Chapter Nine

And having called together the twelve, He gave power and authority over all demons, and to heal from diseases, and sent them to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And he said to them, "Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor purse, nor bread, nor silver, nor have you two garments; And if you are not received anywhere, when you go out of that city, shake off the dust from your feet as a witness to them. They went and passed through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

And from this the superiority of the Divinity of Jesus is revealed. For He not only worked miracles Himself, but gave the same power to His disciples. And to communicate such gifts to one's friends, without any doubt, is possible not to man, but only to God. "Having given the disciples power over evil spirits, the Lord did not limit them to the use of this power only, but commanded them to preach the Gospel as well. The one who has been entrusted with the teaching department must both preach and perform miracles. In this case, the preaching is confirmed by miracles, and the miracles by preaching. For many often performed miracles by the power of demons, but their preaching was not true; and therefore their miracles are not from God. "The Lord, sending his disciples, commands them to be so moderate that He commands them not to take bread or anything else that many of us take for ourselves. He also commands them not to run from one to another, but to remain in whatever house they enter, so as not to appear to be somewhat fickle and very changeable. "Shake off the dust," he says, "on those who will not receive you, as a witness against them, that is, against their rebuke and condemnation, showing them that, although for their sake you have made many ways, you have not received any profit from them. — Some commandments to the Apostles — not to carry either a bag or a staff, not to have two garments — are understood in this way: do not lay up treasures, — for a bag, containing much, means gathering; do not carry a staff, that is, do not be angry and pugnacious; do not have two clothes, that is, do not be changeable in morals and double-minded in thoughts.

Herod the tetrarch heard of all that [Jesus] had done, and was perplexed: for some said that it was John who had risen from the dead; others that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. And Herod said, "I have beheaded John; Who is this of whom I hear such things? And sought to see Him.

This Herod was a small one, the son of the great Herod, who slew the innocents. This one was a king, and this one was a tetrarch. He wondered who Jesus would be. Nevertheless, John," he says, "I have beheaded, and therefore if he has risen from the dead, then when I see him, I will know; and sought an opportunity to see Jesus. Look: the Jews consider the resurrection of the dead in the life of the flesh, in food and drink. They think erroneously, for the resurrection is not in food and drink or in the life of the flesh, but the resurrected live like the angels of God.

The Apostles returned, and told Him what they had done; and he took them with him, and went away to a desolate place, near the city called Bethsaida. But the people, having learned, followed Him; and He, having received them, conversed with them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who required healing. The day began to turn towards evening. And the twelve came to him, and said to him, Let the people go, that they may go to the villages and villages round about for the night, and get food. Because we are here in an empty place. But He said to them, "Give them something to eat." They said, "We have not more than five loaves and two fishes; shall we go and buy food for all these people? For there were about five thousand of them. But he said to his disciples, Sit them in rows of fifty. And they did so, and seated everyone. And he took five loaves and two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and blessed them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, to distribute to the people. And they ate, and they were all satisfied; and the pieces that remained with them were collected twelve boxes.

Jesus, intending to perform a miracle on the loaves, goes into an empty place, so that no one would think of saying that the loaves were brought from a city near it. "Having received the people, He taught and healed, so that you might know that our chastity is divided into word and deed, and that just as we should not say what is inconvenient to do, so we should not do what is absurd to say. "When the day was turning towards evening, the disciples, who had already begun to be distinguished by their philanthropic and pastoral dispositions, took pity on the people and said: let them go, that is, quickly heal their illnesses, fulfill their petitions. And the Lord says to the disciples: "Give them something to eat." He says this not because He did not know about poverty, but because He wanted to make His disciples themselves tell how many loaves they had, and thus by confessing them, by announcing the number of loaves, to reveal all the greatness of the miracle. Commanding the disciples to seat the people in rows of fifty, he shows that when we receive a stranger, we must calm him down and take every care for him. He Himself gives it to the disciples, and then they give it to the people; this is so that they would not forget about the miracle, but would remember it at the thought that they took the loaves into their own hands. There were twelve boxes of leftovers, so that we might know the power of hospitality and how our wealth increases when we help the poor. "However, this is spoken of at greater length in the explanation of the Gospel of Matthew (see Chapter 14).