And he said to all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and to destroy himself or to injure himself? For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him, when He shall come in His glory, and of the Father, and of the holy angels. But I say to you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. Since Christ said of Himself that the Son of Man must suffer much, He adds something general and universal, namely: I am not the only one who will endure death, but all who wish to follow Me must deny themselves, have no fellowship with the flesh, but despise themselves. - "The cross" here calls death the most shameful; for there was no other death so inglorious as death on the cross. Therefore He declares that whoever desires to be His disciple must die not a glorious death, but a reproachable one, will be killed as one who is condemned. And since many are killed reproachfully as robbers and evildoers, therefore He added, "And follow Me," that is, exercise every virtue. - "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it", that is, if anyone wants to live in a worldly way, he will die in soul. - He is ashamed of Christ who says: "How shall I believe in a crucified and desecrated God?" And he is ashamed of His words who mocks the simplicity of the Gospel. The Lord will be ashamed of such a person "in His glory," that is, at the Second Coming. He says, as it were, "As a householder, having a wicked servant, is ashamed to call him his servant, so I will be ashamed to call him my servant who has denied Me." - Since He said above: "Whoever loses his life for My sake will save it," now, wishing to show what blessings such will be vouchsafed to them, He says: "There are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God," that is, the glory in which the righteous have to be. He said this about His Transfiguration. For the Transfiguration was an image of the future heavenly glory, and just as Jesus in the Transfiguration miraculously shone like lightning, so then the righteous will shine in the same way (Matt. 13:43). There are, he says, a few (John, Peter, and James) who will not die before they see in what glory My confessors will be. And they will see it during the Transfiguration.

After these words, after eight days, taking Peter, John and James, He went up to the mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the appearance of His face changed, and His garment became white and shining. And behold, two men conversed with Him, who were Moses and Elijah; appearing in glory, they spoke of His exodus, which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and those who were with him were burdened with sleep; but when they woke up, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. And as they were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master! it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, not knowing what I spoke. And as he said this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them; and they were afraid, when they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear him. When this voice came, Jesus was left alone. And they kept silent, and told no man in those days what they saw. The Evangelist Matthew says that Jesus ascended the mountain when six days had passed after these words (Matt. 17:1), and Luke says that eight days had passed. For Matthew speaks only of intermediate days, and Luke does not speak only of intermediate days, but also means the day on which these words were spoken, and the day on which the Transfiguration took place. - Jesus took only three with Him: Peter as loving, John as beloved, and James as burning with zeal for Him, or as being able to conceal the event, keep it silent and tell no one, - To pray, Jesus ascends the mountain; for we must pray in solitude, with ascent, without bowing down to anything earthly. - His appearance became different, not, however, as if He Himself had become different in essence, for He remained the same as He was, but the appearance of His face was much brighter than before. A similar thing happened with His clothing. For only her sight shone with lightning; the essence of the clothes did not change, but only the appearance. - When He prayed, Moses and Elijah stood before Him to show that He was not an opponent of the Law and the prophets. For if He had been an adversary, Moses, who gave the Law, and Elijah, the most zealous of the prophets, would not have allowed themselves to serve Him (like bodyguards), nor even to be with Him. - They spoke of the exodus which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem, that is, of His death. - While Christ was in prayer, Peter was burdened with sleep, for he was weak, and in serving sleep, he paid tribute to human nature. When Peter awoke, he saw the glory of Christ and two men. Finding such a stay here pleasant because of the light and the contemplation of the prophets, Peter says: "It is good for us to be here"! He thought that now the end of the world and the kingdom of Jesus had come. But he didn't know what he was saying. For then there was no end, the day of the kingdom and the enjoyment of the blessings which the saints will possess. Peter said this (it is good for us to be here) together and because he feared that Christ would be crucified. He heard from Christ that He must be killed and rise again on the third day; therefore he said this, as it were: let us not go down from the mountain, let us remain here in order to avoid the Cross and suffering; if the Jews come against us, then we have Elijah as his helper, who brought down fire from heaven and destroyed the fifty leaders; we have Moses, who smote so many such nations. He said this, not knowing what he was saying. For he thought that the cross was evil, and a painful one at that, and therefore, wishing to avoid it, he said this. Meanwhile, the Lord longed to be crucified, since otherwise the salvation of people could not be accomplished. - Then, as Peter also said: "Let us make three tabernacles," the Lord suddenly creates a canopy not made with hands and enters it with the prophets, in order to show that He is in no way less than the Father. For just as in the Old Testament the Lord appeared in a cloud, and Moses entered it, and thus received the Law (Exodus 19:9; 20:20-21), so now the cloud embraced Christ, and the cloud is not gloomy (for the shadow of the Law and the darkness of ignorance have passed), but a bright cloud. For the truth has come, and the grace of the Lord has shone, and therefore now there is nothing dark. - And a voice went out of the cloud, just as in the Old Testament the voice of God was heard from the cloud. - Jesus was left alone, so that no one would think that the words: "This is My Beloved Son" were spoken about Moses or Elijah. However, this perhaps also means that the Law and the prophets existed only for a certain time, just as Moses and Elijah were visible here, and then, when their time had passed, only Jesus remained. For now the gospel reigns, while many things that are lawful have passed away. - The apostles were silent and said nothing about what they saw. Before the Cross, it was not necessary to say anything divinely about Jesus. For what opinion would they have of Him who heard this, and then saw Him crucified? Would they not consider Him a deceiver and a dreamer? That is why the Apostles do not preach before the Cross about any of the miraculous and God-worthy deeds of Jesus. - However, we have said enough about this subject in the explanation of the Gospel of Matthew (see Chapter 17).

