The Lord flees from glory, and it pursues Him all the more. When the people crowded around Him, He went on board the ship to teach those standing on the seashore from the ship, so that all were before Him, and no one went behind His back. And because He taught from the ship, He did not leave its owner unrewarded. He even favored him doubly: He endowed him with a multitude of fish and made him His disciple. Marvel at the Lord's vision of how He attracts everyone through a means peculiar and akin to him, for example: the Magi – by means of a star, and the fishermen – by means of fishes. Notice also the meekness of Christ, how He beseeches Peter to sail away from the earth, for he "asked," meaning instead of "begged," and how humble Peter was: the man whom he had not seen, he received on his ship, and in all things obeyed him. When He told him to sail into the depths, he was not burdened, nor did he say, "All night I have labored, and have gained nothing, and shall I now listen to Thee, and give myself up to new labors?" He said nothing of the sort, but on the contrary: "At Thy word I will cast a net." So Peter was lukewarm in faith even before faith! For this reason he caught so many fish that he could not pull them out alone, and by signs he invited his accomplices, that is, the companions who were on the other ship. He invited them by signs because, amazed by the extraordinary fishing, he could not speak. Further, Peter in deep reverence asks Jesus to disembark from the ship, saying of himself that he is a sinner and unworthy to be with Him. If you want, understand it figuratively. The ship is the synagogue of the Jews. Peter represents the image of the teachers of the Law. The teachers who were before Christ worked all night long (for the time before the coming of Christ is night) and achieved nothing. And when Christ came, and the day came (Romans 13:12), the apostles, placed in the place of teachers of the law, according to the word, that is, according to His commandment, cast the net of the Gospel and catch a multitude of people. But the apostles alone cannot pull out the net with fishes, but invite both their accomplices and accomplices, and drag them along with them. These are the pastors and teachers of the churches of all times; they, teaching and explaining the apostolic teaching, help the apostles to catch people. Pay attention to the expression: "cast a net". For the Gospel is a snare, which has a humble exposition of speech, simple and close to the simplicity of the hearers; That is why it is said that it is abandoned. If someone says that by casting a net the depth of thoughts is signified, then one can agree with this. Thus, the word of the prophet was fulfilled, who said: "Behold, I will send a multitude of fishers, saith the Lord, and they will catch them; and then I will send a multitude of hunters, and they will drive them out of every mountain, and every hill, and out of the ravines of the rocks" (Jeremiah 16:16). He called the holy apostles fishermen, and the fishers of the rulers and teachers of the church of subsequent times.

When Jesus was in a certain city, a man came covered with leprosy, and when he saw Jesus, he fell down on his face, beseeching Him, and saying, Lord! If you want, you can cleanse me. He stretched out his hand, touched it, and said, "I will, be cleansed." And immediately the leprosy went away from him. And he commanded him not to tell anyone, but to go and show himself to the priest, and offer a sacrifice for his purification, as Moses had commanded, for a witness to them. But He went into the wilderness and prayed.

This leper is worthy of wonder, because he has a thought about the Lord worthy of God, and says: "If you want, you can cleanse me." This shows that he thinks of Christ as God. For he came not as to a physician (for leprosy is incurable by the hands of physicians), but as to God; for He alone is able to heal from such diseases. The Lord "touches" him for a reason. But since, according to the Law, he who touches the leper was considered unclean, then, wishing to show that He has no need to observe such petty precepts of the Law, but Himself is the Lord of the Law, and that the clean is not in the least defiled by the seemingly unclean, but that it is the leprosy of the soul that defiles it, touches it for this purpose, and at the same time in order to show that His holy Flesh has the Divine power to cleanse and give life, as the true Flesh of God the Word. He commands the leper not to tell anyone about Him, in order to teach us not to seek praise from those to whom we do good; For the law was that the priest should examine the lepers and determine whether they were cleansed, and if the leper was cleansed in seven days, he remained inside the city, but if not, he was cast out, Lev. 13. That is why the Lord said: go, show yourself to the priest and bring a gift. What was the gift? Two birds (Lev. 14). What does it mean, "for a witness to them"? That is, in their rebuke and condemnation; so that if they accuse Me as a transgressor of the Law, they may be convinced that I do not transgress it, they may be persuaded by the command to you to bring the gift commanded by Moses. By the way, we can also say how these two birds were brought to God. One bird was slaughtered, and its blood was taken into a new earthen vessel; then both wings of the other bird were dipped in blood and thus released the bird alive. This depicted what was to come true in Christ. The two wings are the two natures of Christ, the divine and the human, of which one was slain, that is, the human, and the other remained alive. For the Divine nature remained impassible, anointed with the blood of the suffering nature and taking upon itself suffering. The blood of the Lord was received by a new earthen vessel, that is, a new nation of Gentiles capable of receiving the New Testament. Look: when someone has already been cleansed of leprosy, then he is worthy to bring this gift, that is, to slay Christ and perform the sacraments. For the leper and unclean in soul cannot be vouchsafed to offer such gifts, that is, to offer the Body and Blood of the Lord, united to the Divine nature. Take heed also to what an unspeakable advantage the Lord has over Moses. Moses, when his sister was stricken with leprosy, could not heal her, although he prayed much (Num. 12:10-15), but the Lord cleansed the leper with one word. Notice also the humility of the Lord, how, when the people wanted to touch Him, He was especially willing to spend time in the deserts and pray. In this way, He gave us an example in all things – to pray privately and to shun glory.

One day, while He was teaching, and there were setting the Pharisees and teachers of the law that had come down from all parts of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was manifest in the healing of the sick, behold, some brought a man on the bed that was paralyzed, and tried to bring him into the house and lay him before Jesus; and not finding where to carry him because of the multitude, they climbed up to the top of the house, and through the roof they lowered him with his bed into the middle before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said to the man, Thy sins are forgiven thee. The scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this that blasphemes? who can forgive sins except God alone? And when Jesus had understood their thoughts, he answered and said unto them, What are ye thinking in your hearts? Which is easier to say, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," or to say, "Arise and walk"? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, He said unto the paralytic, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And straightway he stood up before them, took what he was lying on, and went to his house, glorifying God. And terror seized them all, and they glorified God, and being filled with fear, they said, "We have seen wonderful things this day."

Before the gathering of the enemies, the Lord had to perform some new sign. Therefore, He heals a person who is sick with an incurable disease, so that through the healing of such a disease He can also heal the incurable madness of the Pharisees. First He heals the diseases of the soul, saying: "Thy sins are forgiven thee," so that we may know that many diseases are born of sins; then He heals the infirmity of the body, seeing the faith of those who brought it. For He often saves others by faith of some. And the Pharisees say, "Why does He utter blasphemy?" Who can forgive sins except God alone? They say this, condemning Him to death. For the Law commanded to punish with death the one who speaks blasphemy against God (Lev. 24:16). The Lord, in order to show them that He is the true God and does not pretend to be God out of vanity, convinces them with another sign. He himself will find out what they were thinking about in themselves. From this it is quite evident that He is God, for it is proper for God to know the heart (1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 6:30). And so, He says: What seems more convenient to you – to forgive sins or to give health to the body? Of course, in your opinion, the absolution of sins seems more convenient, as an invisible and unreproachable deed, although it is more difficult, and the recovery of the body seems more difficult, as a visible deed, although in essence it is more convenient. However, I will do both, and through the healing of the body, which seems most difficult to you, I will also assure you of the healing of the soul, which, although difficult, seems convenient to you, as invisible. Look: sins are left on the earth. For while we are on earth, we can atone for our sins, but after we have migrated from the earth, we can no longer atone for our sins by confession: for the door is shut. But we have spoken about this subject more extensively in the explanation of the other Evangelists (see Matt. 9; Mk. 2).

And Jesus went out, and saw a publican, whose name was Levi, sitting at the collection of taxes, and said to him, Follow me. And he, leaving everything, arose and followed Him. And Levi made a great feast for him in his house; and there was a multitude of publicans and others who were sitting with them. And the scribes and Pharisees murmured, and said unto his disciples, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matthew does not cover up, but directly declares his name, saying: "Jesus saw a man sitting at the collection of taxes, whose name was Matthew" (Matt. 9:9). But Luke and Mark, out of respect for the Evangelist, put forward another name for him, namely Levi. Marvel at God's love for mankind, how He steals away the vessels of the evil one. For the publican is the vessel of the evil one and the evil beast. Those who have experienced the cruelties of the collectors know this. For the publicans are those who redeem the taxes of the people, in order thereby to gain profit and pay their dues for their own souls. The Lord not only acquired Matthew, but also tried to gain other publicans, with whom He dined. For then He was pleased to eat with them, in order to attract them also. See what the Pharisees hear, who accused Him. "I," he says, "have not come to call the righteous, that is, you who make yourselves righteous, but have come to call sinners, not that they should remain in sin, but that they might repent. And in other words: "I have not come to call the righteous, because I do not find them, for all have sinned" (Psalm 13:1-3); if the righteous could be found, I would not come. And there is a publican and everyone who works for the peacekeeper and pays tribute to the flesh. A glutton pays to the flesh with viands, a fornicator with unclean ties, another with others. When the Lord, that is, the Word of the Gospel, sees him "sitting" at the collection of taxes, that is, not prospering, not going forward, and not striving for greater evil, but as if inactive, He will raise him up from evil, and he will follow Jesus and receive the Lord into the house of his soul. And the Pharisees, haughty and cut off demons (for Pharisee means cut off from others), murmur that He eats with sinners.

