True, the Jews did say a good word to Christ about the centurion: he is worthy that You should do this for him, for he loves our people and has built us a synagogue. But all that they said does not touch the essence of things. They evaluate the centurion's kindness by their personal self-interest, which they had from him. He loves our people. Other Roman officers and officials despised the Jews. This one loved them and built a synagogue. They want to say: "I spent my money and saved ours. He built us the necessary prayer room, which otherwise we ourselves would have had to build and pay for." They speak as if they are talking to Caiaphas and not to Christ. Christ did not answer them, but silently went with them. Then the centurion's friends approached Christ, and finally the centurion himself.

Meeting Christ face to face, the centurion, of course, repeated everything that had already been communicated to the Lord. Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." See how He who has authority and power speaks! He does not say, "Let us see!" and does not ask him, as others do, "Do you believe that I can do this?" because he already sees the centurion's heart and knows his faith. And the Lord speaks to him with a determination with which no physician has ever dared to speak. And so decisively and clearly He answered the centurion intentionally, in order to provoke his subsequent answer in the presence of the Jews. For when God creates anything, He does it in such a way that it may benefit not only but many. Christ wanted to use this event in many ways: to heal the sick, and to reveal the great faith of the centurion, and to reproach the Jews for their unbelief, and to pronounce an important prophecy about the Kingdom: about those who are sure that they will enter it, but will not enter; and of those who do not think to enter in, but will enter.

And the centurion, answering, said, Lord! I am not worthy that Thou should come under my roof, but speak only the word, and my servant shall recover. What a great difference there is between this ardent faith of the heart and the cold legalistic beliefs of the Pharisees! The difference is no less than between a burning fire and a fire drawn on paper. When one of the Pharisees called Christ into his house to partake of food, he thought in his legalistic pride that it was not the Lord who honored him and his house by entering under his roof, but that he himself was honoring the Lord by inviting Him. And in this pride and arrogance, the Pharisee neglected even the accepted customs of hospitality: he did not give his Guest water to wash his feet, did not greet him with a kiss, and did not anoint His head with fragrant oil (see Luke 7:44-46). And how contrite and humble is this "pagan" before the Lord, who was not given to know either Moses or the prophets, and to whom his natural mind served as the only lamp for discerning truth and falsehood, good and evil! He knows that it is an honor for every other person in Capernaum to enter his house, but in Christ he sees not an ordinary man, but God Himself. Wherefore he saith, I am not worthy that Thou should come under my roof. How strong is faith in Christ and His power! Speak only the word, and the sickness will disappear, and my servant will rise! Even the Apostle Peter himself could not acquire such a strong faith for a long, long time. The centurion feels in the presence of Christ the presence of heaven itself, heavenly fire and heavenly light. Why should such a fire enter under its roof, when one spark is enough? Why bring the whole sun into the house when one ray is enough? If the centurion had known the Holy Scriptures as we know them today, he would have said to Christ: "You, Who created the world and man with the word, can heal the sick with a word! Your smallest word is enough, for it is stronger than fire and brighter than a ray of sunshine, just say the word." Oh, how the strong faith of this pagan should shame today many of us, who know the Holy Scriptures a hundred times better, but also have a hundred times less faith!

However, the centurion does not confine himself to these words, but continues, in order to explain his faith in the power of Jesus: "For I am a subject man, but having soldiers under my command, I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and come; And to my servant, Do this, and he does. What is a centurion? He has a hundred people under his command, and he himself is subordinate to another hundred. But those who obey him are obliged to obey him. And if he, a man subject to authority, who personally has little power, can command his soldiers and servants, how much more can Christ, who is subject to no one and Himself is the supreme authority for nature and people. And if so many people submit to the weak word of the centurion, how can all things not be subject to the word of God, which is as strong as life, sharp as a sword, and terrible as a scourge (Deuteronomy 32:46-47; John 12:50; Ephesians 6:17; Proverbs 2:6-7; Job 5:21)? Who are the soldiers of Christ and his servants? Is not life with all creatures the army of Christ? Are not angels, saints, and all God-fearing people soldiers of Christ? And all the powers of nature, death and sickness, are they not servants of Christ? The Lord commands life: "Go into this or that creature," and life goes on. "Come back," and life returns. He gives life, He allows death and sickness, He resurrects and He heals. At His word, the angelic powers bow down like a flame from a strong wind. For He spoke, and was, He commanded, and was created (Psalm 32:9). No one can overcome His powers, just as nothing dares to resist His word. Never did a man speak like this Man (John 7:46). For He did not speak as one who was under authority, but as a Lord, as one who had authority (Matt. 7:29). As such, the centurion asked Him: "Speak only a word, and my servant shall recover." To deliver a paralytic acolyte from illness is a deed that no mortal man on earth can do, but for Christ it is not a great deed. For such a deed, He does not need to trouble Himself and personally go to the centurion's house, He does not need to see the sick, He does not need to take him by the hand and lift him up. Let him just say the word, and the deed will be done. Such were the centurion's thoughts about Christ, and such was his faith in Christ.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed, and said to those who followed him, "Verily I say unto you, and in Israel I have not found such faith." Why was Christ surprised if He knew in advance what the centurion would answer Him? And did He not Himself evoke such an answer by His unusual words: why was He now surprised? He was amazed, in order to bring to reason those who follow Him. I was surprised to show them what in this world they should be surprised at. He was amazed at the great faith of man, so that He might teach His followers to marvel at the great faith. Truly, nothing in this world is worthy of such wonder as the great faith of man. Christ was not amazed at the beauty of the Lake of Galilee, for what is this beauty worth in comparison with the beauty of heaven, which He knows? And He was never amazed at the wisdom of men, nor at riches, nor at power, for all these are insignificant in comparison with the riches, wisdom, and power known to Him in the Kingdom of God. And He was never amazed at the great concourse of the people to Jerusalem for the feast, for the earthly crowd is insignificant and poor in comparison with the radiant angelic assembly which He beheld from the creation of the world. When others marveled at the beauty of Solomon's temple, He described the destruction of that temple to its foundations. Only great human faith is worthy of wonder. It is the greatest and most beautiful thing on earth. For by faith the slave becomes free, the hireling the son of God, and the mortal man immortal. When righteous Job lay in pus and sores on the ashes left of all his wealth and all his children, his faith in God remained unshaken. And in the midst of pus and sores he cried out: "But I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will raise up from the dust this disintegrating skin of mine at the last day, and I will see God in my flesh." I will see Him myself: my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him (Job 19:25-27).

To whom did the Lord express His surprise? Those who follow Him. These are His holy apostles. In order to admonish them, He was amazed. Of course, the other Jews who went with Him to the centurion's house heard these words, with which the Lord expressed His surprise: "Verily I say to you, I have not found such faith in Israel." That is, he did not find in the Jewish people, who should have had a stronger faith than all the other nations on earth, for it was to them from the very beginning, through innumerable signs and wonders, and through the fiery words of His prophets, that the Lord God revealed His power and might, His care and love. But in Israel, faith was almost completely exhausted, and the chosen sons rebelled against the Father and were separated from Him in mind and heart, so much so that their minds were blinded and their hearts hardened. Even His apostles in the beginning, including Peter and not to mention Judas, did not have such faith in Christ as this Roman officer; neither the sisters of Lazarus, in whose house Christ often visited, nor His relatives and friends in Nazareth, among whom He grew up, had such faith.

Now the Lord, piercing with His spirit to the end of time, pronounces a prophecy that is sorrowful for the Jews and joyful for the Gentile nations:

But I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This prophecy has been largely fulfilled today, and it continues to be fulfilled now. In the east and in the west of the Jewish people lived pagan nations. (The Lord did not say many Gentiles, but only many from the East and West, although it is clear that He meant the Gentiles. "In order not to stir up the Jews, for this reason he speaks cautiously from the east and west." Theophylact). Many of them completely converted to the faith of Christ, as, for example, the Armenians and Abyssinians, the Greeks and Romans, and all the peoples of Europe; Other peoples have only partially become Christian: for example, Arabs and Egyptians, Indians and Persians, Chinese and Japanese, Ethiopians and Malays. At the same time, the Jews, to whom the Kingdom was first offered, continue to persist in their disbelief in Christ to this day. And for this reason they are more scattered throughout the world than all other nations, driven from their places, despised and hated by the peoples among whom they have settled as strangers. Thus, their life on earth became outer darkness and gnashing of teeth. The word pitch-black means external, or external. "Inasmuch as he whom the Lord drives out, as if outside the doors, will be deprived of light, for this reason darkness is called outward darkness" (Jerome).

But in essence it means excommunication and complete separation from God: staying in a distant land, even further away than the one in which the prodigal son suffered from hunger and, being in need, envied even the food of swine. And in the other world there will be at the immortal table of their own forefathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - more people from all corners of the world, of all races and all languages than of them, the Jews. And there shall be darkness in that world for the unfaithful sons of the kingdom: darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. The Householder uproots the dried vineyard and throws the vines into the fire, and in its place he plants and grafts wild grapes. The Heavenly Father excommunicates His rebellious sons from Himself forever, and in their place He adopts His hirelings. And so the elect become the unelected, and the unelect become the elect, the former last, and the latter the first.

And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and as thou hast believed, let it be done unto thee. And his servant recovered in that hour. After He has prophesied, He performs a miracle. As if by this miracle He wants not only to reward the centurion for his faith, but also to confirm His great prophecy. He spoke, and the servant recovered. As God said in the first creation, "And it was so," so now, in the new creation, the Lord spoke only a word, and it was so. A paralytic man, whom the entire Roman Empire could not have saved, gets up and recovers by the Divine word of the Savior alone. Sickness is the servant of God, and when the Lord says, Go, it is coming; and when He says, Come, she comes. Without medicines and potions, the sick man recovered, for the servant knew the command of his Lord, and he knew and fled. It is not medicines and potions that heal, but God. God heals, either directly, by His word, or through medicines and potions, according to the less or more faith of the sick person. There is no remedy for any disease in the entire vast world that could drive away illness and restore health without the power of God, without the presence of God, without the word of God.

Praise be to the living God for His innumerable healings of the faithful by His mighty word, both past and present. Let us worship His holy and all-powerful word, by which He creates new things, heals the sick, raises up the fallen, glorifies the despised, strengthens the faithful and converts the unbelievers, and all this is for the sake of Jesus Christ, His Only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us, then, together with the host of angels and saints, worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, One-in-Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of the Salvation of Man and the Death of Pigs

Matt. 28 rec., 8:28 - 9:1.

People committed unrighteousness before God, and then they became angry with Him. Oh, people, Who has the right to be angry with whom?