And the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a great multitude met Him. Suddenly, one of the people exclaimed: Teacher! I beseech Thee to look upon my son, for he is alone with me: his breath seizes him, and he suddenly cries out, and tears him to pieces, so that he foams; and forcibly departs from him, having tormented him. I asked Thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not. And Jesus answered, saying, O unfaithful and perverse generation! How long will I be with you and endure you? Bring thy son hither. While he was still walking, the demon threw him down and began to beat him; but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and gave him to his father. This man (of whom we are speaking) was a very unbeliever. Therefore the demon did not come out of his son. For unbelief overcame the power of the apostles. His unbelief and impudence are evident from the fact that he came before everyone to accuse his disciples. But the Lord declares that his son is not healed because of his unbelief, and rebukes him before all, and not only him, but all others in general. For by saying, "O unfaithful generation," he means by this all the Jews, and by the word "perverse" he shows that their wickedness is not from the beginning, nor from nature. By nature they were good (for they were the holy offspring of Abraham and Isaac), but they were corrupt in their wickedness. The words, "As long as I am with you, and will endure you," mean that He desires to accept death and wants to be delivered from them as soon as possible. For how long, he says, shall I endure your unbelief? - The Lord, in order to show that He has the power to overcome the unbelief of the Jews, says: "Bring your son hither, and having healed him, you have given him to his father. The demoniac formerly belonged not to his father, but to the evil spirit that possessed him; and now the Lord has given it to his father, who lost it, and then found it.

And everyone was amazed at the greatness of God. And when they were all amazed at all that Jesus had done, he said to his disciples, "Put these words into your ears, The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men." But they did not understand this word, and it was hidden from them, so that they did not comprehend it, but were afraid to ask Him about this word. The others were all amazed at everything that Jesus did, and not only at this miracle. But Jesus, leaving the rest, conversed with the disciples, and said, "All these miracles, and words about miracles, put them in your ears." For what? Since I am to be betrayed and crucified, so that when you see Me crucified, you may not think that I endured this because of My powerlessness. For whoever works such miracles could not have been crucified. But they did not understand this word; and it was closed from them. What was it for? So that they do not fall into sorrow before their time and are not troubled by fear. And so, God, condescending to their weakness and guiding them as if they were children, allowed them not to understand what was said about the Cross, and the reverence of the disciples, for which they did not dare, and were even more afraid to ask the Lord. For fear increases reverence, just as reverence is fear dissolved by love.

The thought came to them: which of them would be greater? And Jesus, seeing the thought of their hearts, took the child, and set him before him, and said unto them, Whosoever receiveth this child in my name receiveth me; but whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for whoever is the least of you will be great. And John said, "Teacher! we saw a man casting out demons in Thy name, and we rebuked him, because he does not walk with us. Jesus said to him, "Forbid not, for he who is not against you is for you." The Apostles were overtaken by a passion for empty glory. It seems that this passion was aroused in them because they did not heal the demoniac man. Probably, on this occasion they argued, each on his part asserting that the lad was not healed not because of my powerlessness, but because of the impotence of so-and-so, and from this a strife flared up as to which of them would be greater. But the Lord, knowing the heart of everyone, precedes and, before this passion grows, tries to nip it at the root. For it is convenient to overcome passions in the beginning, but when they grow, then it is very difficult to expel them. How does the Lord stop evil? Taking the child, it is said, he shows him to his disciples, letting them know that we must bring our mind to the state in which it is in childhood; for children are inexperienced in evil, very simple, and are not agitated by thoughts of love of glory, nor by the desire for primacy over others. - "Whosoever," he says, "receives this child in My name, receives Me." These words have the following meaning: although you think that you will be liked by many, and that you will be received by many in such a case, if you appear proud and glory-loving, yet I say to you that simplicity is especially pleasant to me, and that it is the distinguishing mark of my disciples, so that whoever receives a simple and gentle man as my disciple (for this means the expression "in my name"), he will receive Me. For whoever receives the proud receives neither My disciple nor Me. John, entering into conversation, said: Master! We saw a man casting out demons in Thy name, and we rebuked him. What is the sequence between the words of John and the words of the Lord? Very close. Since the Lord said that whoever is the least of you will be great, John began to fear that they had not acted badly when they imperiously and proudly rebuked that man. For the prohibition of someone reveals something in the one who forbids no less, but thinks a little more of himself than of the one whom he forbids. So John was afraid that he had not acted proudly in rebuking the man. "Why did the disciples forbid this man?" Not out of envy, but because they considered him unworthy to work miracles, since he did not receive the grace of working miracles with them, was not, like them, sent for this purpose by the Lord, and did not follow Jesus at all. What about the Lord? Leave him," he said, "to do this; for he also crushes the power of Satan. As long as he does not hinder you in the work of preaching, does not act in the same way as the devil, then he is for you. For he who is not against God is for God, just as he is with the devil who does not gather with God. - Perhaps consider the power of the name of Christ, how grace worked at the mere pronunciation of it, even though those who pronounce it were unworthy and were not disciples of Christ. In the same way, through priests, even if they are unworthy, grace works, and all are sanctified, even if the priest is not clean.

And when the days of His taking away from the world drew nigh. He wanted to go to Jerusalem; and he sent messengers before him; and they went and entered into the village of the Samaritans; to prepare for Him; but they did not receive Him there, because He had the appearance of traveling to Jerusalem. Seeing this, His disciples, James and John, said, "Lord! Do you want us to say that fire should come down from heaven and destroy them, as Elijah did? But He turned to them, and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of men, but to save. And they went to another village. What is the meaning of the words, "When the days of his taking drew nigh"? This means that the time had come in which He had to endure salvific suffering for us and then ascend to heaven and co-ascend with God and the Father. - When the time of His suffering and taking away from the world came, He decided not to go here and there, but to ascend to Jerusalem. The expression: "desired to go" (in Church Slavonic - strengthen Thy face) means that He determined, decided, set a firm intention to go to Jerusalem. - He sends messengers before His face to prepare some reception for Him. Though He knew that the Samaritans would not receive Him, yet He sent messengers to take away from the Samaritans any excuse, so that they might not later say that we would receive Him if He had sent anyone before Him. He did this together and for the benefit of His disciples, namely, that when they saw Him on the Cross in insult, they would not be offended, but would learn from the present incident that just as now He did not bear the contempt of the Samaritans, and even forbade the disciples themselves to stir up anger in Him against those who offended Him, so also then He suffers crucifixion, not because He is powerless, but because he is long-suffering. This is also useful for the disciples in the sense that the Lord by His own example teaches them to be not malicious. For they, looking at Elijah, who twice destroyed fifty men with their rulers by fire, and being still imperfect, stirred up the Lord to take vengeance on those who had wronged Him. But the Lord, showing them that His Law is higher than the life of Elijah, forbids them and leads them away from such a way of thinking, but on the contrary, taught them to endure offenses with meekness. - What is the meaning of the words: "But they did not receive Him there, because He had the appearance of traveling to Jerusalem"

