I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life

 

 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  

 

The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I  know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.  I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."  Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?"  Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

 

- John 8:12-20 

 

Yesterday we read that the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery.  And then they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

 

  Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  These words Christ says against the backdrop of events of this final day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  At the conclusion of this Feast, great lamps were lit in one of the temple courtyards (the Court of Women).  These great lamps are said to have been about 75 feet tall.  They were comprised of four giant golden menorahs, oil lamps which each lifted four bowls of continuously burning oil.  These lamps effectively illumined the entire city of Jerusalem by night.  They were meant to resemble the pillar of fire which led the Israelites by night as they followed Moses.  My study Bible comments that with these words, Christ is declaring Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light.  In the Scriptures, it notes, God the Father Himself is light (John 1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute He bestows on His followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  Christ will confirm this claim in the following chapter by performing the great sign of opening the eyes of a man born blind (see John 9:1-7; esp. verse 5).  

 

 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I  know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.  I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."  Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?"  Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.  Once again, as in a previous encounter with these religious authorities, Jesus is questioned regarding the issue of witnesses to His identity.  In chapter 5 (John 5:31-47), He offered four witnesses to His identity as Lord:  John the Baptist, the works (or signs) He does which have been given to Him by God the Father, God the Father Himself, and the witness of the Old Testament Scriptures which testify to Him.  Here in today's reading, He emphasizes His relation to the Father as loyal and true Son.  Here He bears witness of Himself, and adds the Father who sent Him as witness of Him.  The great emphasis here is on their lack of true love for God (see Deuteronomy 6:5); because they lack this basic depth of love for God in the heart, they fail to know Christ also. 

 

 So once again with Christ (and in particular in St. John's Gospel) we come to question of light.  What is light, in Christ's terms?  Let us take His words and examine them in order to understand.  Jesus says, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  To be the light of the world must truly teach us that His "way" (or "road") is the only path we should endeavor to walk in this world, the true way to live our lives.  It is He who will illumine us, give us the good and true and beautiful way.  His is also the way to true life.  Jesus contrasts His light with darkness, and so we must ask also, What is darkness?  Here He contrasts this darkness with the light of life, so darkness, we can presume is that which cancels life, cuts it off, diminishes it.  As death in any form, this darkness is also comparable to evil; that is, it is that which cuts us of from God somehow.  As we remember that Jesus is speaking against the backdrop of the great lamps being lit at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, we must go back to the image of the light that shines in the darkness (see John 1:1-5) and the pillar of fire that led the way for the Israelites at night on their journey to the promised land (Exodus 13:21).  Just like those who followed Moses, we need faith to learn to dwell within this light and to allow it to lead us where it will.  We need to understand this interaction of faith and illumination, how faith in Christ and His light can broaden our understanding of the path we need to take in life, and illumine the way.  Christ's light also magnifies the talents and capabilities we have in ourselves, and helps us to understand how we might develop those in good ways and for God's purposes.  Darkness is also symbolic of oppression and depression, the things that make setbacks feel like overwhelming judgments.  But we need Christ's light also to take us out of that darkness, even to find a way to see in the dark, when there are things we don't know, and forces that would seem to try to make us blind, and ignorant of what is possible with God.  But just as Christ's witness is true, and because the One who sent Him is true, we take Him at His word:  that in all situations, His is the light that we need, regardless of the darkness that might seem to surround us.  Just as it says in the beginning of St. John's Gospel, sometimes we will find that the darkness simply doesn't "comprehend" the light that is there always shining for us, but neither can it swallow it up (for both these meanings of comprehend, to understand and to take in, apply here).  Yet we are those who, despite the darkness we might find and its forces in our world, may always seek His light and find it for ourselves through faith.  For He remains the light of the world nonetheless.  Let us find the life He desires for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more

 And everyone went to his own house.  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.  

 

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  And then they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  

 

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

 

- John 7:53—8:11 

 

Yesterday we read that on the last day (the eighth day), that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take  Him, but no one laid hands on Him. Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"   Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."

