The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned

 

 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles:

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned." 

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

 

- Matthew 4:12–17 

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, / Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'" Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him,  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

 

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, / By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, / Galilee of the Gentiles: . . ."  The Gospel makes it very clear that the preparatory mission of John the Baptist has been completed, as Jesus waited until he heard that John had been put in prison to depart to Galilee.  According to my study Bible, Galilee of the Gentiles indicates that many non-Jews lived in this region.  As it had a mixed population, it wasn't considered a genuinely Jewish land, although many of its Gentile residents had converted to Judaism during the Maccabean period.  Because many of the Jews of Galilee had been influenced by the Greek culture and its customs, my study Bible adds, they were generally considered to be second-class citizens by the Jews of Judea. 

 

"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, / And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death / Light has dawned."   St. Matthew quotes here from Isaiah 9:1-2.  My study Bible explains that darkness means ungodliness.  Here, it says, "darkness" represents the Gentiles' unawareness of God and the Jews being under the shadow of the Old Covenant.  To sit in darkness means to be overcome by spiritual ignorance.  The great light is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  See also John 1:4-5.

 

 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  My study Bible notes that Christ's first word, similarly to that of John the Baptist, is "Repent."  The difference, however, is that the kingdom of heaven is present wherever Christ is.  But nevertheless, Christ's mission is still to call us to repentance.  My study Bible explains that this is the necessary first step in the way of the Lord.  It is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, and is to be followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change.  

 

As longtime readers of this blog will know, the term repentance is extremely important for us to understand.  In Greek, this word is μετανοια/metanoia, and it literally means "change of mind."   Repentance is not the same as simply feeling guilty, nor merely feeling sorry.  Repentance indicates change, a change that goes from one direction to another;  that is, from wherever we are and going toward Christ, where Christ would have us go.  Properly, our entire lives in Christ, and the whole of the religious and spiritual journey of our lives should be a constant renewal in this sense of repentance, personal transformation.  As we grow more deeply in this relationship with and participation in the life of Christ, so also we will change.  We will experience a kind of constant experience of conversion, metanoia, change of mind.  Of course, we have help on this journey.  We are not led simply by our own noses or our own opinions, but rather by all the things which are offered in the Church, and the things left to us by Christ.  Most notably there is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, and Christ's great Light within us.  St. Paul has explained that we are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in us (see Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16).   Additionally, we are left with sacraments and services, the practices and traditions of the Church, the Scriptures and prayers.  We have help in the saints and the angels who guide us and form the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us and worships with us (Hebrews 12:1).  All of these things are meant not only to shore up our faith, to help us to live that faith, but also to hold us in the embrace of the kingdom of heaven even as we live in this world, so that this active and ongoing work of repentance in us may bear the spiritual fruit that is possible for us, and follow Christ where we are led.  This is the action of the Light which continually leads us out of our own darkness, a constant illuminating process.  In fact, historically, Christian Holy Baptism has also been called "Illumination."  It is this sense in which Baptism begins our journey, which is ongoing and culminates only in the fullness of Christ's light, an eternal goal and not simply a temporal one.  As my study Bible notes, the kingdom of heaven is at hand for us, for where Christ is, so there is His Kingdom.  Where two or three are gathered in His name, He has promised us, so He is there also, and moreover, He is with us always.  He is the morning star that rises in our hearts, and the light shining in a dark place  (2 Peter 1:19-20).  For we are all disciples -- that is, learners -- and this is our road, Christ's "way."

 

 

You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve

 

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,'

and, 

 'In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

 

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him,  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

 

- Matthew 4:1-11 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are you coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water;  and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  My study Bible explains that to be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  As in St. Mark's Gospel, here Jesus is led up into the wilderness after His Baptism to be tested by a struggle with the devil (in St. Mark's Gospel, we're told that He was thrown or driven out by the Spirit; in Greek ἐκβάλλει).  My study Bible comments that we who are baptized in Christ need not be defeated by temptations because we too are aided by the Holy Spirit.  The wilderness forms a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory. 