For if the Lord had not had such an intention, He would have entered the village of the Samaritans even if they did not want it.

And it came to pass that while they were on the way, a man said to him, Lord! I will follow You wherever You go. Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head. And he said to another, Follow me. He said: Lord! let me go first and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead, and you go and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God." And another said, I will follow Thee, O Lord! but first let me bid farewell to my household. But Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." This one, who came to Jesus and asked permission to follow Him, came with a deceitful thought. Seeing that many people were following the Lord, he thought that the Lord was collecting money from them, and he himself came to the idea that he would make an estate for himself if he followed Jesus. Therefore the Lord rejected him, saying to him as it were: "Thou thinkest by following Me to make for thyself an estate, supposing that such is My life, but in reality it is not so; I teach and preach such poverty that I have no house of Mine, while other animals have holes. And thus rejected him. "And the other who did not ask for it, he allows him to follow." When this man asked permission to go and bury his father, the Lord did not allow it, but said, "Leave the dead to bury their dead." This hints that his father was an unbeliever and therefore unworthy to be nourished in old age by his son, who believed. Leave it to your 'dead' relatives, that is, unbelievers, to nourish your unbelieving father in old age and to the grave. For to bury here means to have care until the grave, since even in ordinary conversation we say: such and such a son buried his father, and by this we do not mean that he buried him and did him no other good, but that he had care for him until his death and burial. So let these dead, that is, the unbelievers, bury their dead, that is, your father. And because you have believed, then, as my disciple, preach the gospel of God. The Lord, having said this, does not forbid us to nourish our parents, but teaches us to prefer reverence to unbelieving parents and not to have any obstacle to virtue, but to despise nature itself. Thus, a man who asked permission to follow Him, but first to pay tribute to his household, He did not allow this, that is, to go to his house and give his due, or, to put it simply, to say goodbye. For such a person reveals in himself an attachment to the world and a lack of apostolic disposition; for the apostles, as soon as they heard the calling from the Lord, immediately followed Him, did nothing else, and even left farewell to their relatives. And it often happens that while a man is bidding farewell to his relatives, there are among them those who keep him from living a godlike life. For no one who takes up the spiritual plough and looks back at the world is capable of the Kingdom of Heaven. - By "foxes" you mean evil demons; they are also called birds of the air, that is, birds of the air; for it is said: "according to the will of the prince who dominates the air" (Eph. 2:2). Thus, the Lord says to the man mentioned: since the demons have holes in you, I, the Son of Man, have no place to lay my head, that is, in your heart full of demons, I see no place for faith in Me. For the head of Christ is faith in Him. Whoever believes that Christ is God receives the head of Christ. But the sinner is dead; He also buries his dead, that is, evil thoughts, by not confessing them. Thus, the Lord forbids those who intend to be His followers to bury evil thoughts and hide them, but commands them to be discovered through confession.

Chapter Ten

After this, the Lord chose the other seventy disciples, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place whither He Himself wanted to go, and said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send laborers into His harvest. You go! I send you as lambs among wolves. In the book of Exodus it is written: "And they came to Elim; there were twelve springs of water and seventy date trees" (Exodus 15:27). What happened then historically and figuratively has now come true in reality. Elim means ascent. This means nothing else than that we, ascending to the most perfect understanding and spiritual maturity, and not stopping at the Law, as the Jews do, but flowing into Christianity, shall find twelve sources, that is, the twelve chief apostles, who are the sources of all sweetest teaching. We will also find seventy date stalks, that is, (seventy) apostles. They are not called springs, but dates, as being brought up and guided by the apostles (supreme). For although Christ chose these seventy apostles, they were inferior to the twelve, and afterwards were their disciples and companions. And so, these dates were nourished from the springs, that is, from the apostles, and they brought us a fruit sweet and at the same time moderately sour. The teaching of the saints is indeed this: it does not entirely delight and caress, and does not entirely constrain and amaze, but combines both properties, and is truly seasoned with salt and united with grace, just as the Apostle Paul exclaims: "Let your word always be with grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6). The Lord chooses "seventy" disciples because of the multitude of those who need teaching. For as fields with a good harvest require many reapers, so for the believers, since they were innumerable, there was a need of many teachers. - The Lord sends them "two by two" so that they would be safer and help each other. They walked before Him, that is, like John, they taught: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Matt. 3:3). Notice how He said before, "Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send out laborers," and then He Himself sends them by His own authority. For He, as the true God, is truly the Lord of the harvest, that is, of the believers. - He tells them beforehand about persecution and that they will be like lambs among wolves, so that these, attacking them unexpectedly, will not confuse them with suddenness.

Do not take any bag, bag, or shoes, and do not greet anyone on the road. Into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house; And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him, and if not, it shall return to you. In that house you shall remain, eat and drink what they have, for the laborer is worthy of the reward of his labors; Do not move from house to house. And if you come to any city and receive you, eat what is offered to you, and heal the sick who are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God is at hand with you. Since the Lord intends to send His disciples to preach the Gospel, He says to them: "Do not take a sack, nor this nor that; for it is sufficient for you to be anxious for the word. And if you carry a bag, you will obviously be busy with it, and you will begin to neglect the word. In other words, since you will be nourished by those whom you will teach, what need do you have of a mark, or a bag, or boots? For those who are instructed by you will satisfy all your need of them. "And don't greet anyone on the road." Thus He commands them, so that they do not engage in people's greetings and caresses, and thereby do not put obstacles in the way of preaching. For it is probable that the one who received the greeting would have responded with the greeting himself, or perhaps he would have entered into a long conversation, as the companions usually do, and then, as if having already become friends, he would have talked about something still more, and thus the Apostle would have descended into ordinary human relations, and would have despised the word. For this reason, the Lord forbids the disciples to greet anyone on the road. - "Into whichever house," he says, "you will enter, first say, Peace to this house," that is, greet those who are in the house; Then, showing that this is not only a simple greeting, but at the same time a blessing, he says: if the householder is worthy, then he will be blessed, but if he is an offender and incapable of accepting peace, if he is an enemy and opponent of your word and teaching, then the blessing will not come to him, but will return to you. - He commands not to go from house to house, so that the apostles do not appear gluttonous, do not give many a breed to temptation, and do not offend those who received them at the beginning. "Eat," he says, "and drink what they have," that is, whatever is offered to you, and even if it be small and not rich, do not demand more. Take food instead of a reward, that is, do not seek to receive food and payment separately, but take the food itself as a reward. See how He makes His disciples strong against poverty. He commands to heal the sick in the cities, so that the apostles could attract people to preach by their miracles. For see what he says, "And say to them, The kingdom of God is at hand with you." For if you heal first, and then teach, your preaching will prosper, and people will believe that the Kingdom of God has reached before them. For they would not have been healed if some divine power had not done this. And the Kingdom of God then drew near to the sick, when they were healed in their souls. For it is far from the sick, over whom sin still reigns.

