And I know that His command is everlasting life

 

 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

 

- John 12:44-50 

 

In our present readings, Jesus is now at the Passover of the final year of His earthly life.  It is Holy Week.  He has been received into Jerusalem as Messiah, making what is known as His Triumphal Entry, but the religious leaders now plot to put Him to death.  He has been teaching in the temple.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus told them,  "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 

 

 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."  My study Bible comments on today's text that Christ does not judge with favoritism or with partiality.  He has spoken the words of life, words of love, forgiveness, repentance, virtue, and mercy.  His words will be the unbending standard, my study Bible says, by which all people are judged on the last day.

 

As has been frequently observed throughout our reading of this Gospel, Jesus continually emphasizes His closeness to the Father, the union of wills that exists between Them, His obedience and loyalty to God the Father.  Continually, also, the Gospel portrays Christ's very human impulses and desires (such as the natural fear of death, a "blameless passion") juxtaposed with His loyalty to the Father, as He serves the Father's will.  At the Last Supper (in chapter 14), St. Philip the disciple will say to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus will reply, in harmony with His teaching in the temple in today's reading, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."  This is the pattern established in the Gospel:  Christ and the Father are one (see John 10:30).  So close are the Father and the Son that Jesus can say, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand" (John 10:27-29).  This declaration illuminates the thread that ties Father, Son, and believers together, for all comes from the Father, and the salvation that the Son offers to all of us is this unification in one body as sheep and good Shepherd, through the Father's love.  But Jesus' teaching is more than simply about the Father and Himself as Son, for He brings into this picture of their unity the notion of judgment, which applies to us.  His love and teachings and mission are all from the Father.  Moreover, here He emphasizes that the very words He gives to us also come from the command of the Father.  It is God the Father who, in fact, gives the very words conveyed to us by Christ, the Logos (the Word).  Hence, we are tied, also, by faith.  Faith in Christ's teachings, should we take them to heart, is also a way of unity with the Father, a binding that affects our souls, perhaps more deeply than we may be capable of realizing.  As Jesus teaches this, faith goes far beyond a simple intellectual assent to an idea.  It is an acceptance of trust (the meaning of the root of the Greek word for faith, πιστις/pistis) that touches also love, confidence, fidelity.  This unification of Father, Son, and believers in this deep sense of the soul is why Jesus can teach that the command, the word He receives from the Father is also that which will judge.  He teaches, "And I know that His command is everlasting life."  The word from the Father is therefore the promise of everlasting life for those who may take it to heart and live it, creating, in fact, an identity through this love and fidelity.  

 

 

For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God

 

 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  

 

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

"Lord, who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,

Lest they should see with their eyes,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, 

So that I should heal them."

These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. 

 

 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

 

- John 12:36-43 

 

In our current reading, Jesus is now in Jerusalem at the final Passover He will attend.  It is now Holy Week, the last week of Christ's earthly life.  He has made His Triumphal Entry, and has been teaching in the temple, knowing that the religious leadership plots to put Him to death.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said, "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. 

 

  "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.   This verse is repeated from yesterday's reading (see above).  Jesus Himself is the light, but His teaching here (as we reported yesterday) has various facets of meaning.  He will soon be completing His public ministry, and going to His death on the Cross.  Our own lives are indeed far more limited than we understand, and we have a short time to repent and believe in Christ before our deaths.  Compared to eternity, the second coming of Christ is simply a little while.  For an extensive commentary on the implications of Christ's words here, see yesterday's reading and commentary.  

 

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who teaches that Isaiah's prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness to people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It says that this is a figure of speech common to Scripture which reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (such as in Romans 1:24-26).  In using the phrase He has blinded it is meant that God has allowed their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah.  Rather, Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.  

 

These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.  My study Bible says that Isaiah . . . saw His [Christ's] glory in about 700 BC (Isaiah 6:1), and spoke of Him in many places throughout his lengthy prophecy.  

 

  Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.  Again my study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who declares that these rulers are in reality the worst of slaves, in that they are enslaved by the opinions of men.  This keeps them from leading as God would have them lead.  