 

 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Jesus fasted to overcome temptation; according to my study Bible, in so doing, He gives us an example of our own power and limitations in the face of temptation.  We are to note that Christ's hunger of His flesh doesn't control Him.  Rather, He controls His flesh.  Christ's fast of forty days is the foundation of the Church's forty-day Lenten fast before Holy Week and also a traditional fast before Christmas.  In the verses that follow, we read of the various temptations given by the devil.  In this contest or struggle, Jesus reverses Israel's falling to temptation in the wilderness.  My study Bible reminds us that the Israelites were tested forty years in the wilderness and proved disobedient and disloyal.  God humbled them by first letting them go hungry and then feeding them with manna to help them learn to be dependent upon Him (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).  In today's reading, Jesus is tested with hunger for forty days, and He does not sin.  All of His answers to Satan are from Deuteronomy, and they all call for loyalty to God.

 

 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  Note that the devil's temptation is to challenge Christ's relationship to the Father, the very thing revealed at His baptism in yesterday's reading, and the messianic secret for which He will be judged a blasphemer and be put to death.  If You are the Son of God calls into question that declaration by the Father (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible comments that the devil wants Jesus to act independently and to detach Himself from the will of the Father -- thus, destroying His mission.  According to my study Bible, in Christ's divine nature, He shares one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), apart from the Father.  But in His humanity, He possesses free will and at all times must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father.

 

 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"   Jesus rejects the first temptation of the devil, thereby rejecting an earthly kingdom.  This shows us not to pursue earthly comfort in the "food which perishes" (John 6:27), my study Bible says.  It notes that while Adam disregarded the divine word in order to pursue the passions of the body (Genesis 3), the New Adam -- Christ -- conquers all temptation by the divine word, giving human nature the power to conquer Satan.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3.

 

 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down."  The holy city is Jerusalem.  Once again, the devil is tempting Christ to reject His identity as Son and His loyalty and love of the Father.

 

"For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and,  'In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  As in the first temptation Jesus had defeated Satan through the power of the Scriptures, he vainly tried to use Scriptures here to put God's power of protection to the test (see also 2 Peter 1:19-21).  Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11-12.

 

 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  My study Bible comments that trials and temptations come on their own; we should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to test or prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16.

 

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"   Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.  My study Bible notes here for us that God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions.  In this test by the devil, Jesus is being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  (Note also how the devil mimics divine actions by being on an exceedingly high mountain; see, for example, Matthew 17:1-3.)  My study Bible comments that the devil is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  It notes that Jesus refuses the road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13.  Note also that in Greek, "Away with you, Satan!" reads literally, "Get behind Me, Satan!"  These are the same words Christ will use with St. Peter, when he suggests that Christ not go to the Cross (see Matthew 16:21-23).  

 

Jesus refutes every temptation of the devil with one central thing:  His loyalty and love of the Father.  More essentially, He does so by clinging to His real identity; He is the Son of  God, the Son of God the Father.   This, of course, is the one thing the devil attacks, consistently and repeatedly.  He begins the first two temptations with, "If You are the Son of God . . .."  Jesus' adherence to this identity, of course, is not the product of pride, of social life or a system of social values, nor is it something He inherited or was conferred upon Him at birth.  This is the spiritual reality of who He is, and occurs within the power of a fully loving and participating identity within the embrace of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  This is a divine reality, and His relations within it are relations of love and loyalty.  The devil makes his last appeal to Christ in a way that reveals what he really wants. He says, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  The devil wants to usurp God's place and the things that belong only to God.  He wants worship; He even wants Christ's worship and loyalty, which seems to indicate that he doesn't understand Christ the Son at all, and so continues to challenge Him.  But Jesus responds by turning the tables on the devil.  His words, "Away with you, Satan!" are more accurately translated, "Get behind Me, Satan," indicating who is really in charge here, whose authority must be followed.  Therefore in today's reading about temptation in the wilderness we are getting a sense of the true meaning of Christ's saving mission.  We must keep in mind that to be tempted is to be tested.  There is the devil, who is the "ruler of this world," and Christ who comes to claim it as the Son.  This is salvation, redemption.  So, what happens in this time of fasting in the wilderness is what we should understand as spiritual warfare, and in our own lives we also participate in that warfare.  As my study Bible indicates, the wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world, and we human beings are in the middle of it.   In the Lenten tradition of the fast, the Church makes it clear that we are also called into this struggle, with Christ, for we also are tested.  He shows us the way; He is the firstfruits in all ways, and we enter into His life.  In today's lectionary reading, we are also given the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:1-21.  We often forget that the foundation of those commandments, and the first half of them, is the worship due only to God.  But Jesus never forgets that; it is His basic weapon with which He fights the devil in today's reading.  Let us also hold fast to what comes first.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased

 

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are you coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him. 

