Having said, "Woe" to him who betrays Me, and at the same time having taught them (the disciples) that they should be humble-minded, the Lord predestines "woe" as the lot of the betrayer, so, on the contrary, He says to them: "But you are those who have only remained with Me in My temptations; wherefore I also bequeath unto you a recompense, that is, I make arrangements with you, that even as my Father bequeathed unto me, that is, he appointed unto me the kingdom, ye also shall eat and drink at my table. He said, "Eat and drink," not because there would be viands and that His kingdom was sensual. For in His answer to the Sadducees He Himself taught that there is angelic life (Luke 20:36); and Paul teaches that the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink (Romans 14:17). Therefore, when no one hears the words, "Eat and drink at my table," let no one be offended, but let him understand that they are spoken in reference to those who are honored by the kings of this world. For those who share the king's table are considered to be the first over all. So the Lord says of the apostles that He prefers them to all. Likewise, when you hear about sitting on thrones, do not understand thrones, but glory and honor. For of the created and begotten, no one will sit there. Sitting is befitting the One Holy Trinity, the Uncreated and King of all God, and the creature, like a slave, must stand, and then we speak bodily about sitting and standing. "To judge," that is, to condemn those who do not believe from among the twelve tribes. For the unbelieving Israelites are no small condemnation of the apostles, who themselves are Israelites, yet they believed. - Inasmuch as He repaid the betrayer with grief, and to them, who continued in love for Him, He predicted a high honor in the future, so that they would not become proud, as if they had done something great, that they remained in love for Him and did not betray You, He says: Satan asked to "sow" you, that is, to trouble, to spoil, to tempt; but "I prayed." Do not think, he says, that all this perfection is from yourselves. For the devil exerts all his strength to tear you away from My love and make you traitors. The Lord addresses this speech to Peter, because he was both more bold than the rest, and probably became proud of Christ's promises. Therefore, humbling him, the Lord says that Satan was much stronger against them. "But I've prayed for you." He says this for mankind, for, like God, what need did He have to pray? "I," he said, "prayed that thy faith might not fail." Though thou shalt be shaken a little, yet the seeds of faith will remain in thee, and though the spirit of the tempter shakes the leaves, yet the root is alive, and thy faith shall not fail. "And thou shalt be converted and strengthen thy brethren." This is conveniently understood, namely: since I was the first to address you with My word, then, after you have lamented your denial of Me and come to repentance, strengthen the rest. For this befits thee, who first confessed Me by the rock and by the foundation of the Church (Matt. 16:16-18). But these words can be applied not only to the apostles, whom Peter was then to affirm, but also to all believers until the end of time. Peter! You, having been converted, will be a wonderful example of repentance for all, and none of those who believe in Me will despair, looking at you, who, being an apostle, denied and, nevertheless, through repentance, regained his former importance among all the apostles and among the chosen ones of God from all the world. Satan asked to sow you and spoil you like pure wheat, mixing mud into it, because he is usually jealous of you in his love for Me. He did the same with Job. But I have not forsaken thee altogether, lest thy faith be utterly impoverished. Though I Myself prayed for you, yet thou shalt not fall, but, having turned, that is, having brought repentance and tears, be also an example of repentance and hope for the rest of the faithful. What about Peter? Relying on strong love, he promises something that is not yet possible for him. But the Lord, seeing that he speaks thoughtlessly (for, having once heard from the self-existent Truth, which told him that he would be subjected to temptation, he should not have contradicted him), declares to him also the form of temptation, namely, renunciation. From this we learn the truth that human volition is not enough without God's help. Peter was left for a short time and, apparently, loved even fervently, but when God forsook him, he was stumbled by the enemy. Likewise, God's help is not enough without human consent. Judas, although the Lord did everything for his benefit, did not receive any benefit, for he had no good will. And so, let us shudder at the thought of the wiles of the devil, how powerful they are against the careless. And here, too, although Peter was strengthened by God, nevertheless, when he was abandoned for special purposes, he came to renounce. What would he have undergone if he had not been preserved by God and if there had not been good seeds hidden in him? For the devil's goal was to bring him to betrayal; for the devil has "luxurious food," as the prophet says (Hab. 1:16). Thanks be to God, Who does not forsake the holy, righteous and good in heart, such as Peter was, tenderly loving and devoid of any suspicion about the Teacher.

