This man (of whom we are speaking) was a very unbeliever. Therefore the demon did not come out of his son. For unbelief overcame the power of the apostles. His unbelief and impudence are evident from the fact that he came before everyone to accuse his disciples. But the Lord declares that his son is not healed because of his unbelief, and rebukes him before all, and not only him, but all others in general. For when he says, "O unfaithful generation," he means by this all the Jews, and by the word "perverse" he shows that their wickedness is not from the beginning, nor from nature. By nature they were good (for they were the holy offspring of Abraham and Isaac), but they were corrupt in their wickedness. The words: "As long as I am with you and will endure you" mean that He wants to accept death and wants to get rid of them as soon as possible. For how long," he says, "shall I endure your unbelief? The Lord, in order to show that He has the power to overcome the unbelief of the Jews, says: "Bring thy son hither, and having healed him, thou hast given him to his father. The demoniac formerly belonged not to his father, but to the evil spirit that possessed him; and now the Lord has given it to his father, who lost it, and then found it.

And everyone was amazed at the greatness of God. And when they were all amazed at all that Jesus had done, he said to his disciples, "Put these words into your ears, The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men." But they did not understand this word, and it was hidden from them, so that they did not comprehend it, but were afraid to ask Him about this word.

The others were all amazed at everything that Jesus did, and not only at this miracle. But Jesus, leaving the rest, conversed with the disciples, and said, "All these miracles, and words about miracles, put them in your ears." For what? Since I am to be betrayed and crucified, so that when you see Me crucified, you may not think that I endured this because of My powerlessness. For whoever works such miracles could not have been crucified. But they did not understand this word; and it was closed from them. What was it for? So that they do not fall into sorrow before their time and are not troubled by fear. And so, God, condescending to their weakness and guiding them as if they were children, allowed them not to understand what was said about the Cross. For fear increases reverence, just as reverence is fear dissolved by love.

The thought came to them: which of them would be greater? And Jesus, seeing the thought of their hearts, took the child, and set him before him, and said unto them, Whosoever receiveth this child in my name receiveth me; but whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for whoever is the least of you will be great. And John said, "Teacher! we saw a man casting out demons in Thy name, and we rebuked him, because he does not walk with us. Jesus said to him, "Forbid not, for he who is not against you is for you."

The Apostles were overtaken by a passion for empty glory. It seems that this passion was aroused in them because they did not heal the demoniac man. Probably, on this occasion they argued, each on his part asserting that the lad was not healed not because of my powerlessness, but because of the impotence of so-and-so, and from this a strife flared up as to which of them would be greater. But the Lord, knowing the heart of everyone, precedes and, before this passion grows, tries to nip it at the root. For it is convenient to overcome passions in the beginning, but when they grow, then it is very difficult to expel them. How does the Lord stop evil? Taking the child, it is said, he shows him to his disciples, letting them know that we must bring our mind to the state in which it is in childhood; for children are inexperienced in evil, very simple, and are not agitated by thoughts of love of glory, nor by the desire for primacy over others. "Whoever," he says, "receives this child in My name, receives Me." These words have the following meaning: although you think that you will be liked by many, and that you will be received by many in such a case, if you seem proud and glory-loving, yet I tell you that simplicity is especially pleasing to Me and that it is the distinguishing mark of My disciples, so that whoever accepts a simple and gentle man as My disciple (for this means the expression "in My name")? he will receive Me. For whoever receives the proud receives neither My disciple nor Me. John, entering into conversation, said: Teacher! We saw a man casting out demons in Thy name, and we rebuked him. What is the sequence between the words of John and the words of the Lord? Very close. Since the Lord said that whoever is the least of you will be great, John began to fear that they had not acted badly when they imperiously and proudly rebuked that man. For the prohibition of someone reveals something in the one who forbids no less, but thinks a little more of himself than of the one whom he forbids. So John was afraid that he had not acted proudly in rebuking the man. "Why did the disciples forbid this man?" Not out of envy, but because they considered him unworthy to work miracles, since he did not receive the grace of working miracles with them, was not, like them, sent for this purpose by the Lord, and did not follow Jesus at all. What about the Lord? Leave him, he says, to do this; for he also crushes the power of Satan. As long as he does not hinder you in the work of preaching, does not act in the same way as the devil, then he is for you. For he who is not against God is for God, just as he is with the devil who does not gather with God. "Perhaps marvel at the power of the name of Christ, how grace worked at the mere pronunciation of it, even though those who pronounce it were unworthy and were not disciples of Christ. In the same way, through priests, even if they are unworthy, grace works, and all are sanctified, even if the priest is not clean.

And when the days of His taking drew near, He desired to go up to Jerusalem; and he sent messengers before him; and they went and entered into the village of the Samaritans; to prepare for Him; but they did not receive him, because he had the appearance of traveling to Jerusalem. Seeing this, His disciples, James and John, said, "Lord! Do you want us to say that fire should come down from heaven and destroy them, as Elijah did? But He turned to them, and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy the souls of men, but to save. And they went to another village.

What is the meaning of the words, "When the days of His taking drew nigh"? This means that the time had come in which He had to endure salvific suffering for us and then ascend to heaven and co-ascend with God and the Father. When the time of His suffering and taking away from the world came, He decided not to go here and there, but to ascend to Jerusalem. The expression: "I wanted to go" (in Church Slavonic, "confirm Thy face") means that He determined, decided, and set a firm intention to go to Jerusalem. He sends messengers before His face to prepare some reception for Him. Though He knew that the Samaritans would not receive Him, yet He sent messengers to take away from the Samaritans any excuse, so that they might not later say that we would receive Him if He had sent anyone before Him. He did this together and for the benefit of His disciples, namely, that when they saw Him on the Cross in insult, they would not be offended, but would learn from the present incident that just as now He did not bear the contempt of the Samaritans, and even forbade the disciples themselves to stir up anger in Him against those who offended Him, so also then He suffers crucifixion, not because He is powerless, but because he is long-suffering. This is also useful for the disciples in the sense that the Lord by His own example teaches them to be not malicious. For they, looking at Elijah, who twice destroyed fifty men with their rulers by fire, and being still imperfect, stirred up the Lord to take vengeance on those who had wronged Him. But the Lord, showing them that His Law is higher than the life of Elijah, forbids them and leads them away from such a way of thinking, but on the contrary, taught them to endure offenses with meekness. —