Whomever I kiss, He is the One

 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

- Mark 14:43-52

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to His disciples, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.  Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

  And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.  My study bible says, "The fact that a signal, the kiss is needed here is a commentary on the kind of people who make up the mob that has come to take Jesus.  Had the chief priests, the scribes and the elders come, they would have recognized Him. Even most of the common people would recognize Him.  But these are armed Jewish servants, usually confined in the temple area to maintain order under the authority of the chief priests.  According to John 18:3, a band of Roman soldiers collaborated with them."

 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.  My study bible tells us that "there is some conjecture that this young man who fled naked is the Apostle John.  Another tradition holds the young man is Mark himself.  The latter view would explain why the incident is mentioned by him, but with no name given -- a traditional way of talking about oneself."

Why this betrayal?  Why the kiss?  I think it's important that we understand, once again, our very human Savior's experience of His life in this world.  He's known all the things that we know, all the disappointments that life can hold.  Surely there can be no more bitter experience than this one, in which one of His own chosen apostles betrays Him with a kiss.  We've perhaps all known moments of abandonment and betrayal by the ones we've trusted and treated well, by the ones whom we consider a part of "our own."  Our Savior is no stranger to the troubles that we go through, to the very most hurtful things in life.  We know of His physical suffering, but psychology would ask us to envision, also, His emotional suffering and pain that He went through, and to understand that whatever we go through in life, He's no stranger to that as well.  In fact, He's been there before us.  Abandonment issues, psychology would tell us, are among the most difficult of psychological hurdles to face and to cope with, and yet we see Jesus' demeanor.  While He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, in yesterday's reading, we saw how He faced what He was about to go through:  by putting it all in the Father's hands.  And the way in which He spoke to the Father wasn't to a distant, formal, forbidding God of awesome and fearsome power, but before "Abba" -- Daddy, Papa.  Ultimately, Jesus' trust is in the Father.  And there is a great lesson for us.  When we go through abandonments and betrayals, there is One in whom we may continue to put our trust through all things.  In fact, Jesus' abandonment and betrayal assures us that God knows what we suffer and how we suffer.  God knows what we go through in life that breaks our hearts, that lets us down, that teaches us -- if we would let it -- not to believe that love or trust in anything is really possible.  But there really is always one place we can go, and one place in which we can trust, and that is in prayer, in talking with God, with Christ.  The fact that Jesus has been through it all before we do means that we are never alone; we are always with One who understands and has voluntarily come there with us already.  Mark's Gospel paints us a picture of Jesus as Savior, the One who comes to rescue us from the bonds of the prince of this world who afflicts and causes suffering and pain.  His presence with us is His message of salvation; He is with us in our affliction.  I can't tell you the countless stories of those who are alone and seemingly abandoned, for whom all hope is gone, who have found their way forward through prayer, and who've known they were not alone because of prayer.  It may take awhile, one may not know until one can look back in hindsight about this help, but it is there.  Let us remember where we put our trust.  Let us be grateful for His presence with us, for His companionship in the Comforter.  Closer than our hearts, He is there when life disappoints, in the places where our abandonment and betrayal leave us.  He has gone there before we have.  Let us remember that He was betrayed with a kiss, by one of His own, when someone we love and trust may unjustly do the same. 

All of you will be made to stumble because of Me

 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

'I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered.'

But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

- Mark 14:27-42

Yesterday, we read about the Last Supper, and the first Eucharist.  On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared, there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.  My study bible tells us:  "Peter still does not understand the need for divine help to remain faithful.  Peter's desire is right, but his source of strength -- himself -- is wrong."   Jesus' quotation here is from Zechariah 13:7.  My study bible's emphasis on the need for divine help goes further than we think here.  Clearly, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways are not God's ways.

Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."   My study bible tells us:  "Gethsemane, meaning 'oil press,' is an orchard of olive trees at the foot of the Mount of Olives where oil was extracted from olives."  Olive oil is an important key to the Gospels; it's the basis for healing balms such as those given in mercy by the Good Samaritan.  More importantly, the word for "mercy" in the Greek sounds identical to the word for olive oil.  Anointing and mercy are inseparable in the concept of God's grace.  Christ's agony in the garden ("oil press") is a necessary part of the story of the gift of God's grace.

And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."   A note in my study bible says, "Abba in Aramaic is the familiar form for Father, equivalent to 'Daddy' or 'Papa,' indicating Christ's intimacy with God the Father.  Jesus prays to be spared this cup, His death by crucifixion, but obediently entrusts Himself to the will of God.  It is not as God that He asks the hour might pass, but as man.  His divinity cannot suffer; His humanity can and does."

Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."  My study bible tells us:  "To watch and pray is the way to avoid entering into temptation -- at any time, anywhere.  The spirit of the disciples, their inner selves, is ready to die with Jesus, but their flesh, their physical bodies, is weak and given to sleep."

The agony in the Garden, Christ's prayers and difficulty at this time, is perhaps for all of us a model of suffering.  We know the anticipation and anxiety, the awareness of what is about to happen.  Christ's prayer, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will" is a model of prayer for all of us when we are faced with our own difficulties and suffering.  But this scene recorded for us in the Gospels assures us of the real humanity of Jesus.  Who cannot relate to what He says when He tells the disciples, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death"?  To my mind, the words we're given here describing Jesus, that He was "troubled and deeply distressed" really don't do the Greek justice.   In the Greek, He's not just troubled, He's practically awe-struck, astonished, and we can imagine what that means in the context of what He's facing that He knows will come.  And "distressed" is also a mild word for what essentially means to lose power and strength, even to lose courage.  We note here that this scene is in a sense parallel and also a kind of negative (as in the old film strip negatives) vision of the Transfiguration, in which He also took Peter, James and John with Him.  But here, in the garden called "oil press," a kind of mercy is being played out against a tremendous sacrifice, and in this garden the very fully human Jesus faces His crisis.  This scene of the very deeply troubled and extremely distressed Jesus is given to us in the Gospels so that we very clearly understand that our Lord isn't only fully divine, but He was also profoundly human.  Whatever we have faced in our lives, God knows what we deal with.  It is God who has experienced fully what it is to be human, and has been right there with us no matter what we go through.  Perhaps there, really, is one very important essence of our faith, the thing that truly distinguishes Christianity:  God has been one of us, has suffered as one of us.  God, whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and whose ways so differ from our own, has given us a Savior -- has lived as a Savior -- who has suffered with us.  This is the "oil press" -- the way of salvation and mercy.  This sacrifice and suffering make all things possible for us.  In this context, Jesus' teaching, even here in the garden, that we must "watch and pray" becomes more powerful and more meaningful.  In His words teaching the disciples about this time in which we await His return and the end of the age, and teaching about the destruction to come in Jerusalem, Jesus repeatedly taught them to "watch and pray."  Here in this place of final crisis, and stumbling on the part of the disciples, He teaches the same thing.  They must watch and pray.  And so, Jesus' words here become the most profound teaching for any time of crisis or heartache or suffering that we, too, go through as human beings.  Watch and pray becomes the teaching for every time of our lives in which we may stumble, when we face a profound crisis and need courage, when we have decisions to make that take everything we have and more to make the right one.  Watch and pray in this profound place of crisis become our bywords for the ways in which we need to help ourselves by seeking God's help in all we do, and by remembering that it is God upon whom we depend for strength, and not our own will.  Christ, as God who is human, is not a man of pure steel, but a man who is in every sense fully a man.  He sets the example, and gives us His teaching.  Let us "watch and pray" and remember what is most needful in all circumstances.

Take, eat; this is My body

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared, there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. 