     And he said to them, When I sent you without a bag, and without a purse, and without shoes, did you lack anything? They answered: in nothing. Then he said to them, "But now whoever has a bag, let him take it, and also the bag; but whoever has not, sell your clothes and buy a sword; For I say unto you, that which is to be fulfilled in me, and that which is written, and is numbered with the evildoers. For that which is about Me comes to an end. They said, "Lord! Behold, there are two swords here. He said to them, "Enough." 

The Lord, at the beginning of the sermon, sending His disciples to the villages and cities, commanded them not to take too much, not to carry with them anything even necessary, and not to worry about anything, and in this case they had to know His power. For Himself, caring for them as for the weak, He arranged it so that even without their care, everything necessary flowed to them in abundance. And now He commands the opposite, not contradicting Himself, but declaring to them that hitherto He has cared for them as children and has not forced them to take care of anything, and henceforth they must consider themselves mature and take care of themselves. I," he said, "your caring Father, am already departing. Henceforth, take upon yourselves the care of your affairs, and do not lay everything on Me; for your works will not be as easy and not difficult, but you will be exposed to hunger, and thirst, and many calamities. This is hinted at by the words about the bag, the bag and the sword. Therefore, be cheerful, for you are hungry and in need of food, as the "bag" hints at, and courageous, because you will fall into many dangers, as the "sword" indicates. He says this, of course, not so that they should carry swords with them, but, as I have said, to declare wars and disasters and make them ready for anything. Lest posterity think that the Apostles did not bring anything of themselves for piety, but everything was from God, the Lord says: no, let it not be so. For I do not want to use My disciples as soulless instruments, but I demand that they also add what they can of themselves. And indeed, you will find that the apostles, and especially Paul, successfully performed many of the human arts (Acts 18:3; 20:34); except that God's help was not lacking in them. At the same time, this was useful for the modesty of the apostles. For if they, not caring about anything themselves, expected everything from God and everything was given to them, then they could become proud, as having received as their lot something higher than human nature. Moreover, nature would become inactive and corrupt if they did not invent anything of their own accord, but expected everything in a ground form, as they say. That is why the Lord says to them: "From now on, carry "bags", that is, dispose and take care as those who have hunger, and buy "swords", that is, take care of yourselves as those who have to meet dangers and wars. - Some people understood the purchase of a sword differently. By this, they say, He alludes to the imminent attack upon Him, and to the fact that He will be captured by murderous men. Since before this time they argued with each other about primacy, the Lord says: now is the time not for disputes about primacy, but for danger and murder. For I, your Teacher, will also be led away to death, and to a dishonorable death at that. But through this will be fulfilled in Me that which was said: "And I was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12).

I think that the Lord speaks in this way in order to benefit later, when they remember and understand. For then they were in such a misunderstanding that they said, "Lord, here are two swords," and He, seeing that they did not understand, said, "Enough, although it was not enough." For if it were necessary to use human help against those who came in a robber way, then even a hundred swords would not be enough. If not human, but Divine assistance was needed, then two swords were superfluous. However, the Lord did not want to rebuke them for their lack of understanding, but, saying "enough," he went. This is just as when we talk to someone and see that he does not understand our words, we say: "Okay, leave it; although not good, but in order not to offend him, we leave him. The Lord did this because He saw that the disciples did not understand what was said. - He goes forward and leaves the speech, leaving the understanding of what has been said to the flow of circumstances, just as He once said: "Destroy this temple," and the disciples understood only later, after His resurrection (John 2:19, 22). Some say that the Lord by the word "enough" indicated the inconsistency of the words with the circumstances. The disciples said, "Here are two swords," and the Lord, they say, pointing out this incongruity, said, "If there are two swords, then this is very much and sufficient for us against the crowd that will come against us."

     And he went out, and went as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, Pray, that ye may not fall into temptation. And He Himself departed from them to cast a stone, and kneeling down, prayed, saying: Father, forgive them! Oh, that Thou wouldst be pleased to carry this cup past Me! however, not My will, but Yours be done. And an angel appeared to Him from heaven and strengthened Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Rising from prayer, He came to the disciples, and found them asleep with sorrow, and said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Stand up and pray that you may not fall into temptation. 

