Lord, where are You going?

 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."

- John 13:36-38

Today's reading, for Good Friday, is a very short one, just a few verses.  For those in the West commemorating the day of Jesus' earthly death, let us consider how they apply to this day.  Most of the Eastern churches will commemorate this day several weeks hence.  But to think on these verses is important for both Good Friday and also the Lenten journey.

Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  My study bible tells us of today's reading that "Jesus is saying, 'You cannot die with Me now, but you shall later.'  This is a prediction of Peter's martyrdom." 

Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."  Jesus predicts Peter's denial before a servant girl during the time of Christ's trial before the Sanhedrin.  We hear Peter's bold pronouncement of his intention.  The thing with Simon Peter is, we know he is sincere.  But he constantly teaches us that "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  For this reason, we need Christ's spirit, the help that is ever-present with us.

In the person of Simon Peter, we see the great transformation that the Spirit will bring.  In Tuesday's reading, Jesus told us, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but it if dies, it produces much grain."  On the day we commemorate as Good Friday, Jesus will give up His life, in the words of our Evangelist, John,  "for the life of the world."  But the great benefits to so many will be the sending of the Spirit, given to each of us, poured out upon the world.  We will see its effects on Simon Peter perhaps most profoundly.

In today's lectionary reading is also included some verses from Peter's First Epistle, written long after Jesus' death on the Cross:  "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.  To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven -- things which angels desire to look into" (1 Peter 1:10-12).   Peter ties in the work of the Spirit with the Spirit of Christ at work in the prophets, and the gospel preached by the Holy Spirit through the apostles.  My study bible says that "even the angels desire to deepen their vision both of the uncreated glory and of what God has in store for creation.  The angels beheld and worshiped Christ in His divine nature; what is new and amazing to them is His human nature."  What we read in St. Peter is the incredible revelation and work of the Spirit as he was transformed from the one who swore his life and yet denied Christ three times before morning, to the great Apostle who wrote the Epistle, above.  The promise of Christ's death on the Cross is precisely that:  the salvation of all of us, just as in the transformation we witness through Scripture and tradition that happened in St. Peter.  Eventually he would be martyred and die for His Lord, for all of us.

But there is also the notion of time involved in all of this.  We note in St. Peter's letter that he states that the prophets foresaw, through the Spirit of Christ, what was to come, and so much of Old Testament Scripture testifies to Christ and to His life and salvation.  St. Peter himself swore he was ready to lay his life down for Jesus, and yet there were three denials before the rooster crowed.  God's Spirit works in God's time, not our time, not according to our wishes, but according to the fullness of dispensation, according to what is best for the fullness of the Gospel as it comes to us and is given to all of us.  So today, let us consider the events in our lives, what we would desire, the things we may fervently believe, and God's time.  That is, what is truly needed at what time.  The prophets foresaw by the Spirit of Christ, and yet Peter is not ready for the heroic death he proclaims in service to his Lord.  But that time would come when it was the right time, after Peter's great transformation into the leader and apostle he was truly to become.  Let us consider this death on the Cross, of the One who laid down His life so that all of us could be saved in the fullness of the Spirit.  In that gift, as Peter's letter suggests, is also His Gospel -- the Gospel of the One who loved even His apostle who would deny Him three times during the trial by night.  He sees who we may be in the fullness of His time and of His Spirit, in His love.  Peter asks, "Lord, where are You going?"  It is the Spirit that will bring him the fullness of the Way, in the time of God's choosing.

Walk while you have the 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

On Monday, we read about Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Then, the Pharisees had said among themselves, "Look, the world has gone after Him!"  In yesterday's reading, the Gospel told us that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida at 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 it if dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in the 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."   My study bible tells us that "this verse gives a glimpse of the Gethsemane experience of Jesus."  (See Matthew 26:36-46.)  It teaches us of Jesus' steadfast love for the Father:  He will do what He has to do in order to fulfill what God the Father calls Him to do in His earthly mission as Son, as God and man.

"Father, glorify Your name."  A note teaches: "The Father's name is an extension of His Person. The Son worked for the glory of the Father, and His death is now to be offered up to complete that purpose and to show the Father's love for all people.  The divine voice gives assurance that the death of Jesus is not humiliation but glorification through the fulfillment of God's plan for the redemption of the world."

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."  There's a long note here in my study bible that is quite illuminating.  Lifted up, it tells us, is "a reference to the lifting up of Christ on the Cross, which is His glorification and will lead to the salvation of the human race.  At the same time this event is a judgment on the unbelieving world of darkness and the abolition of the power of the ruler of this world, Satan."  My study bible explains, "We live in a state of tension between the victory won (see 1 John 2:13) and that yet to be won (see 1 John 5:4,5)."  Jesus speaks of the purpose of the Cross, of His being "lifted up."  It is to draw all peoples to Him.  This is an extension of His statement in yesterday's reading, about the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and produces much grain.  In John's chapter 3 Jesus explained about the Cross to Nicodemus, comparing it to Moses "lifting up" his staff to save Israel from death in the wilderness:  "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."

