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).

The transfiguration of Jesus on Tabor testifies to the power and authority of the Lord both over His bodily nature and over people who left this world thousands of years ago. As the Saviour said to His disciples: "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me," or as the Church sings at the funeral service of Her faithful: "Christ our true God possesses the living and the dead," and so on, you who possess the living and the dead. The Gospel tells about the transfiguration of how Jesus with His three disciples, Peter, John and James, climbed a high mountain. And he was transfigured before them: and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white like light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him (Matt. 17:2-3). Who among men has ever been able to make his face shine like the sun, and his garments whiter than snow? Further, who could summon and present before three witnesses famous people from the other world who lived on earth thousands of years ago? No one ever. He alone, forever mysterious and manifest, is the Messiah of the world, the Lord of nature.

Ah, my Theodoulos, but what can be said about the terrible miracles of the Lord Jesus, before death and after death? When He suffered and died on the Cross, He, Whose innocent Blood the Jews took upon themselves and on their children, how the sun was darkened, and darkness enveloped the earth from noon to three o'clock in the afternoon (from the sixth to the ninth hour in the East), how the earth shook, how the tombs were opened, and the dead arose from the tombs, and appeared in Jerusalem, as in the temple of Solomon, defiled by the merchants of faith, the thick and heavy veil, the katapetasma, tore itself from top to bottom? Without command, all nature rebelled - and submitted to its Master. After all, all nature submitted to Him not as a tyrant and enemy, but as a lawful Lord and Friend. This is what happens when a horse and an ox recognize their master and joyfully bow their heads before him.

And again: what can be said about the miracle of His resurrection, when His dead body came to life, rose and came out of the tomb, without touching the stone slab rolled to the tomb? Or how the resurrected Lord twice entered a room whose doors were locked and appeared to His disciples without opening the doors?

Or how at Emmaus He suddenly became invisible to Cleopas and the other disciple with whom He had just walked and talked for a long time?

Or about His ascension: how did He ascend bodily to heaven from the Mount of Olives before His faithful? And He ascended in the same body that He bore on earth, for He did not need to put on a purer body, as we will need it, since His body was always and forever pure and undefiled.

Without rolling away the tombstone, He arose, without opening the locked doors, He appeared in the upper room of Jerusalem. How? We don't need to know. But I think that just as He came out of the womb of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, without causing Her pain and without damaging Her motherly body. How is that? And we don't need to know that. We need only one thing: to know and believe that the Strongest of the world, the Lord of nature, the One and Only, has appeared in the world, capable of saving people from the power of demons, from sin and death, and returning to man power over nature.

All this was assimilated by our forefathers and Christian fathers, and countless millions of them were saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. All this we, the Orthodox, assimilate and work to be saved by the same faith in the same Only Saviour.