 

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water;  and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 

- Matthew 3:13–17 

 

Yesterday we read that when St. John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are you coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  My study Bible comments that Jesus does not need purification.  But by making the purification of humanity His own, several things are accomplished.  He washes away humanity's sin, grants regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  So, therefore, His baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation.  Gregory of Nyssa is quoted here as saying, "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful, waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."   

 

 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water;  and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters at the first creation (Genesis 1:2), so now the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove in order to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at the beginning of the new creation.  My study Bible explains that Jesus does not become the Son of God on this day.  Instead we are to understand that this as a revelation given to all on this day that He is the Son of God.  The Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ; this is an eternal reality (see John 1:1).  In the Orthodox Tradition, the feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (meaning a manifestation of God) is celebrated on January 6th and commemorates this day.  In the very early Church, on this day was also celebrated Christ's Nativity (Christmas), coupled with Theophany or Epiphany.  In the Armenian Apostolic Church, these two feast days were never separated and remain celebrated on January 6th; that is, the beginning of Christ's earthly life is celebrated together with the beginning of His public ministry. 

 

"And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  This is a quotation from Psalm 2:7:  "You are My Son, / Today I have begotten You."  My study Bible asks us to note how the Baptism of Jesus reveals the great mystery of the Trinity:  the Father speaks; the Holy Spirit descends; the Incarnate Son is baptized.  

 

 "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Right from the beginning, St. Matthew's Gospel tells us these important things about Jesus:  that He is the Son, that He is the Second Person of the Trinity, that He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  It is this claiming of identity as Son for which He will be judged a blasphemer and handed over to be crucified by the Roman authorities on a false charge of treason against Caesar (Matthew 26:64-65).  For most of His ministry, Jesus will take precautions against revealing this secret openly and fully, for even His disciples will have to come to know and to understand Him.  Moreover the popular expectations of the Messiah among the people interfere with the grasping of the true nature of His ministry, mission, and Kingdom.  But we believers are let in on this secret, this reality that is hidden yet revealed in Christ's baptism at the Jordan by St. John the Baptist.  It is "manifest," it "shows forth" as the Greek words Epiphany and Theophany indicate.  It's an interesting angle to ponder that as Christ asserts to John the Baptist that it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness, so this showing forth of true reality breaking through our perception of life is manifest.  It's another dimension of the reality of Christ's baptism to ponder the spiritual significance of His being submerged in the waters, and coming up to begin His ministry:  Just as He will "trample death by death" (as the Orthodox Easter hymn declares) in His Passion and Crucifixion, so by going into the depth of the waters it is not He who spiritually dies to be reborn but rather He sanctifies the waters of the world for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire that He is to bring into the world.  Moreover as He rises from the waters so a new reality -- not for Him, but for all people -- is made manifest, shown forth, revealed.  Christ will call His own death a baptism (Matthew 20:22), and here we have a foreshadowing of all that His death and Resurrection will achieve and mean, ongoing for the world to come.  Jesus' ministry will balance His need for secrecy regarding His identity with His care and nurturing of His disciples, growing His ministry, sending them out as apostles, until the time comes for His Passion and open confrontation in Jerusalem.  Let us watch Him evolve His ministry and mission, teaching as He must, midst the challenges He will face, and the fullness of His gospel and the Kingdom He brings closer for us all.

 

 

 

 

 

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 

 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

- Matthew 3:7–12 

 

In yesterday's lectionary reading we were given sections from two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 1 and chapter 3.  First we were given St. Matthew's genealogy of Jesus:  The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Reoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.   Then, the lectionary skipped to chapter 3, where we  begin reading about Christ's public ministry, which starts with the mission of St. John the Baptist:  In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'" Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.   Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 

 

  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  My study Bible explains here that Sadducees were members of the high priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  The Sadducees differed from the Pharisees in that they denied the resurrection of the dead, did not believe in the existence of angels, and had no messianic hope beyond our earthly life.  The Pharisees formed a lay religious movement which was centered on the study of the Law, and strict observance of its regulations  Moreover they developed secondary traditions around the Law, which they scrupulously followed.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead, and also a messianic hope, but they taught that righteousness is found on the strength of one's works according to the Law.  Additionally, my study Bible explains, they believed that the Messiah would be merely a glorious man.  St. John the Baptist's title for them, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  It's an image of their deception and malice, and their being under the influence of Satan.  