In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 

- Mark 14:12-26

In yesterday's reading, we note that Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He has just finished telling His disciples the prophecy of the destruction of the temple, and of the end of the age and His return.  After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."  And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.
 
Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb,  His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  My study bible tells us that this first day of Unleavened Bread is 14 Nisan, "when the Passover lambs were ritually slaughtered at noontime.  Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread actually begin after sunset on that same day, which is then 15 Nisan, because the Jewish calendar counts days from sunset to sunset."

And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him."  My study bible explains, "The deity of Christ again shows through.  Jesus knows they will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water, and He knows how that man will respond."  As on the other important occasion of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus makes arrangements which His disciples carry out, to the last detail.

"Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'   Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared, there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  As with the colt in the story of the Triumphal Entry, my study bible tells us, "so with the upper room.  Jesus is not presumptuous in the use of the room.  It was a gift to the man to have the Son of God use it and thus forever set it apart as holy.  Whatever gifts God asks of us today are similarly sanctified."

In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."   My study bible points out:  "Jesus says this not in deprecation of this man, His own creation, but in deprecation of that man's choice and rashness.  For it was the rashness of Judas's own will that made the Creator's gift of goodness useless to him.  Divine foreknowledge of the betrayal takes away neither Judas's moral freedom nor his accountability.  For God all things are a present reality; He foresees all human actions, but does not cause them."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."    And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.   This Passover meal, we recognize, constitutes the first Eucharist.  As my study bible puts it, this is "the heart of Christian worship, which celebrates the New Covenant and sacramental union with Christ.  By uttering the solemn words this is My body and this is My blood, Jesus clearly refers to the bread and wine He offers to His disciples as His own body and blood.  . . . The body denotes the totality of man.  On behalf of all mankind, Christ offers Himself in the totality of His Person."  When Jesus says that His blood is shed for many, He is using a Semitic expression, a way of saying "for all."  As my study bible puts it, "for an innumerable people."  Regarding the hymn sung, it also notes that "a hymn means a psalm from a group of psalms (Psalms 115-118) traditionally sung after the Passover meal.  A detailed prophecy of the Crucifixion is found in Psalm 22:1-21.  Psalm 22:22, as quoted from the Septuagint in Hebrews 2:12, reads, 'I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.'  On the night of the arrest, Jesus sang praise to God 'in the midst of the assembly.'"

My study bible also points out that for the Eastern Church, the truth of Jesus' words, "This is My body" and "This is My blood," has always been affirmed, "no more and no less, but without scrutinizing or theorizing about this great mystery of faith."  There is an emphasis here, therefore, not only on union, but on the totality of the human person being given the totality of the Person of God, Christ.  If we look at the Eucharist this way, without measuring or asserting assumptions or premises, then what we really have here is a total Gift.  (Hence the essential and important meaning of the word, Eucharist, which means to give thanks.)  The other word we use for the Eucharist is Communion, also emphasizing this Gift of union of total person and total Person.  There is nothing being held back here, and also in the depth of this union, nothing is held back.  Somehow -- a great mystery we really can't explain nor fathom -- Christ gives us His body and blood to become a part of us, as food.  This is what we're offered, a kind of totality we really can't know all the dimensions of in our lives, but which we can feel and know through relationship to Him, through the care of the Father and through the Holy Spirit.  Another important dimension of this Eucharist is the depth to which we may rely on Christ.  Sometimes in life we will experience the falling away of many things, the undependability of wealth (Jesus calls this the deceitfulness of riches in explaining the parable of the Sower), false friends and even family relations, as well as corrupt or imperfect institutions of all kinds.  We may find a great stripping away in life, an emptying in our faith journey, of things we can no longer rely on -- especially assumptions we have made about ourselves and about life that the world has taught to us.  But what we have as replacement is this goal of union, this place where Christ fills us when we are empty, and teaches us to rely on Him.  The great gift we're given is no less than God, the Christ, who teaches us that He is our refuge and our strength, our daily bread, our food.  Ultimately, when life is disappointing, the place where we turn to be filled with better things is Christ.   His gift of Himself is in this Eucharist, this sacrifice, this new covenant which He not only makes as His human person, but in the whole of the relationship that is possible through the Holy Spirit.  It is this action that constitutes what the Orthodox call theosis, a life-long process of union.  In actuality, it is a gradual and constant process of repentance, of change of mind, of emptying in order to be filled.  When life disappoints us, it seems that the real message of the Eucharist, this great Gift, is that we must seek His Way to be filled and to go forward.  We may rely on Him, and this is the difference between stumbling in the dark, and having something that lights our way on sure ground.  Every day, we may be given challenges to meet in our life.  But every day becomes an opportunity for reliance on Him, on our true daily bread, to show us the way, to fill the empty spaces that once held something we thought was precious and wasn't, to show us the better way.  "I am the light of the world," He said.  His gift of Himself is the gift of light that shines in our darkness.

Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her

 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

- Mark 14:1-11

Jesus is now in Jerusalem, and has been teaching the disciples about the destruction of the temple and also the end of the age; the two teachings are mingled in this section of the Gospels.  (See readings from Saturday and Monday.)  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued:  "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.  It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest, coming suddenly , he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all:  Watch!"

After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."   My study bible says, "The Feast of the Unleavened Bread begins with the Passover meal on the evening of 15 Nisan and lasts seven days (Exodus 12:12-20).  Both feasts commemorate Israel's liberation from Egypt.  The word 'Passover' does not refer to the crossing of the Red Sea, but to the angel of death 'passing over' Hebrew homes when killing the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:13).  Unleavened bread is a reminder of the haste with which the Hebrews left Egypt.  It also symbolized holiness unmixed with evil.  Passover prefigures the new deliverance of humanity by Christ from the power of sin and death."

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me."  My study bible tells us that "knowledge of religious things is good, but devotion to Christ is more important.  Here a woman who knows less about religion than her critics expresses her deep love and devotion to Christ, devotion He accepts with gratitude.  Those who were indignant are the disciples themselves, according to Matthew 26:8, while John 12:4-5 specifies Judas Iscariot."

"For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Again, my study bible tells us helpfully:  "Often we do not fully understand the implications of what we do for Christ.  This woman was expressing her love for Jesus; she may or may not have known that she was anointing the body of Jesus for burial (see Matthew 26:12)."

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.  The Gospels teach us that after this incident of the woman pouring the oil and anointing Christ with it, Judas went to betray Him.  In John's Gospel, we're specifically told that Judas criticized this woman because he was a thief  (see John 12:6).   It may also be that Judas' rebuke openly by Christ, in defense of this woman, was what decided him to betray his Master. 

In the Gospels, we're given many paradoxes -- themes that seem in some sense contradictory.  But in all cases, they are teaching tools used by Jesus to get us to think about and to live in and participate in our faith.  He tells us about hypocrisy; this is one of His biggest criticisms He will make of anyone.  That is, those who do things for a show, especially religious practice, when their hearts aren't really in the same place.  Hypocrite, we remember, is a word that means "actor" in the Greek, someone who wears a mask, who is "under" a mask.  "Following the rules" in this sense, if they allow us to remain hypocrites, just isn't good enough.  Our faith isn't about an ideology.  It can't really be broken down into a kind of set of rules to follow, except insofar as we understand the law as written in our minds and hearts.  It isn't that we don't have formal teaching or understanding, far from it.  But it is that there is a deeper rule that we follow and that really makes our faith just that -- faith.  It is the relationship between ourselves and God:  Father, Son and Spirit, and the extension of this relationship to neighbor.  Over and over again, we come back to those two greatest commandments which Jesus named to the scribe as He taught in the temple in Jerusalem, in last week's reading.   And even more deeply, if we think about it, those commandments are ranked clearly through this teaching in today's reading:  Judas and the others ostensibly criticize this woman for failing to love her neighbor, in essence, by not selling her expensive ointment and putting it in the treasury, the distribution for the poor.  But Christ teaches about love of God first.  It's important to understand Jesus' words that "the poor we have with us always" because what He's saying is that nothing keeps this woman from also helping the poor directly, and that we, too, always have those around us who need our help in one way or another.  But the relationship with God who is love comes first, and out of that comes truly our loving behavior and actions.  Out of that relationship comes a kind of discernment that leads us to what is truly needful.  We can't be broken down in our faith to following a set of rules as if we simply live as robots, and not as human beings who were created for relationship, for love, for growth.  Here, what is needful is an anointing for His burial.  Whatever way in which the love of God is working in this woman, it has led her to do something truly needful, a gift to the whole world; so much so, that Christ teaches Himself that wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole world, this story will be told as a memorial to her.  He, in turn, exalts her.  Whatever we do in the world, let us remember that the law written on hearts and minds may not work in ways that we can logically justify to others except perhaps in hindsight.  The law of love just doesn't work like a cold code, an ideology of  "one size fits all."  On the contrary, in the loving embrace of God we each of us are called as unique beings to fulfill the potentials (the talents) God has assigned to us, and we each have something to contribute.  It's the failure to heed that particular call that gets us into trouble, a spurning of that grace.  We may all think we know better, that whatever ways in which we've been taught will give us more than would a simple relationship with God.  But this is arrogance.  It's God's love that trumps everything else.  When we think we always know what that looks like, we, too, may be the ones who think they know, but can't see the forest for the trees.  Judas cannot get over his own failure here, and he fails to learn what Christ has to teach.  His love doesn't get that far.  Neither does his faith in Christ's love for him.

What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!

 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.  It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest, coming suddenly , he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all:  Watch!"

- Mark 13:28-37

In recent readings, Jesus has been teaching on two themes which are mingled:  the destruction of the temple and the end of the age.  In yesterday's reading, He taught His disciples, "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not " (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter.  For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.  And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, He is there!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.  But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send His angels and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven."

  "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."  My study bible says, "The parable from the fig tree warns us to be watchful and ready for the events of the final days.  Each generation since Pentecost has looked for the Second Coming of Christ, and that is proper.  Jesus' teaching is that we will know the end is near when we see these things taking place."  As we said in yesterday's reading, Jesus' warnings were also explicit about what was to come in Jerusalem, within a generation.  The early Church heeded the warning and escaped.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."  My study bible tells us:  "Since of that day and hour no one knows, believers should always be ready in watchfulness and prayer.  Many Church Fathers consider that nor the Son speaks of Christ's having limited knowledge in His humanity.  This shows the depth of Christ's condescension, because in His divine nature He is omniscient as the Father.  Other Church Fathers do not accept any limitation of knowledge in Christ, and interpret this as His deliberate accommodation to the disciples' weakness.  Exact knowledge of the Second Coming could lead otherwise serious believers to moral carelessness, inactive faith, and lack of daily perseverance."  Jesus presents this as a great mystery we cannot possibly know, and so the focus is on watchfulness and preparation.

"Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is."   A note here tells us:  "To propose schemes of how and when He will come will not prepare anyone for the coming of Christ.  But to take heed, watch and pray does prepare us."

"It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest, coming suddenly , he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all:  Watch!"   Several of Jesus' important parables speak of God as a man, a landowner or lord, who is far away from home and property.  The question is, What do the servants do when he's away?  Here the instruction is clear, they are to Watch! and not be found sleeping. 