And they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often, and pray often, and also the Pharisees, while Thine eat and drink? He said to them, "Can you make the sons of the bridal chamber fast when the bridegroom is with them?" But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. And he told them a parable: "No one puts patches on old clothes, having torn them from new clothes; Otherwise, the new one will be torn apart, and the patch from the new one will not fit the old one. And no one pours new wine into old skins; otherwise the new wine will tear the skins, and flow out of their own accord, and the skins will be lost; but new wine must be poured into new skins; then both will be preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, will immediately want new wine, for he says: "The old is better."

We have spoken about this in the explanation of the Gospel of Matthew (see Chapter 9 and Mark 2), and now we will say briefly that He calls the Apostles sons of marriage. The coming of the Lord is likened to marriage, because He accepted the Church as His Bride. Therefore, the apostles no longer need to fast. John's disciples must fast, since their teacher performed virtue with difficulty and illness. For it is said: "John came, neither eating nor drinking" (Matt. 11:18). And My disciples, as those who abide with Me – God the Word, now do not need the benefit of fasting, because they are benefited from this very thing (being with Me) and are preserved by Me. But when I am taken, and they are sent out to preach, then they will fast and pray, as those who are prepared for great feats. And it is otherwise: now, being weak and not yet renewed by the Spirit, they are like old skins and old clothes. Therefore, they should not be burdened with any very difficult way of life, just as a new patch is not sewn to a dilapidated garment. Thus, you can accept that the apostles are likened to old wineskins as still weak, or you can understand that the Pharisees are likened to them.

Chapter Six

On Saturday, the first day after the second day of the Passover, it happened that He was passing through the sown fields, and His disciples plucked the ears of grain and ate, rubbing them with their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them; Why do you do things that you ought not to do on the Sabbath? Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he hungered and those who were with him? How did he enter into the house of God, and take the showbread, which was not to be eaten by any man but the priests, and did he eat it, and gave it to those who were with him? And he said to them, The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

The Jews called every festival the Sabbath, for the Sabbath means rest. Often the holiday was celebrated on Friday, and this Friday, for the sake of the holiday, was called Saturday. Later, Saturday proper was called the second one, as the second after the previous other holiday and Saturday. A similar thing happened then, and this Sabbath is called the second one. To the Pharisees, who accuse the disciples for eating on the Sabbath, "plucking" the ears of grain and crumbling, that is, rubbing with their hands, the Lord points to David, who hungered and ate the showbread. For he, fleeing from Saul, came to the high priest Abiathar and deceived him, saying that the king had sent him for a certain necessary work, and in hunger he took from the priest the showbread, of which twelve were offered every day at the sacred table, six from the right hand, and six from the left hand (Lev. 24:5, 6). He also received the sword of Goliath (1 Samuel 21:1-9). The Lord, reminding them of this story, shames them by David's act. If you, he says, revere David, how then do you condemn My disciples? And in other words: the Son of Man, that is, I, the Lord of the Sabbath, and as Creator and Creator and Master and Lawgiver, have the power to destroy the Sabbath. "Son of Man" could be called none other than Christ, Who, being the Son of God, for the sake of men miraculously deigned to be and be called the Son of Man. For there is nothing new in the fact that you and I are called the Son of Man, and it is remarkable that He, miraculously incarnate, is called the Son of Man.

And it happened that on the next Sabbath He went into the synagogue and taught Him. There was a man who had a dry right hand. And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him to see if He would heal Him on the Sabbath, in order to find an accusation against Him. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to the man who had a withered hand, "Get up and come out into the middle." And he stood up and spoke. Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you, What shall you do on the Sabbath?" Good or evil? To save the soul, or to destroy it? They were silent. And having looked at them all, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so; and his hand was as healthy as another. And they were furious, and said among themselves what they should do with Jesus.

What we said in the explanation of the Gospel of Matthew is known (see Chapter 11; Mark 3). And now let us say that he has a dry hand who does not perform any works of piety. For the hand is an instrument of activity, and whoever has it withered is undoubtedly idle. Therefore, whoever wants to heal his hand will heal it on the Sabbath. Explain. He cannot perform works of piety who does not first calm down from malice. Turn away first from evil, and then do good (Psalm 36:27). Therefore, when you keep the Sabbath, that is, rest from evil deeds, then you will stretch out your hand to the works of godliness, and it will be restored to you. It is proper to say: "His hand has become well." For there was a time when human nature had good activity and a hand, that is, an active force, healthy; then it lost it, and by the grace of Christ gained it again, and returned to its former goodness.