 

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, . . . "  According to my study Bible, repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  My study Bible comments that if a fruitful life doesn't follow, then sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  So, therefore, in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is pictured chopping a fruitless tree in accordance with the Baptist's image given in verse 10.

 

 ". . . and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."   This warning that from these stones (in Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim) is a play on words.  My study Bible comments that God will not admit fruitless children into His house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.  

 

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  This statement is tied to the Baptist's earlier command to bear fruits worthy of repentance.  My study Bible comments that fire here refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11; 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22; 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also the reference to fire in the following verse.

 

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, which my study Bible says is the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  It is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.   Additionally, in the Baptist's culture, a slave would carry the king's sandals.  So, my study Bible explains, John is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  His inability to carry Christ's sandals also has a second meaning.  To carry another's sandal indicated that one was taking someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here, according to my study Bible, it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  

 

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  Winnowing is a process that separates grain from the chaff, so as to save the edible grain and toss the inedible chaff.  My study Bible explains that this is a metaphor for the divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.  

 

In last week's lectionary readings, we were given Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples.  In Friday's reading, Jesus said to them, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  The Helper, in this discourse, is the Holy Spirit.  In today's reading, St. John the Baptist speaks of the Messiah (or Christ) as He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Again, my study Bible teaches us that this is the fire of the power and truth of God, yet this same fire is also the fire of judgment.  It is similar to a flame that purifies metals like gold, by burning away the impurities and leaving the pure metal.  It matches St. John's metaphor of the winnowing fan in yet another way, for a winnowing fan uses airflow to separate the lighter chaff from the heavier grain (modern winnowing machines use industrial technology essentially to perform the same task by efficiently blowing air to separate both).  In Greek, the word for Spirit is Πνευμα/Pneuma.  This is the same word used for the Holy Spirit, and the more general word spirit.  It also means breath, or wind.  The same is true for the Hebrew word Ruach.  Jesus likens the Holy Spirit and His effects to the wind when He teaches Nicodemus about Baptism in St. John's Gospel (see John 3:5-8, especially verse 8).  The same fire that purifies gold and burns impurities can be likened to the wind that separates wheat from chaff, as metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit, whose job it is not only to illumine spiritual truth for those who will accept it, but also to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."  So, we take St. John the Baptist's prophetic words here to indicate what the coming of the Lord means for all the people, including the coming of the Holy Spirit for all, and particularly within Christian Baptism.  Moreover, John's words speak with the prophetic power of the meaning of the coming of the Messiah for all people, in that he speaks eschatologically.  That is, his words indicate the coming of judgment:  "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  This is a prophecy of "end times," which in the historic mind of the Church began with Christ's Incarnation and will continue until His Second Coming.  Just as Christ indicated in His Farewell Discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper, the coming of Christ is a mission which will initiate also the work of the Holy Spirit, alive like a spiritual fire always working in the world, always testing and purifying, with His power working to reveal truth as well as what needs to be burned away.  Let us remember the power of our Baptism given by Christ, and seek to fulfill its promise with the true fruits of the Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness

 

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  

 

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Reoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  

 

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  

 

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.  

 

 * * * 

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.   Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  

 

- Matthew 1:1–17; 3:1–6 

 

 In our readings from last week, the lectionary gave us the Final Discourse of Jesus, which He gave to the disciples at the Last Supper.  On Saturday, we read His final words in this discourse, just prior to His prayer before going to His arrest and the Cross.  He told the disciples, "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying."  Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have  loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  My study Bible comments that while St. Luke's genealogy runs from Jesus back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), St. Matthew's list descends from Abraham, with whom was established the Old Covenant of circumcision, to Jesus, who is the author of the New Covenant.  God promised to bless all the tribes of the earth in Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 28:14).  This promise is fulfilled in Abraham's greatest Son, Jesus Christ.

 

 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  Traditionally, Jewish genealogical lists included only men.  Here, the mention of women -- Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba -- is unusual.  Each one, according to my study Bible, is either a Gentile or a sinner.  The inclusion of these women, it notes, declares God's graciousness and prefigures the calling of the Gentiles into the Church.  Additionally, it underscores the role of women in God's plan of salvation, and at the same time anticipates the place of the Virgin Mary in that place. 

 

 David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Reoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.   Through his anointing by Samuel, David was made king  (1 Samuel 16:1-13).  Through his psalms, David was revealed as a great prophet.  So, according to my study Bible, David foreshadows both the royal and the prophetic nature of Jesus Christ (Psalm 110). As an adulterer and a murderer, David is also a type for all repentant sinners. 

 

 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  My study Bible says that Joseph can be named as Jesus' immediate predecessor since Old Testament marriage laws confer hereditary rights on adopted as well as biological sons.  According to the Church Fathers, Mary also was descended from David; and in the phrase Mary, of whom was born Jesus, "of whom" is in a feminine singular case, therefore referring only to Mary.  So, therefore, Jesus is shown to be born of Mary, and not begotten of Joseph.  

 

 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.  Christ's ancestors in St. Matthew's genealogy are arranged in three groups of fourteen generations.  Fourteen is the numerical equivalent of the consonants in the name David, and thereby, my study Bible says, it underlines Jesus' descent from David.  This arrangement also shows the division of the leadership of the Jews, who were under judges until David, under kings until Babylon, and under priests until Christ.  

 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  The wilderness of Judea is the barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea (map).  The preparation for Christ's ministry began with John the Baptist's call to repent.  My study Bible comments that repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face.  The word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) literally means to change one's mind, or more generally, to turn around.  It explains that repentance is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  This is the necessary first step in the way of the LORD.  It is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism (verse 6), and is followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change (verse 8).  

 

 Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. My study explains that John's ascetic life conformed to that of the Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who lived in the wilderness.  Their purpose was to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God.  John's clothing is typical of a prophet, and echoes descriptions of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).  In the early Church, the monastic movement was patterned after St. John the Baptist's manner of life. 

 

 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  My study Bible remarks that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New.  John's baptism, however, is a sign of repentance and the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not confer the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God in the way that Christian baptism does (verse 11).  

 

As we have just passed through Lent and into Easter (or Pascha), it might be time to consider paradox and the role that it plays in our faith.  Holy Week gives us vividly the most striking paradox of all; that is, death and life, rebirth -- the Cross of the Crucifixion and the empty tomb and joyous good news of Resurrection from an angel to Christ's followers.  In today's reading, we begin not simply with Christ's birth, but with His entire genealogy from Abraham, the one whose faith in God was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).   This beginning gives us a complete focus for the Gospel of Matthew as we enter into readings in this Gospel through the lectionary, a focus on faith and its role in adoption as children of God.  This is a genealogy that links faith to Christ, and gives us a host of ancestors who, by faith, lead us to the Son of God.  My study Bible points out the unusual four women who are included in this genealogy, each one either a Gentile or a sinner.  But each plays the role in the salvation history we must come to understand as faithful.  And without faith, that understanding becomes impossible.  For God's work in the world isn't to our human standards, but rather comes through revelation and our receipt of that reality.  We learn about and come into relationship with God through God's grace and revelation to us.  Without this, how could we understand the paradoxes of life in Christ, of the Cross and of the Resurrection?  That is, that which St. Paul termed "to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:23).  From this long history of beginning and renewal in the genealogy we receive the beginning of Christ's ministry, given to us in the person and ministry of St. John the Baptist.  He comes into the story of salvation at a particular moment in which expectations are high that the Messiah would be coming; this also involves a great deal of false expectation which will play a role in the story of Jesus.  He foreshadows the baptism that is to come, preparing people through repentance, and repeating the words of the prophet Isaiah who came before him.  In this the Gospel gives us yet another parallel lineage that plays its own great role in the story of salvation, that of the prophets.  St. John the Baptist is considered in the Church to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament type prophets, and in yet another paradox, he plays his role in ushering in and preparing for the New Covenant to come.  Just as the voice in the prophecy of Isaiah, his mission and ministry are in the wilderness, and all are coming to him.  He lives in a radical poverty, echoing that of another prophet, Elijah -- the one who was prophesied to return before the Messiah (Malachi 4:5-6).  Jesus Himself will point out that we are also to see John's role as that of Elijah's return in spirit (Matthew 17:12-13).  So today, let us consider the paradox of the old and the new, the extension and renewal of covenant and of the ongoing saving mission of God in the world.  Baptism itself is a model of renewal, death and rebirth, turning from one way and facing another -- making a path straight for the Lord, in the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3).  John's mission is in the wilderness of desert, just as Isaiah's words reflect.  There is the old, and there is renewal, and John's baptism will also be renewed in the Baptism that is to come in the Holy Spirit.  Let us embrace paradox and renewal, the old fulfilled in the new -- and God's always surprising revelation where our understanding isn't adequate without also faith in order to receive it.  In the Revelation, the Lord says, "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5); from the Greek, this is better translated, "I am always making all things new."  The paradox of faith is always unfolding for us if we can but accept it, for in this is the lifetime drama of repentance, a continual renewal.  If we can but receive it, Christ's death and renewal is always working within us and in our lives.   We begin with the voice of one crying in the wilderness, which leads to eternal Resurrection, if we can accept with faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world

