Obviously, by this the Lord wanted to emphasize the faith of the pagans even more. He will not be imposed, but they will seek Him. Moreover, He will hide from the Gentiles, but He will not be able to hide. But he could not hide himself. The great faith of the Canaanite woman found Him. The people He calls do not want to come to Him, while the people who sit in darkness and the shadow of death seek Him, and find Him even when He hides from them.

Note, the woman does not say to Christ, "Have mercy on my daughter," but have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! Her daughter was mad; her daughter is mad; however, the mother prays to the Lord that He would have mercy on her herself. Why? Because in her madness, the daughter does not know anything about herself - she does not feel the horror and anguish that a mother experiences when she is in her right mind. These words at the same time show a great mother's love for her daughter. The mother perceives the misfortune of her child as her own. Whoever would have had mercy on her daughter, would have mercy on her, the unfortunate mother. And in this terrible situation, who could show any mercy to a mother without showing mercy to her suffering daughter? Without a doubt, because of the girl's madness, the whole house, all the relatives and friends of the family are saddened. No doubt their neighbors shun them, and their enemies gloat. The house became empty, like a cemetery. From it you can hear the screams of the possessed woman and her mad laughter. Can a grieving mother think and dream, talk and ask for anything else? Or perhaps she was aware of some sin of hers, with which she associated the misfortune that had happened to her daughter. That is why she cries out: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!"

But He did not answer her a word. It was not the custom of Christ not to answer people's questions and pleas. He even answered Satan, who tempted Him in the wilderness. He was silent only in response to the questions of His unrighteous judges and tormentors: Caiaphas and Pilate. So why doesn't He answer the pleas of this unfortunate mother? That the eyes of those who do not see may be opened, and that they may see what He sees. In order for a woman to show her faith in Christ as vividly as possible, so that all those accompanying the Savior may see and know this.

And His disciples came and asked Him, "Let her go, for she is crying after us." And he answered and said, I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. See how wisely the All-Wise Lord did not fulfill the woman's desire immediately and remained silent in response to her request! The disciples are already beginning to feel sorry for the poor supplicant. Let her go means either fulfill her request, or clearly refuse her, so that she does not shout after us. To this petition of His disciples, the Lord replies that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, that is, to the Jewish people. Why does the Lord answer in this way? Firstly, to show God's faithfulness to His covenant, and secondly, to evoke in the disciples the reflection that the pagans are also children of the Living God, that they too need help and salvation. Through this poor woman with strong faith, the Lord once again gives the disciples the opportunity to rebel against the narrow Jewish notions that God cares only for the Jews and that He is only the God of the Jews. The Lord deliberately speaks as all the Jews did, so that the disciples would reflect and come to the conclusion that the understanding of their people was erroneous; and the more erroneous it is, the more their people degenerate and fall away from God, and reject and despise our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ wishes to teach His disciples not only with the help of words, but also with the help of living events that take place in life. Instead of words, He uses the incident of the Gentile woman to teach the disciples an unforgettable lesson. It was precisely for this reason that He crossed the border of the Jewish country and came to the lands of the Gentiles, in order to teach His followers a lesson through this significant event. But now look at how the woman expresses her unshakable faith in our Lord Jesus Christ:

And she, approaching, bowed down to Him and said: Lord! Help me. She was sure that if Christ did not help her, then no one in the world could help. She undoubtedly ingratiated herself with all the doctors and used all the pagan medicine men, but to no avail. The possessed daughter remained possessed. But behold, the Healer of all torments and diseases! She had heard of Him, she believed in Him before she saw Him. And now, when she saw Him, her faith in His divine power burned more and more strongly in her. He can do what no one can. He can do anything, if He only wills! A woman believes unshakably that He can do this, and she tries to dispose Him so that He can do what is possible only for Him - Him and no one else in the whole vast world. Therefore, when He remained silent in response to her first prayer, and when He did not pay attention to her even after the request of His companions, she ran ahead, fell on her knees before Him, and cried out: Lord! Help me.