 

  And everyone went to his own house.  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  This action describes what people did following the interaction with Jesus in yesterday's reading, above.  Those who go to their own house are the ones from Jerusalem, particularly those on the ruling Council (the chief priests and Pharisees) who sought to have Jesus arrested and who accuse Him.  Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives to stay as a pilgrim -- as do others -- to Jerusalem at this Feast of Tabernacles.  It emphasizes His outsider status, as one not in official authority in the temple, and also from outside of Jerusalem and Judea, as a Galilean. 

 

 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.  Here in this next sentence is a contrast; to be seated to teach the people (while they stand) is a position of authority, for in such a way did authoritative rabbis teach. 

 

 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  And then they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  My study Bible comments that the law dictated the death penalty for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10).  This ordinance was not observed to the letter in the days of Jesus; the Pharisees brought this particular woman because they saw an opportunity to test Him.  If Jesus had objected to this punishment, my study Bible explains, He could be accused of opposing the Law.  But if He upheld the punishment, He could be accused of showing no mercy to sinners.  My study Bible also points out that this is the single place in the New Testament where we are told that Jesus wrote something.  There are various theories explaining what He possibly wrote.  Some suggest that He wrote out the Ten Commandments, which all of these accusers had violated at least once.  Others suggest He wrote the names of the accusers who had themselves committed adultery.  

 

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."  My study Bible tells us that Christ's answer confounds the Pharisees, as he upholds a great principle of the Law -- that the wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23) -- without neglecting its greater aspect of mercy (Deuteronomy 13:17; Psalm 117:2-118:4; Hosea 6:6).  Christ's mercy is offered freely to all repentant sinners.  So that we may receive this gift, we must in turn flee from sin, as Christ indicates to the woman in His final word here. 

 

 Today's entire reading (this section of St. John's Gospel) which covers the story of the woman caught in adultery is not found in several ancient manuscripts.  Neither is it covered in the commentaries of St. John Chrysostom and particular other Church Fathers.  But nevertheless, my study Bible tells us, it's still sealed by the Church as inspired, authentic, and canonical Scripture; and it bears the same authority as all other Scripture.  In the Orthodox Church, this passage is read on one of the two days in which St. Mary of Egypt, a reformed prostitute, is commemorated.  Regardless of the questions regarding this passage, it seems to fit in with the recent themes we've read in St. John's Gospel, which involve questions of just judgment and righteousness.  In our reading from Saturday, we read Jesus' words, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  In yesterday's reading (above), we read not only the words of the Pharisees claiming that no prophet has arisen from Galilee (a false statement, as the prophet Jonah was from Galilee and a town near to Jesus' hometown of Nazareth), but also Nicodemus reminding his fellow Pharisees (only to be insulted and lied to), "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  So questions of judgment, justice, mercy, and righteousness are all relevant here and pertain to the context in which we've just read that the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple officers to arrest Jesus (while still seeking to find charges against Him), but those officers have been converted by Christ's teachings, saying, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" (John 7:46).  So today's story of the woman taken in adultery, and Christ's question of her judgment, is relevant to its context in a number of ways.  First of all, notably, it's a trap like other traps set to catch Jesus in some plausible accusation for the purposes of destroying Him and His ministry.  He's not part of the authoritative power structure, and is a threat to them.  Indeed, His fame is such that He teaches the people in the temple and they are glad to hear Him; moreover, by now He's become a figure of public discussion and dissension; the people are divided on whether or not He could be the Messiah (but, we've been told, they dare not discuss this openly for fear of the authorities).  Importantly, if we look at the letter of the Law against adultery these men purport to enforce, there is a problem with the case, as the Law says the man involved must also be charged, and for him also the penalty is death (see Leviticus 20:10).  In fact, the concern of the Law as written seems primarily to be concerned with the man's conduct, and secondarily with the woman.  Yet, there is no man presented here.  So this particular case is somehow suspect to begin with.  Is the man one of the ones present? Did he collaborate with authorities to set this up?  What did Jesus write for these men to see, after all, and how was it relevant?  These questions aren't answered, but they may certainly be asked.  Once again, in this context, it all points to the desperation of the religious leaders to silence Jesus, to destroy His popularity and threat to their authority over the people.  The story itself not only teaches us about judging with righteous judgment (and not according to appearance), as Jesus has recently taught, but once again about the mistakes that are made when urgency, greed, desperation, and other heightened passions are in play.  Corners are cut, laws and practices meant to safeguard justice are forgotten, and our own "better natures" -- seeking God's way -- become sidelined all too easily, now as then.  Once again, it's another lesson proper to this period in which we approach Great Lent, with its traditional practices designed to help us better practice dispassion and spiritual discipline, to learn to say no to impulses no matter how heightened they may be or seemingly exigent with the times and the demands of those around us and our circumstances.  Lent and its associated historical practices are meant to help us "hear God" more clearly, to turn to our better natures (or, as President Lincoln famously put it in urging a calming of the passions and an effort for peace to avoid war and bloodshed, "the better angels of our nature").  We live in a time when many of these practices have been discarded or forgotten or ignored.  But on the other hand, there are many now who are just discovering and reviving them.  Perhaps it's time we all realized how necessarily they are, how needful it always is to follow Christ's teachings on discarding our own passions and impulses that drive us astray (see, for example, Matthew 5:21-37 from the Sermon on the Mount), and once again begin to take more seriously the need for spiritual discipline in both our public and private lives.  Let us always seek the wisdom of Christ in all the helpful ways these practices advocate and make possible.  We live in a time when heated debates and proclamations speak about justice and judgment, with passions urged and inflamed at every step.  But perhaps we should try the way the Church has always known to look to ourselves first, and better root ourselves in Christ without the self-righteousness that turns us away from God. For even the men who seek to persecute Jesus are convicted by their conscience in today's reading, and yet this capacity seems sorely ignored as a social good in public discourse today.  Moreover, today we can just imagine people taking either side in this confrontation in the temple, and ratcheting up the temperature.  But let us note Christ's equanimity as model.  Jesus balances the scales with both mercy and justice:  "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?

