes of your heart. Now, brother or sister, learn from the Apostle Peter, with the same faith and hope as he, to cry out to the Savior in troubles, sorrows, in sins: “Lord, save me,” and you will certainly be saved. That’s what the Savior is for, to save us sinners. And when He saves you, then you too will say: “Yes, truly You are the Son of God,” and worship Him with love. Amen" [9, 212]. Matthew 14:35. “The inhabitants of that place, recognizing Him, sent into the whole region and brought to Him all the sick,” Matthew 14:36. “and they asked Him just to touch the hem of His garment; and those who touched were healed.” “Those who touched the Savior’s clothes were healed (cf. Matthew 14:36). Why are those who use holy water with faith healed? - The Cross, immersed in water with the prayer of faith, is, as it were, the Life-giving Lord Himself. Just as the Savior’s clothes were imbued with His life, so the water into which the Life-giving Cross is immersed is itself imbued with life - that’s why it is healing” [8, 86]. You might be interested in: