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. —

For if the Lord had not had such an intention, He would have entered the village of the Samaritans even if they did not want it.

And it came to pass that while they were on the way, a man said to him, Lord! I will follow You wherever You go. Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head. And he said to another, Follow me. He said: Lord! let me go first and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead, and you go and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God." And another said, I will follow Thee, O Lord! but first let me bid farewell to my household. But Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

This one, who came to Jesus and asked permission to follow Him, came with a deceitful thought. Seeing that many people were following the Lord, he thought that the Lord was collecting money from them, and he himself came to the idea that he would make an estate for himself if he followed Jesus. Therefore the Lord rejected him, saying to him as it were: "Thou thinkest by following Me to make for thyself an estate, supposing that such is My life, but in reality it is not so; I teach and preach such poverty that I have no house of Mine, while other animals have holes. And thus rejected him. "And the other, who did not ask, allows him to follow. When this man asked permission to go and bury his father, the Lord did not allow it, but said, "Leave the dead to bury their dead." This hints that his father was an unbeliever and therefore unworthy to be nourished in old age by his son, who believed. Leave it to the relatives of the "dead," that is, the unbelievers, to nourish your unbelieving father in old age and to the grave. For to bury here means to have care until the grave, since even in ordinary conversation we say: so-and-so son buried his father, and by this we do not mean that he buried him and did him no other good, but that he had care for him until his death and burial. So let these dead, that is, the unbelievers, bury their dead, that is, your father. And because you have believed, then, as my disciple, preach the gospel of God. The Lord, having said this, does not forbid us to nourish our parents, but teaches us to prefer reverence to unbelieving parents and not to have any obstacle to virtue, but to despise nature itself. Thus, a man who asked permission to follow Him, but first to pay tribute to his household, He did not allow this, that is, to go to his house and give his due, or, to put it simply, to say goodbye. For such a person reveals in himself an attachment to the world and a lack of apostolic disposition; for the apostles, as soon as they heard the calling from the Lord, immediately followed Him, did nothing else, and even left farewell to their relatives. And it often happens that while a man is bidding farewell to his relatives, there are among them those who keep him from living a godlike life. For no one who takes up the spiritual plough and looks back at the world is capable of the Kingdom of Heaven. — By "foxes" understand the evil demons; they are also called birds of the air, that is, birds of the air; for it is said: "by the will of the prince who dominates the air" (Eph. 2:2). Thus, the Lord says to the man mentioned: since the demons have holes in you, I, the Son of Man, have no place to lay my head, that is, in your heart full of demons, I see no place for faith in Me. For the head of Christ is faith in Him. Whoever believes that Christ is God receives the head of Christ. But the sinner is dead; He also buries his dead, that is, evil thoughts, by not confessing them. Thus, the Lord forbids those who intend to be His followers to bury evil thoughts and hide them, but commands them to be discovered through confession.

Chapter Ten