Who, finally, through His inspired prophets, proclaimed - little by little in the course of thousands of years of human history - the coming to earth of the One, mysterious and manifest, Who will have full and abundant power over nature and its order.

And, indeed, the age-old prophecies came true when God the Word appeared on earth as the Miracle Worker, as the Expeller of demons, the Lover of mankind, the Healer of diseases, the Opener of paradise. At once mysterious and manifest, He stood face to face with nature, not as inferior to nature, nor as its equal, but as the Lord of nature. And no one else, less than Him, was needed by the human race. No one else and weaker could be either the Messiah or the Savior of people from the powers of demons, from sin, from death. No one has ever been able to restore to people the dignity of rulers over nature and the natural order.

He did not even want to be born in the natural order, of his father and mother, but only of his mother. He was born of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, the only Person chosen and destined for this one role in the history of the world. Even His Forerunner, St. John the Baptist, was not born quite according to nature: although from a father and mother, they were barren and aged. It is said about the Lord Jesus in the church hymn: "Thou didst appear, as Thou didst will, Thou wast born, as Thou didst will." Every birth is in His power.

The star in the east shone when He was born, a strange star. We have seen His star in the east, said the wise astrologers, inquiring about the new King. It was, therefore, His star; it is not that others are not His, all is His, but this eastern star is called His star because of its extraordinary radiance and service intended for Him. The service of this star was to announce to the wise people in the east that a new King had been born, and to lead them to Bethlehem, the place where He was born. The stars, therefore, are in His power and in His service.

To own one's body means to own nature. In this, too, the Savior of the world showed Himself to be the Lord of nature. For forty days and forty nights He fasted, without any drink or bodily food.

He turned water into wine - doesn't this show power over nature? At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, the host did not have enough wine. Then Jesus commanded that six large vessels be filled with water. And when this was done, that water was transformed into wine, and into the best wine. It is not said that the Lord touched the water with His most pure hands, with which He opened the sight of the blind, or that He uttered any word, such as, say: "Let this water be wine!" No nothing. He only commanded in his mind, and nature felt its Lord, and the water turned into wine (John 2:1-11).

To calm the storm at sea and, in a word, to stop the strong wind - doesn't this also show the power over nature? And a great storm arose; the waves were hitting the boat, so that it was already filled with water. And He slept in the stern... They woke Him up and said to Him: "Teacher! Is there no need of Thee that we are perishing? And having risen, He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Be still, cease. And the wind died down, and there was a great silence... And they were afraid with great fear, and said among themselves, Who is this, that both the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:37-39, 41). Thus the apostles asked. But both then and later they became convinced that this was Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Lord of nature and of all order in nature.

To become invisible to human eyes - does not this also mean power over nature? When Jesus was in His homeland, He rebuked the Israelites for having less and weaker faith than the faith of the Gentiles. And he gave them two classic examples: first, how during a famine the great prophet Elijah took refuge and was fed not by some "orthodox" Israelite, but by a pagan woman, a widowed woman in Zarephath of Sidon; and second, as in the time of the prophet Elisha there were many lepers in Israel, but because of their lack of faith none of them were cured, except one Naaman the Syrian, a Gentile. After all, this pagan believed the Prophet of God Elisha with all his heart, bathed in the Jordan and became healthy. Hearing this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with rage. And having seized Him, they led Him out to the outskirts of the city and wanted to push Him off the cliff into the abyss. But He passed through the midst of them, and withdrew (Luke 4:30). He became invisible to the eyes of His enemies, and, being invisible, departed from His homeland; even in Him it was revealed that there is no prophet without honor, except in his own country. And the second time the same thing happened in Jerusalem, when the Jews wanted to stone Him in the temple: but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, passing through the midst of them, and went on (John 8:59).

And when evening came, his disciples came to him, and said, Let the people go, that they may go into the villages, and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said to them, "They need not go, you give them something to eat." And they said to him, "We have only five loaves and two fishes here." He said, "Bring them to Me here." And he commanded the people to sit down on the grass, and having taken five loaves and two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed them, and having broken them, he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the people. And they all ate, and were satisfied; and they gathered up the remaining pieces, twelve baskets full; and those who ate were about five thousand people, besides women and children. In another place, under different circumstances, the Lord again said to His disciples: "I have pity on the people, because they have been with Me for three days, and they have nothing to eat; but I do not want to let them go sick, lest they faint on the way. The disciples answered Him, that they had only seven loaves of bread and a few fishes. And He ordered everyone to sit down on the earth. And he took the seven loaves and fishes, and gave thanks, and broke them, and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples to the people. And they all ate, and were satisfied; and they gathered up the remaining pieces of seven baskets full, and there were four thousand people who ate, besides women and children (cf. Matt. 15:32, 36-38).

Such unprecedented miracles cannot be explained by anything except the following words of Christ: "What is impossible for men is possible with God." With God all things are possible (cf. Luke 18:27; Matt. 19:26).

To walk on water as on dry land - what do you say, Theodoulos: this is human, from man? Of course not, but from God, the Lord of nature. When Jesus had fed and dismissed the people, He commanded His disciples to enter the boat and cross the lake. And He Himself went up to the mountain and stood alone to pray. Meanwhile, the wind blew when the boat was in the middle of the lake, and great waves began to rise. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, and said, "This is a ghost; And they cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately spoke to them and said, "Be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid." And the wind died down (cf. Matt. 14:25-27, 32).

To command the fish to fill the fishermen's nets - what do you say to this, Theodoulos? Is this human and from a man, even the greatest man? No, in no way, but only from God. Jesus said to Peter, "Sail out into the depths, and cast your nets for fishing." And Peter answers: Teacher! we labored all night and caught nothing, but according to Thy word I will cast a net. Having done this, they caught a great number of fish, and even their net was broken... 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! for I am a sinful man (Luke 5:4, 5-6, 7-8). A similar incident occurred after the Lord's resurrection, when He appeared alive to His disciples on the shore of the same Lake of Gennesaret. The disciples fished all night and caught nothing. And Jesus stood on the shore, and said unto them, Little children! Do you have any food? They answered Him, No. And he said to them, "Cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will catch it." They threw it, and could no longer pull out the nets from the multitude of fish... And when they took out the net and counted it, it turned out to be one hundred and fifty-three large fish. In addition, another miracle took place: when they came ashore, they saw a lit fire and fish and bread lying on it (John 21:5-6, 11, 9). Where does all this come from? Not from the disciples, for they, being on the water, answered that they had no food. Not from people, but from the Lord of Nature.

To pay without having a penny in your pocket - and this is a true miracle. When everyone was in Capernaum, the tax collectors came and asked: "Will your Teacher pay the tax?" Peter went to Jesus to tell Him about this, but before he could say anything, the omniscient Jesus preceded Him with these words: What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take duties or tributes? Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Therefore the sons are free; but that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a fishing rod, and take the first fish that comes along, and opening its mouth, you will find a stater; take it and give it to them for Me and for yourself (cf. Matt. 17:25, 26-27). The lord of nature finds treasures where he wants and as much as he wants. Fish are His servants, and all nature serves Him.

To curse the barren fig tree, so that the fig tree immediately withers, is truly the work of Him Who has complete power over all creatures. It is written about this in the Gospel, that the Lord Jesus once became hungry and seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He approached it and, finding nothing on it except leaves, said to it: "Let there be no more fruit from you forever." And the fig tree immediately withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and said, "How is it that the fig tree immediately withered?" (Matt. 21:19-20).