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.  My study bible tells us, "The theme of Jesus as the light receives renewed emphasis.  The crowd wants to know the identity of the Son of Man.  But Jesus challenges them to come to the light while there is still time to become children of light.  Christ is the 'light from Light' (Nicene Creed).  In union with Him, we partake of His light, becoming children of light."  We remember His earlier words, before His healing of the man blind from birth:  "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When the disciples protested that He again sought to go to Judea (for the healing of Lazarus), while the leadership sought His death, He told them, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

An ancient commentator, Ammonius of Alexandria (late fifth-early sixth century), has written regarding Jesus' words of judgment in today's reading:  "As if in a court of law, it is said to the devil, 'Granted, you have killed everyone else in the human race because they were sinners. But why did you kill the Lord?' The time of sojourning on earth is the 'judgment of the world,' since Christ is about to justify humanity and to remove the arrogance of the devil. The judgment he speaks of here then is not the condemnation of the human race. Rather, Christ’s death justifies all humanity against the devil, who is the one who is under judgment because he had wronged the world" (Fragments on John 41).  It seems to me this is a brilliant and loving reading of Jesus' words introducing us to the theme of Judgment in the Cross.  Witnessing and testimony become important aspects of judgment, as in a courtroom.  But here, the witness is the Lord Himself, and His witnessing is against the one that binds us, that has harmed the world and mankind.  In this sense, Christ's victory over death is a victory for all of us, because it declares truly the injustice of death, of the one that afflicts us with evil and all forms of suffering and death in the world.  It is for this reason that we understand truth as a two-edged sword:  it enlightens those who want it.  But out of the mouth of a babe, or one who remains in innocence, it becomes a kind of judgment against those who would do it harm.  To carry Christ's light within us, we don't need to be perfect people in the sense that we have no more to learn and no place to grow, in the sense that somehow we're not in need of God's love and mercy!  No, God's mercy works through our weakness, and God's strength, says St. Paul, is made perfect in our weakness.  To walk in this light is not merely to help others, but it is also to help to bring judgment against that which harms and limits human beings.  When we participate in Christ's love and light, we enter into His struggle, we are invited into the arena.  Let us remember the love that invites us in, to become children of light with Him.

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it does, it produces much grain

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida at 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 it if dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in the 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

In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  This takes place after the raising of Lazarus at Bethany (see Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick and Jesus said, to them, "Loose him, and let him go".  In yesterday's reading, we read that 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!"

Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  My study bible explains, "These Greeks are Gentiles attracted to Judaism, either god-fearing or full proselytes, who came to participate in the Passover festivities."

Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida at Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.   John's Gospel has built into it an answer to the leadership's disparaging remark (from yesterday's reading):  "Look, the world has gone after Him!"  Indeed, the Gospels themselves reveal what is to come, when the Greek-speaking world (that is, the international language of the time) will "go after Him" and come to know Him through these Gospels written originally in the Greek language. Already, those Gentiles drawn to Judaism are aware of Jesus' ministry, long before anyone is called "Christian."

But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."  My study bible says that this hour is "the great hour of salvation through the death and Resurrection of Jesus, leading to the salvation of the human race."  Throughout the Gospel, Jesus has told His disciples, and the Evangelist has told us, that "His hour had not yet come."  Now, His announcement of this time is complete, the hour is at hand.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but it if dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in the 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."  My study bible tells us:  "The image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit signifies that Christ will die in order to give life, a principle of self-sacrifice which applies to all those who follow the way of Christ."