And he answered and said, "It is not good to take the children with bread and throw them to the dogs." Terrible words! But the Lord again does not speak from Himself, but expresses Himself in the language of the Jews of His time, who considered themselves to be the children of God, and all other peoples to be dogs. In this way, the Lord wants to evoke in His disciples a decisive protest against the Jewish evil exclusiveness. By this the Lord wants to awaken in the souls of the disciples the thought that He would later express in the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees, saying: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven to men, for you yourselves do not enter in, and those who would enter in you do not admit" (Matthew 23:13). Behold, those who were called children have become like dogs, and those who were considered dogs return and become children of God. But, of course, the Lord wanted to reproach not only the Jews, but also the pagans. The Jews called them dogs more out of malice, but there was a great deal of truth in this name. For the pagans in Tyre and Sidon, as well as in Egypt and other places, long ago gave themselves over to the service of demons, which are dogs, worse than any dogs. Christ does not reproach this woman personally, but reproaches her people and all the pagan nations, who serve demons through idols and other dead things, through various divination and through unclean sacrifices.

Then this extraordinary woman, who surpassed in her faith both the God-chosen Jews and the despised pagans, answered the Lord: "Yes, Lord! but the dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. So wonderfully does this humble woman answer! She does not deny that she belongs to those peoples who can be called dogs. And she, being better than the Jews, is not ashamed to call the Jews lords. She quickly understood the figurative and figurative meaning of the Savior's words. For great faith brings with it wisdom, great faith also gives the right words: so great is her meekness before the Lord and love for her sick daughter, that even the name of the dog does not offend her! Who among sinful people could really feel himself to be an unclean dog before the Most Pure Lord? Only the one who has a ray of faith in his sinful impurity. I am not worthy that You should come under my roof," said a pagan centurion to the Lord in Capernaum. And now this pagan woman is not ashamed to call herself a dog before the Lord. Until a person feels his sinfulness, he cannot take a single step towards his salvation. Many, many great saints of the Church, being purer and brighter than millions of other people, were not ashamed to call themselves dogs.

This is how truly awakened people realize themselves, who have sobered up from the drunkenness of worldly and carnal passions and seen themselves humiliated in the mire of sin. Until a person feels this, he lulls himself in the stinking cradle of sin and can neither see the need for faith nor believe. As long as the dog does not feel ashamed of being a dog, he cannot want to become a lion; And until the toad feels disgusted by the stench of its swamp, it cannot want to get up and fly after the eagle. The unfortunate woman from the Gospel story deeply felt the powerlessness of the pagan world, its humiliation, its impurity, filth, pus, and the shame of its entire existence. She yearned for something more powerful, brighter, and purer. And what she yearned for was suddenly revealed to her in Christ, and moreover in the highest measure and in the greatest splendor. Therefore she does not depart from Him; therefore she humbles herself to His words, because she belongs to the pack of dogs. Not only does she humble herself, but she admits it herself! But, feeling the unworthiness of her origin, she asks for at least a crumb of the bread of Life sent by God to Israel. This bread is Christ, and the crumbs are at least His smallest mercy. Hungry dogs, who do not even have crumbs, will be satisfied with crumbs.

Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman! great is thy faith; let it be done to you according to your desire. And her daughter was healed in that hour. Only when the matter had reached its climax did the Lord exclaim. Even if this woman had been Abraham's own daughter, she could not have manifested her faith more clearly than she did. Those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, have seen and heard. There was no need to wait any longer. Even Judas the traitor could see the great faith of the Canaanite woman. And Peter of little faith. And the doubting Thomas. The Lord did not utter such praise to any of His apostles. To which of them did He say, "Great is thy faith?" On the contrary, He once cried out to all of them: "Ye of little faith! And is it only once? Did He not reproach them, and once numbered them among an unfaithful and perverse generation (Matt. 17:17)? For this reason He brought them into the borders of Canaan, so that through the faith of this pagan woman, who knew neither the law nor the prophets, He might teach them great faith and show them the great power of faith. The Lord gradually taught His disciples in the school of faith. By this event in the land of the heathen He gave them a good lesson and thereby perfected their education. Look at the faith of this woman, who did not know anything true about this world and life in her own way! Which was taught that the sun, moon, animals and stones are gods! Who was born and lived in the midst of darkness, ignorance and shame. Who, finally, belonged to the evil tribe of the Canaanites, who expelled God from the Promised Land to make room for the people of Judah - once His chosen people. Truly, there is much that is instructive, there are many reasons to meditate on the ways of the Lord, and there are many reasons for the apostles and their people to be ashamed and repent.

The Apostles understood and assimilated this lesson, if not immediately, then later, were confirmed in the faith, sowed the faith of Christ throughout the whole world, laid down their lives and were glorified for this almighty faith. But have we understood and learned this lesson? Now the Church of Christ in the world is the chosen people of God, a new kingdom and a new priesthood. Look, then, in what contempt our Lord Jesus Christ is among the Christian nations! Look how baptized people have become not only a generation of little faith, but also an unfaithful and corrupt generation! How they believe in anything, more than in the Saviour, and seek support and help in their lives in the blind and deaf objects and elements around them more than in our Almighty Lord Jesus Christ! How terribly they have punished themselves for this, for they have become despondent and embittered, weak and miserable! Such were the Jews at the time of Christ's coming to earth. The Christian nations hold the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, but today they do not enter this Kingdom much, and at the same time they do not allow those who want to enter. For in the eyes of non-Christian peoples they behave worse, more maliciously, more selfishly, and more earthly than those peoples themselves. In this way they repel non-Christian nations from Christ and prevent them from entering the Kingdom for which these peoples yearn. Only crumbs fall from the royal table of Christ to these peoples, and they gather and consume these crumbs. But how can they, the pagans, be satisfied, if the Europeans and Americans, who sit at the royal table as masters, are spiritually poor? Will not the end of God's long-suffering come soon? Will not the Lord soon reject those who reject Him, as He has already done once, and will He not pronounce the elect to be the unelected, and the unelect to be chosen, the blessed to be cursed, and the damned to be blessed?

But what is left for us to do in this godless generation? For if it is God's will to change one election and replace it with another, if it is in His holy will to take away the kingdom from the Christian nations and to give it to others, if there is a punishment for sins at hand, yet with the rejection of Christian nations all Christians will not be rejected, just as with the rejection of the Jewish people all the Jews were not rejected. Those Jews who recognized Christ after the fall of Jerusalem were saved, as were those who recognized Him during His earthly life. For many Jews were baptized even later, and some of them became great saints of the Church of God. And those of them who turn to Christ today are saved, just as many of their forefathers were saved before the rejection and change of chosenness. For states are not so important to God as people; and nations are not as important to God as the salvation of individual living souls. Therefore, we should not be afraid and say: "If today's Christian states and peoples perish, then we will all perish." May what is destined to happen to states and peoples be done - not a single believer in the Lord will ever perish. There was only one believer with God in Sodom, the righteous Lot, and he alone was saved by Him when He allowed Sodom to perish.

So let us take as an example the prayerful constancy and great faith of the Canaanite woman, and let us not weaken in spirit for a single moment. Let us believe with constancy, constantly taking care that the fire of our faith does not go out. Let us constantly lift up our prayers to the Living God, both for ourselves and for the entire Church of God and for the entire human race. And faith – faith alone – will give strength to our soul and dispel in it all fear and all doubt, and prayer will clear our spirit and fill us with joyful hope, sound thoughts and ardent love. May our merciful and loving Lord Jesus Christ strengthen our faith and hear our prayer, to Whom is due honor and glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, One-in-Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of the Rich Catch of Fish

Luke, 17 rec., 5:1-11.