Never had such a phenomenon happened in Israel, - the people said in surprise. True, Moses, Elijah, and Elisha performed various miracles, but in what way? With the help of his faith, fasting and prayer, on the one hand, and God's grace, on the other. The Living God Himself accomplished great deeds through them. But Christ accomplishes all things by His authority and power. There is the same difference between Him and the ancient miracle-workers as between the sun and the moon: the moon shines with the light that it receives from the sun, while the sun shines with its own. The simple and unprejudiced soul of the people felt this great difference, and therefore the lips of the people confessed: there had never been such a manifestation in Israel. True, the Pharisees do not deny the wondrous miracles of Christ. If they could, they would deny them, conceal them, bribe false witnesses, as at the resurrection of the Lord; but they cannot deny what happened before the eyes of the crowds. Yes, indeed, they do not deny these miracles, but out of malice and deceit they interpret them in their own way. He casts out demons by the power of the prince of demons. More than once they said this to the Lord, and more than once He silenced them with a clear answer (Matt. 12:24-26; Mk. 3:22-26; Lk. 11:17-18). He said to them, "And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand? Truly, it is difficult for any reasonable person to come up with a more ridiculous, illogical, and stupid explanation of the deeds of Christ than that which was born in the darkened minds of the elders and scribes of the people of Israel. To cast out demons with the help of Satan! Is it not the same as saying, "With the help of a father to kill his children"? Or: "With the help of a military commander to defeat and destroy his own army"? But it is not in vain that they say that envy is blind. You can also say that she is funny and stupid. For envy not only hardens the heart and blinds the mind, but also entangles the tongue - and it does not know what it is saying; therefore everything that the tongue of the envious says is mad, ridiculous, and foolish.

Our Lord Jesus Christ paid no attention to this malicious impotence of the envious elders of the people, but hastened to continue His work, in order to save and preserve all those whom the Heavenly Father had given Him, so that none of them should perish (John 17:12). For at the end of today's Gospel reading it says:

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every infirmity among the people. A city or a village - He does not care. He does not need cities or villages - He needs people. In all the cities and villages, says the Evangelist, in order to emphasize Christ's zeal for the work. For zeal for Thy house hath devoured me (Psalm 68:10). For Him, truly, one day was like a thousand years. The work of Christ was threefold, as the words of the Evangelist show. He taught, He preached, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and He healed every sickness and every infirmity in people. Taught means interpreted the spirit of creation and the Old Testament law. Preaching means laying the foundation for a new creation – the Kingdom of God, the Church of the saints. Healed means that He confirmed His teaching and His preaching by His works.

And the Lord did all this out of love not only for the people of that time, His contemporaries – He is the Contemporary of everything that was, that is, and that will be – but also for us. May He light a lamp in our souls with His light, may He come out with His love to meet our faith, so that from this meeting of God's love and our faith the miracle of our salvation may be born: the healing of our spiritual blindness, our muteness and possession, of all our illnesses and every infirmity.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us! That we, too, may be vouchsafed to glorify Thy name in all the earth, in all the land of our people, and in all the land of mankind, living and departed. Thy Name and that of Thy Most Glorious and Eternal Father, with Thy Most-Holy, Good, and Life-Giving Spirit, is the Trinity, One-in-Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of Him Who multiplied the loaves in the empty place

Matt. 58 rec., 14:14-22

Everything that the Most High God creates, He creates purposefully. There is nothing aimless, unnecessary or superfluous in His works.

Why do some people move so aimlessly and indulge in such aimless activities? Because they do not know the purpose of their lives, nor the destination of their path.

Why do some people load themselves with unnecessary cares and barely crawl under the burden of unnecessary things? Because they forget that only one thing is needed.

In order to grant composure to the scattered human mind, wholeness to the divided human heart, unity to the disordered human forces, our Lord Jesus Christ from beginning to end pointed out to mankind one - and only one - goal: the Kingdom of God. The cross-eyed man, looking both ways, sees none! Ah, how aimless is the life of a mind that sets many goals before itself! What an insensibly divided heart! How powerless is wasted will-power!

Only one thing is needed - the Kingdom of God! Christ the Wonderworker strove to direct the eyes of all mankind to this one point. Whoever looks at this one point has one thought - God, one feeling - love, one aspiration - to draw closer to God. Blessed is he who has gathered himself in this way - he is like a magnifying glass, which, gathering a multitude of sunlight, can kindle a fire.

The words which the Lord said to Martha: Martha! Martha! Thou hast cared and fussed about many things, but only one thing is necessary (Luke 10:41-42) - in fact uttered as a reproach and a reminder to all mankind. And this alone is the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). Everything that the Lord has said and everything that He has created is directed only to this point and only to this goal. Only at this point is all the flame gathered, shining on travelers wandering through the gorges and rapids of temporal life.

Everything in the Lord is purposeful – that is, everything is directed towards this highest, single goal – everything is appropriate and everything is necessary: both words spoken and deeds created. And not a single superfluous word, not a single inexpedient action! And what fruitfulness both of His words and of His deeds! Millions and millions of times His every word and every deed has borne fruit and is still fruitful. And how sweet, fragrant, and life-giving is this fruit!