 

There is so much power and poignancy in our final verse today, as reported by St. John.   Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.  This apparently small, simple phrase, "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" says so much about our lives and how we live them.  We frequently do not realize how much we sacrifice of our own integrity and personal salvation through the same way of being in the world.  Salvation is what is understood in Isaiah's prophecy as being healed by the Lord.  As mentioned in yesterday's reading, if we turn to the concept of theosis (that is, growing in likeness to God), we can understand more clearly how this division between seeking the praise of God on the one hand, or the praise of men on the other, inhibits our growth of the soul and our salvation.  In the Gospels, the crowds are presented as fickle.  One day they are praising Jesus and welcoming Him into Jerusalem as Messiah.  A few days later, "the crowd" will be stirred up by the religious leaders to demand His Crucifixion, and that Pilate free Barabbas instead (see Matthew 27:15-26).   "The crowd follows the crowd," my study Bible has commented.  In the understanding of the concept of theosis, we accept that, following the "ancestral sin" in the Garden of Eden, the world is beset by competing thoughts and impulses that would lead us off the path that God desires for us.  These intrusive thoughts are called logismoi in the Patristic tradition.  We are heir to an uncountable number of temptations to "miss the mark" (the literal meaning of the Greek word for "sin" in the Gospels).  As human beings we are all subject to these temptations, to the myriad ways in which we might be influenced by the crowds, by "men," in the language of the Gospels.   The collective passions of crowds may easily inflame and sweep us into the mob.  When we seek only to please those who may give us some form of honor, then we are at the mercy of their whims and desires.  To be fashionable or popular is not the end toward which Christ's light is meant to guide us.  No matter how we may conflate worldly success with salvation and God's favor, that is not the story of Jesus the Messiah.  Christ the Lord comes into the world to "save" precisely by giving us the light to guide us, rather than our seeking only the praise of men.  Indeed, in His grand critique of the Pharisees and scribes, it is chiefly their desire for the praise of men He will condemn as their hypocrisy.  He tells His disciples, "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men," and to the scribes and Pharisees He says, "For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation" (see the full chapter of Matthew 23).  More to the point, Jesus will contrast the world's ways of thinking and living with what He teaches.  At the Last Supper, as reported in St. John's Gospel, Jesus will tell the disciples, "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" (John 15:19).  In His final prayer, He will say to the Father, "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:14-16).  These examples in His teaching and in His final prayer illustrate the difference between seeking the praise of God and the praise of men as our focus in life, the thing we nurture and choose in the heart.  It is the crucible at the heart of the Gospel and the story of Jesus.  We are always asked to choose where our loyalty lies, for this is the spiritual battle at the heart of the world and the identity of our soul.

 

 

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light

 

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  

 

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  

 

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. 

 

- John 12:27-36 

 

In our current readings, it is now Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life.  He has come to Jerusalem to attend the Passover.  He has been anointed with oil, saved for the day of His burial, by Mary the sister of Lazarus; and He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name." We know the troubled nature of Christ's soul, showing His full humanity in that His approaching death disturbs Him (see Matthew 26:39; Luke 22:41-44).  But regardless, Jesus unites His will to the Father. Christ's purpose is more important than His natural human fears.   My study Bible explains that the Father's name is an extension of His Person. The Son's death, it says, completes the purpose of the Father and shows His love for all, thus glorifying Him.  Here Jesus is effectively saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  My study Bible calls this the Lord's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross. 

 

 Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake."  The Father's response ("I have both glorified it and will glorify it again") refers to the signs already performed by Christ and to the death and Resurrection to come. Although the Father spoke clearly, my study Bible says, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  It notes that those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  But the disciples knew that the Father Himself had spoken (it is the disciples to whom Jesus address the words "for your sake").  

 

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  Here is the heart of the matter; Christ's death on the Cross will defeat the devil, the ruler of this world.    Lifted up is yet again a reference to Christ being hung on the Cross (see also John 3:14-15; 8:28).  This death will bring salvation to all people, and at the same time will render judgment on the faithless, and destroy once for all the power of Satan.  

 

  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  My study Bible explains that the light refers to Christ (John 1:4-9; 8:12).  Moreover, it says, this teaching has several facets of meaning.  In the first place, He will soon be completing His public ministry.  Additionally, our own lives are very limited.  We have a short time to repent and believe in Christ before our own deaths.  Finally, Christ's return, the Second Coming, is but a little while when compared to eternity.  