Jesus' saying about the grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies has inspired much commentary and understanding.  Surely, we apply it first to Himself, to His going to the Cross, His death and Resurrection -- and in this context we are to understand His "hour" that has come.  But Jesus doesn't just stop there.  He includes us in this journey of sacrifice.  How do we follow Him?  Perhaps there are hints at other meanings to this, deeper meanings that touch all of us, elsewhere.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will teach us about doing things in secret, as opposed to openly for show:  "When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly"  (Matthew 6:3,4).  He also says, in the same chapter, that the hypocrites make a great show of prayer to be seen by others.  But He tells His disciples, "You, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly"  (6:6).  He then teaches them the Lord's Prayer, in which we are taught to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (verse 12).  Again in the same discourse, Jesus teaches about fasting, that it must not be done for show, but in secret "so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (verse 18).  And so important is this principle, that He finally teaches us, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"  (verses 19-21).  What do all of these teachings have in common with the grain of wheat that falls to the ground?  All of them involve some form of sacrifice, or if we really want to be correct about it, an exchange.  We exchange one thing we are attached to, perhaps we love it, but in return we are given something much greater, something heavenly, of the heavenly life of the Father for us.  Jesus sets the ultimate example in going to the Cross - He gives His earthly human life.  But when we let go of something that hurts us, in forgiveness for example, where we feel someone else owes us (as in a debt), we are in effect setting up an exchange through God.  We invite in another party through which our affairs are handled, and a true exchange is made.  This is forgiveness.   Jesus gives up His life to the Father, and in exchange we have Resurrection, the keys to the Kingdom, the life eternal given to all of us.  We give up a perhaps precious show before men, for the "praise of men" -- in fasting, in prayer, in almsgiving.  But in exchange, Jesus promises a reward from our Father who sees in secret.  Everything goes through an exchange through which the Father is broker, in a sense.  We're not in control of this exchange, and it feels like sacrifice.  But the promise is there:  we exchange something worldly for something heavenly.  And so we should think of carrying the cross and following Him, as He teaches here.  This is not just about the life that is to come after this one, but I believe we can experience this exchange right here and right now.  Forgiveness has given us the great capacity to be set free, to be unloosed from something that will never pay us otherwise, it sets us apart to learn new things and to grow, and I have found tremendous exchange through forgiveness, where life has rewarded me in ways far beyond the value of what I gave up.  So prayer and almsgiving and fasting can work the same way, when we let God into the exchange, and give up what we get for show from others.  This is not some sort of magical formula, but I believe we should pray for guidance as to the particular things Christ asks of us to give up.  Let us consider sacrifice and exchange, and God's promise to us, Christ's asking us to follow Him and to serve Him.  We don't know what we get in exchange, but it is also the promise of life in abundance.  We just have to let in the divine, with God as the party that we give to, and from whom we receive.  It shifts our lives around, and gives us great things in return -- even to experience the love that sets us free from so many things and teaches us that we are so much more than our limitations.  And there is something greater than this:  by inviting God in to be our "exchanger," we also serve:  what we receive somehow becomes a blessing to the whole of the community of believers in one way or another.  One gift of prayer, for example, touches many, even in unseen ways. Let us remember His sacrifice - but let us also remember His teaching:  one grain of wheat falls and dies, but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt

 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

In Saturday's reading, we read about the raising of Lazarus.  We begin with the reading of Friday, which taught us that when Jesus heard from the sisters Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus was ill ("Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick"), He delayed two more days where He was.  When He arrived at their home in Bethany, Lazarus had already been buried.  Martha said to Jesus that if He had been there, her brother would not have died.  Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?"  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."  On Saturday, we read that she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.  Now 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.

 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.   This extraordinary seventh sign in the Gospel of John is an absolute sort of evidence or witness to Jesus' words to Martha:  "I am the resurrection and the life."  After this sign, and the fame that comes from it, there is no doubt of the power of His ministry. It's important to note the pattern that comes to His followers:  they also do not escape the wrath of the leadership, but rather share it; in this sense following in Christ's footsteps.  We read of the man blind from birth being cast out of the temple after being healed and witnessing to His healing from Christ.  So it is with Lazarus, only the wrath is greater in proportion to the work:  for the life given by Christ, they seek to kill him.  St. John Chrysostom has written:  "No other miracle of Christ exasperated the Jewish leaders as much as this one.… It was so public, and so wonderful, to see a man walking and talking after he had been dead four days. And the fact was so undeniable.… In the case of some other miracles, they had charged him with breaking the sabbath and so diverted people’s minds; but here there was nothing to find fault with, and therefore they vent their anger upon Lazarus.… They would have done the same to the blind man, had they not had the charge to make of breaking the sabbath. Then again the latter was a poor man, and they cast him out of the temple, but Lazarus was a man of rank, as is plain from the number who came to comfort his sisters.… It exasperated them to see all leaving the feast, which was now beginning, and going to Bethany" (Homilies on the Gospel of John 66.1.6). 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem . . .   My study bible points out that "earlier Jesus had come to Jerusalem in a hidden, private way.  But now He enters the Holy City publicly." 

. . . 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."  "Hosanna," says my study bible, "is a liturgical shout which means 'save now' (Ps. 118:25)."  It also tells us, "Jesus' deliberate action of riding in on a donkey signifies He is the prophesied Messiah of peace (Zech. 9:9), for kings and military leaders rode on horses or in chariots.  The Triumphal Entry marks a high point in Jesus' ministry as He brings His message to the Holy City and encounters the central authorities.  This event is celebrated on Palm Sunday, an acclamation of the lordship of Christ as King of kings."

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.  Here's a very important way in which we understand Scripture.  In some sense, we know the people's expectation is incorrect.  Jesus is not going to become the type of king that they expect.  But the Scripture, nevertheless, bears true witness to Christ.  And so, the people are correct in the choice to honor Him with these verses, and they also witness to His true nature as Messiah by welcoming Him with these verses of Scripture.  The people also come to meet Jesus because they have heard about Lazarus.  We note, importantly, that John, one of His disciples as well, testifies that the disciples did not understand these things at first, but only later after He was glorified.  Then it was that they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  So, whatever way in which He was expected and welcomed, the truth is there for the disciples and for us to discover, no matter how much longer that may take for our understanding to be complete.  "Out of the mouths of babes," in this case, comes a truth that is deeper than they can yet know.  The truth was in the prophecy and the Scripture and even in the witnessing of the multitudes, regardless of their expectations.  By the same token, we await the insight Scripture reveals to us, day by day, for this is how our faith works.

