From this it turns out that Christ was not together with His kinsmen in the flesh, but they came to Him, for He, having left them, is engaged in spiritual teaching. In the same way, anyone to whom the ministry of God is entrusted should not prefer anything to him; and we must also leave our parents, if they unprofitably and in vain hinder us in the work of God, just as the Lord does now. When some have spoken to Him about His kinsmen, He does not make brotherhood among the few, nor does He give the sons of Joseph the honor that they were only His brothers. But since He came to save the whole world, and to make all men brethren, He says, My mother and My brethren are they who hear the word of God; then, since hearing alone does not save anyone, but only condemns, He says: and they do. For we must listen and do together. He calls His teaching the Word of God, for whatever He said, everything belonged to His Father, since He was not an adversary of God, so that His words would not be God's. Some understand this passage thus: since Christ taught and was glorified for His teaching, some, stirred up by envy, as if in mockery of Him, said: Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand outside, desiring to see Thee. Since His mother was poor, and His brothers were not glorious as the children of a carpenter, they, in order to disgrace Him as an ignoble one, pointed Him to His mother and to His brothers. But he, knowing their thought, said, "The poverty of relatives does not harm me in the least; on the contrary, if anyone is poor, but hears the Word of God, I make him My kinsman.

One day He went into a boat with His disciples and said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And off we went. While they were sailing, He fell asleep. A stormy wind had risen on the lake, and they were flooded with waves, and they were in danger. And they came and woke Him up, and said, "Teacher! Mentor! we die. But He arose, and rebuked the wind and the agitation of the waters; and they ceased, and there was silence. Then he said to them, Where is your faith? And they said to one another in fear and wonder, Who is this, that he commands the winds and the waters, and obeys him?

The Lord falls asleep with a special intention, namely, to give exercise to the disciples and to test what their faith is, whether they will remain untroubled by temptations. It turns out that they are weak. They reveal faith that is not perfect, but mixed with unbelief. For they believe that He is able to save, but how do those of little faith say, Save! we die. And if they had perfect faith, they would be fully convinced that it is impossible for them even to perish when the Almighty is with them. "He arose, and rebuked the wind." In order that His power might be more apparent, He allowed them to be confused. For we, people, usually remember more the deliverer who saved us from great danger. So He rose up and saved them, not in the beginning, but when they were on the brink of danger. You can also see a figurative meaning. The present event is an image of what happened to the disciples afterwards. The lake is Judea, upon which came a great storm of fury against Christ, such as the Jews raged at the crucifixion of the Lord. The disciples were also troubled, for they all forsook Him and fled. But the Lord arose from sleep, that is, He rose again, and the disciples again calmed down. For, standing before them, He said: "Peace be unto you" (John 20:19). Such is the figurative meaning of this passage. They say this not in the sense of doubt, but in a sense of wonder. It is as if they said: "Who is this," that is, how great and wondrous He is, and with what authority and power He does this?!

And they sailed to the land of the Gadarenes, which lies opposite Galilee. When He came ashore, there met Him a certain man from the city, who had been possessed by demons for a long time, and who did not put on clothes, and who lived not in a house, but in tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech Thee, do not torment me. For Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of this man, because he had tormented him a long time, so that they bound him with chains and fetters, keeping him; but he broke the bonds and was driven by a demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion," because many demons had entered into it. And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. A large herd of pigs was grazing on the mountain; and the demons asked Him to allow them to enter into them. The demons, coming out of the man, entered into the pigs, and the herd threw themselves down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.

Look: the demon is possessed by two passions of malice: insolence and fear. For the words, "What have you to do with me?" are characteristic of a bold and shameless servant, and "I beseech you" are characteristic of a fearful one. He lives in tombs, with the intention of instilling in people the evil idea that the souls of the dead become demons. The demons ask that they not be commanded to go into the abyss, but that they be allowed to live on earth. The Lord allows them to be on earth, so that by attacking people they will make them more glorious. For if there were no opposing ones, there would be no feats, and if there were no feats, there would be no crowns. Know a more figurative meaning. Whoever has demons in him, that is, demonic deeds, does not put on clothes, that is, he does not have the clothes of baptism and does not live in the house, that is, in the church, because he is not worthy to enter the church, but lives in the graves, that is, in places of dead works, for example, in the houses of the useless, in the toll-houses (customs). For such houses are the receptacles of wickedness,

The shepherds, seeing what had happened, ran and told the story in the city and in the villages. And they went out to see what had happened; and when they came to Jesus, they found a man out of whom demons had come out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; And they were horrified. And those who saw told them how the demon-possessed man was healed. And all the people of the Gadarene region asked Him to depart from them, because they were seized with great fear. He got into the boat and returned. But the man out of whom the demons came asked Him to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your house and tell me what God has done for you." He went and preached throughout the city what Jesus had done for him.

