Беседа 50

“And having dismissed the people, He went up into the mountain to pray in private; and in the evening he remained there alone. And the boat was already in the middle of the sea, and it was beaten by waves, because the wind was contrary.” (Matt. 14:23–24) Exposition 14:23–36. Why does Christ allow his disciples to be overcome by waves and fear? – God sends the strongest test when he wants to save you from danger. – The power of Peter’s love for Christ; his lack of faith. - The effect of a miracle on students and people. – Christ still offers Himself to everyone in the Eucharist. – The Eucharist is no different from the supper celebrated by Christ Himself. – The Eucharist requires perfect purity from those who approach it. – Alms are more pleasing to God than rich offerings to the church. 1. Why does the Lord ascend the mountain? To teach us how convenient the desert and solitude are when it comes to praying to God. For this purpose, He often goes into the desert and repeatedly spends nights there in prayer, teaching us to choose a time and place that would dispose us to quiet prayer. The desert is the mother of silence, peace and harbour, sheltering us from all anxiety. So, Christ ascended the mountain to pray; and the disciples again struggle with the waves and endure the storm, as before. But then, during the storm, Christ was with them on the ship, and now they are alone. The Lord gradually and little by little leads them to greater things and teaches them to endure everything courageously. That’s why, when they were in danger for the first time, he was with them, although he was sleeping, in order to calm them down; now, leading them to greater patience, he acts differently: he leaves them, allows the storm to overtake them in the middle of the sea, so that they have no hope of salvation, and leaves them to fight the waves all night - which, I think, wanted to touch their cruel heart. Such an action was supposed to be produced by fear, excited both by the storm and by the night. Beyond heartfelt tenderness, the Lord disposes them to a strong desire to be with Him and unceasing remembrance of Him. That is why He did not immediately appear to them, but, as the evangelist says, “in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea” (Matthew 14:25), which taught them not to seek quick deliverance from the surrounding disasters, but to bravely endure whatever happened. But when they expected deliverance, their fear increased even more. “And the disciples, seeing Him walking on the sea,” says the evangelist, “were alarmed and said: this is a ghost; and they cried out for fear” (Matthew 14:26). The Lord always does this: when he wants to stop disasters, he sends others, the most difficult and terrible ones. So it was in the present case: in addition to the storm, the appearance of Christ frightened them no less than the storm. Christ did not dispel the darkness and did not suddenly reveal Himself to the disciples in order to strengthen them with the duration of fear, as I said, and accustom them to patience. This is what happened to Job. When God was pleased to stop his fear and temptation, he allowed his final suffering to be the most severe. I do not mean here the death of children and the words of the wife, but the reproaches of slaves and friends. In the same way, when God wanted to save Jacob from misfortune on a foreign side, he allowed new worries to open up and continually increase. His father-in-law overtook him on the way and threatened him with death, and then his brother, who wanted to intercept him on the road, plunged him into extreme danger. Since it is impossible for a person to endure long and strong temptations, the Lord, wanting the righteous to acquire more, increases the trials before the end of their exploits. He did the same with Abraham, appointing the slaughter of his son as his last temptation. And the unbearable becomes bearable when it is imposed on a person at the door, shortly before liberation. This is what Christ did in the present case: not before he revealed himself to the apostles before they cried out. The more the anxiety increased, the more pleasant the coming of Christ was for them. Then, when they cried out, “immediately,” says the evangelist, “he spoke to them and said: Be of good cheer; It is I, do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). These words dispelled fear and inspired courage. The apostles did not recognize Him by appearance, both because of the miraculous walk and because of the night time; therefore He reveals Himself through the voice. What is Peter doing, fiery everywhere, always warning other disciples? “Lord,” he says, “if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14:28). He didn’t say: pray and call on God for help; but: “led”. Do you see how much heat, how much faith - although Peter is often exposed to danger because he strives for excessive things? So here too he asked for too much: however, out of love alone, and not out of boasting. He did not say: tell me to walk on the waves; but what does he say? “Command me to come to You.” No one loved Jesus as much. Peter proved this even after the resurrection of Christ. And then he did not wait to go along with the others, but ran forward. However, he discovers in himself not only love, but also faith. Peter was confident that Jesus could not only walk on the sea Himself, but also lead others, and he wanted to be close to Him rather. “He said: go. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water,” and walked towards Jesus. “But, seeing the strong wind, he got scared and, starting to drown, 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 14:29–31)? This incident was more wonderful than the previous one, which is why it happened later. When Christ showed that he is the Lord of the sea, He performed another most amazing sign before the disciples. Previously He only forbade the winds, but now He Himself walks on the waters, and allows others to do the same. But if he had commanded it at the beginning, Peter would not have accepted it with such disposition, because he did not yet have such faith. 2. So, why did Christ allow Peter? Because if he had told him: “You can’t,” Peter, in his ardor, would have begun to contradict here too. Therefore, Christ convinces him by his very deed to be more careful in the future. But this does not deter Peter either. So, having left the ship, he was overwhelmed by the waves, because he was afraid; That's what produced the excitement, and the fear came from the wind. John says that “they wanted to take Him into the boat; and immediately the boat landed on the shore where they were sailing” (John 6:21). These words show the same thing, that is, that Jesus boarded the ship just as the disciples approached the shore. So, Peter, having disembarked from the ship, walked towards Him, rejoicing not so much at the fact that he was walking on the waters, but at the fact that he was going to Jesus. But, having conquered the difficult, he almost suffered harm from the easiest; I mean the swiftness of the wind, not the sea. Such is human nature: often, having succeeded in great things, it is difficult to achieve small things! As Elijah suffered from Jezebel, Moses from the Egyptian, David from Bathsheba, so did Peter. At first, still overcome with fear, he dared to walk on the waters; but I could not resist the force of the wind and, moreover, being already close to Christ. It is so useless to be close to Christ for someone who is not close to Him by faith. This also revealed the difference between the student and the Teacher and consoled others. If they were indignant at the two brothers, then they would have been even more indignant at Peter, because they had not yet been worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. After receiving the Spirit, they became different, and in everything they already yield primacy to Peter; he is given the right to speak in meetings, although he was less skilled in speech than others. But why did the Lord not command the winds to calm down, but Himself stretch out His hand and support Peter? Because Peter's faith was needed. When there is a deficiency on our part, then the divine action stops. So, wanting to show that it was not the striving of the wind, but Peter’s lack of faith that produced such a change, the Lord says: “O you of little faith! Why did you doubt"? Consequently, he would easily have withstood the wind if his faith had not weakened. That is why the Lord, having supported Peter, did not stop the wind from blowing, wanting to show that the wind does not harm when faith is strong. Like a chick that has prematurely flown out of the nest and is ready to fall to the ground, the mother puts it on her wings and carries it back to the nest - this is what Christ did. “And when they entered the boat, the wind ceased” (Matthew 14:32). Previously, on such occasions they said: “Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him”? But now they say differently. “And those who were in the boat,” says the evangelist, “came up, worshiped Him and said: Truly You are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33)! Do you see how the Lord, little by little, led everyone higher and higher? Because He Himself walked on the sea, ordered another to do the same, and saved him from danger, the faith of the disciples has already increased greatly. Then He forbade the sea, but now He does not forbid it; but in a different way, to the highest degree, He shows His power. That is why they said: “Truly You are the Son of God.” Well? Did He forbid speaking like that? Quite the contrary, he even confirmed what was said by the fact that with greater power and not in the same way he began to heal those who came to Him. “And having crossed over,” says the evangelist, “they arrived in the land of Gennesaret” (Matthew 14:34). “When the inhabitants of that place recognized Him, they sent into all the surrounding countryside and brought to Him all