After supper, the Lord does not indulge in inactivity, pleasure and sleep, but teaches and prays, giving us an example and an example for this. Woe, therefore, to those who, after supper, turn to shameful acts of fornication. Having taught this to His disciples, the Lord ascends to the Mount of Olives to pray. He liked to do this in private, so he was also separated from his students. However, He takes with Him His disciples, but not all of them, but only those three who saw His glory on the mountain (Luke 9:28). Since He is in agony and prays, so that this does not seem to be a sign of fear, He takes those who themselves have seen His divine glory and have themselves heard the testimony from heaven, so that, seeing Him in agony, they consider it a matter of human nature. For in order to assure that He was truly a Man, He allowed this nature to act in His own way. As a Man, He desires to live and prays for the passing of the Chalice, for man loves life; and through this He overthrows the heresies, according to which He became incarnate illusory. For if even after such actions (of human nature) they found occasion to talk idly in this way, what would they not have said if these actions had not taken place? Thus, the desire that the chalice should be carried past belongs to human nature, and soon afterwards the words "Not My will, but Thine be done" show that we too must have the same disposition and also be wise, submit to the will of God and not deviate, even if our nature draws us in the opposite direction. "Not My" human "will, but Yours be done", and this Yours is not separated from My Divine will. The one Christ, having two natures, undoubtedly had the will or desires of each nature, divine and human. Thus, human nature first desired to live, for this is inherent in it, and then, following the Divine will that all people should be saved, the will common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, decided to die, and thus there was only one desire – saving death. That the prayer was from human nature, which had a common predilection for life, and not from the Divinity, as the accursed Arians say, is evident from the fact that Jesus was in sweat and in such agony that, as the proverb says, drops of blood fell from Him. For those who work hard are usually said to sweat blood, just as those who mourn bitterly are said to weep blood. This, wishing to show, namely, that it was not some thin liquid that flowed from Him, as if for appearances, but large drops of sweat fell, the Evangelist used drops of blood to depict reality. From this it is evident that the nature that exuded sweat and was in agony was human, and not divine. For human nature was allowed to experience such states, and it experienced it in order to show, on the one hand, that He was not a ghostly man, and on the other hand, a hidden goal, in order to heal the timidity common to human nature, exhausting it in Himself and subordinating it to the will of God. - Some may say that sweat coming out of the body and falling to the ground means that, with the encouragement and strengthening of our nature in Christ, the sources of timidity in us evaporate, turn into drops and fall from us. For if He had not had this in mind, that is, the desire to cure our human timidity, He would not have sweated so much, even though He had been very fearful and faint-hearted. "And an angel appeared unto him from heaven, and strengthened him." And this is for our consolation, namely, that we may know the strengthening power of prayer and, having learned, turn to it in case of misfortune. At the same time, the prophecy of Moses, said in the great song, is fulfilled: "And let all the sons of God be strong" (Deuteronomy 32:43). And some interpreted these words in such a way that an angel appeared to Him, glorified Him, and said, "Thy strength, O Lord! For Thou hast overcome death and hell, and hast set the human race free. This is so, - He, finding the disciples asleep, reprimands them and at the same time exhorts them to pray in temptations, so as not to be overcome by them. For not to fall into temptation is not to be swallowed up by temptation, not to fall under its power. Or simply commands us to pray that our possessions may be safe and that we may not be subjected to any trouble. For to plunge oneself into temptation is to be bold and proud. How then does James (1:2) say: "Receive with great joy when you fall into various temptations"? What is this, do we not contradict ourselves? No, for James did not say, "Cast yourselves down," but when you are subjected to it, do not lose heart, but have all joy, and make the involuntary things free. For it would be better if temptations did not come, but when they did, why grieve madly? "Would you show me a place in the Scriptures where I would literally be commanded to pray in order to fall into temptations?" But you can't point it out. - I know that there are two kinds of temptation, and that some people have the duty to pray for not falling into temptation, they mean the temptation that conquers the soul, for example, the temptation of fornication, the temptation of anger. And we must have any joy when we are subjected to bodily illnesses and temptations. For to the extent that the outer man decays, to that extent the inner man is renewed (2 Corinthians 4:16). Though I know this, I prefer that which is truer, and which is nearer to the real goal.

     While He was still saying these things, the multitude appeared, and one of the twelve, called Judas, went ahead of him, and he came up to Jesus to kiss Him. For he gave them such a sign: Whom I kiss, He is. And Jesus said to him, "Judas! Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? And those who were with Him, seeing what was going on, said to Him, "Lord! shall we not strike with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. Then Jesus said, "Leave it, it is enough." And touching his ear, he healed him. And to the chief priests, and to the rulers of the temple, and to the elders who were gathered against him, Jesus said, "As if you had come out against a thief with swords and stakes to take me?" Every day I was with you in the temple, and you did not lift up your hands against Me, but now is your time and the power of darkness.