But if you come to any city and are not received, then go out into the street and say, "And the dust that has cleaved to us from your city, we shake it off to you; yet know that the Kingdom of God has drawn near to you. I say to you, Sodom on that day will be more pleasant than that city. If, he says, "they will not receive you, then go out into the street and tell them that we have nothing in common with you, that we have nothing to do with your city, that we even sweep away the dust that clings to us, that is, shake it off, cleanse it, and throw it at you; yet know that the Kingdom of God has drawn near to you. Here another will ask: how does the Lord say that the Kingdom of God has drawn near both to those who receive the Apostles and to those who do not receive them? It must be said that He does not contradict Himself in the least. For to those who receive the apostles, the Kingdom approaches with blessings, and to those who do not receive them, with condemnation. For, I beseech thee, imagine that at a spectacle there are many condemned and others uncondemned, such as senators, generals, and nobles, and then a herald all together, condemned and honorable, proclaims: The king has drawn near to you! Does he not say that the king approached some of them for punishment, and others in order to show them honor and favor? Understand it in the same way. "It will be more gratifying," he says, "to Sodom than to the city that did not receive you." Why? Because the apostles were not sent to Sodom, and therefore those who did not receive the apostles are worse than the Sodomites. Note also that the city that does not receive the apostles has wide streets; and the broad path leads to destruction. Thus, whoever walks the broad roads leading to perdition does not accept the apostolic and Divine teaching.

Woe to you, 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, sitting in sackcloth and ashes; but both Tyre and Sidon will be more pleased in judgment than you. And you, Capernaum, who have ascended to heaven, will descend to hell. He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me. Tyre and Sidon were pagan cities, but Bethsaida and Chorazin were Jewish cities. Therefore He says that at the judgment it will be more pleasing to the Gentiles than to you, who have seen miracles and disbelieved; for if they had seen, they would have believed. And you, Capernaum, who have ascended to heaven, as glorified by the many miracles that have wrought in you, will descend to hell; you will be condemned for the very fact that even after so many miracles you do not believe. - Then, lest those who are sent to preach should say, "Why do you send us, if some cities will not receive us," he says, "Do not be sad; he who rejects you rejects Me and My Father; therefore the offense does not stop at you, but ascends to God. Therefore, let it be a comfort to you that the offense is inflicted (not on you, but) on God. In the same way, on the other hand, do not boast or be exalted by the fact that some listen to you; for this is not your work, but mine's grace.

The seventy disciples returned with joy and said: "Lord! and the demons obey us in Thy name. And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning; Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you; However, do not rejoice that the spirits obey you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. The Evangelist said before that the Lord sent seventy disciples, and now he says that they returned with joy, that they not only healed from other diseases, but delivered them from an even greater evil - from demons. See how far they are from arrogance; for they say to the Lord, "In Thy name" the demons obey us, according to Thy grace, and not according to our power. And the Lord said to them, "Do not be amazed that the demons obey you, for their ruler has long been cast down and has no power." Although it was not visible to people, it was visible to Me, who contemplates and is invisible. Satan fell like lightning from heaven because he was light, archangel and Lucifer, although now he has become darkness. But if he fell from heaven, then his servants, I mean demons, what will they not tolerate? Some words "from heaven" are understood thus: from glory. Since the seventy told the Lord that the demons obeyed them, He said, "I also knew this, for I saw Satan fall from heaven, that is, he lost the glory he had and the honor." Before the coming of Christ, he was revered as God, but now he fell from heaven, that is, they stopped revering him as God and thinking that he lived in heaven. "Behold, I give you power to trample down his powers." For serpents and scorpions are hosts of demons, creeping things in the valley, and those of them that bite in a more visible way are serpents, and those that strike in a more hidden way are scorpions. For example, the demon of fornication and murder is a serpent, for it incites to visible evil deeds; and the demon who, under the pretext of illness, for example, inclines a person to use baths, fragrant ointments, and other bliss, can be called a scorpion, since he has a hidden sting and secretly tries to sting the flesh in order to lead the listener into a greater crime. But thanks be to the Lord, Who gave the authority to tread on them! However, teaching His disciples not to be arrogant, the Lord says: nevertheless, do not rejoice that the demons obey you (for from this others receive benefit, namely those who receive healing), but rather rejoice that your names in heaven are written not with ink, but with God's memory and grace. The devil falls from heaven, and people who live on earth are inscribed in heaven. So, the true joy is that your names are written in heaven and are not forgotten by God.