 

 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

 

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take  Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 

 

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"   Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."

 

- John 7:37–52 

 

On Saturday we read that about the middle of the feast of Tabernacles (in the final year of Christ's earthly life) Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.   And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"  The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees  and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"

 

  On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  My study Bible tells us that the last day, that great day of the feast was the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  The ceremony of the drawing of water from the pool of Siloam provides the backdrop for Christ's teaching here.  (This pool will play a role in yet another "sign" given on this day, which appears in chapter 9.)   It's in this context in which He says, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."  The living water is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the new life that accompanies this gift.  

 

 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  My study Bible says that the Prophet is a reference to the expected Messiah.  This is the Savior foretold by Moses (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  The debate over the town of Jesus' birth is due to the prophesy that Bethlehem of Judea was the town from which the Christ was expected to come (Micah 5:2).  The crowd doesn't know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but He was brought up in Nazareth of Galilee following the family's exile in Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23), hence the confusion and division.

 

 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"   Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  My study Bible reminds us that the chief priests had sent officers of the temple to arrest Jesus in the middle of the Feast (verse 32; see yesterday's reading, above).  By the time this last day had arrived (the eighth day of the Feast), there had been no arrest made.  This is because, according to my study Bible, these officers had been converted by Christ's teaching.   My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that the Pharisees and scribes who had "witnessed the miracles and read the Scriptures derived no benefit" from either.  But these officers, on the other hand, although they could claim none of the learning of the Pharisees and scribes, were "captivated by a single sermon."  St. Chrysostom adds that when the mind is open "there is no need for long speeches.  Truth is like that."