The flight of the shepherds was for the Gadarenes a reason for salvation; but they did not understand. They should have been amazed at the power of the Savior and believed in Him, but they, it is said, asked, that is, begged Jesus to depart from them. For they feared lest they should suffer some other loss, as they had lost their swine. But he who has been healed is an indisputable proof of healing. He became so healthy in mind that he came to know Jesus and asked Him to be with Him. Perhaps he feared lest, after his departure from Jesus, he would again fall into the power of demons. But the Lord, showing him that even though he was not with Jesus, but was covered by His grace, could be above the snares of demons, said to him: "Return to your house and tell what God has done for you." He did not say, "What have I done unto thee," in order to set an example of humility and to attribute every happily accomplished deed to God. But the healed man was so prudent that he told what "Jesus" had done to him. Although the Lord commanded him to tell what "God" had done for him, and he told what "Jesus" had done to him. Therefore, when we do good to someone, we should not desire to preach about him; but he to whom good has been done must declare it, even though we do not desire it.

And when Jesus returned, the people received him, because they were all waiting for him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, who was the ruler of the synagogue; And he fell down at the feet of Jesus, and asked him to come into his house, because he had one daughter, about twelve years old, and she was at the point of death. And as he went, the people pressed upon him. And a woman who had been suffering from an issue of blood for twelve years, who, having spent all her possessions on doctors, could not be cured by one, came up from behind and touched the hem of His garment; and immediately the flow of her blood stopped.

Jesus had just returned from the land of the Gadarenes, and the people were already waiting for Him, partly for the sake of teaching, and partly for the sake of miracles. And there came a certain ruler of the synagogue, neither poor nor outcast, but one of the first. The Evangelist also adds his name, so that it would be all the more obvious that the miracle is true. At the insistence of need, he falls down at the feet of Jesus. Even if he should fall down before Jesus without urgent need and confess Him to be the Eternal God, it still happens that sorrow prompts people to choose the best. That is why David also said: "Do not be like a horse, like a foolish hinny, whose jaws must be bridled with bridles and bits, that they may obey you" (Psalm 31:9). During the journey of the Lord, a woman approaches, guided by a very strong faith. Approaching, she touched the hem of the Lord's garment in the confidence that as soon as she touched it, she would immediately be healed. "And immediately the flow of her blood stopped." As if someone turns his eye to a shining light or brings brushwood to a fire, they (light and fire) immediately exert their effect, so the woman who brought faith to Him who is able to heal immediately received healing. For she thought of nothing, neither of the longevity of the illness, nor of the despair of the doctors, nor of anything else, but only believed, and was saved. And it seems that she touched Jesus first with her thought, and then with her body.

И сказал Иисус: кто прикоснулся ко Мне? Когда же все отрицались, Петр сказал и бывшие с Ним: Наставник! народ окружает Тебя и теснит, – и Ты говоришь: «кто прикоснулся ко Мне?» Но Иисус сказал: прикоснулся ко Мне некто, ибо Я чувствовал силу, исшедшую из Меня. Женщина, видя, что она не утаилась, с трепетом подошла и, пав пред Ним, объявила Ему перед всем народом, по какой причине прикоснулась к Нему и как тотчас исцелилась. Он сказал ей: дерзай, дщерь! вера твоя спасла тебя; иди с миром.

Господь, желая показать всем веру жены, чтобы подражали ей, и подать Иаиру добрую надежду о его дочери, обнаруживает то, что было сделано тайно. Именно: Он спрашивает о том, кто прикоснулся к Нему, но Петр как смелый, упрекая Его за такой вопрос, говорит: столько народа стесняет Тебя, и Ты говоришь: кто прикоснулся ко Мне? А сам не понимал, о чем спрашивал Господь. Ибо Иисус спрашивал: кто прикоснулся ко Мне с верой, а не просто так. Ибо как всякий имеет уши, чтобы слышать, и однако ж иной, имея уши, не слышит, так и в сем случае иной прикасается с верой, а иной хотя и приближается, но сердце его отстоит далеко. Итак Господь, хотя и знал жену, спрашивает, однако ж, для того, чтобы, как я сказал, и веру ее прославить, и начальника синагоги более обнадежить, спрашивает и таким образом жену выводит на средину. «Я чувствовал силу, исшедшую из Меня». Справедливо говорит. Ибо пророки не имели сил, от них исходящих: они совершали чудеса благодатью Божией. А Иисус, будучи Источником всякого блага и всякой силы, имеет и силы, от Него исходящие. Христос вдвойне врачует жену: во-первых, исцелил болезнь ее, а потом и страх души усмирил, сказав: «дерзай, дщерь!».

Когда Он еще говорил это, приходит некто из дома начальника синагоги и говорит ему: дочь твоя умерла; не утруждай Учителя. Но Иисус, услышав это, сказал ему: не бойся, только веруй, и спасена будет. Придя же в дом, не позволил войти никому, кроме Петра, Иоанна и Иакова, и отца девицы, и матери. Все плакали и рыдали о ней. Но Он сказал: не плачьте; она не умерла, но спит. И смеялись над Ним, зная, что она умерла. Он же, выслав всех вон и взяв ее за руку, возгласил: девица! встань. И возвратился дух ее; она тотчас встала, и Он велел дать ей есть. И удивились родители ее. Он же повелел им не сказывать никому о происшедшем.

Иисус, услышав, что некто сказал начальнику синагоги: не беспокой Учителя, то есть не утруждай, не проси пойти, не позволил начальнику синагоги сказать что-нибудь Себе, но упредил его, чтобы начальник синагоги не сказал: я не имею в Тебе нужды; несчастье уже совершилось; та, которую, мы надеялись, Ты исцелишь, умерла. Итак, чтобы он не сказал ничего такого (ибо он был неверующий иудей), Христос упредил его и сказал: не бойся, только веруй; смотри, говорит, на кровоточивую; подражай ей, и тыне обманешься. Господь позволяет войти с Собой только Петру, Иоанну и Иакову, как избраннейшим из учеников и как могущим умолчать о чуде, ибо Он не желал, чтобы оно прежде времени было открыто многим. Он скрывал большую часть Своих дел, быть может, по причине зависти иудеев, чтобы, возжигаемые завистью, они не были повинны осуждению. Подобным образом должны поступать и мы: если кто завидует нам, мы не должны обнаруживать пред ним наши совершенства, чтобы, поражая его оными, не возбудить в нем большей зависти и не ввести в грех, но должны, сколь возможно, стараться скрывать их от него. Когда Господь сказал, что девица не умерла, но спит, и смерть назвал сном (поскольку имел воскресить умершую, как бы от сна возбудить), то слышавшие сие засмеялись над Ним, что допустил Он затем, чтобы чудо было больше чудом; чтобы впоследствии не могли сказать, что девица не умирала, но спала, для сего Он устроил так, что прежде осмеяли Его за слова: «не умерла, но спит», чтобы заградить уста желающих клеветать. Ибо смерть девицы так была явна, что засмеялись над Ним, когда Он сказал, что она не умерла. Господь всех выслал вон, быть может, с тем, чтобы нас научить не любить славы и ничего не делать напоказ, а может быть, и с тем, чтобы внушить, что имеющий совершить чудо не должен быть в среде многих, но должен находиться в уединении и быть свободным от всяких беспокойств со стороны других. «И возвратился дух» отроковицы. Ибо Господь не новую внес душу, но повелел возвратиться той самой, которая отлетела от тела. Приказал подать ей поесть – для большего уверения и доказательства того, что она действительно воскресла. Можно это и так понимать. Кровоточивая есть всякая душа, в которой кипит и как бы ключом бьет кровавый и убийственный грех. Ибо всякий грех есть убийца и закалатель души. Если душа коснется одежд Иисусовых, то есть воплощения Его, и уверует, что Сын Божий воплотился, то получит здравие. Если кто будет и начальник синагоги, то есть ум, возвышающийся над богатством, собранным от любостяжания, но дочь его, то есть помысл, заболит, то пусть призовет только Иисуса и уверует в Него, и – будет спасен.

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