Conversation about Lake Gennesaret and the Holy Apostle Peter.

When the teacher is glorious, then the student is obedient, then the student is confident in the success of his studies; when a teacher is zealous, then he himself reaps the fruits of his labors; then the student is distinguished by his diligence, then he appreciates the art of his teacher to such an extent that classes with him are most valuable to him. And there would be no opportunity for the teacher to shine if he did not find in the student a lamp filled with the oil of curiosity; It would be impossible for the student to shine if the teacher did not pour out abundant streams of wisdom. Both parties must show activity and diligence, and both must apply their strength to the work of their improvement: one must refine the tongue, and the other must strain the ear; the first must have a fully developed mind, and the second must present a soul ready for perception. And this is not only necessary where the body is concerned, but it is also highly desirable in relation to spiritual objects. After all, just as in physical training a student can do without a stick unless he stays vigilant in his studies, so in spiritual training a mortal will not escape condemnation unless, according to the word of the prophet, he learns from “the law of the Lord ... day and night” (Ps. 1:2). And since this is the case, and we all present are fellow disciples in Christ, because we have the same mentor and teacher - Christ, according to the Divine word: “and they will all be taught by God” (John 6:45; Isa. 54:13), then today let us open both our ears as widely as possible to the instructions of the Lord - I mean bodily and spiritual - so that, having received His word as seed, we could, through this Lord's care, increase the many-grained ear of obedience thirty, and sixty, and a hundred times. You just heard the Evangelist Luke, who said: “Going into one boat, which was Simon’s, He asked him to sail a little from the shore and, sitting down, taught the people from the boat” (Luke 5:3). Do you see the divine teaching of the teacher? Do you see the amiable gathering of the people? Do you see the spiritually beneficial zeal of the disciples? Do you see people’s patience worthy of a reward? Did any of the listeners of God's word then become bored? Has anyone left the lake or come down from the mountain? Or did someone express displeasure, like some of those present, in the following way: “Why are you, teacher, dragging out your conversation - I have things to do, a meeting awaits me, I haven’t bought anything for breakfast yet, it’s time to take a bath, I’m exhausted from the heat”? Did anyone present at that time say anything similar to the Savior? Under no circumstances, of course! Why? Because they knew the One who said that everything is perfect in its season. You have entered the church of God, you have been granted access to Christ; don’t leave here if you haven’t received leave; leaving before your vacation is the same as running away like a runaway slave. You use six days for bodily needs, and you can use two hours for spiritual matters. It is not good to be dissatisfied here, but cheerful outside the church threshold; One should not throw a careless nod here, but focus all attention on external matters; It’s not commendable to praise here, but scold beyond the threshold. We are assigned to the work of the Lord: are we not telling fables? We read the writings of the prophets: shall we not show disdain for righteous people? We remember the apostles: shall we really humiliate the fathers? You often go to the theater and, of course, don’t leave until the end of the performance; but you come to church and are not embarrassed to leave before the Divine mysteries are performed? Fear the One who said: “Whoever despises a word hurts himself” (“whoever despises a thing will be despised by it”) (Prov. 13:13). So, what does Evangelist Luke say? “One day, when the people were crowding towards Him to hear the word of God, and He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret” (“And the people came to Him, ... and You stood by the lake of Gennesaret”) (Luke 5:1). How sublimely skilful are the Lord’s lessons! The river stood by the lake, or better yet, the fisher of men came to the lake to catch the fishermen. After all, with the Lord Christ, everything absolutely matters: the place, the word, the hint, and the step. When Peter and Andrew, James and John were traveling around Lake Gennesaret, engaged in fishing, depending in everything on the accidents inherent in it, sometimes retrieving damaged nets, contesting prey from the depths of the sea, not knowing what they would have to eat, stealing rather than earning by labor, deceiving rather than convincing, because without deception fish cannot be caught - at that very time the Lord, noticing His Divine and with their unerring gaze, as fish suitable for catching, he came to the lake to catch them themselves - not with a net thrown into the water, but with a word of persuasion. And since the named apostles themselves, trusting in their light boats on the water, did not know the Lord of the waters and all creation, for this reason the Lord came to the lake in order, on the one hand, to teach the people, and on the other, to catch the fishermen with a fishing rod. How exactly does the Evangelist speak? “Having entered into one boat, which was Simon’s, He asked him to sail a little from the shore” (Luke 5:3). Do you see how one who does not need a ship enters the ship to benefit the owner of the ship? What else does the Lord ask Simon? Why? Listen carefully. Simon, as you just heard, having worked with the nets all night and not catching anything, sat idle. With great displeasure, he washed the nets with empty hands, adding new labor to the wasted labor, without any benefit to himself. On this occasion, seeing Peter in a bad