 

 "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying." 

 

Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  

 

"These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have  loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

- John 16:16-33 

 

 This week we have been reading through Christ's Farewell Discourse given to the disciples at the Last Supper.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

 

  "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying."  My study Bible comments that the first little while refers to Christ's arrest, death, and burial.  The second is Christ's time in the tomb until His Resurrection. 

 

 "Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."  My study Bible explains that no longer remembers doesn't imply the faithful are to forget the Passion and Cross of Christ, any more than a woman "forgets" labor.  Instead, we are to see these sufferings in light of the victory of the Resurrection, and this victory transfigures our perception of sufferings.  Christ's victory allows us to rejoice in anguish because of the infinitely greater good that comes from it (Romans 5:3-5; Philippians 3:10).  

 

 "These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father."  The time when Christ would speak plainly about the Father, according to my study Bible, was during the 40 days following the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  

 

"In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have  loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  My study Bible notes that we know prayer is offered in the name of God the Father, for Christ taught us to pray that way (Matthew 6:9), and He Himself prayed to the Father (John 11:41; 12:28; 17:1).  In Christ, we have direct access to the Father, and so therefore we pray in the name of the Son as well (John 14:13-14).  

 

It's very significant that my study Bible points out Christ's meaning here as indicating that we see His suffering in light of the Resurrection -- and all the good things that came out of it as well.  This can't be underestimated in terms of its impact on the whole of our faith, and yet also in each of our individual lives.  For Christ's Resurrection is not just His alone.  His Resurrection is also something in which we may participate, for when we have our faith, we have faith in Resurrection as ongoing reality and something which we may also experience in our own lives.  Christ stepped into the world filled with sin and evil things, including intense suffering.  He came to be with us as one of us; He did not look upon us from afar and stand aloof to our suffering, but came down into it, like a baptism.  According to my study Bible, Jesus called His Passion and death a baptism because He was completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Matthew 20:22-23).  In this light, we again consider the words in today's reading, in which Jesus teaches that the suffering His disciples will endure while experiencing the shattering and shocking events of His Passion and death will only be properly received and understood through the light of the Resurrection, and the joy that is to come "in a little while" later on.  In this instruction, Jesus gives the example of a woman in labor.  No one forgets the pain, but that pain is understood and perceived in the light of the joy of birth.  Christ's death and Resurrection are equally important for us, and must be taken together.  We do not forget suffering -- and that includes all those who follow Christ and suffer in the world, particularly because of their faith -- but neither do we receive or understand that suffering without the Resurrection.  In this is truly our faith, and the instruction for how we go through life, and even through the tragedies and terrible experiences that may befall us.  For while the light of the Resurrection may not change the facts of the suffering, including the pain and even loss, Resurrection brings with it its own changed circumstances and new realities.  This is the heart of faith, and why we do not despair.  We don't know what door God opens to us when we meet suffering with trust and faith in Him, even when we experience loss of things dear to us.  In Christ's case, His disciples would lose their beloved Teacher Jesus.  But Resurrection would defeat death for the world, and send the Holy Spirit to all who may be baptized into the Church and find the faith and truth therein.  And in this is joy, as Jesus says here in today's reading.  This is not an intangible joy, but one that is measured through our own experience of meeting difficulties in the experience of the faith that shows us how to walk through them.  My mother experienced dementia and Alzheimer's, and it was with no shortage of difficulty.  But we became closer through her illness, and I was able to offer her love and care.  Moreover, in her own growth, despite -- and maybe even because of -- her illness, she was able to find faith in Christ, a depth in bond of love at her Church, and meaning in the Bible she had not found before.  These are simply a small handful of the good things that came out of meeting her illness in the faith of Christ and the power of Resurrection that is at work for us when we pray.  Jesus says in today's reading, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  When we have tribulation, let us remember that He has overcome the world, and extends that resurrection power and strength to us to walk us through our own, and find the redemption of Resurrection. 

