The Satisfying King The evangelist presents to us the personality of the Lord Jesus as the king who satisfies the soul and the body, and who nurtures us spiritually, emotionally and physically. As a contrast, he presents to us Herod the king as a hungry man, overruled by his fear of losing peace, and his greed in losing purity. He wished to satisfy a young girl’s heart, a dancer, by giving her his kingdom, yet he failed. As a hungry man, he could not satisfy others. 1. The Hungry Herod 1 - 12 2. The Attractive Jesus 13 3. Jesus the One to Satisfy Us 14 – 21 4. Jesus Who Grants Peace 22 – 23 5. Jesus the one to Heal Us 24 – 36 + + + 1. The Hungry Herod: (Matt 14:1,2) “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about Jesus, and said to his servants ‘This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.’” Herod had killed St. John the Baptist, the voice to be feared, who declared the truth by rejecting Herod’s marriage to Herodia, his brother Philip’s wife. According to the law it was not possible for anyone to get married to his brother’s wife (Liv 18:16) unless his brother had died, and that his wife had borne him no sons. In that case the brother could marry her, not out of love to her, but to establish an issue for his dead brother. Herod’s mistake was that he wished to marry his brother’s wife who was assumed his voice; but the voice did not cease and it rather increased more loudly in Herod’s mind. This is why when Herod heard of Jesus Christ he instantly thought he must be John the Baptist risen from dead and does those miraculous powers. He killed John so as to clam down his conscience and he feels restful. But h=fear did not let him alone; for Herod the king was hungry, having no peace whatever, but rather fear, since sin makes man lose his inward satisfaction. The evangelist narrates to us the story of St. John the Baptist’s martyrdom at the hands of Herod. He revealed by means of details the hunger of king Herod. He says, (Matt 14:3,4) “For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Because John had said to him ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’” Herod, who had great authority, thought he could suppress the voice of truth by imprisoning St. John. He wished to kill him, and erase the voice altogether. But being bound in prison made the voice even stronger, and death sealed the voice with the seal of eternity. This has become the issue for preaching for generations to come. St. John Chrysostom says, “John’s voice was heard more loudly after these matters.” The devil wanted to get rid someday of the word of God through the cross. But the https://coptic-treasures.com/ cross came to engrave in love, the divine word on stony hearts, and make them an altar for the Lord. The Jews’ alliance with the Gentiles against the church so as to wipe it out, and as much as it was persecuted, yet God’s voice through the church, was declared more clearly in the midst of the world! The scholar Oreganus believers the imprisonment and killing of the prophet, is only a signal of what the Jewish nation dud when they tried to suppress the prophecies, and they thought they could prevent the fulfillment of these prophecies by the Messiah’s death. For he says, “He bound the prophetic word and imprisoned it, and forbade its continuation in declaring the truth in freedom as previously.” Herod wished to kill him, but due to his fear of the people he restrained himself, maybe for a while. By so doing he was restful for just a little while, and he threw an official celebration to satisfy himself with no pricking of conscience, for the evangelist says, (Matt 14:6,7) “But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath, to give her whatever she might ask.” The hungry Herod threw a party to satisfy his pride and passion. When Herodias’ daughter danced, and it pleased him, he wished to give her something to satisfy her! If Herodias stands for sin which was coveted by Herod, then sin begets other sin, able to bind his empty heart. He was eager to offer all his life as a price for one single dance. St. John Chrysostom says, “He was bound by means of his passions, to the extent that he offered his kingdom a price for one dance.” He moreover says, “He was supposed to have thanked God for bringing him to this day of light, his birthday, but instead of doing so, he was bold and foolish enough to commit those evil deeds. He was supposed to have set free those in bondage, but he added death to those bonds.” ON Herod’s birthday St. John the Baptist was killed. He thought he would not be able to enjoy a happy life, and satisfy his physical passions by means of his love to his brother’s wife, and her daughter’s dancing, unless he suppressed St. John the Baptist breath. But Herod died, and St. John’s voice remained immortal forever. Herod was tied to temporary passions, and he was wiped away with time. John was tied to the truth, and so he entered the no-death state with truth itself. We, too, if we wish to enter into the no-death state, let us get tied to our Jesus “The truth that never dies.” Let us go in with him, and in him, to his Father’s embrace, where death can never come close to us! Our days are limited and vanishing, if