The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  In an interesting commentary, Cyril of Alexandria writes:  "Even though they did not know it, the Pharisees were telling the truth when they said, 'Look, the world has gone after him,' for not only Jews but Gentiles as well were destined to accept the faith"  (Commentary on the Gospel of John 8.52).  Chrysostom says that perhaps this is said by those Pharisees who thought correctly about Jesus but were afraid to speak up -- in this sense they were trying to restrain the others, presenting it as an impossible task to change this now.

On the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday, we commemorate the events of today's Gospel reading.  That day, for most of the Western world, was celebrated yesterday.  For most Eastern Christians, Palm Sunday remains several weeks away.  But one thing we can note, that the world on this day in the Gospels is "upside down and inside out."  That is, the truth is being proclaimed, although it is out of the mouths of those who either expect something quite different and a different meaning to their words than we understand now (as in the multitudes who welcome Jesus), or the meaning is altogether distorted in intent yet clear in expression (as in the Pharisees who say that "the world has gone after Him").  Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, and as we know, contrary to the expectations of the crowds, Jesus will not rule as an earthly king.  Quite the contrary, His Passion and death on the Cross are inaugurated at this beginning, His open confrontation and presentation to the City means He will face His human death.  In faith, we know that not only is the outcome the Cross, but also the Resurrection.  But let us know that on this day with so many false expectations, and so many varying desires, and the slavery of envy and the jealous guarding of position, with so much in a swirl and the disciples uncomprehending, the truth is there.  And not only is it there, shouted from the mouths of babes, so to speak, but it is also there in the person of Jesus all along.  "Hidden in plain sight" is a phrase that might have been coined by our Gospel writers, the Evangelists, for this is the story of Jesus.  But the truth permeates the texts through and through, even when the characters have no idea they are speaking the truth, or what that truth is -- especially when truth is being revealed to them, and they have yet to comprehend.  And I think that when we are in situations which are confusing and difficult, or that seem frightening and threatening, in which we don't know the outcome, we should remember this event.  Nothing is as it appears to be.  We know what is coming for Jesus.  And yet, the truth is there in plain sight.  It has not deserted us, and Christ has not deserted us.  There is just so much more depth to understand, so much that is being revealed and that it will take time for us to know.  There is so much that we need to understand.  And there is also irony, the pattern of life in which truth is present even though human beings would desire to deny it, and the resulting calamities that happen from this denial.  The world is confused and mixed up:  but the truth of the Gospels works through it anyway.  This is what we need to remember when life presents us with extreme situations of disappointments, of false expectations, and things beyond our understanding.  The truth is right there.  It is just a matter of time, of re-shifting our orientations and expectations, of prayer and the help of the Spirit, of God's perspective that is waiting there for us to understand.  Let us consider the position of Jesus, what He knows and what is to come.  His disciples understand nothing of what is happening.  And yet these are the events that are the most profound expression of our faith, coming up and unfolding through the rest of this week into the fullness of Jesus' phrase, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go"

 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.  Now 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.

