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itself is meant.
It goes on: "And when He had sent them away, He departed into a mountain to pray."
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: This we must understand of Christ, in that He is man;
He does it also to teach us to be constant in prayer.
Theophylact: But when He had dismissed the crowd, He goes up to pray, for prayer requires rest
and silence.
Bede, in Marc., 2, 28: Not every man, however, who prays goes up into a mountain, but he alone
prays well, who seeks God in prayer. But he who prays for riches or worldly labour, or for the
death of his enemy, sends up from the lowest depths his vile prayers to God.
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John says, "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force and
make Him a king, He departed against into a mountain Himself, alone." [John 6:15]
It goes on: "And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and He alone on the
land."
Theophylact: Now the Lord permitted His disciples to be in danger, that they might learn
patience; wherefore He did not immediately come to their aid, but allowed them to remain in
danger all night, that He might teach them to wait patiently, and not to hope at once for help in
tribulations.
For there follows: "And He saw them toiling in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them: and
about the fourth watch of the night, He cometh unto them walking upon the sea."
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: Holy Scripture reckons four watches in the night,
making each division three hours; wherefore by the fourth watch it means that which is after the
ninth hour, that is, in the tenth or some following hour.
There follows: "And would have passed them."
Augustine, de Con. Evan., 2, 47: But how could they understand this, except from His going a
different way, wishing to pass them as strangers; for they were so far from recognizing Him, as to
take Him for a spirit.
For it goes on: "But when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit,
and cried out."
Theophylact: See again how Christ, though He was about to put and end to [p. 127] their
dangers, puts them in greater fear. But He immediately reassured them by His voice, for it
continues, "And immediately He talked with them, and said unto them, It is I, be not afraid."
Chrys., Hom. in Matt., 50: As soon then as they knew Him by His voice, their fear left them.
Augustine: How then could He wish to pass them, whose fears He so reassures, if it were not
that His wish to pass them would wring from them that cry, which called for His help?
Bede: [ed. note: This opinion with which Theodorus is charged was one held by the Phantasiasts,
a sect of the Monophysites. The denial of the human body to our Lord, was a natural
consequence of denying Him a human soul, for how could a human body inclose, so to speak,
His Divinity? Theodoras was Bishop of Pharan, in Arabia, and was condemned as the author of
the Monothelite heresy in the Lateran Council under Pope Martin I, AD 649. The passage from
Dionysius is quoted in Actio 3 of the Council, and occurs de Div. Nom, c. 1] But Theodorus, who
was Bishop of Phanara, wrote that the Lord had no bodily weight in His flesh, and walked on the
sea without weight; but the Catholic faith declares that He had weight according to the flesh. For
Dionysius says, We know not how without plunging in His feet, which had bodily weight and the
gravity of matter, He could walk on the wet and unstable substance.
Theophylact: Then by entering into the ship, the Lord restrained the tempest. For it continues,
"And He went up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased." Great indeed is the miracle of
our Lord's walking on the sea, but the tempest and the contrary wind were there as well, to make
the miracle greater. For the Apostles, not understanding from the miracle of the five loaves the
power of Christ, now more fully knew it from the miracle of the sea.
Wherefore it goes on, "And they were sore amazed in themselves." For they understood not
concerning the loaves.
Bede: The disciples indeed, who were still carnal, were amazed at the greatness of His virtue,
they could not yet however recognise in Him the truth of the Divine Majesty. Wherefore it goes
on, "For their hearts were hardened."
But mystically, the toil of the disciples in rowing, and the contrary wind, mark out the labours of
the Holy Church, who amidst the beating waves of the world, and the blasts of unclean spirits,
strives to reach the repose of her celestial country. And well is it said that the ship was in the
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midst of the sea, and He alone on land, for sometimes the Church is afflicted by a pressure from
the [p. 128] Gentiles so overwhelming, that her Redeemer seems to have entirely deserted her.
But the Lord sees His own, toiling on the sea, for, lest they faint in tribulations, He strengthens
them by the look of His love, and sometimes frees them by a visible assistance. Further, in the
fourth watch He came to them as daylight approached, for when man lifts up his mind to the light
of guidance from on high, the Lord will be with him, and the dangers of temptations will be laid
asleep.
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: Or else, the first watch means the time up to the
deluge; the second, up to Moses; the third, up to the coming of the Lord; in the fourth the Lord
came and spoke to His disciples.
Bede: Often then does the love of heaven seem to have deserted the faithful in tribulation, so that
it may be thought that Jesus wishes to pass by His disciples, as it were, toiling in the sea. And
still do heretics suppose that the Lord was a phantom, and did not take upon Him real flesh from
the Virgin.
Pseudo-Jerome: And He says to them, "Be of good cheer, it is I," because we shall see Him as
He is. But the wind and the storm ceased when Jesus sat down, that is, reigned in the ship,
which is the Catholic Church.
Bede: In whatsoever heart, also, He is present by the grace of His love, there soon all the
strivings of vices, and of the adverse world, or of evil spirits, are kept under and put to rest.
53. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the
shore.
54. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew Him,
55. And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that
were sick, where they heard He was.
56. And whithersoever He entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the
streets, and besought Him that they might touch if it were but the border of His garment: and as
many as touched Him were made whole.
Gloss.: The Evangelist, having shewn the danger which [p. 129] the disciples had sustained in
their passage, and their deliverance from it, now shews the place to which they sailed, saying,
"And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore."
Theophylact: The Lord remained at the above-mentioned place for some time. Therefore the
Evangelist subjoins, "And when they had come out of the ship, straightway they knew Him," That
is, the inhabitants of the country.
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