 

 Jesus says, "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."   This illustrates a very important point, central to the understanding of Orthodoxy, that we are, in fact, saved through this process Jesus expresses.  That is, that we may become sons of light.  This is another way to speak of becoming God's children by adoption.  To become a son of light in this context is to become a child of Christ, one of those of the Body of Christ, whom He calls to be with Him (John 14:3).  What Jesus says here, to walk with the light, believing in the light, that we may become sons of light, is an illustration of what is called theosis.  We live our lives walking with the light, guided by the light, and so we become more "like" the light; thus, sons of light.  This stands as a principle, for walking in the darkness does the opposite.  It not only takes us away from the light, but we become more "like" the darkness, if that is where we ally ourselves.  This understanding conveys the concept of "energies."  We cannot participate in God's essence, but God's energies, God's mercy and grace, enter into our world and ask for our participation with them.  Thereby, how we live, what we do, in this sense builds who we are.  This is a fulfillment of what is taught to us in Genesis 1:26, that we are made in God's image and likeness.  Through this saving grace of Christ, His light, we may grow in that likeness, thereby becoming sons of light.  But note the juxtaposition of judgment here, which goes hand in hand with Christ's offering of salvation for the world.  If we participate in the works of darkness, so we grow in that likeness also.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches this quite starkly: "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:22-24).  Let us note also that being a "son of light" does not mean perfection in a final, finished sense, but is rather a movement that leads us closer to God as a lifelong journey, a direction.  As human beings, this journey will entail struggle, referred to as "spiritual battle."  In today's reading, Jesus expresses the natural fear of death common to all human beings, and which creates a type of internal conflict.  But He chooses His purpose, allying His will with the Father, the very purpose of salvation for the life of the world.  C. S. Lewis writes poignantly in his book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe expressing what this means for each of us. The book may be aimed at children, but nonetheless it applies to all (and I would highly recommend the book for all ages).   In it, a young man is taught that courage is not being without fear, but that courage is having fear and doing what one must do to walk in the light anyway.  This Christ teaches us as well in today's reading.  Christ's rebuke of St. Peter upon the occasion of St. Peter's protest that Jesus should not die is also a strong reminder of this principle (see Matthew 16:21-24).  So let us remember what it is to walk in the light, and how important it is -- for the whole of who we are depends upon just this.

 

 

 

 

The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified

 

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

- John 12:20–26 

 

Yesterday we read that a great many of the people among the ruling Council in the temple knew that He was there in Jerusalem at the Passover; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out! "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

  Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."  The Greeks mentioned here are Gentiles (Greek-speakers, as Greek was the lingua franca or universal language of the time).  They believed in the God of Abraham, and have come to participate in the Passover feast.  My study Bible says that the fact that they are still called "Greeks" shows that they were not yet full proselytes (converts).  Since Jesus had taught His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5; 15:24), the disciples approach Him before bringing these inquirers.  To be glorified in Jesus' context is a reference to His death on the Cross.  My study Bible explains that Christ's obscure response indicates two things:  first, the answer these Greeks are seeking will not be found in words, but in the Cross; and second, the Cross will be the event which opens all manner of grace to the Gentiles.  

 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."  Here Jesus uses the image of a grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit in order to signify that His death will give life to the world.  In many Orthodox churches, boiled wheat is mixed with sweeteners and spices to serve at memorial services for the departed faithful (this sweet dish is called kolyva in Greek).  My study Bible calls this custom an affirmation of God's promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.  

 