- John 11:28-44

~~~

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 in 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 12:37-50

In yesterday's reading, we began the story of Martha, Mary and Lazarus - the setting for the seventh and final sign in John's Gospel.  The Gospel tells us that a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.  And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.  Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?"  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.   In yesterday's reading, we read also the alternate reading for the day, which contained the story of Mary's anointing of Christ's feet with ointment (see yesterday's reading).   So we understood in yesterday's reading and commentary the closeness of these friends, and the love and warmth that is shared between them, which is something marvelous to behold.  John's Gospel gives us the story of love on many levels; while Jesus speaks of the Father's love for Himself as Son and this is shared in the sonship of believers, there is also the love between these friends.  We note here that Mary immediately leaves her position of mourning (sitting in the house) because she is called by the Teacher.

Now 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 Jess 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.   Again, we witness the amazing sight of the Son, as God-man, divine and human, in his human love for Mary and the others. John's Gospel tells us here quite clearly that this groaning in the spirit and the troubled nature of Jesus happens when He sees Mary weeping, and the others weeping with her.

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?"  My study bible notes here:  "As true man Jesus shows by example that weeping is the natural human response to death.  As true God He shows compassion upon His creation when the soul is torn from the body."  That's a beautiful encapsulation of the "God-man" Jesus Christ and what is happening here.  It's important to note, it seems to me, the word for "love" that is used in this context.  It's not the same word Jesus used earlier in John's Gospel, when He said, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again"  (See I am the good shepherd).  There, the word used in the Greek was agape, in the verb form.  We may consider "agape," in some sense, to be the love that God shares with us, that God is, the love in which we may participate and which we may share with one another.  John's first Epistle uses this word "agape" when he writes:  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8).   But here, in this context, in which we read of Jesus' friendship, and the other mourners exclaim, "See how He loved him!" they are using a different word.  That word is philo - again in its verbal form.  The root of this word is the word for friendship, meaning a kind of choice to love, and it is also the word for "kiss."  We understand the customs and cultures of the world that use kiss not in an erotic way, but as a sign of friendship and true affection, like a hug or embrace.  Another definition is to cherish.  So our Lord, here, is also the true friend, and it is an awesome thing to contemplate both the divine love of the Creator and His compassion, plus His depth of friendship and love for these people as human being as well.  It is almost too much for us to even comprehend that such a complete Incarnation of the divine is possible.

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."  My study bible notes:  "Jesus comes to the place of burial. A corpse that has by the fourth day begun to deteriorate is enough reason for Martha's warning.  Embalming was prohibited in Judaism.  The body was simply anointed with spices and other aromatic substances which would keep the stench of decomposition at bay for a time."  Again, we note aspects of their friendship:  despite the command of the Lord to take away the stone, Martha warns Him against the problems he may incur in doing so.  She is free to speak up in friendship.

Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  My study bible tells us that "the Savior responds to Martha's cautionary note by reminding her of His earlier words."  Again, we note the love of Jesus:  there is no rebuke here, but rather a loving reminder!

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."   My study bible says here:  "Again we see the Evangelist's insistence on relating Jesus' dependence upon the Father for all His works.  Jesus prays for the bystanders, that they may have the insight to see the glory of God in the miracle." 

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"   A note reads: "Jesus' loud cry for all to hear is reminiscent of His earlier words, 'The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth' (5:28, 29)." 

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.   A note here reads:  "That Lazarus came out bound in his linen graveclothes is interpreted by patristic writers as an indication he will need them once again:  he will eventually die.  The Savior's grave linens, by contrast, were left in the tomb.  He will have no more use for them, for He will never die again."  There's something else we see in this "binding hand and foot" and that is the hold of death upon humanity.  In His divine nature, Christ has come to lift death from us, to lead us to eternal life.  His command to "loose him, and let him go" is a powerful story of liberation of human beings from the bonds of death, in whatever form we may encounter death, whatever way in which the affliction of evil cuts our lives short, limits the abundant life of Christ in which we may participate throughout our lives, even in this world, even as we await the "call"  after this life.

I have included once again the alternative reading for today in the lectionary.  It is reflective upon the events in the earlier reading for its emphasis on the Judgment and on the love between Father and Son, and that love that is evident in the signs of Jesus.  The symbolic connection between the raising of Lazarus and the day of Judgment is clear.  But we must also note powerfully Jesus' emphasis in His worldly mission:  "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."  The Judgment comes through the relationship with the Father, but in His Incarnation Jesus has come out of love, to save.  He is here to liberate, to unloose the bonds of death, to set us free -- so that death will "let us go."  If we think of death as that which limits life and limits the life in abundance that He promises us through the Spirit, we can think of all kinds of ways to experience death in life.  How many people suffer from affliction in myriad forms even as they walk in this life?  I am sure we all know of the limiting forms of suffering we, our friends, our family, our community may experience even as we walk in this life, as we may experience in our own ways a "walk in the valley of the shadow of death."  Perhaps, in our modern lives, one such scourge we may experience or see the effects of is addiction, which comes in many, many forms, and can make life a living hell, a walking death, in its binding and affliction and slavery.  Jesus is here, as man and God, to liberate, to bring life, to unloose and unbind, so that whatever binds us in a false kind of idol will "let us go."  The God-man who comes to us out of the love of the Father will set us free in ways that are not possible except through His help, and He has brought us His Spirit out of that love, to be with us, by our sides when we call, at all times.  This healing may not take forms we can predict nor even desire.  We may be called upon to walk through that valley and face our fears, to repent and "change our minds" in ways that aren't easy nor simple - but He will give us legs to stand on, "a rod and a staff" that comfort us, and lead us in the ways we need to go to heal.  His rod is correction, His staff is strength and guidance.  But His help is always ready, there for us, even knocking for us open the door to our hearts.  Lazarus' death was a gift in the sense that it was an occasion for the works of God (see yesterday's reading), as was the blindness of the man blind from birth who was healed at the Feast of Tabernacles.  So we should see an invitation in every affliction we may experience.  Let us remember Lazarus, and his sisters Martha and Mary, those whom He loved.  But above all, He is with us, He has been with us, and in His love is every form of love for us.  This is the God we worship, the one true thing to remember when you face whatever else in life that might try to take it away from you.

Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.  And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.  Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?"  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

- John 11:1-27

~~~

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.

- John 12:1-10

In yesterday's reading, we read about events that occurred at the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah.  At the previous festival (the Feast of Tabernacles) Jesus had healed a man blind from birth.   Afterward Jesus taught that He is the good shepherd, who would lay His life down for the sheep.  He taught, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  Therefore there was a division again among the leadership because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  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.  I and My Father are one."  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"?'  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there. 

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."   The Evangelist here assumes that his readers know about Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who anointed  the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair.   The account of this event is later in the Gospel, in the beginning of chapter 12, which is an alternate reading in today's lectionary  (see above).  My study bible notes:  "Lazarus' sickness would not result in permanent death because he would be brought back to life by Christ, an act which would bring glory to the Father and the Son."  We remember that Jesus also said of the man blind since birth that his affliction was so that the glory of God may be revealed through it.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"   Jesus stayed two more days in order to underscore  the magnitude of this miracle that is to occur.  To go to Judea incurs great risk, because at the Feast of Dedication the temple leadership sought to stone Jesus to death for blasphemy.