tied to vain matters, such as the love of the world and the physical passions. Our days are immortal if they disappear in our Lord Jesus Christ, for death was unable to reach him, and neither could the grave encompass him, nor did the gates of hell stand to face him. Some may ask: if Herod had made a mistake by his promise to Herodias’ daughter by making an oath as to give her what she asked for, was it possible for him, after she had asked for St. John’s heard, to withdraw his oath? St. Ambrosios answers: “Sometimes to fulfill a promise of an oath does not agree with the duty, as did Herod when he made an oath to give Herodia’s daughter what she asked for. This led to St. John’s death, so the king would not withdraw that oath. Such a similar situation happened Japheth, who offered his daughter a sacrifice https://coptic-treasures.com/ for she was the first one he encountered on his return victoriously from the battlefield to his home. He therefore had to fulfil his oath. It would have been preferable not to make an oath of a vow rather than fulfill his oath with the death of his own daughter.” It is wrongful for man to make an oath, and what is worse, is to fulfill it, if it is contrary to God’s commandment. This is concerning Herod; but we should not disregard St. John’s attitude, who could have been saved from death if he had been silent. But he preferred to witness for the truth at the example of the physical death rather than disregarding the truth with the physical rest and safety for a while. As St. Ambrosios says, “John could not tolerate the unit with evil, even if it were in a royal situation. He could have been silent. He knew well he would die if he is contrary to the king. But he preferred virtue to security. What is more appropriate to the saint than pain which begets glory.” 2. Christ the Attraction One: (Matt 14:13) “When Jesus heard it, he departed from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities.” When the Lord Jesus heard what Herod did to St. John the Baptist, he went to a deserted place, that is to say, the wilderness. It was as if he declared he was going to the Gentiled that have become a wilderness and a village, so as to make out of it a paradise for him after he had been rejected by the Jewish nation, represented by Herod, the killer of John the Baptist. On the other hand, the departure of the Lord Jesus in a boat affirms the principle he offered to humanity, which I to escape evil and not to attack it. He has left the site where Herod killed St. John, just as previously in his childhood, he escaped with his mother and St. Joseph from the face of Herod the elder one. He put into effect what he had told his disciples when he called them to the service, asking them to flee from those who attacked them. + (Matt 10:23) “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.” When an ordeal befalls you, if we are enable to avoid it, we have to tolerate it very bravely and heroically. But if we are able to avoid it, and do not do so, then we are considered reckless. Oregancess the Scholar Herod represented the one to lose the right, and even that resists the right. It is appropriate for us to leave him by being united with Christ, the truth, and to head forward to the boat of the cross, and be carried to a deserted place. Init we meet God, praising and talking to him, and where he would also listen to us! How badly in need are we to run away from evil and not to resist it, specially those ones who are full of wrath, so as not to provoke their anger, and as a result their evil increases. Let us flee from the wrathful spirit just as from Herod the killer, and let us enter the life of the crucifixion boat, and go forward to the unity with God. https://coptic-treasures.com/ The Lord departed not out of fear, but out of wisdom, as a representative to us. His departure and fleeing to a deserted spot was to meet his Father, who is united with him. The multitudes realized he was the source of satisfaction, and therefore they came to him from the cities and followed him on foot. The flight to the real wilderness, and being alone with God, attracts the souls, and develops the service for the account of the heavenly kingdom. 3. Christ the One to Satisfy Us: (Matt 14:14) “And when Jesus went tout he saw a great multitude; and he was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” The multitudes left their cities on foot to meet the Lord Jesus who had going all alone to a deserted spot. The Lord in his turn ‘went out’ to meet them, providing a new concept for solitude. It is not an isolation from making and not a shutting up of the heart, but it is rather an opening of the heat towards God and people. The soul is alone with God not in a closed up solitude, but it is rather alone with him carrying before him the entire church, and even the whole world in love. This is why people are attracted to the church as she goes out to them in tenderness and compassion, eager to heal every soul. This is why he says, “He had compassion on them and healed those who were sick.” The scholar Oreganus noticed the Lord had compassion on the sick and he healed them before offering them the blessed bread. He says, “He healed the sick so that when they are whole, they can share in the blessed bread. But s long as they all sick, they were unable to take of Jesus; blessed bread.” This may imply on allegory to our commitment in our repentance mystery, and our confession, for the sake of healing the soul from its spiritual illness, before it enters the Lord’s alter, and receives from the Lord’s hands not only blessed bread but rather his Holy Body. The multitudes spent the entire day with the Lord, hearing his voice, was evening, his disciples came to him saying, ‘This is a deserted place and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.’ The disciples saw with their own eyes the miraculous deeds of the Lord, and despite this, when it was even tide, they were confused asking the multitudes be dispersed to the villages to buy themselves food. Indeed, quite often we are disturbed in matters of service and those to whom the service is rendered, in human calculations, even though the Lord, present in our midst, is able to donate and grant above all normal measures. If we are in a poor village, and quite late in the hour, yet the Lord who dwells in us, he is able to satisfy. As St. John Chrysostom says, “Despite the poor site, yet he who provides for the whole world, he is present in it. Even if the time is late, yet he who yields not to time, he speaks to them.” The evangelist stressed the fact, when writing about the feeling of the multitudes, that it was in the eventide, and that the site was a poor one. He presented to us the actuality we live in nowadays. The Lord Jesus has come to the world, just as at the eleventh hour, in the evening. As St. John says, “the Last hour” (John 2:18). The days have ended and the time was come where the prophecies have come to a https://coptic-treasures.com/ standstill hundreds of years ago. The world has become in severe spiritual poverty, having no food to eat. The disciples were desperate and they wanted the multitudes to leaven when hungry. But the Lord, present and dwelling in them, came to offer himself new food to satisfy the hungry souls. We resume the miracle and find the Lord Jesus answering the disciples, (Matt 14:16-18), “‘they do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’ And they said to him, ‘we have her only five loaves and two fish!’ He said, ‘Bring them her to me.’” Why has the Lord asked the disciples to give the multitudes to eat? Firstly: The Lord may have wished, due to his love to his disciples who had lived with him a long time, and have heard his words, and have come to touch his overwhelming deeds, to perform this deed. He longed for then to have faith to satisfy the multitudes, particularly when the Donor of blessings is there among them in their midst. Secondly: By asking them this, he wished to uncover their possibilities, so they kindle up their talents, and present what they possess, however little this may appear to be, and insufficient to satisfy their hunger. Even though it is him who provides for his people, yet he asks the people to offer what they have, even if all what they have is only five loaves and two fishes. He asks of us not to be stingy even if we have very little, but to offer it, and hence satisfy the hunger of many. Not only that, but there will be extra food, more than what we have offered. Twelve fullbaskets were left over! Thirdly: The disciples represented the church that God uses to feed his children, despite the apparent poverty and need of the church. It is God, who provides, and it is he who blesses, and it is he who sanctifies. He words through his body sanctified, that is, the church as an example, in the mystery of the baptism, the church offers the water, the oil, and the cross accompanied by prayers, as if they are the two fished and the five loaves. The groom receives them to grant those asking for baptism, becoming children to God, and becoming members of his holy body. He grants him the new man who is in his image. Similarly, I all the mysteries, and the liturgies, God receives from the church very simple matters, by means of which he grants his gifts freely, that are so priceless. Fourthly: St. John Chrysostom things the Lord wished his disciples to offer him that which is little, so as to obtain from his hands what they will offer to the multitudes. They will then be witnesses, with their own hands, of his blessed works. Between the two miracles of feeding the multitudes: The evangelist narrates to us the two miracles of feeding the multitudes. One of these is the present one, and the other is mentioned in chapter xv, 32-38. St. John Chrystostom thinks the Lord Jesus who performed numberless miracles, has not fed the multitudes except twice. He says, “He has not done this miracle constantly, just twice, so they learn they world not be slaves to their tummy. They rather have tot cling to spiritualities. Let us, too, cling to what is spiritual, and ask for the heavenly bread, and in this way we can wipe out all earthly concerns. There people have left their homes, towns and close ones, they left everything behind and they stayed in the https://coptic-treasures.com/ wilderness. Even though they felt hungry, they still didn’t go back. It is also appropriate