mood, the Lord, as the comforter of the contrite, begs him. As soon as the Lord saw Simon upset, He immediately turned to him with a convincing request: “Sailor, lend Me your ship for a short time, so that I can teach and instruct from it the crowd of people that follows Me, as you see; let your ship, sailor, be a church; listen to the words of God yourself; do not consider my request burdensome - I came to make you better; leave the vain carnal hope and look closely at the spiritual side; lend Me your ship for a while, sailor.” Simon, still immersed in sadness about his failure, answers the Lord: “Where did you come from, stranger? What do I care about the people? Look for another boat if you want to go around the lake. You see that I am depressed because I have no bread, and you invite me to occupy myself with the word of God. I don’t know where I can get money to feed my mother-in-law and wife, and I’ll give you the boat so that I can waste a day in vain, like I lost the night? If you pay, get on the boat; and if not, please leave. It’s my earnings that feed me, not my words.” And the Lord said to Simon: “Don’t be angry, Simon! You speak like a real sailor; The word of God is more nourishing than bread, and I will feed you enough, because I am the bread of life. Do not consider My present coming a loss for yourself; get as much as you want: I am the generous Son of a rich Father.” Hearing this and having a little cheerier face, Simon takes the Lord onto the ship and, taking up the oars, says to Him: “Sit in the middle, stranger.” He thought that he was carrying a simple rider, not realizing that he was carrying the One who carries all sorts of things. And Jesus, getting into Simon's boat, asked him to sail a little from the shore. When Simon, in the hope of receiving payment, sailed from the shore, Jesus, sitting in a boat, began to preach to the people. What did He preach? He preached unfeigned love, sincere faith, peace without deceit, brotherly love without division, incorruptible piety, selfless knowledge of God, immaculate virginity, endless perfection, indissoluble marriage; preached not to spare any labor for the truth, not to be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. When the Lord preached this and also added these instructions: “He who loves his life will destroy it; whoever comes after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me; “Thou shalt not acquire gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts, nor a scrip, nor a traveling stick, nor two coats of clothing,” - when the Lord preached all this, Simon, who thought that he had hired the boat to the Lord, hearing such instructions, began to be indignant and say to himself: “And from him I expected to receive payment! Failure haunts me day and night; what's wrong with me today? This one speaks of non-covetousness, teaches that no one should have anything. He will probably want me to sell the boat and give the money to the poor. And from Him I expect payment!” When Simon reasoned in this way with himself, the Lord ends his sermon in order to show a miracle and convince Simon. After all, it is difficult to convince an ordinary person of anything with words. When the Lord then finished the word and the whole crowd expressed their pleasure, then Simon, approaching the Lord, said: “Your words are beautiful, and Your voice is pleasant, and Your teaching deserves respect, but nevertheless fulfill Your agreement with me: order me to receive payment for the voyage, so that I too can go to my house, rejoicing with the people.” To this the Lord said to Simon: “Simon, do you want to receive payment as you just heard? Then “sail out into the deep and let down your nets to catch” (Luke 5:4) - and receive the payment promised to you from Me.” Simon to the Lord: “Again I will fish and pull out nets, again I will labor in vain? If only I could get something into my empty hands at night! After all, you are not more skilled than me in catching fish? Or did You put something in the dark abyss of the lake? You can be a teacher; but you can’t be a fisherman at the same time? Get away from me: I see that You have nothing. Why should I waste any more time? Isn’t that what I told you from the very beginning?” The Lord answered Simon: “Do not take Me for a foolish man, Simon; do not look at My hands and at My bosom. Your payment is not in my hands, but in my mouth. Having worked all night, you have not caught anything: Jewish pride is a night of deprivation. In the daylight of grace, let down your nets, for Christian obedience is the light of fruitfulness. “Sail out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Then Simon answered the Lord: “As You just heard, we worked all night and caught nothing, but at Your word I will let down the net. Having done this, they caught a great abundance of fish, and even their net was broken” (Luke 5:5-6). Wonderful thing! Caring does not betray Peter - “their network was breaking through.” And he looked at Christ, and watched the fish, and did not forget about the matter. I couldn’t get the heavy net out of the water and called for help. “And they gave a sign,” says the Evangelist, “to the comrades who were on the other boat, and James and John were there, to come help them” (Luke 5:7). They gave a sign, but did not shout, and these are sailors, doing nothing without shouting and noise! Why? Because the miraculous catch of fish deprived them of their tongue. As eyewitnesses of the Divine mystery that took place before them, they could not shout, they could only call with signs. The fishermen who came running from another boat, where Jacob and John were, began to collect fish, but as much as they collected, the same amount arrived. The fish seemed to be in a hurry to see who would be the first to fulfill the command of the Lord: the small ones overtook the big ones, the middle ones zealous in front of the