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   These words are again a kind of echo of something Jesus said at the time of the previous sign in John's Gospel, the healing of the man blind from birth.  Just before healing the man, Jesus said then, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  Here, the night seems to imply the darkness of a life without the light of God, which is in Christ, who is the light of the world.  He is, as John's Gospel has also taught, the light that shines in the darkness.

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  My study bible points out that sleep is often used to signify death.  It also notes here,  "Thomas, if not with full understanding, speaks the truth:  dying with Christ, to baptism and sometimes in martyrdom, will become the seal of Christian discipleship."

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.  And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.  My study bible says that "there was a rabbinic opinion that the soul lingered about the body for three days, but from the fourth day on there was no hope of resuscitation."  It also tells us that official mourning began on the same day as death and burial (immediate burial was necessary in warm climates).  Weeping and wailing lasted three days; lamentation lasted the rest of the week; general mourning lasted 30 days following death.  During this time mourners constantly came and went from the home of the deceased."

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.   My study bible points out that the characteristic contrasting qualities of these two women are portrayed consistently in the Gospels.  Here, the two sisters react as one would expect from the account of them in Luke, when Martha was serving and Mary was listening to Jesus teach.  In today's reading, Martha goes out to greet Jesus as hospitality would ask, while Mary sits in mourning in the home as is proper to the occasion.  My study bible notes:  "Sitting is the correct posture when mourning and greeting mourners."

Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?"  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."   A note here reads:  "Your brother will rise again is misunderstood by Martha as indicating the final resurrection.  Thus Jesus declares, I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Christ already has eternal life and therefore shall never die spiritually."  We note that Jesus asks Martha about her faith in Him, and her answer is a powerful "Yes, Lord."

If there is one thing that is consistent in and remarkable in the stories of Jesus and the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, it is the love between these people who are dear friends.  Jesus isn't only Lord, although Martha does address Him as Lord, and most profoundly so when she confesses her faith that He is indeed the Christ, the Son of God who is to come into the world.   St. Augustine comments on the love between these people.  Martha and Mary send to Jesus with simply the news:  "Lord, the one whom you love is ill."  They don't ask Him to come; they simply tell Him what has happened.  Augustine wrote that this was "as if to say: 'It is enough that you know. For you are not one that loves and then abandons ' "  (Tractates on the Gospel of John 49.5).    Cyril of Alexandria has written, "The Evangelist has a purpose in mentioning the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety, which is why the Lord loved them. And of the many things that probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not in a haphazard way but in order to show that Mary had such a thirst for Christ that she wiped his feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself in a more real way the spiritual blessing that comes from his holy flesh. Indeed, she often appears with much warmth of attachment, sitting close to Christ without being distracted by any interruption and to have been drawn into a close relationship of friendship with him"  (Commentary on the Gospel of John 7).  In these commentaries, and in today's reading (also noting the passage above from Chapter 12, in which Mary anoints Christ's feet), we get a splendid and truly extraordinary sense of Christ, who is the God-man.  That is, we see His Lordship, His Light and Life at work, and at the same time the great love which permeates His human relationships with these people who are not only worshipers but close friends.  It is so remarkable to ponder this love.  In Christ, we have the most amazing picture of the Lord of the Universe, with the power of life itself, who is also a loving human being, with a tenderness of affection for these people who are His friends, and perhaps most poignantly in the figure of Mary.  St. Cyril's words about her closeness and warmth to Him tell us a great deal that in today's world we may not understand as well as would have been when Emperors ruled the world.  In His majesty, it is inestimable what grandeur would have been contained in Christ.  The idea that the King of kings and Lord of lords could also be drawn into a close and warm relationship with this woman is unthinkable to someone schooled in the protocols of hierarchy.  But the love of Christ permeates all things, both His majesty and His human personality.  This is what truly makes Him beyond conception, in some sense -- beyond our expectations and understanding.  It is also what commands our love.  Let us remember Christ put no barriers between Himself and even "the least of these" whom He loved.  Can we imagine a leader like Him today?   He remains the unsurpassed model for the world, for any authority, for all of us with faith.  His is the love that does not abandon, and that lends itself to closeness and warmth.  May we all aspire to be like Him.

Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'You are gods'?"

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  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.  I and My Father are one."

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"?'  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.

Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

- John 10:19-42

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus was continuing His dialogue with the leadership.  It is still the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, which John's Gospel gives us throughout chapters 7 and 8.  In chapter 9, Jesus heals a man blind from birth just after He passed out of the temple, avoiding being stoned, and subsequently the man was questioned about Him (see As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world).  Afterward the formerly blind man's parents were questioned, and the healed man testified again -- leading to his being cast out of the temple.  Jesus found him again, and revealed Himself to the healed man.  He then continued in dialogue and questioning from the leadership.  (See For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.)  Yesterday, we read yet more of Jesus' revelation of Himself, to all including the leadership:  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  We remember that in John's Gospel, written at a time of vicious persecution of the Church, the term "the Jews" is used to denote the leadership.  All of the people in our current readings are Jewish.  So this is a dispute among the leadership concerning Jesus.  At this point in Jesus' ministry, immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles, we note that Jesus has garnered an extraordinary amount of attention not only for His public ministry but for this encounter with the authorities in Jerusalem.  The whole setting for the festival was an occasion when the Gospel teaches us there was dispute regarding Him among the people; now the authorities also argue among themselves.  With revelation, recognition and great public attention there also comes dispute regarding Him.

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.   Here the Gospel takes us forward in time.  My study bible notes that "this encounter with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem takes place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles (chs. 7-9).  The occasion of Christ's presence in Jerusalem is again a religious festival, the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), the festival of lights.  This Feast commemorates the rededication of the temple to the God of Israel after the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes, desecrated the temple in 167 B.C. (see 1 Macc. 1-4).  The leaders of Israel's past are commemorated, many of whom were literal shepherds."

And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  The leadership finds Him at the festival, and continues to question Him.  Clearly Jesus is in the middle of controversy about Himself.

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."   Again, Jesus establishes witness - the works He does in the Father's name are the witness to His identity.  And again, we notice what Jesus will always do when asked about His identity:  His immediate reference includes the Father.

"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  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.  I and My Father are one."  Again He refers back to the words He taught at the previous festival, words they have heard before - and for which they attempted to stone Him.  The sheep hear His voice, but nothing is separate from the Father and the Father's love.  So complete is the love between Father and Son that they are one.  My study bible notes, "Responding to their question, Jesus reveals Himself as fully God:  one means one in nature.  He was God before the Incarnation, and He remains fully God after that union of God and man in His one Person.  The verb are indicates the Father and the Son are two Persons.  They are always distinct, but united in essence, will and action."

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   Again, as at the Feast of Tabernacles, they attempt to stone Him for statements about His divine identity and His relation to the Father.  My study bible says, "Jesus' bold claim causes a violent reaction:  they attempt to stone Him, accusing Him of blasphemy."  Once again, we note Jesus' testimony:  His good works are inseparable from the Father.

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"?'  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  A note tells us:  "Jesus' question comes in response to the Pharisees' charge of blasphemy.  What the Lord is saying, according to St. John Chrysostom, is this:  'If those who have received this honor by grace are not found with fault for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?'"

"If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  For the third time, Jesus emphasizes His link to the Father, that His works are "of My Father."  The works are His testimony to His identity from the Father, and their inseparable union.  Afterward, Jesus withdraws again to a safer territory, where He will find believers in the same place that the Baptist practiced his early ministry.

Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  John's Gospel again teaches us about the important link between the Baptist's ministry and followers, and that of Jesus.  Here, many believe the Baptist's testimony regarding Jesus. 

In Thursday's reading, Jesus taught:  "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  In today's reading, we regard the effects of His testimony and revelation.  It's the sword of truth, with its two sides:  some will believe, others will refuse.  Jesus also gives us the great analogy and parable of the stone that becomes the head of the corner, quoting from Psalm 118 in Matthew's Gospel:  "Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Even though He is aware of the strong reaction that will come from His words, Jesus presses forward with His ministry and His revelation of Himself, His relation to the Father, and His true identity through both His works and His teachings.  He does what He must do.  Everything else falls to the people in their response to Him.  What does it mean that "those who see shall be made blind," as Jesus said in the previous chapter?  He also told the leadership:  "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  Their refusal to acknowledge what they don't know condemns them to true and deliberate blindness, and therefore "their sin remains."  There are nuances to our response to this truth.  Neither is it given all at once, as we could see in the example of the blind man who was healed by Jesus, and gradually comes to know who Christ is.  If we remain in a state of wonder, of the understanding that God's mystery is always before us, and that a lifetime of faith must be a lifetime of learning through that journey of drawing closer to God, then we put ourselves on a good road.  That is, God will always have deeper plans for us, will always seek to draw us closer toward God's likeness and into His image in which we were created.  There is a hint of this in Jesus' quotation from Psalm 82, above:  "I said, 'You are gods.'"  If we are truly "children of the Most High," as the Psalm tells us, then we are meant to grow in God's likeness.  Our Lord "condescends" in absolute love to come into our world as one of us in the form of Christ.  He brings with Him the revelation of God's love for us, and His call to sonship as the Good Shepherd.  If we remain in a state where our faith can always grow, we keep our eyes open for each new challenge on the road of faith - coming to know ourselves better, and how God calls us to shift, to "change our mind" and to grow.  Thus we shall not remain blind, because we know there are things we can't yet see, for which our Good Shepherd leads us forward.  This great virtue is called humility;  it is the real foundation on the road to sonship.