for us to have self-control in a greater way, so we could draw near this table. We have to care more about spiritualities, regarding all tangible matters as secondary when compared to it.” The Lord has not repeated this miracle many times, so that our relation to him would not be though physical matters, and so we do not ask, in own life with him, to satisfy our physical needs in a miraculous way. He thus left his hungry disciples to pick the grain ears on the Sabbath and eat (Matt 12:1), without feeding them by means of a miracle. The Lord also allowed his apostle St. Paul (2 Cor 11:23) “In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in death often, in hunger and thirst…in cold and nakedness.” This is to make St. Paul share his sufferings, this is he who later on those who were sick used to take little bandages from his sick body to touch and thereby be healed. The Lord wants us to follow him for the sake of himself, not for the sake of material gifts or temporary blessings. Why did the Lord not think it enough to perform one miracle only? The Lord fed the multitudes twice to declare he has come to satisfy the believers of Jewish origin, as well as those of a Gentile origin. The miracle we are speaking of shows his care for the Jews. But the other one (Matt 15:32-38) shows how much he cared for the Gentiles. This is revealed through the symbolic interpretation and the circumstances for each miracle, among these: Firstly: the Lord used here five loaves and two fishes, whereas in the following miracle he used seven loaves and a few small fishes (Matt 15:34). The real satisfying food is the person of Jesus himself. He offered himself to the Jews through the five loaves which are the five books of Moses which contains the law that has Christ as its aim (Rom 10:4). The scholar Oreganus thinks the five loaves signify the senses. God the word has offered himself for the Jews, by his incarnation and becoming like one of them. They could come to meet him through the senses. They have seen him, heard him, touched him, and tasted of his sweetness, and smelt his fragrant scent, so they would meet him, the only begotten Son of God who satisfies their souls and quenches their thirst. In the following miracle we find that instead of the five loaves there are seven loaves. The Gentiles have not been blessed with the five looks of Moses, and neither have they seen the Lord Jesus physically, in their midst, and they have not touched him with their five senses. They have only been blessed with him through the Holy Spirit’s preaching that Isaiah the prophet declared concerning his seven gifts: (Is. 11:2) “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Sprit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” It is the Holy Spirit who offers to the Gentiles ‘Our Christ’ who feeds us. As for the fish the Lord used two fishes in the first miracle. As Father Maximous of the fifteenth century Bishop of Torino, says, “These refer to the old testament, and to the message of St. John the Baptist. St. John came to preach clearly about the Messiah and pointed him out.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ The Old Testament head previously declared in the law and prophecies as well as all the incidents revealing his deeds of salvatioin and his personality. But as for us, I believe the two fish that fed the holy church congregation, these are the Old and New Testaments. Through them, we are blessed with the Lord Jesus. As forth Gentiles, he offered them satisfaction by means of a few little fishes, sin a they do not have the Old Testament, and neither do they have the preaching of St. John the Baptist. The preaching message has been offered through the simple disciples, the small fold. The Lord has fed those little ones with Jesus Christ, the subject of their preaching. Secondly: In the first miracle (Matt 14:20) “And they took twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.” But in the following miracle (Matt 15:37) “And they took up sever large baskets full of the fragments that were left.” The church of the Old Testament was referred to by number 12, since they were of twelve tribes. The Lord has fed all of the tribes, for he filled them all with the Holy Spirit. The disciples took up these baskets, referring to the Jews who were taken up in their belief in Christ, from the earthly materialistic thoughts so as to experience the heavenly life, as St. Paul the apostle says, ‘He made us sit with him in the heavens.’ St. Jerome thinks the twelve baskets signify the twelve disciples that have come to occupy the place of the twelve tribes. He says, “He fed his people with his bread, and what remained was gathered in twelve baskets, that is, in the twelve apostles. What was mining in the twelve tribes was saved in the twelve disciples.” But as for the Gentile church that was lifted up by the hands of the disciples, these are referred to by the seven baskets. The book of Revelation declared them as the seven churches (Rev 1:4,20) symbolized by seven lighthouses, referring to the Spirit’s work in it for lighting it up, and making it to shine to the world. Thirdly: In this miracle (Matt 14:19) “He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass,” whereas in the second miracle (Matt 15:35) “He commanded the multitudes to sit on the ground.” The Jews lived a long time relying on the body such as circumcision, being of Abraham’s decent, physical purification etc. It was not possible for them to be blessed with the special blessing of the evangelical life. It was not possible for them to receive the Lord Jesus as their spiritual satisfying food, unless they put those things under them, that is, to sit on them just as on the grass, because the grass refers to the body (Is 40:6, Rom 8:6). We, likewise, cannot encounter the Lord Jesus, and neither can we receive the divine gift, through the disciples, which is the church as long as we live according to the body. Let us yield our body to our souls by the Holy Spirit, and sit on it. Hence it will be an obedient servant working in harmony with the Spirit, not in resistance to him. At this point, we shall be blessed with the spiritualities. But as for the Gentiles, they sat on the ground, for the Gentiles have become as the ground, worshiping false Gods, and they have become idolaters. Their life and thoughts have become debased to the ground. Therefore, these will not be blessed with the heavenly food, if they do not sit on the ground to make it under them, and not to be enslaved by it. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Fourthly: In this miracle he fed around 5,000 men, other than the women and children. In the following miracle they were around 4,000 men, other than the women and the children. When studying the book of numbers, we have seen elaborately that God did not count the women and children, but only the meant alone. This is not in scorn of the woman and child; it is only a symbol of the rejection of the soft-papered soul of the woman’s who is as immature as a child. He wishes every believer to be mature and struggling by the Spirit, fighting sin for the account of the kingdom of light. We think it enough here to pick some expressions from the words of St. Augustine: “The number did not include the children and women, for those who are pampered and without much knowledge are out of the count. They were allowed to eat…the children were to eat to grow and would be no more children. The papered let them eat as well, so they correct themselves and become sanctified. We distribute the food to all, and gladly serve them” As for the numbers, the first miracle fed 5,000 men. This refers to the five books of Moses, and has implied the heavenly spiritual concept of 1,000. that is, those living in the old law have been fed, but they were released from the literacy, and went straight to the Spirit or the heavenly thoughts. The number 5,000 refers to the Christian person who is satisfied with the spiritual food. His five sensed are sanctified so as to possess a heavenly nature, (1,000). But as for the second miracle, the Lord has fed 4,000 men, referring to the feeding of the world, in its four corners, and these have possessed the heavenly nature (1,000 x 4). We can feel this is our life, for, through the spiritual food our earthly bodies are sanctified, having number 4 for its symbol, and so as to carry heavenly thoughts in it as well (1,000). Briefly speaking, we can say that the Lord Jesus is the mystery of satisfaction in food. He holds the two fishes and the five loaves to feed the Jews. He also holds the few fishes and the seven loaves of bread to feed the Gentiles. He feeds everyone through his disciples, and no one coming up to him will return hungry. He is the only one who is able to grant us satisfaction by mean as of his church that is his disciples. This is by means of the spiritual law (the five loaves), and the revealing of the mysteries in the two Testaments (the two fishes, as well as the preaching word the few fishes) and the work of the Holy Spirit (the seven loaves.) The Lord feeds the thoughts, the leads the body, the spirit the talents, and kindles them in us. He leads the body, the spirit and the soul, all together in one spirit towards the heavens. 4. Jesus, the One Who Grants Peace: Despite all his kingdom, Herod the king was not satisfied; and he was passionate to see the young girl dance, and to offer her anything himself to enrich all those who believe in him, when he went into the wilderness, the multitudes were attracted to him (Matt 14:13). Some as a spiritual king he healed their sick (Matt 14:14). He satisfied them spiritually and also physically, to the extent that twelve baskets of fragments were full (Matt 14:20). Now, the Lord commands his disciples to get into the boat, to tell them of his inward spiritual work in them. https://coptic-treasures.com/ The evangelist says, (Matt 14:22,23) “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up on a mountain by himself to pray. Now when evening came, he was alone there.” This is quite strange; he has commanded his disciples to get into the boat, and sent the multitudes away, but as for himself, he went up the mountain. Regarding the disciples, he commanded them to get into the boat, so he would command the tempest, or to allow the tempest to rage. Our Lord Jesus respects the human willpower, and he sanctifies it. But when