the sick” (Matthew 14:35). “And they asked Him just to touch the hem of His garment; and those who touched were healed” (Matthew 14:36). Now they approached Him not with the same requests as before: they do not invite Him into the house, they do not try to touch Him with their hand, or command with a word; on the contrary, with the most sublime wisdom and with abundant faith they ask for healing. The bleeding wife taught everyone wisdom. Meanwhile, the evangelist, wanting to show that Jesus Christ had not been in this country for a long time, says: “the inhabitants of that place, recognizing Him, sent into the whole neighborhood and brought all the sick to Him.” However, time not only did not destroy faith (among the people), but also increased it and retained it in all its strength. So, let us also touch the hem of Christ’s garment, or rather, if we want, we can have the whole of Christ. Now His body is offered to us - not only clothes, but the body itself, so that we not only touch, but also eat and are satisfied. Let us draw near in faith, let us draw near, all you who are weak. If those who touched the hem of His garment attracted miraculous power to themselves, will not those who receive the whole of Christ attract it to a much greater extent? To approach with faith means not only to accept what is offered, but to touch it with a pure heart, with such a disposition as if one were approaching Christ himself. What is it that you do not hear His voice? For this reason you see Him offered to you; or better said, and you hear His voice, because He speaks through the evangelists. 3. Believe therefore that even now the same supper is being celebrated at which He himself reclined. One is no different from the other. It cannot be said that this is done by man, and that was done by Christ; on the contrary, He himself did and does both. When you see a priest giving you gifts, imagine that it is not the priest who is doing this, but Christ extending his hand to you. Just as at baptism it is not the priest who baptizes you, but God with an invisible force holds your head, and neither an angel, nor an archangel, nor anyone else dares to approach and touch, so it is in communion. If God alone regenerates, then to Him alone belongs the gift. Don’t you see that among us those who want to adopt someone do not entrust this matter to slaves, but appear in court themselves? So God did not entrust the gift to the angels, but He is present, commands and says: “Do not call anyone on earth your father” (Matthew 23:9). He says this not so that you would not honor your parents, but so that you would prefer to them the One who created you and accepted you as one of His children. And who gave you more, i.e. offered Himself, he will all the more not consider it unworthy of His greatness to give you His body. So, let us listen, priests and laity, to what we have been worthy of; we will listen and be horrified! Christ gave us His holy flesh for food, He offered Himself as a sacrifice: what excuse will we have when, taking such food, we sin like this? By eating the Lamb, we become wolves! When we eat a sheep, we are as predatory as lions! This sacrament requires that we be completely clean, not only from theft, but also from minor enmity. This sacrament is the sacrament of the world; it does not allow the pursuit of wealth. If the Lord did not spare Himself for us, then what will we be worthy of when, valuing wealth, we do not spare our soul, for which He did not spare Himself? God established holidays for the Jews so that they would annually remember His benefits; and you, so to speak, are reminded of them every day through this sacrament. So, do not be ashamed of the cross. In it lies our glory, our sacraments; With this gift we are adorned, we boast in it. If I say that God stretched out heaven and earth, widened the sea, sent prophets and angels, I will not express His goodness to that extent. The height of His good deeds lies in the fact that He did not spare His Son to save His servants who had departed from Him. So, neither Judas nor Simon should partake of this meal, because both of them died from the love of money. Let us avoid this abyss, and we will not consider it sufficient for salvation if, having robbed widows and orphans, we bring a golden vessel decorated with precious stones for a holy meal. If you want to honor the sacrifice, then offer your soul for which the sacrifice was made; make your soul golden. If it is worse than lead and clay, and you bring a golden vessel, what good is it? So, let us take care not only to bring golden vessels as a gift, but to bring from righteous labors. Such offerings, obtained by you without covetousness, are more valuable than any gold. The Church is not for melting gold or forging silver; she is a solemn assembly of angels. Therefore, we demand your souls as a gift, because for the sake of souls God accepts other gifts. It was not a silver meal then, and Christ did not give His blood to His disciples to