larger ones, the big ones galloped over the smaller ones; They did not wait for the fishermen to catch them with their hands, but jumped into the boat themselves. The movement at the bottom of the sea froze: none of the fish wanted to stay there, because they knew who said: “Let the water bring forth living things that creep” (“let the waters bring forth creeping things from the souls of the living”) (Gen. 1:20). What then - Simon, who experienced two extremes at once, and, having worked all night, caught nothing, and during the day he received a full catch of Jesus' elephant? When he saw that the nets, overflowing with fish, were breaking, and that many fish, not yet caught in the net, were in a hurry to become his prey, not wanting to remain outside the nets, then, as if yielding to strength, he fell before Jesus, saying: “Get out from me, Lord! Because I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). Now I know who You are: I have never seen such fishing. It is natural, Lord, that the fish are kept inside the nets. And now I see something completely opposite: from outside the fish are besieging the net. Get away from me, I beg you! You have already fulfilled Your Divine promise; Leave at least two fish per tribe in the lake. Get away from me: I am not persecuting You, but I myself am aware of my unworthiness. “Get away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” The Lord said to Simon: “I will leave your vessel, Simon, I will leave. But I will enter into you: for this reason I came to you. While catching a fish, you yourself were caught; you have suffered what you do yourself. But you draw from life to death, and I from death to life. "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10). Leave the lake and catch the universe; break the stick and arm yourself with the cross; break the line and preach godliness; throw a hook and heal diseases; part with your nets and forge the heavenly keys; get out of the boat and join the church. “Don’t be afraid, Simon, from now on you will catch people.” Oh, the power of the Lord! Oh, the wisdom of Petrov! The caught fisherman did not say: “What kind of strange invitation am I hearing from the teacher? I will catch people. What kind of net will I take for this? And are such nets knitted somewhere - for catching people? Isn’t the word kidnapping me, having caught me with a fishing rod?” Simon did not say anything of the kind, but as soon as he heard the Vladyka’s call, he immediately obeyed: he did not sell the fish, did not want to take advantage of his luck in fishing, did not consult with his wife, did not say to the Vladyka: “Save my funds for me, Vladyka; I’ll pay off the suppliers and leave some for household expenses.” Simon didn’t say anything like that, because he was Peter in the full sense of the word. And not only Peter obeyed the command of the Master, but also Andrew, and James, and John; No wonder they were two fraternal and faithful couples. Did you see what the Lord did? Why did He come to the lake? In order to teach the people and catch the fishermen. And now you have heard what the Evangelist says: “And having pulled both boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him” (Luke 5:11). What about the Lord? You need to finish the word already. When He saw the zeal of the apostles, that they, leaving everything, followed Him, He hastens to confirm the matter so that the devil would not have time to fan any spark of unbelief in them, since people are changeable and fickle. After all, if the apostles had not seen any other sign, they could have said about the Lord: “Was it not in vain that we left our property and followed Him? And didn’t the gathering of fish happen due to some other incident, and not according to the Divine command?” And so, so that the apostles would not be defiled by such doubts, He had just departed from the lake, when in one of the neighboring cities, at a gathering of people, he opened the Divine Physician, and immediately with his one desire he cleansed the leper and took off his colorful clothes of leprosy, so that Peter and the other disciples would know that not only animate fish obey the Master’s command, but also soulless passions flee from His one wave. You just heard the leper cry: “Lord! If you want, you can cleanse me” (Luke 5:12). What understanding of the teachings of piety on the part of the leper! The leprosy that corroded his body did not in the least affect his right-wing faith. The disease was raging outside, but had no access inside; She ate the body, but did not reach out to the soul. The patient wore an offensive inscription on himself, but the companion of leprosy did not approach; He was full of leprosy, but he hated the lawbreaker - Uzziah. The synagogue repulsed him, but the church kissed him; Moses offended him, but Christ healed him. Here he is healed, and the gift must be taken there, according to the command of the Lord. Why? So that the philanthropy of the Lord Christ becomes known, and the greed of the money-loving Jews for money is revealed. So, what is a leper who accuses evil-thinkers? "God! If you want, you can cleanse me." I don’t say: ask, but do it yourself; I don’t say: pray, but heal. After all, it is proper for God to heal by his own will, and not by someone else’s orders. "God! If you want, you can cleanse me." I heard the prophet say: “Our God is in heaven; ...does whatever he wants" ("Our God... in heaven and on earth has created everything that He pleases") (Ps. 113:11). And so, since by your desire you brought everything into being and stretched the sky like skin, and spread out the earth like a linen, and in the interval between them you placed various types of creatures, then return to me my natural clothing, so that I may leave the law as burdensome and glorify grace as philanthropic in Christ Jesus our Lord, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.