man throws himself in his divine hands, all willingly, the Lord asks him to act the way the wants. This is what we come to know from the words of the evangelist; that he commands his disciples to get into the boat, since they have yielded their life in his hands, all voluntarily. He took them to the middle of the sea, so they could test his presence, as the mystery of their peace, when a storm is waged against them. He knows what is for their own good. He leads them to the rough way, and the narrow door, not to be pleased for their suffering, but rather so as to meet him in the midst of their suffering, and find him a source of comfort to them. On the other hand, the Lord commanded them to cross, as if he is pushing them to walk in the midst of the world currents. They are carried by the cross, or the boat, so as to reach the heavenly harbor on the other bank. As the scholar Oreganus says, “This is the work of Jesus’ disciples, I mean, to go to the other shore beak. They will cross all visible and materialistic matters which are temporary, and are released to the invisible eternity.” As for the multitudes, they were filled with the materialistic food, and have stopped at this point. They were not to be blessed by entering the boat and crossing to the heavenly shore. As for the Lord Jesus, he went up to the mountain all by himself. It is as if he has been uplifted to heaven so as to encounter the father for the sake of his disciples. He prays, which is, he talks to his Father offering his precious blood, interceding for the, to forgive them their sins. This is the deposit by which the disciples live in the middle of the ordeal, when the tempest rages. Also, the real helps was there for them to cross over the eternity. By his going up the mountain, they, too, go up with him and by him and in him; so as to meet the heavenly Father who supports them in hardship and grants them the natural heavenly life. The Lord’s going up the mountain, all by himself, to pray, does not mean or escape from the service. It is an assurance of the meditative life of service, and the service of the multitudes, by being in a secret meeting with the Father. Indeed, we are badly in need of the mountain or the wilderness to support us in our spiritual and shepherding struggle. As St. John Chrysostom says, “The wilderness is the mother of silence. It is peaceful, and he herbor that saves us from all the toil.” As St. Isaac the Sgrian says, “Just to look at the wilderness gives the soul a lot of peace, and it kills the physical passions in us.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ The wilderness is not a place for an escape from the service, or from the world. It is actually a spiritual battlefield against Satan himself. In it the spirit is revealed, and its depth is discovered if it is firm in the Lord. It is struggling in the spiritual path, or it is weak and quiet. The wilderness polishes men, and increases their maturity spiritually, it also reveals the negligent ones and pronounces their carelessness or their evil. (Matt 14:24-27) “But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now 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, saying, ‘The Sailor commanded the disciples to get into the boat of ordeals, and to go before him to cross to the other bank. But when they reached the middle of the sea, the turmoil waves of ordeals, and the opposite winds facing them to go to the shore, these made them helpless. They struggled as if they had no Christ, they could not overcome the high waves and the contradicting spirits to reach the other side. When they spent all their effort to reach the shore the word had compassion on them, and he came walking on the sea. It is he whom no waves or winds can obstruct. What occurred here shows us a live image of the entire story for salvation. Humanity entered to the midst of the sea in the first trumpet, when our first forefathers fell in paradise, and their life was subjected to everlasting death when fighting back the contradicting winds, which are Satan’s deception. In the second trumpet sound, out of paradise, the entire humanity submitted as well, when under the natural law of eternal death, and there was none to be saved. In the third trumpet sound, God offered the law of Moses, that has been unable to save man from death, and from crossing with him to the life of safety on the other bank. But in the fullness of time, in the fourth trumpet, in the middle of pitch darkness, the ford Jesus has come, shinning on those sitting in the dark, to save them from the devastating waves. He is the only one who can come forward to humanity, walk in on the water, and the opposing winds could not confront him. Those who had come previously, none of them was able to walk on the waters of the world or could face the opposing winds without getting drowned. Humanity as a whole, was heavy with the burden of sin, as if it were lead (Zech 5:7), and therefore it was in the deep water (Ex 15:10). But as for the word of God, he alone is sinless, he alone is able to be lifted on the waters without being swallowed up by the waves! Indeed, the Lord came forward finding a way for himself on the waters, that is on the world