drink from a golden vessel. However, everything there was precious, everything aroused reverence, because everything was filled with the Spirit. Do you want to honor the body of Christ? Do not despise when you see Christ naked. And what is the benefit if here you honor Him with silk veils, but leave Him outside the church to endure cold and nakedness? He who said: “This is My body” (Matthew 26:26), and confirmed the deed with a word, also said: You saw Me hungry, and did not feed me; and further: “Because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (Matthew 25:42–45). This mysterious body requires not coverings, but a pure soul; The people of Christ, that is, the poor, have great need of our care. Let us learn to be wise and honor Christ as He himself wants. The honor that is most pleasing to the venerated is the honor that he himself desires, and not the one that we recognize as better. And Peter thought to honor the Lord by not allowing Him to wash his feet; however, it was not respect, but something contrary to that. So you, too, honor Him with the honor that He Himself commanded, that is, spend your wealth on the poor. God does not need golden vessels, but golden souls. 4. Saying this, I do not forbid making rich deposits: I only demand that you, along with the deposits and even before them, give alms. Although God accepts deposits, alms are much better. There, only the one who brings benefit receives the benefit; and here is the receiving one. There, a gift is sometimes a reason for vanity; but here everything is done out of mercy and love for mankind. What is the use if Christ's table is full of golden vessels, and Christ himself is languishing with hunger? First feed His hunger, and then use the rest to decorate His table. You make a golden cup, and do not give a cup of cold water. What's the use? You make gold-woven covers for the table, but you don’t even give Christ what he needs to cover himself. What is the fruit of that? Tell me: if you see a person who does not have the necessary food, and instead of satisfying his hunger, you only cover the table with silver, will he thank you for this, or, rather, will he be upset? Again: you see a man covered in rubble and stiff from the cold, and instead of giving him clothes, you put up golden pillars, saying that you are doing this in his honor: won’t he say that you’re mocking him, and won’t he consider this an extreme insult? Imagine the same about Christ, when He, like a homeless wanderer, walks around asking for shelter, and you, instead of accepting Him, decorate the floor, walls, tops of pillars, tie silver chains to the lamps, and don’t even want to look at Christ bound in prison. Saying this, I do not forbid being generous in that way, but I also advise you not to leave the other, or even prefer the latter. For failure to fulfill the first, no one has ever been condemned, but for failure to fulfill the latter, Gehenna and unquenchable fire and torment along with demons threaten. So, when decorating the house of God, do not despise the mourning brother; this church is superior to the first. Those utensils can be stolen by unfaithful kings, tyrants, and robbers; but what you do for a hungry and strange and naked brother, the devil himself cannot steal it: it will be kept in an impregnable storehouse. Why does Christ himself say: “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me” (Mark 14:7)? That is why we especially need to be merciful, because we do not always have His hunger, but only in real life. If you want to fully comprehend the meaning of these words, listen: Christ is speaking here not to the disciples, as it seems at first glance, but to a weak wife. Since she was still imperfect, and her disciples doubted her, the Lord said this to encourage her. And to show that he really said this to console her, he added: “Why are you embarrassing” your wife? We always have Him with us, as He himself says: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). From all this it is clear that Christ said those words solely so that the prohibition of the disciples would not dry up the faith that was then languishing in his wife. Therefore, we will not now refer to what was said with a special intention; but, having read all the laws on alms given in both the new and old testaments, let us use every effort to put them into practice. Alms and sins are cleansed. As it is said: “give alms, then everything will be clean for you” (Luke 11:41). It is more important than sacrifices: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6). She opens the heavens: “your prayers and your alms have come as a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4). She is more needed than virginity. So some virgins were expelled from the bridal chamber; so others were brought into it. Knowing all this, let us sow generously in order to reap with great abundance and receive future benefits through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen. You might be interested in: