See how precise the words are. The Lord did not say, "Ask," and it will be given to you, but "ask," that is, seek continually. - "Everyone who asks receives." Does he who asks for useless things receive? No. For, in the first place, a petition for useless things cannot be called a petition before God. For whoever prays to God must ask for what He gives. And if anyone asks for what is useless, he does not make a petition to God, for He does not give what is useless. Then listen to how the Lord Himself teaches us to ask for what we should ask. He says: the son asks for bread and fish and eggs. Therefore, just as these objects constitute human food, so our petitions should be useful to us and serve to help us. By "bread" I mean, perhaps, anyone who asks that faith in the Trinity and the correctness of dogmas be revealed to him. For they, as those who affirm the heart, are bread. And the "fish" is asked by the one who, being in the sea of this life, asks God for help, so that he, like a fish, may remain alive and unimmersed in the midst of temptations. And he asks for an "egg" who desires to be given the offspring of virtuous souls, such souls, as those who have taken wings, ascended in spirit, and flown over the earth, can justly be likened to birds.

     Once He cast out a demon that was dumb; And when the demon went out, the dumb man began to speak; And the people were surprised. And some of them said, He casteth out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. And others, tempting, demanded of Him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate, and a house divided against itself will fall; but if Satan also divides against himself, how will his kingdom stand? but you say that I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub; And if I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, then surely the Kingdom of God has reached you. 

He is often called dumb who does not speak; but he is also called he who does not hear, or rather he who does not hear and does not speak. Those who do not hear from birth do not speak. It happens to them out of necessity. For we speak what we learn by hearing. When someone does not hear, he in all probability does not speak. Unless his hearing is subsequently damaged by illness, nothing prevents him from speaking. He who was brought to Christ was dumb in both respects: both in the tongue and in the ear. He is an image of human nature, which, being possessed by demons, was incapable of hearing the words of God, much less of retelling. But the Lord, having come and cast out demons, that is, passionate and demonic deeds, made us not only speak, but also preach the truth. For the words of God must not only be heard, but also retold to others. Therefore, let us hear, who have demonic works in us, who think to teach others and allow us to be called teachers from men. For when the demon comes out, then there is true talkativeness and teaching, and as long as the products of the demons (passions) are within us, we do not speak until then, although we appear to speak. - The Pharisees slander a miracle and revile the Lord as a deceiver. They say: He is friends with the prince of demons and with his help casts out demons. The Lord said to them, "How is it possible that a demon should cast out another demon?" That would be the destruction of his kingdom. For if they set up kingdom and rest in living in men, and their own prince expels them, then it is evident that he destroys himself. For every kingdom that is divided and rebelled is disarrayed, and the house that is divided will fall. By "house" do you mean a building? Ok. For even a building stands as long as it is united, and when the walls are separated from one another, it falls. Will you understand by "house" those who live in the house? And they, as long as they keep peace, stand, and if they rise up against one another, they fall. "Let it also be that I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub; but your sons, that is, the apostles, by whose power do they cast out? Is it not evident that in My name? How then do you say of me, that I cast out through Beelzebub, having need of his power, when your sons, even the apostles, cast out in my name? Truly, they will judge you. For if they cast out in My name, then I Myself obviously have no need of the power of another. I cast out by the "finger of God," that is, by the Holy Spirit, and not by the evil spirit. He calls the Spirit a "finger" so that you may know that just as the finger of one being is with the whole body, so the Holy Spirit is of one essence with the Father and the Son. And perhaps it is not for this reason that He calls the Son the right hand of God, and upon Him rested the seven powers of the Spirit, and not as an instrument of the Spirit, but as one in essence with Him; one of the gifts and actions of the Spirit is the power to heal. He says that I cast out demons with the "finger" of God, that is, with the gift of the Spirit. For just as the finger is part of the hand, so the spirit of healing was part of those spirits, that is, the powers of the Spirit, that Jesus had. "If," he says, "I cast out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has truly come to you." And this has the following meaning: the kingdom of the devil is finally destroyed, and God reigns, casting out demons. For listen to what he says next.

     When a strong man with arms guards his house, then his possessions are safe; And when his mighiest shall come upon him, and shall overcome him, then shall he take all his weapons in which he trusted, and shall divide what he has stolen from him. He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he walks in dry places, seeking rest, and not finding, he says, "I will return to my house from whence I came." and when he comes, he finds it swept and tidy; then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits, which are worse than himself, and having entered, they dwell there, and for that man the last is worse than the first. 

"Before My coming," he says, "Satan was strong and "guarded" his "house," that is, he ruled over human nature firmly and safely. But when I, who was stronger than him, came, then I overcame the world and all its "weapons" that it trusted, that is, all kinds of sin. For sin is the weapon of the devil, and with it he boldly overcame people. All these weapons of his I have broken, because no sin has been found in Me (1 Pet. 2:22); Since then, it has weakened. And "that which was stolen from him," that is, the people who were as it were his prey, I have plucked from him, and I entrust each one to a special Angel, a faithful guardian, so that instead of the demon who had him in power, an angel may rule over him. - And otherwise. What fellowship is there between Me and Beelzebub? My task is to gather the scattered children of God; and his work is that he scatters those who are gathered. How then do you conclude of Me that I have fellowship with Satan? Verily, such a thought has come to you because you are now in greater communion with demons. An unclean spirit lived in you before, when you served idols and killed prophets. Then, apparently, he came out of you. And now He has returned again "to His house," that is, to your souls, with "seven" spirits, that is, many (for the number "seven" is often used in the Scriptures to mean "many"), and has done the latter for you worse than the former. For when you served idols, you killed the prophets, but you did not yet give a clear offense to the Son of God, who appeared in the flesh for your sake. And now what hope for salvation is there when you remain with the same ingratitude and audacity, even after the Son has become incarnate and works miracles for your sake? - "Waterless places" are the souls of those who have no softness, (souls) callous and preoccupied with themselves. Since the evil one has no place to dwell in such souls, he returns to the Jews, and the latter becomes worse for them than the former. Thus, now they have no more prophets, for they have killed the Word, nor anointing, for they have crucified Christ (the anointed one). Formerly, although they served idols, prophets and anointing were visible among them; but now they have lost everything, because they have sinned against the Son of God.

     And while he was saying this, a certain woman, lifting up her voice from among the people, said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that fed you!" And He said, Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. And when the people began to gather together in multitude, He began to say, "This generation is wicked, it seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the south will rise up to judge the people of this generation, and will condemn them, for she has come from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, there is more Solomon here. The Ninevites will rise up to judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they have repented because of the preaching of Jonah, and behold, there is more than Jonah here.

     While the Pharisees and scribes defame the miracles of the Lord, the woman, a guileless and simple person, glorifies Him. Where are those who say that the Lord has appeared illusory? For this is the testimony that He also ate His breasts! And He blesses those who keep the word of God, however, not in order to deprive His Mother of pleasure, but in order to show that She would not have received any benefit from giving birth to Him and nourishing Him with her breasts, if She had not had all the other virtues. He says this at the same time and because he goes to the right time. Since those who envied Him and did not listen to His words reproached those who heard, He especially blesses those who hear them in spite of them. Perhaps He also says this for the sake of the deaf man who was healed, so that he, too, having heard the word, would keep it, so that the ability to hear (granted to him) would not serve to condemn him. - When the people began to gather in multitude, the Lord began to rebuke the foolish. Among them were some who desired Jesus to perform a sign from heaven; For they said, The signs that he does are of the earth, and he does them by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of peace, who has power over the earth. but He cannot do signs from heaven, because He is not the Son of the Heavenly Father. Since some have said so, the Lord rebukes them and says: "A sign will be given to you, which will prove that I am the true Son of the Heavenly Father." What is it? The sign of Jonah, that is, the sign of the Resurrection. For as he spent three days in the belly of the whale, so I will dwell three days in the belly of the whale, the great animal, that is, hell, and I will rise again. When Jonah, thrown out by the whale and as if revived again, began to preach, the Ninevites obeyed; but even after My Resurrection this generation will not believe Me. Therefore, they will be condemned for not imitating the Ninevites, although there is more Jonah here. For My worthiness and the way I preach are very different. I am the Lord, he is a slave. I preach the Kingdom of Heaven, he is salvation from threatening destruction, I perform miracles, he has not performed any miracle. "In the same way, the queen of the south will condemn this generation, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." "By the 'queen of the south' I mean, perhaps, every soul, strong and constant in goodness. Let me explain. The North, when it serves as a symbol of the enemy's abode, is not approved by the Scriptures, because it cools and causes necrosis and torpor; and the south (as the opposite of the north) is approved, because the south wind brings warmth, revival, warms even the numb parts. That is why in the Song of Songs, the bride, chasing away the north, says: "Ascend from the north, and be brought from the south" (4:16), and the prophet again says: "And he who comes from the north will I put away from you," that is, Satan (Joel 2:20). Thus, the soul that reigns in the south, that is, in the grace-filled land of spiritual life, and has become strong through the exercise of activity, comes to listen to wisdom, that is, ascends to contemplation. For the wisdom of Solomon, the king of peace, is the contemplation of our Lord and God, which no one can attain otherwise, unless through exercise in activity he becomes king and ruler in a virtuous life.