without being swallowed up by the world, as happened with the rest of mankind. He was heading towards the boat just as it were the cross, or to his church, carrying his disciples with him to enter it, so they be with him, and he with them. He would be in them, and they in him, crossing to the eternal harbor in peace. He came forward to them in the midst of the rough waves, so as to declare to his disciples the ordeals are the times in which the Lord shines brightly in the midst of his children. He does not take away the sufferings, but he rather shines before their eyes, declaring his fatherhood, his care, before he calms down the waves. https://coptic-treasures.com/ + He did not take away the dark, and neither did he declare himself on the spot, but as I have already said before, he always trained them to tolerate these fears, and to be ready for any trials and sufferings. + The Lord did not declare himself before they cried out to him; the more they were scared, the more they welcomed his coming to them. St. John Chrysostom The Lord came to humanity in the fourth trumpet, the last one. It was all pitch dark when he came waling on the waves. They thought he was only a shadow, and they didn’t know the reality of his coming, and neither could they understand the mysteries of his salvation deed. They were unable to encounter him, and realize his presence as a Savior in their life. Some doubted his humanity, such as the Genosites who thought his body was only an illusion or imagination. Some denied his divinity, such as the Ariosites. But the divine word, the incarnate one declared assuring them (Matt 14:27) “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” It is as if he is confirming the reality of his being a human person, and being in our midst as a mystery of spiritual power and peace, talking away all fear from us. God still allows every believer to enter the boat midst the waves, so he would realize the truth of his existence inside him. His power is so overwhelming, for he is able to calm down the outer and inner waves. He grants us awesome peace by declaring his divine presence in him. Peter on the Water: (Matt 14:28-33) “And Peter answered him and said, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ So he said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ and immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got in to the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped him saying, ‘truly you are the son of God.’” In our study of book of Exodus, we heard Moses the prophet and his people praising God for the sake of their salvation, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his people, saying, (Ex 15:5) “They sank to the bottom like a stone.” Iniquity is life a stone or lead that sinks in the deep water to the very bottom. But as for virtue, which is light, this floats on the water. Those walking in righteousness fly like the clouds, or the pigeons with their tiny wings (Is 9:8). The scholar Oreganus says, “Our Lord and Savior has walked on the water; He is the one who truly knows no sin. His disciple St. Peter also walked, but he was a little afraid, for his heart was not entirely pure, because he carried some lead inside it. This is why the Lord told him ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ He, who is saved, is saved as if with fire (1 Cor) 3:15). Even if there is any lead in him, it is melted as in a furnace.” St. Peter has seen the Lord Jesus walking on the water, and he was eager to meet him there. When he asked the Lord, he commanded him to come to him. But https://coptic-treasures.com/ Peter was afraid when he saw the boisterous wind. This is humanity’s image before the incarnation; but when it believed in God who is able to walk on the water of the world, it went out to meet him. But it was quite unable to do so, and forgave us our sins. By him, we have had the ability to walk with him, and in him, on the water without getting drowned. Through him we have entered the New Testament boat, just as St. Peter entered it with the Lord, so he would take us up to the higher Jerusalem. What is amazing is that the Lord did not calm down the waves so that Peter would walk on the water, but he said to Peter ‘Come.’ He pacified the inner waves of his heart, so in faith he would walk on the waves, and would not drawn. For real, the mystery in our getting drowned is not the outer waves, but rather the losing of the hearts peace and its faith. 5. Christ, the One who Heals: The Lord Jesus granted peace to the disturbed souls because of the opposing winds. He entered with those souls to the boat of his holy church so they could live in perfect peace. He crossed with them to the land of Genesaret. There, the people came to know him. They therefore brought to him all those who were sick, and they just wanted to touch the hew of his garment, for all those who touched him were healed. His garment refers tot his church that clings to him. All those who accepted him wished to be as the hem of his garment, that is, to occupy the last rows in his church, so that in humanity they would obtain the healing for their souls as well as their bodies.
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