How paradoxical it may seem that, just after what is called Christ's Triumphal Entry, His thoughts are on His entry to suffering and death.  The Cross looms before Him, and He knows already what the authorities are preparing for Him.  He knows that He will make the sacrifice the Father is asking of Him, and He knows that His sacrificial death -- like the grain of wheat -- will come in order to give life to the world in immeasurable and timeless ways.   Jesus has already taught this understanding.  He said to Nicodemus, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"  (John 3:14-16).  To the crowds who forcibly tried to make Him king, after He fed them in the wilderness, He preached, "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" (John 6:51).  So, He has always been aware that this is what is asked of Him.  But now that He has made His final and triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where a "great multitude" welcomed Him as Messiah, He is entirely aware that His "glorification" is at hand.  I wonder how many of us can understand sacrifice in Christ's terms.  For although He will suffer, and experience death as a human being, He knows that what He does is redemption and the bringing of abundant life to the world through faith.  While we may either focus on His suffering or on His Resurrection, it is important that we be able to see things as Jesus (and the Gospel) presents them.  His participation in this process of service to all and through the Father's will is one of glorification.  It is something akin to honor, perhaps, but it is also much more than honor.  It is exaltation, a fulfillment of the joy that comes from fully manifesting His glory as the Pantocrator, a title (in Greek) that means Almighty.  He is fulfilling His role as Lord and Savior, and as the One to whom all judgment will be given by the Father.  This is more than sacrifice.  It is rather an extraordinary exchange, a fulfillment of promise, the magnification of One who serves an entire cosmos and beyond, and a manifestation of the fullness of God.  Jesus' act of love, in fact, destroys death and gives cosmic healing to the world.   It is one thing to understand sacrifice on worldly terms; for example, we make sacrifices all the time in order to gain something good.  But it is an entirely different thing to understand sacrifice as part of the fulfillment of one's mission, and leading to the fullness of life and potential.  This is true whether we speak of Jesus Christ, the Lord, or one of us human beings finding and fulfilling a call from God so that we also may share in that kind of joy.  It is in this kind of fulfillment that Jesus can offer us His peace: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).  And He likewise, in this, offers us His joy:  "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full"; "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 15:11; 17:13).  This peace and joy found in Christ and His fulfillment and glorification is also possible for us through Him, as part of the gift of abundant life He brings.  It is part and parcel of the quality of redemption, what it "being saved" means.  Let us view Him with gratitude, for His glorification offers us so much more than we can know.

 

 

You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  

 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out!

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

The King of Israel!"

 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

- John 12:9–19 

 

Yesterday we read that the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should  report it, that they might seize Him.  Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who  had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 

  Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  Again, we must explain that most often the term the Jews, as used in St. John's Gospel, denotes those of the religious leadership in Jerusalem and others close to them.  (Literally translated, it is read as "Judeans" by some.)  It's important to remember that Jesus, His disciples, and those who believe in Him (including the one who gave his name to this Gospel) are Jews.  So here in this particular instance St. John is using the term to refer to people from Jerusalem who had come to mourn with Martha and Mary when their brother Lazarus died.  Thus, they became witnesses to Jesus' seventh of seven signs in this Gospel, the raising of Lazarus (as explained in this reading).  It's notable here that the chief priests now plot not only how to put Jesus to death, but also Lazarus, because so many among their prominent community in Jerusalem now believe in Jesus. 

 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out!  "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!"  The cry of the great multitude, welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem (in what is called the Triumphal Entry) is from Psalm 118:25-26.  It is associated with messianic expectation, for it was recited daily for six days at the Feast of Tabernacles, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved. We remember the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot in Hebrew) commemorates the time Israel followed Moses through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.  It is also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"  So it is appropriately addressed to the Lord, Savior and Deliverer.

 

 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  This quotation is from the prophecy of Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9).  This event, in which Jesus openly enters the Holy City welcomed by a great multitude of followers, is known as the Triumphal Entry.  In other words, He openly comes in the manner of a king.  Except Jesus is not a conqueror nor king in the traditional sense (John 18:36).  A conquering king or general would display material power, riding with horses, cavalry, weapons.  But Jesus rides on a young donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace.  My study Bible comments that this entrance into Jerusalem declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It is moreover a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  

 

 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. A sign of the working of the Holy Spirit, illuminating the disciples as to the fulfillment of Scripture.  

 

 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  Again, the Gospel reiterates the witnesses from Jerusalem to the raising of Lazarus, and their impact on the community surrounding the temple, the center of Jewish life.  And at the same time, we see the growing resistance, resentment, and fear of Jesus from the Pharisees, a powerful group among the leadership in the temple.  Whatever they see is deepening their determination to put Him to death.  

