After He had spoken about food and saw that the Jews did not believe, the Lord went over to the Gentiles, for because of the unbelief of the Jews, salvation had to pass to the Gentiles. At first, the Lord tried to hide Himself, so that the Jews would not have a pretext to accuse Him, as if He had joined the side of the unclean Gentiles. However, He could not hide Himself, for He could not hide Himself and not be recognized by anyone. The said woman, hearing about Him, reveals fervent faith. Therefore, the Lord does not immediately agree (to her request), but delays the gift, in order to show that the woman's faith is firm and that she waits patiently, despite the refusal. Let us also learn not to immediately abandon prayer when we do not immediately receive what we ask for, but to patiently continue prayer until we receive what we ask for. The Lord calls the Gentiles "dogs" because they were considered unclean by the Jews. "Bread" He calls the good deed appointed by God for the "children," that is, for the Jews. For this reason he says that the Gentiles should not share in the good that is prescribed for the Jews. And since the wife answered wisely and in faith, she received what she asked. The Jews, she says, have bread, that is, all of Thee that came down from heaven, and Thy blessings, but I ask for a "crumb," that is, a small portion of Thy blessings. But look how the Lord works! He did not say, "My power has saved you," but what did he say? "For this word," that is, for your faith, "Go, your daughter is healed." Learn a useful lesson from this. Each of us, when he commits a sin, is a "woman," that is, a weak soul. Such a soul is a "Phoenician woman," as having scarlet, that is, bloody and murderous sin. Such a soul has a "daughter" – evil actions, demonic actions. Being sinners, we are called "dogs" full of impurities, which is why we are unworthy to receive the "bread" of God, that is, to partake of the most pure Mysteries. But if we humbly realize that we are dogs, if we confess and reveal our sins, then our daughter will be healed, that is, the works of demons.

Leaving the borders of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus again went to the Sea of Galilee through the borders of the Decapolis. They brought to Him a deaf man with a tongue-tied tongue and asked Him to lay His hand on him. And Jesus took him aside from the people, and put his fingers into his ears, and spit, and touched his tongue. And he looked up to heaven, and sighed, and said to him, "Ephetha," that is, be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the bonds of his tongue were loosed, and he began to speak clearly. And he commanded them not to tell anyone. But no matter how much He rebuked them, they divulged them even more. And they were exceedingly amazed, and said, "He does all things well, and makes the deaf hear, and the dumb speak."

The Lord does not tarry in pagan places, but soon withdraws from them, lest, as I have said, give the Jews a reason to say of Himself that He is acting unlawfully, mixing with the Gentiles. Therefore, departing from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, He came to Galilee and there healed a deaf and dumb man, whose illness was caused by a demon. He takes "him aside," for He was not a lover of glory, humbling Himself to our poverty, and not wishing to perform miracles before many, except when the benefit of the spectators demanded it. "Spitting, he touched his tongue" as a sign that all parts of His holy flesh were divine and holy, so that even spitting loosed the bonds of the tongue. Any spittle is an excess (of juices), but in the Lord everything is wondrous and divine. Looking up to heaven, the Lord "sighed," on the one hand, in prayer to the Father, that He would have mercy on man, and as an example to us, that we, intending to do some good deed, should look to God and ask Him for help in doing it; and on the other hand, he sighs out of pity for human nature, how it is so devoted to the devil that it endures such mockery and suffering from him. That is why, when the Lord healed, the healed also preach about Him, despite the fact that He forbade them to do so and commanded them not to say anything. From this we also learn, when we do good to others, not to receive praise from them, and when we receive good deeds, to glorify the benefactors and to proclaim them, even if they do not desire it.

Chapter Eight

In those days, when a great multitude of people were gathered together and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, "I am sorry for the people, because they have been with Me for three days, and they have nothing to eat." If I let them go to their houses when they were not, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar. His disciples answered Him, "Where could anyone get loaves here in the wilderness to feed them?" And he asked them, "How many loaves of bread do you have?" They said: seven. Then he commanded the people to sit down on the ground; And having taken the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them, and gave them to his disciples, that they might give them. And they distributed it to the people. They also had a few fish: having blessed them, He ordered them to be distributed also. And they ate, and were satisfied; And they gathered up the seven baskets that remained of the pieces. And those who ate were about four thousand. And he let them go.

The Lord had already performed a similar miracle before. He works miracles even now, having a favorable opportunity for this. And it came to pass that the people were with Him for three days, and the food they had taken for the journey was exhausted. For the Lord did not always perform miracles on food, lest it be thought that the people were following Him for food. Even now he would not work miracles, if the people were not apparently in danger from lack of food. But look also at the disciples, how foolish they are yet and do not yet have faith in His power, although they have already seen miracles! However, the Lord does not rebuke them, teaching us not to attack the inexperienced too much, but to forgive them as those who do not understand. Consider also the fact that Christ does not want to let anyone go hungry, but wants to feed everyone with His gifts, and especially those who have been with Him for three days, that is, those who have been baptized. Since baptism is called enlightenment and is performed in three immersions, those who are enlightened by baptism turn out to be three-day. The Lord takes the "seven loaves," meaning the seven most spiritual words, for the number seven is the image of the Spirit. The Spirit brings everything to fruition, and our life and this age are completed in a sevenfold number. The enlightened eat, and are satisfied, and leave abundance, since not all of God's thoughts can contain. Above, at the miracle of the five loaves, there remained twelve baskets of surplus, since there were five thousand, which signified those who were subservient to the five senses; therefore they could not eat much, but were satisfied with little, so that there was much left in abundance. And here of the seven loaves there remained seven baskets and a small surplus, since the people were four thousand, which signify those who were established in the four virtues; and therefore, as the stronger ones, they ate much and left little, for they could not eat only that which was more spiritual and deeper, and this is the meaning of the seven baskets. From the history under consideration, learn also that we must be content with only what is necessary, and ask for nothing more. For behold, these people, having eaten and were satisfied, did not take with them the remnants of bread, but the disciples took them, as was the case with the aforesaid boxes. In the same way, we should be content with what is given, according to our need.

And straightway he entered into the boat with his disciples, and came to the borders of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees went out, began to argue with Him, and demanded a sign from heaven from Him, tempting Him. And he sighed deeply, and said, Why does this generation require a sign? Verily I say unto you, no sign shall be given unto this generation.

After the miracle over the loaves, the Lord immediately went to another place, fearing that the people would be indignant as a result of such a miracle and would not think of making Him king. And the Pharisees demand a sign from heaven, for example, to stop the sun or the moon, to bring down lightning, to make a change in the air. They thought that He was not able to create a heavenly sign, having the ability to produce only earthly signs by the power of Beelzebub. But Jesus does not heed them; For for the signs from heaven have another time, I mean, the time of the second coming, when the powers of heaven will be moved and the moon will not give its light, but the time of the first coming has nothing of the kind, but everything is full of meekness. And therefore "no sign shall be given to this generation" from heaven.

And leaving them, he went back into the boat and went to the other side. At the same time, His disciples forgot to take loaves of bread, and had no bread with them in the boat except one. And he commanded them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." And reasoning among themselves, they said, "This means that we have no loaves." Jesus, having understood, said to them, "Why do you reason that you have no loaves? Do you not yet understand and do not understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, don't you see? Having ears, do you not hear? And don't you remember? When I broke five loaves of bread for five thousand people, how many full baskets did you take up pieces? They said to Him, Twelve. And when seven is four thousand, how many baskets have you taken of the remaining pieces? They said seven. And he said to them, How then do you not understand?

The Lord leaves the Pharisees as incorrigible people. For one must tarry where there is hope for correction, and where evil is incorrigible, one must flee from there. The disciples forgot to take the loaves according to God's special dispensation, so that after Christ's severe rebuke they would become wiser and come to know the power of Christ. For when the Lord told them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, that is, the teaching of the Pharisees, they thought that the Lord was reminding them of the leaven of bread. Thus, He justly rebukes them as not understanding the power of Christ, by which the Lord can make bread out of nothing. The teaching of the Pharisees and Herodians is called leaven for the reason that it was tart and filled with old malice. And everyone who is old in evil and cannot say anything spiritual to delight the throat of the hearer, has in himself the leaven of ancient malice, that is, a teaching that is poisonous and leads those who accept it only to repentance. But who were the Herodians? These are some newly-appeared teachers who said that Herod is Christ and that one should believe in him.

He comes to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man to Him, and ask him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, he led him out of the village, and spitting on his eyes, laid his hands on him, and asked him, "Does he see anything?" He looked at him and said, "I see people passing by like trees." Then again he laid his hands on his eyes and told him to look. And he was healed and began to see everything clearly. And he sent him home, saying, Go not into the village, and tell no man in the village.

Bethsaida and Chorazin seem to have suffered from great unbelief, for which Christ reproached them, as He says (Matt. 11:21): "Woe to thee, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the powers manifested in you had been manifested in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." Upon the Lord's arrival here, a blind man is brought to Him. But the faith of those who brought him was not pure, which is why the Lord leads the blind out of the village, and then heals him. He spits on the eyes of the blind man and lays his hands on him, so that we may know that the divine word and the action that follows the word can perform miracles: for the hand is the image of the action, and the spittle is the image of the word, since it comes out of the mouth. Therefore, the Lord does not suddenly allow him to see, but gradually, as a person who does not have complete faith, for according to the measure of faith, healings are also given. He commands him not to enter the village, because the inhabitants of Bethsaida, as I have said, were unbelievers, and that man among them would have harmed his soul; He does not even command anyone to speak about what has happened to him, so that the unbelievers will not be subjected to greater condemnation. And we are often blind in soul, living in a village, that is, in this world; but when we leave the village, that is, when we reject the things of the world, Christ heals us; after healing, He tells us not to return to the village again, but to go home, and the home of each of us is heaven and the monasteries there.

And Jesus went with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked His disciples: "Whom do people say that I am?" They answered: for John the Baptist; others for Elijah; and others for one of the prophets. He said to them, "And who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to him, "You are the Christ." And He forbade them not to speak of Him to anyone.

He asks them about Himself, taking them far away from the Jews, so that they would have no one to fear to confess the truth. They answer that some take Him for John, others for Elijah; for many thought that John was resurrected, as Herod also believed, that after the resurrection he also received the power of miracles, whereas during his lifetime John did not perform a single sign. Having asked them in this way about the opinions of others, the Lord then asks them their own opinion, as if to say: they think so about Me erroneously, and whom do you consider Me to be? What about Peter? He confesses Him to be the Christ foretold by the prophets. But what the Lord said in response to Peter's confession and how He blessed him, Mark omitted it, so as not to appear partial to Peter, his teacher. On the contrary, Matthew spoke about everything without omission. The Lord commanded them not to speak to anyone, because He wanted to hide His glory, so that many would not be offended by Him and through unbelief would not become guilty of a greater punishment.