I am the good shepherd

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

- John 10:1-18

Throughout John's chapters 7 and 8, we are told of the events surrounding the Feast of Tabernacles, and of the dialogue with the leadership that Jesus has at that festival.  When Jesus tells them, "Before Abraham was, I AM" they take up stones to stone Him.  But, we are told,  Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  This week we began reading chapter 9.  As Jesus passed out of the temple, we are told, He passed a man blind from birth, and His disciples asked Him who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was so afflicted?  Jesus told them that this ailment was for the glory of God, that the works of God may be shown.  He said to His disciples, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  He healed the man, making a clay out of His spittle and the earth for his eyes, and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam.  After he came back seeing, all those who knew him quizzed him, as did the leadership.  The man did his best to give testimony.  In yesterday's reading, we learned that the leadership did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know: that thought I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses, as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of the one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Jesus offers a parable to the leadership.  Who are the sheep and who is the shepherd?  How must one enter to be the true shepherd of the sheep?  There's an important aspect here to the parable, and that is of the relationship of shepherd to sheep.  They "hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."  Who is the doorkeeper that only allows the true shepherd in?  We remember that Christ is speaking after His discourse to the leadership in which He taught them that He is sent by the Father, and that those who love the Father will know Him.  In John's 6th chapter, He also taught, "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."  Here, He tells them that the sheep do not know the voice of strangers. 

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."  My study bible says, "In calling Himself the door, Jesus signifies He will bring His flock into an enclosed sheepfold with a central gate.  Normally a hired guard would tend the gate while the shepherds rested through the night.  But Jesus is the tireless Shepherd, always guarding the entrance.  No one can enter except by way of Him."

 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."  My study bible tells us, "This is a prophecy of Jesus' impending death, through which His people are to be reconciled to God the Father.  The good shepherd, Christ, and His under-shepherds look after the sheep even to the point of giving their lives for them."  Again, we are taught about relationship.  What is the nature of this shepherd?  His tremendous willingness to love, even to His own death for the sheep.  Above all, He is here that they may have life, and have it more abundantly!  The thief, by contrast, comes only as poacher:  to steal and to kill and to destroy.

"But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep."   My study bible says that "the hireling, the non-committed religious leader, is contrasted with the shepherd, one who considers the sheep his own.  The hired hand looks primarily after himself."  Who is this hireling?  He is missing the great love of the shepherd.

"I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."  And again, the emphasis is more clear, more drawn out.  He is the good shepherd.  He knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him.  Moreover this relationship of love, and of trust, and of knowing doesn't stop there nor does it begin there:  it is also inclusive in His relationship to the Father, and the Father's relationship to Him.  Knowing and loving and trusting are here inseparable.

"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."  My study bible tells us that "other sheep are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock under the one shepherd.  Hence, the Church cannot be divided along denominational, ethnic, cultural or family lines." 

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  Another time, we return to the quality of the love of the Shepherd for His sheep, and how it is linked in love to God the Father.  And there is the assurance now of the voluntary nature and power behind the giving up of His life for the sheep.  My study bible tells us, "The Lord makes it clear this atoning death will be voluntary.  Though He is God, He does nothing apart from the authority of His Father.  If we seek to experience God's love and His power, we do so as Christ Himself does:  by obeying willingly the Father's commands.  As He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him, willingly and out of love."

So what do we learn from today's reading?  What is the Good Shepherd, and how do we characterize Him?  First of all, in His own words, He is willing to lay down His life for the sheep.  We know His love and loyalty.  But there is an interesting commentary about this, from a fourth-century Father of the early Church, Peter Chrysologus.  He asks how the death of the shepherd helps the sheep.  "Clearly," he says, "there is an established strength, a true reason, a lucid cause, a patent utility in all this blood. For unique power sprang forth from the one death of the Shepherd. For the sake of his sheep the Shepherd met the death that was threatening them. He did this that, by a new arrangement, he might, although captured himself, capture the devil, the author of death; that, although slain himself, he might punish; that, by dying for his sheep, he might open the way for them to conquer death"  (Sermon 40).  Let us understand the great love of Christ, and the all-inclusive family into which we are invited when we "hear His voice."  St. Augustine has answered the question we posed above in a beautiful way.  Who is the doorkeeper?  He writes, "If you seek another person for doorman, take the Holy Spirit … of whom our Lord below said, 'He will guide you into all truth.'  What is the door? Christ. What is Christ? The truth. Who opens the door but the one who will guide you into all truth?" (Tractates on the Gospel of John 46.2–4.12).   So, all in all, our Shepherd never leaves us alone.  Christ's death does not consign His sheep to abandonment; on the contrary, we have the Way He provides for us, we have this family of great love of Father, Son and Spirit interconnected to the sheep as a sure form of security.  And this is where we start:  we start with that family, for where One of the Trinity is, there is all Three.  And we who seek this truth are all bound into this love, all in all.  Do we know His voice?  Do we respond to His invitation to love?  Can we become more "like Him" by being His sheep and following in His truth, His voice?  Let us consider how that love calls us, and remember that faith, in the Greek, is akin to trust.