 

 

 

When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

 

 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.  But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  

 

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  

 

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

 

- John 16:1–15 

 

 This week we have been reading through Christ's Farewell Discourse, which was given to the disciples at the Last Supper.  Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, which tell of the manner in which the Eucharist was instituted, John's Gospel gives us the meaning behind Christ's ministry and the institution of the Eucharist, the substance of communion.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer to I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.  If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out  of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'   But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning." 

 

  "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.  They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.  And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.  But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.  And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."  Here Christ elaborates on His warnings to the disciples of what is to come when He is no longer with them in the flesh, as Incarnate Jesus.  My study Bible explains that sorrow, in Christ's use here, means "extreme grief leading to despondency or despair," which is a sinful passion.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments, "Great is the tyranny of despondency."  Moreover, it adds that this sin is constantly referred to in the writings of the Desert Fathers.  When the world persecutes the believer or when God seems to be absent, Christians are called to fight against this despondency, taking comfort from the presence of the Holy Spirit (the theme of verses 5-15).  

 

 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  Once again, we recall that the word in Greek translated here as Helper is Παρακλητος/Parakletos, sometimes rendered in English as Paraclete.  It literally indicates one who comes by one's side when called, as in participating in one's defense at trial.  This title also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  My study Bible notes on this passage that through the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit, the world will be convicted; that is, it will be proven wrong.  It will be convicted concerning first of all its sin, of which the ultimate is denying Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, of righteousness, which it failed to accept from Christ with faith and thanksgiving.  And finally judgment, for all who reject Christ, according to my study Bible, will receive the same penalty that Satan, the ruler of this world, has already received (see Matthew 25:41).

 

 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He  will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."  My study Bible explains that because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because this Spirit abides in the Church, the Church is the guardian of all truth.  

 

 My study Bible comments that because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because this Spirit abides in the Church, the Church is the guardian of all truth.  While over the centuries, the Church has contended with many heresies, many sects, and many divisions, this comment may make some wonder how it is that the Church can be the guardian of all truth.  But the Church exists as the institution founded by Christ and built, in a particular respect, by the Holy Spirit.  The Church also contains within it the whole of the "great cloud of witnesses" referred to by St. Paul (Hebrews 12:1).  That is, all the saints and the angels, those who have come before us, and in the sense in which the Church is an eternal spiritual construction, those who will come afterwards.  The Church is also a kind of divine-human construction.  While the Spirit is active in the Church, the Church also relies upon human beings in its ranks.  That is true at every level, from the highest to the lowest in authority, from parishioners to priests and pastors and bishops and hierarchs.  In other words, in this divine-human effort, we are also fallible human beings who are capable of making errors and mistaking the ways in which we come to know and understand the truth of the Spirit.  Nonetheless, despite this and our own capacity for problems, the Church remains the repository of truth; as my study Bible puts it, the guardian of all truth.  For everything is there that we need to find when we seek Christ, and desire to come to know God and our place in God's salvific plan for creation.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus begins speaking in parables about the kingdom of heaven, He gives three that are particularly pertinent to this topic (Matthew 13:44-52).  First He speaks of the kingdom of heaven as being like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and for joy he sells all that he has and buys the field.  Second, Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.  Finally, Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea.  Here we come close to our understanding of the Church and the working of the Holy Spirit in it, for this dragnet is cast out and gathers some of "every kind."  But when it was full, the good was gathered into vessels and the bad thrown away.  This is a parable of judgment at the end of the age -- that which Christ speaks of in today's reading when He reveals the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, and the Spirits active and ongoing mission, which convicts the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, and at the same time guides the faithful into all truth, and glorifies Christ.  Finally, Jesus ends this teaching in parables by saying, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  And this treasure out of which every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven brings out things new and old is the Church.  This is the image of the repository of the Church as guardian of all truth -- a treasure to be cherished, upheld, lived, and grown into so that by its fruit it glorifies Father, Son, and Spirit.  Those who wish simply to use that treasure for their own gain or purpose will incur judgment, as will those who refuse to honor or receive its value.  That includes, as Jesus says in today's reading, "the ruler of this world," also called the father of lies (John 8:44).