The people, listening to the speech of Christ, were amazed at the words of grace; and being amazed, he mocked Him, saying, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" Meanwhile, what prevented Him from being worthy of wonder and worship? Do you not see what works He does? Do you not hear what words He speaks? In spite of this, do you mock His father? Of them, it could not be more justly said: "A foolish and foolish people, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear" (Jeremiah 5:21). What then does the Lord say to them? Of course, you will say to Me: Do in Your homeland the same miracles that You did in Capernaum. For this means: "Physician! heal Thyself." This was a common saying among the Jews, which they addressed to sick doctors. But I say to you that I would do many signs among you, My countrymen, but I know the common passion that happens to all, to despise even the most excellent works, as soon as they cease to be rare, but become common and common, and when all can freely enjoy them. For it is always the custom of men to take care of the rare and strange and to marvel at it, and to despise the general and the ordinary. Therefore no prophet is valued in his own country, but if he comes from any other country, he is surprised. In the same way, the widows of Judah did not receive Elijah, but the Zarephath woman did. And Elisha cleansed the foreigner from leprosy, because he showed faith in him, while his fellow countrymen did not believe him, and therefore were not cleansed. In the same way, you, My countrymen, consider Me worthy not of wonder, but of contempt, and therefore I do not do signs. But the inhabitants of Capernaum consider Me worthy of wonder, and I do signs, and I am accepted by them. Those who heard this in the synagogue were filled with rage, which is worthy of wonder, and thought to throw Him off the cliff. But He, having passed through the midst of them, departed, not because He was fleeing from suffering, but because He was waiting for a certain time. For He came to suffer for us; and now, when His preaching was still beginning, He was not to give Himself over to death, but to die when He had already taught enough. From this it is clear that when He was crucified, He was not crucified against His will, but voluntarily gave Himself up to death. "Know that the homeland of the prophets is the synagogue of the Jews, where they are in disgrace. The prophets are not received by her, but we, strangers, have received them. For the widow, that is, the church of the Gentiles, received Elijah, that is, the prophetic word, when there was a spiritual famine in Judea, that is, a hunger for hearing the word of God (Amos 8:11). Of this widow the prophet says: "She who is forsaken has many more children than she who has a husband" (Isaiah 54:1), and in another place: "Even she who is barren gives birth seven times, but she who has many children faints" (1 Samuel 2:5).

And he came to Capernaum, the city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And they marveled at His teaching, for His word was with authority. There was a man in the synagogue who had an unclean spirit of demons, and he cried out with a loud voice, "Leave it alone; what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Thou hast come to destroy us; I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God. Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent and come out of him." And the demon threw him down in the midst [of the synagogue] and went out of him without harming him in the least. And terror fell upon all, and they reasoned among themselves: What does it mean that He commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they go out? And the rumor of Him spread throughout all the surrounding places.

Since neither reason nor teaching attracts the unbelievers to faith, the Lord adds miracles as the most effective means. And so, he works miracles in Capernaum, for the inhabitants of this city were the most unfaithful and needed many miracles for faith. And so, when He has taught enough, and moreover as having authority (for He did not say, "This saith the Lord," but, "I say unto you," because He was not one of the prophets, but the true Son of God), then He adds a miracle, namely, He heals him who is tormented by a demon. The demon first reveals enmity, so that his testimony would be more reliable, then he gives testimony: "I know Thee, who Thou art Thou that art the Holy One of God." First He reproaches Him: "Why hast Thou come here to destroy us?" Then he caresses Him, thinking that the Lord, carried away by the caress, will leave him. But the Lord, teaching not to use the testimony and representation of the demon, says: "Be silent and come out of him." However, it allows the demon to overthrow a person, so that those present will know that he truly has a demon, to whom the words belonged, although the man's tongue was the tool. And they all said to one another, marveling at what had happened, and saying, What is this word, that is, what is this commandment, which he commands, come out of it, and be silent? "Know that even now many have demons, namely those who fulfill the wishes of demons; For example, he who is angry has the demon of wrath. But when Jesus comes to the synagogue, that is, when the mind is concentrated and not scattered, then He will say to the demon of wrath, hitherto uncontrollable: "Be silent"; and immediately he will come out of the man, throwing him into the middle. What does it mean to throw into the middle, know this: a man must not be completely angry and irritable, for this is characteristic of beasts, nor completely angerless, for this is characteristic of an insensible person, but walk the middle path and have anger against malice. Therefore, when the evil spirit throws someone into the middle, it departs from him.

And he went out of the synagogue, and went into the house of Simon; Simonov's mother-in-law was possessed by a strong fever; and they asked Him for it. Approaching her, He rebuked the fever; and left her. At sunset all those who had been sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and He, laying His hands on each of them, healed them. And the demons also came out of many with a cry and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of God." And He forbade them to say that they knew that He was the Christ. And when the day came, he went out into the wilderness, and the people sought him, and came to him, and restrained him, that he might not depart from them. But he said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for this I have been sent." And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

The Lord of all was nourished by the hospitality of the disciples, just as now He is received by Peter and heals his mother-in-law, so that He may teach you not to refuse the favor of the poor. Not only does it heal her of her illness, but gives her good health and strength for service. If we also accept Him, He will quench our fever, the fever of anger and unwillingness, and raise us up so that we will be able to serve Him, that is, to do what pleases Him. "Look, I beseech you, and the faith of the people, how even at sunset they brought the sick and were not restrained by time. He does not allow the demons to speak in this way because he does not need praise from the unclean, for "praise is unpleasant in the mouth of a sinner" (Sir. 15:9), and because he does not want to kindle envy in the Jews when everyone praises Him. The people are looking for Him, though He has gone into an empty place and is holding Him. But He does not limit Himself to one place, but says that I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities as well. Therefore, we should not be lazy, not be satisfied with one place of imprisonment, but go everywhere in order to benefit someone.

Chapter Five

Once, when the people were crowding to Him to hear the word of God, and He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, He saw two boats standing on the lake; and the fishermen came out of them and washed their nets. Entering one boat, which was Simon's, He asked him to sail a little from the shore and, sitting down, taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased teaching, he said to Simon, Sail out into the depths, and cast your nets for fishing. Simon answered and said to him; Mentor! we labored all night and caught nothing, but according to Thy word I will cast a net. When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and even their nets were broken. And they signaled to the comrades who were in the other boat to come to help them; And they came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down on the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, O Lord! Because I am a sinful man. For terror seized him and all who were with him, from this fishing of the fish they caught; and also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's associates. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; From now on you will catch men. And having pulled both boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him.