 

 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  Earlier in the Gospel, we read of Nicodemus being taught by Jesus at night (John 3:1-21).  Since that time, he has increased in faith.  But his defense of Jesus here is still based on "our law" and is not yet a public profession of faith, my study Bible comments (see John 19:38-39).  According to the law, Jesus must be given a hearing before He can be judged (Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 1:15-17).   The Pharisees respond to Nicodemus that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.  My study Bible says that in so doing, they show their blind hatred and ignorance of the Scriptures, as the prophet Jonah came from Galilee, from the town of Gath Hepher -- which was only three miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25).  

 

Perhaps it is in some way strangely ironic that the Pharisees respond scathingly to Nicodemus, claiming that no prophet has ever arisen from Galilee.  In fact, as my study Bible points out, a very important prophet came from Galilee, the prophet Jonah.  It is the prophet Jonah to whom Jesus will refer when He is constantly asked for a sign from these same men.  In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus is asked by the scribes and Pharisees for a sign, and His reply to them is, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (see Matthew 12:38-42).  In St. Luke's Gospel, He gives the same teaching to the crowds (see Luke 11:29-32).  Perhaps this omission on the part of the Pharisees is meant to be understood to teach us about the nature of a kind of blindness we might call "intentional forgetting."  In their rage and envy, perhaps they've forgotten, or they have resorted to a deliberate lie to silence the dissent of Nicodemus (and we can hear their gratuitous insult to him as well).  These mysterious omissions and connections in the Gospels do indeed teach us something about our own blindness, for what these men do is not limited to them and their time.  Indeed, as we know that St. John's Gospel is so much a focus on truth and its nature (often understood as light) -- and the deliberate darkness that is chosen to avoid it -- this is yet another subtle lesson to us about fallen human nature and our capacity to blind ourselves to the things of God, and perhaps the desire to defy God (see John 1:4-5).  At any rate, this is a somewhat "convenient" form of forgetting for these experts in the Scriptures.  In their raging passions, they are making terrible mistakes, spiritually and otherwise, and this, too, teaches us something about the historical view of the Church regarding our own susceptibility to such mistakes.  We are not meant to point fingers at these men, but to carefully consider how we might be like them, and what to do about it.  In the calendar of the Church, we are proceeding forward just now to enter into the period of Great Lent.  For the Western Churches, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 18th.  For the East and the Orthodox, Lent begins on February 23rd, and we are currently in a preparation period for the Lenten fast.  Historically and universally across churches and denominations, Lent and the fasting practices associated with it have been considered times not simply for reflection but for cultivating the opposite of what these religious leaders are indulging in.  That is, for cultivating dispassion, learning to say no to the impulses to do us no good, whether that be rage, lust, gluttony, envy, or any number of things that lead us away from spiritual discipline and our capacity to hear the things of God and incorporate into our lives the teachings of Jesus.  This is the purpose of the fast, not to refrain simply from foods (for there are no "bad" foods in Christianity; see Mark 7:18-19), but learning spiritual discipline, how to say no to our harmful impulses and indulgences in order to cultivate a more healthy spiritual life.  We don't just fast from foods, but the goal is to fast from behaviors such as the ones we observe here, and to better know ourselves in the process, building up spiritual strength and knowing our own weaknesses.  There's no better time to look toward the events of Christ's life as we read through the Gospel, and learn from the mistakes we observe, so that we are better able to find correction when we indulge in the same types of rage, self-righteousness, and false judgment here.   There is no better time to cultivate dispassion through the traditional practices of Lent, lest we be drawn into the forces that seek to ensnare us into the same types of behavior, especially that which is promoted through social media for all kinds of reasons and motivations which may be hidden from us, encouraging us to simply "follow the crowd."  Manipulation of appearances may take all kinds of forms, and only Saturday we read that Jesus taught us, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Let us cherish the resources we're given in the Church at this time to help us to better do so.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment

 

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  

 

The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

 

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.   And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"

 

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees  and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"

 

- John 7:14-36 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the controversy regarding His teachings on His Body and Blood, Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 

  Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  My study Bible comments here that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  Spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize God's authority.  According to St. John Chrysostom, whom my study Bible quotes here, Christ's message to the religious leaders (the Jews, as rulers of the city in Judea) can be paraphrased as follows:  "Rid yourselves of wickedness:  the anger, the envy, and the hatred which have arisen in your hearts, without provocation, against Me.  Then you will have no difficulty in realizing that My words are actually those of God.  As it is, these passions darken your understanding and distort sound judgment.  If you remove these passions, you will no longer be afflicted in this way."