 

The last few verses in today's reading give us a picture of the multiple paths of spiritual movement that are at work among this community into which Jesus now enters, welcomed by a "great multitude" as Messiah.  The Messiah represented hope for many things:  the people look for a deliverer from subjection to other ruling powers like the Romans (and they have been a colony of other big powers as well).   Many carried expectations that the Messiah would be a Deliverer in the traditional sense of one who came to right wrongs, to create justice in human terms, to conquer all foreign and hostile powers, to make Israel a land of plenty forever.  (See chapter 6, in which after Jesus fed a multitude in the wilderness, they sought to make Him king by force; specifically John 6:15.)  At the same time, we see multiple trajectories given here regarding the state of faith of different groups of people.  Christ's disciples will grow into greater understanding after Christ's Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  For now, events are understandably overwhelming, and even among themselves they no doubt cherish hopes that are widespread among the people regarding what Christ's kingdom would look like.  So, the Gospel teaches us what path they are on, in the light of what is coming, the understanding that would produce this Gospel and the others.  Secondly we're given the joyous welcome in the eyes of those witnesses from Jerusalem and the others in the community who have heard the story of the raising of Lazarus.  They welcome Him as Messiah.  But this event -- the Triumphal Entry -- is what we know as Palm Sunday.  It is the beginning of the events we commemorate as Holy Week, and in a few days perhaps many of them will be among the crowds, stirred up by the chief priests and shouting for His Crucifixion (Mark 15:11-15).  In St. John's Gospel, the crowd is presented as fickle.  My study Bible uses the expression, "the crowd follows the crowd."  Finally there are the Pharisees, who sense their authority and influence is threatened, and grow exasperated and desperate, for their efforts fail in their own eyes when they see the people welcoming Jesus.  They grow even more determined that the solution is to put Him to death as a criminal, for their own accusations of blasphemy or other criticisms will now fall on deaf ears among the people.  They will be unable to do this on their own, as they are ruled by Rome, which alone had the authority to punish a capital crime.  They will have to find another way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always

 

 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should  report it, that they might seize Him.  

 

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who  had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 

- John 11:55-12:8 

 

On Saturday we read that, following the resurrection of Lazarus, many of the Jews from Jerusalem who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

 

 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should  report it, that they might seize Him.  My study Bible explains that, because Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the connection between the Passover, when lambs were slaughtered to save the Jews from death (Exodus 12:1-13), and the death of Jesus, which saves mankind from sin and death, is continually emphasized.   

 

 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who  had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. This is the third Passover which is mentioned in St. John's Gospel (see John 2:13; 6:4) and is the setting for the final week of Christ's earthly ministry.  In this Gospel, the following week is narrated in particular detail.  My study Bible says that Jesus had already been glorified through His signs and words.  Now it remains only for Him to be glorified through His death and Resurrection.

 

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  My study Bible notes that the other disciples said the same thing Judas did here, but with a very different motive  (see Matthew 26:1-13).  Judas, it says, spoke from greed, while the others spoke from the virtue of charity.  That Jesus put a thief in charge of the money shows that by every means He attempted to save Judas:  He fulfilled Judas' lust for money; allowed him to exercise apostolic authority (John 6:11; see also Mark 6:7); He washed Judas' feet with the other disciples (John 13:5); and He allowed him to join at the table of the Mystical Supper (John 13:26).  But Judas could never overcome his greed.  

 

 This wonderful story of Mary and her anointing of Jesus truly is told wherever the gospel is told in the whole world (as Jesus says, reported in Matthew 26:13).  This memorial to Mary is important, because in terms of Christ's relations with various people in the Gospel, the relationships between Jesus, Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus give us a sense of what it was to be friends of His.  They are not part of the disciples who've journeyed from Galilee, but instead are beloved and cherished as dear friends.  Mary in particular seems to have a great deal of sympathy in common with Jesus, making it a notable relationship.  She is the one who is reported in St. Luke's Gospel to sit at His feet and learn (see the story at Luke 10:38-42, especially verse 42), despite the pleas from her sister that she help serve as would be customary for women.  We also note that in the story of the raising of Lazarus, the shortest verse in the Holy Bible, "Jesus wept," occurs right at the time that Jesus sees Mary weeping (John 11:32-36).  So Mary explicitly teaches us something of what it is to be a personal friend of Jesus.  Most especially in this friendship we learn examples of love, and that is what today's testimony to Mary is all about.  Her act of lavishly anointing Christ has been referred to as the "extravagance of love."  This great sympathy between Mary and Jesus is such that she seems uniquely to have the depth of insight that He is going soon to His grave, and that "she has kept this for the day of My burial," as Jesus says.  This expression of love is made before His death, in a way that publicly honors Him before all.  Notably, it is precisely this love to which Judas seems to be entirely blind.  Perhaps his greed makes him incapable of appreciating the great appropriateness of this gift.  Or perhaps his blindness to this kind of love is linked to the materialist focus that greed is dependent upon.  Think of the contrast between extravagance borne of love, and the kind of greed that motivates betrayal.  Here, indeed, Judas and Mary are juxtaposed as opposites, although the greedy call her selfish here, while they pose as altruistic and charity-minded for the poor.  This kind of love can never be understood by the materialist, nor perceived by one who simply cannot understand what it means to give from the heart motivated by love.  For the materialist can only think in terms of consumption and want, while the one who loves is focused on giving.  Sometimes generosity is hard to spot in others for this reason; what looks meager and foolish to one is the fondness of another.  We know, at least, where Jesus comes down in this equation, for the one upon whom His praise falls is she who now sits at His feet, wiping them with her hair.  Jesus is the Lord who knows the hearts of all, and He understands her, even while He tries to save Judas until the very end.  Would that we all could discern love and generosity, and know even in ourselves what is worthy of that love and what is not.  Jesus says, "For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  Somehow, Mary knows this also, even when others do not.

 

 

 

 

 

You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish

 

 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

 

- John 11:45–54 

 

We have just read the story of the seventh and final sign in the Gospel of St. John, the raising of Lazarus.  See Part 1 and Part 2 of this chapter.  Yesterday we read that Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.  Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there."  Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."  Jesus wept.  Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"  And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"  Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone."  Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."  Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

 

  Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  We should remember that the term the Jews in St. John's Gospel most often indicates the religious leaders, and not the people.  This word can also be translated as "Judeans" and so emphasizes the power held in the center of the temple in Jerusalem and the ruling Council.  Christ and His disciples are mostly from Galilee, a difference remarked upon by the Pharisees (see, for example, John 7:47-52).  Here the text reminds us that many had come from Jerusalem, being nearby to Bethany, to mourn with the sisters Martha and Mary when their brother Lazarus died.  They thus became witnesses to Christ's final miracle of His ministry, the resurrection of Lazarus.  It is these to whom the text refers.  Jesus, His disciples, and St. John whose name is on this Gospel were all Jews.

 

 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.  My study Bible comments that Caiaphas, being high priest, is given the authority to speak prophetically.  It notes that the failings and even wickedness of the officeholder do not diminish the grace of the office itself.  Caiaphas is of course referring only to Christ's death as a means of sparing all the people from Roman intervention.  But God's meaning is something understood differently.  This prophetic statement is understood as unwitting declaration that all people will be saved through the death of the Son.  

 

Caiaphas says to the chief priests and Pharisees, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  He means for Jesus to die so that the Romans do not intervene, as any disruption of the people was likely to trigger such action to keep the peace.  But we know his motivations and those of these men of the ruling Council.  They object to Jesus because it has now gone beyond a doubt that there is substance to His ministry.  The power of life and death belongs to God -- and Jesus has just performed the most astonishing miracle of all, raising a man from death who had already been four days in the grave.  More than that, witnesses from their own community were there, and were converted to belief because of what they saw.  So Jesus has now become a threat they can no longer ignore.  If people believe He is the Messiah, all will follow Him.  Clearly Caiaphas' statement is meant to persuade the rest of the Council they must find a way to put Jesus to death, but in their hypocrisy their real concern is for their places.  At least, this is the story the Gospel tells us.  We can read Jesus' long list of accusations over their hypocrisy in Matthew 23.  But let us turn to Jesus, who has spectacularly revealed the presence of God among the people in His final, seventh sign of raising Lazarus from the dead.  Can we imagine what it would be like to have lived in that time and place?  Every story possible seems to have been told about Him, from the deliberately fabricated lies in order to condemn Him, to the stories and testimonies of those who come to belief, and doubtlessly many other perspectives in between.  This is the opening setting for our next chapter, and the story of Christ's final journey to Jerusalem at the next Passover.  Messianic expectation, fears and plotting among the leadership, the presence of God in Christ and the power of life and death, the people's terror of both the Romans and the powerful Council, militant revolution among the Jews, Jesus' ministry and growing discipleship:  all of these things are at play complete with every rumor the people can hear.  Where would we be among these crowds?  What would we believe?  Although he is personally corrupt, God speaks through Caiaphas as high priest, with the true story of Christ that we know all these years later.  And God is still working through all things, let us not forget in our own lives as well.