 

 The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Jesus is referring here to the healing that took place during what is understood to be the Feast of Weeks (known as the Old Testament Pentecost), in chapter 5.  This was the healing of the paralytic, which is the third of seven signs performed by Christ in St. John's Gospel.  At that time Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath by performing this healing.  In Matthew 12:3-5, Jesus provided various examples of "blameless" violations of the Sabbath, demonstrating that the law is not absolute over human need or service to God.  

 

 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  When the people from Jerusalem say we know where this Man is from, they are mistaken -- both in an earthly sense as well as a divine sense.  Humanly speaking, my study Bible points out, they think of Jesus as being from Nazareth of Galilee.  But Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem of Judea (John 7:42; see Luke 2:1-7).  Moreover, they can't understand that Christ has come from the Father in heaven -- eternally begotten before all ages -- and so, therefore, His heavenly origin also remains unknown to them.  

 

 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.   And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"  Christ's hour is the time of His Passion, His suffering and death.  He is the Lord over time, my study Bible says, which is an authority possessed only by God.  He comes to His Cross of His own free will and in His time, and not according to the plots of human beings (see John 8:20; 10:39).  

 

 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees  and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  My study Bible explains that this statement refers to Christ's death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.

 

 Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"  To go among the Greeks means to go among the Gentiles, the Greek-speakers (as Greek was the international language and lingua franca of Christ's time).  My study Bible notes that this unwitting prophecy points to the time after Christ's Ascension, when His name will be preached among the Gentiles by the apostles. 

 

 In today's reading, Jesus says, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."   Those of us who have had the unfortunate experience of being falsely judged by appearance can all sympathize and agree with Christ's statement.  In St. Mark's Gospel, Jesus asks, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" (Mark 3:4), framing this question in terms of saving life.  Here He asks, ". . . are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?"  Sometimes good intent isn't always seen that way by others.  In this case, the envy and jealousy of the rulers in the temple, particularly the Pharisees, functions as a way to facilitate criticism and accusation.  They're looking for a way to eliminate Jesus as a figure of authority (in the eyes of the people) that would somehow compete with their own positions as rulers.  Christ's healing of the paralytic was indeed one of the seven signs of St. John's Gospel, a sign of God being near, the presence of the kingdom of heaven.  But these men instead want to condemn and are quick to do so.  But this is judgment by appearance; He appears to have violated the Sabbath rest.  Again, in St. Mark's Gospel, Jesus teaches that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).  The people who believe in Him ask, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"  It's not simply for His miraculous healing on the Sabbath that the religious leaders seek to persecute Him, but they also claim that He commits blasphemy -- an offense worthy of death according to a strict interpretation of the Law.  Indeed, for this He will be convicted at the Sanhedrin, and it will be the excuse they use to drag Him to Pilate and claim a charge of treason against Caesar.  How often is language heard and twisted to attribute false claims to a person?  How often is language misunderstood?  So often throughout John's Gospel, Jesus tells truths that are offensive, things others can't accept and don't want to hear.  He tells the truth; the words He speaks are given by the One who sent Him, the only One He seeks to please; that is God the Father.  And, as Jesus says, the One who sent Him is true.  But they don't know Him, so they can't bear to hear His words.  All of John's Gospel in some sense focuses on the truth, and on our reception or rejection of it.  St. John declares, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).  So how do we judge with righteous judgment, and not according to appearance?  We have extensive legal systems that aim to give every chance for the fullness of motivation, facts, character, intent, and proof of one who is accused in order to secure good judgment.  But even so, worldly justice fails, despite the best intentions.  It is only God's judgment that is perfect, and so in all things, that's where our first loyalty must come, just as it is Christ's.  He is the one who teaches about true righteousness, and He is the one to whom God the Father has committed all judgment.  Let us seek to find His truth in all things, for He is the heart-knower, the only one who can teach us righteous judgment.  I have heard it said that it's only at the final judgment that true healing from all trauma and injustice can take place; for it is there where the One who has been misjudged (although He is the one true Innocent) will be with us -- and we will know that wherever we have been, whatever scars we carry, He has been there with us, voluntarily, to take on our own griefs.  Let us consider the depth of love that would do so much for our healing and full salvation.  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready

 

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  

 

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 

- John 7:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that after Christ's preaching regarding the eating of His Body and His Blood, many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 

  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.   As we begin chapter 7, we open up a section of the Gospel of John which includes chapters 7, 8, 9 and part of 10 (John 7 - 10:21).  This is a section that covers Christ's visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  The entire section covers an eight-day period.  At this festival, taking place during the final year of Christ's earthly life, Jesus taught in the temple and He attracted a great deal of public attention.  (This is already understood as something Jesus is aware of and wary about, as we're told He did not want to walk in Judea, for He's aware the religious leaders now seek to kill Him.)  Some of the people thought Jesus was mad (verse 20), some believed He is the Messiah (verses 31, 40) -- and others, such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees considered Him a threat (verses 32, 45-52).  The Jews who sought to kill Him refers to the religious leaders, and not the people in general.  At the approximate time of the writing of this Gospel, followers of Jesus had begun to be persecuted in the synagogues (and by the Romans), and the term "Christian" is first used.  The author of the Gospel, Jesus and His followers, and all the others in the stories of this section are Jews.

 

 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot, is an eight-day autumn harvest festival.  It commemorates the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai.  During that time, the people lived in tents, or "tabernacles."  Together with Passover and Pentecost, my study Bible explains, this was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews.  It included many sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  In later times, the final day included drawing water from the pool of Siloam, to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, both as purification and in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock struck by Moses (Exodus 17:1-7), and we will read this significance in Christ's acts and preaching.  Moreover the lighting of the great lamps in the outer court of the temple provide a backdrop for Christ's discourses and images of light invoked.  See also 2 Maccabees 10:5-9.

 

 His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  Christ's brothers are either stepbrothers from an earlier marriage of His earthly guardian Joseph, or they are other extended family such as cousins.  In Middle Eastern usage, then and now, the term "brother" can mean all of these.  As we can see, His relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission (see also, for example, Matthew 12:46-50).  For examples of the use of the word brother to indicate any number of relations, see Genesis 14:14 in which Abram's nephew Lot is referred to as his "brother"; Ruth 4:3, in which Boaz speaks of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother"; and 2 Samuel 20:9 in which Joab calls his cousin Amasa "brother."  Christ had no blood brothers, as Mary had only one Son:  Jesus.  This is the witness of the Church and the Gospels.  My study Bible mentions that Christ commits His mother to the care of John (the author of this Gospel) at the Cross (John 19:25-27), which indeed would have been unthinkable if Mary had had other children to care for her. 

 

  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.  My study Bible explains that not openly means not with a grand, public entrance, such as on Palm Sunday.   That will initiate the events of "His time" to which He refers above (verses 6, 8).

 

 In all things, we seem to read about Christ's discernment.  We might think that, in His identity as Son of the Living God (see St. Peter's confession from yesterday's reading, above, John 6:69) Jesus can simply do anything He wants.  While He speaks truths quite valiantly (again, as in our recent readings in which He speaks of eating His Body and Blood), and accepts the consequences -- such as many of His followers leaving Him, Jesus is also always discerning.  He does not simply come out and conquer.  Neither does He force.  Rather, in the words of St. Athanasius we quoted in yesterday's commentary, Christ speaks and acts in ways not to compel, but to persuade.  So it is in today's reading when He chooses not to go up to this festival "openly"; that is, not in the way He will enter Jerusalem to initiate His final week on earth, His Passion, and Holy Week.  Notice the attention paid to time, and to the proper time.  Each moment has its own importance.  At this time it's important for Christ not to go to Jerusalem openly, but "in secret."  At the time of the next Passover Feast, He will go with a very public awareness of His travel to and entrance into Jerusalem.  So we should learn from Christ about discernment, about a prayerful life.  What God has prepared us for is one thing, but to confuse what may be proper at one time with what is proper at another is a mistake that may lead to an unfortunate conclusion.  Christ lives a prayerful life, always in obedience to God the Father, always seeking the correct way to live His ministry at each juncture and development.  Now it is not the proper time for an open or flagrant conflict with the religious authorities.  But there will come a time when it is proper to go to His Passion.  Let us learn from Him and from His discernment.  As we observed earlier (and in commentary on yesterday's passage), Christ seeks to persuade, not to compel.  Both His words (as in yesterday's reading) and His actions (as in today's) speak of this need in His ministry for a conduct that indeed fulfills all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).  In His loyalty and love of the Father, Christ's ministry unfolds as it is fitting and right, with prayer and discernment, always seeking the Father's will.  So it should be in our own lives, as imperfectly as we might be discerning in comparison to Christ.  But this is the image He gives us of the way to serve, and to live our faith.  So let us be faithful to it as He is. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you also want to go away?

 

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 

- John 6:60-71 

 

Yesterday we read that, because of Christ's teachings, the religious leaders quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  

 

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  My study Bible comments that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.   To this day, it remarks, there are still those who reject Christ's own words concerning the sacramental eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood, and therefore do not "walk" in this teaching.  Because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, my study Bible continues, many attempt either to define its nature rationally or to explain away Christ's words altogether.  This takes the form of giving them a purely metaphorical meaning.  In either case, these answers are dubious.  To reject the sacramental teaching of Christ is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history.  

 

 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  Simon Peter's response to Jesus contains two powerful statements.  The first is that He has the words of eternal life.  Peter implies that there is nowhere else to go; only Jesus has the words He preaches and gives to the people.  The second statement is, "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  While others turn away because of Christ's "hard teachings," Simon Peter's faith is cemented and grows deeper; he is left with the conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  

 

Let us first stop to notice the effects of Christ's truth, stark as it is, and as seemingly inexplicable to His audience as His words are.  There are those who walk away.  St. John, the author of our Gospel, will also write in one of his Epistles of those who were once followers, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19).  In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul asks, "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?"  In a modern context, in which so many people seem to "shop for faith," to consider faith a kind of smorgasbord of ideas from which to pick and to choose in the ways that are personally pleasing, this scenario -- and any sort of shaming of those who can no longer follow Christ for these words -- may seem entirely unreasonable.  But, in effect, the Gospel and the events recorded here tell us yet again about our faith and how faith works.  Several Church Fathers comment on Christ's use of language in this passage, both to persuade and to caution.  St. Athanasius writes that "it is the part of true godliness not to compel but to persuade. Our Lord himself does not employ force but offers the choice, saying to everyone, 'If anyone will follow after me,' and to his disciples in particular, 'Will you also go away?'" (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 2009; p 247).  St. Chrysostom praises Christ's way of speaking regarding the one who will betray Him.  He comments, "See the wisdom of Christ. He neither exposes the traitor nor allows him to remain hidden. In this way, [Judas] is not so publicly humiliated that he becomes more contentious, but Christ also does not embolden him by allowing him to think that his wicked deeds are proceeding undetected" (Homilies on the Gospel of John 47.4).  So we can marvel at all of these ways in which Christ not only tells what sounds perhaps like a blunt and brutal truth regarding his Body and Blood, but that in so doing He is acutely aware of the hearts of the people whom He addresses, and His effects on them.  He does not shrink from the truth, even when it offends.  And yet, at the same time, He elicits faith, as well as the reality of the heart which will betray Him.  We, with the saints and Fathers of the Church, are left to marvel, and to piece together our own faith based on what we read and encounter in this Gospel.  Perhaps the most astounding truth of all is that it is love that Christ is working upon, and that faith is closely entwined with love.  For what else do we make of Simon Peter's response to the words that have now sent others away:  "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  It's at that heart-rending point of love that we come realize the importance of such questions as, "Do you want to go away?"  Just as Christ endured everything at the Cross for the love of His Father, and for His love of us, so we are also challenged with what is in our hearts when following is difficult.  Whether it is a bond with a spouse, a child, another loved one, or indeed, our faith -- it all comes down to love.  Do we want to go away?  Perhaps with St. Peter, we must say that there is no one else for us.  But His words will always challenge, and our faith will always pull us further along into the life He asks of us.  In the end, we know that God is love, as the Evangelist attests in his Epistle.  And it is love that has to lead us forward into the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me

 

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  

 

- John 6:52-59 

 

Yesterday we read that the religious leaders Jews complained about Jesus in response to His discourse, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned form the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

 

  The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Once again we observe that in St. John's Gospel misunderstandings are frequent.  Here we go once again from "earthly language" heard in an earthly way, to this question posed to Christ who will answer with the voice of the mystical reality He brings into the world, and what exactly this means.  

 

Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  My study Bible notes that Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  We receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, it says, we eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood, and this grants the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and we in Him.  My study Bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers on this passage:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the relaity of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."  

 

 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  In a straightforward manner, Christ teaches about Communion, giving this a eucharistic significance , but also speaks of the mystical reality of Himself as the bread which came down from heaven, and gives eternal life.  

 

In today's reading we get perhaps the most stark reminder of the double meanings of words encountered in St. John's Gospel.  Jesus' words, as we will see, will inflame and upset quite a few people.  But nonetheless, despite the misunderstanding, He still doesn't mince words.  This is because He's telling the truth.  People might not understand it in its true sense, that He is speaking of mystical realities -- and the mystical realities present in the Mystical Supper, the Eucharist -- but nonetheless He speaks directly the words of truth about who He is, about His sacrifice, about His flesh being food for the life of the world.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we pondered on the meanings of "life" in Christ's language.  That is, we wondered about what it means that He preaches regarding eternal life, everlasting life, life in abundance.  What does it mean to live forever?    These concepts all focus on a central theme of life that belongs to the age to come; that is life that exceeds what we know, and is lived in this time and place in which He reigns and all things are reconciled under Him.  This could have a plethora of ramifications and meanings in terms of what it truly means for us, and the picture of that life we don't truly know.  What we do know is that this "life of the ages" isn't simply about the future as we understand time to imply, for the life of the Kingdom -- the eternal reality of Christ -- isn't defined by time as our lives are in an earthly sense.  So today we're invited to wonder about His even more perplexing and even troubling words.  What does it really mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?  This is the language, moreover, of sacrifice.  He will give His life for many, for the life of the world.  He seems even possibly to be speaking about human sacrifice!  But all of this is to be reconciled in the meanings and values He brings into the world, and in our understanding of the purpose of His mission and ministry as Incarnate Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man.  All of this language needs its own way of being understood and taken in by us.  Jesus says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  This speaks to a kind of depth of communion possibly no one can understand to whom He speaks directly at this time in His ministry.  And yet, now it speaks to all of us, for we have the Eucharist, we know of His sacrifice for us, and of the reality of communion.  How many of us can say that we have experienced that reality of that depth -- and are beckoned forward more deeply in to the mystery of life of Christ and how it calls to us to deeper places within ourselves?  How many can say that they are called into this communion, to become more "like Him" -- or perhaps more closely becoming the person He calls us to be in His name?  This is the reality of salvation itself -- of the sacrifice He will make of His flesh as He bears all in this world so that we may encounter His and come to dwell with Him in that abundance of life He promises.  Don't be put off by language one cannot understand, or may find offensive.  For until we know what someone is really saying, who's to know if even God is speaking to us?