Jesus tells us several times in these verses to "Watch!"  But the Greek word for watch has several implications.  It literally means to stay awake, so, in the first place, we have a contrast set up here between those who walk through life in some way asleep, and those who are awake.  It implies an awareness of something, and watchfulness comes into play as a quality that is positive in a Christian life.  We are to be alert.  Another meaning derived from this word is to be quick or fast.  Again, it implies something more than not sleeping, but an alacrity, a brisk readiness -- something a truly good servant possesses.  Not only are we to be ready for the master, but the emphasis on watchfulness and wakefulness implies much more:  that we know what we are about, we are aware of ourselves and what we are doing, and that we are also aware of things that others don't bother to think about.  The contrast between watchfulness or wakefulness and being asleep is one that has figured throughout Church history as a metaphor for those who are aware of the possibly imminent return of their Master, and those who haven't got a clue.  It contrasts the good disciples or good servants with those who've forgotten what they're supposed to be about, or those who've grown complacent or lazy -- or worse, have tricked themselves into thinking the Master isn't coming after all.  Whatever way we want to look at it, "Watch and pray!" are to be the bywords of this time in which we live now, as we await the Second Coming of the Master.  It's important that we be the "rational sheep" as the Orthodox put it.  That is, we're not blind, we're wide awake and alert.  We seek to be thoroughly aware of something, on the lookout for it.  Unlike the unjust servant (in parables found in Matthew and Luke) who falls into disreputable and bad behavior, beating his fellow servants, we're to be faithful:  caring and righteous.  So watchfulness also means acting at all times as if He may return at any moment, within the beat of our hearts, and following His commandments -- especially those two great commandments that teach us love of God and love of neighbor.  This is what it means to be awake and watchful and prepared at any moment for the Master's return.  It's not a matter of counting up our good deeds as if we can put them all in a little pile and present them when He comes.  As in the parable of the Talents, we're to keep working at this, and to keep increasing as best we can.  Watchfulness implies a constant sort of action, an unceasing awareness and effort.  As the American saying (from baseball) goes, "It ain't over 'til it's over"  -- we're not done until He says we're done.  And we absolutely never know when that will be.  This much He has guaranteed and emphasized, in perhaps one of the greatest paradoxes in our faith which is filled with paradox.  We know for a certainty that "heaven and earth will pass away," but His words will not pass away:  the time will come, but we will have no idea when that will happen.  So watch!  Watch and pray!  These are His words to us, the way we prepare for His return.  And we are to be constantly prepared.

When you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the prophet

 "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not " (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter.  For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.  And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, He is there!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send His angels and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven."

- Mark 13:14-27

 On Saturday, we read that, as Jesus went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled, for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

  "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not " (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter.  For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.  And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, He is there!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand."  Of these verses my study bible has an extensive note, which I will reproduce here:  "The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, culminating in the burning of the temple, appears to be the major focal point in these verses.  The Roman general Titus defiled the temple by first entering into it and standing where [he] ought not (i.e. in the Most Holy Place).  Heeding prophecies, the Church in Jerusalem fled before this great tribulation (v. 19) occurred (vv. 15-18).  This was a time of great suffering and consternation (vv. 19-22), vividly recounted by the Jewish historian Josephus, an eyewitness."    Another note tells us:  "Christians have suffered many great tribulations throughout the centuries -- in the twentieth century alone, many millions have been martyred -- and there will likely be great trials in the future."  It notes that "Orthodox Christians reject any teaching that (1) conveniently 'delivers' them from tribulation (Jesus teaches to prepare for tribulation) or (2) speaks of a secret Second Coming of Christ.  Christian consensus is, 'He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead' (Nicene Creed).  There is nothing secret here.  The Scriptures teach that many events spoken of in the Old Testament regarding the end will not be understood until they happen (v. 29).  'Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase' (Dan. 12:4).  Dazzling words claiming to set forth God's prophetic scenario for the end times are at best speculative, and at worst, heretical."

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send His angels and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven."  Another note here in my study bible tells us:  "In those days refers to the end of time, when Christ will return bodily.  The Second Coming is neither secretive nor figurative."

As noted on Saturday, Jesus' discourse on the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem is combined with teachings about the end times.  Of course, He is answering questions posed by His disciples.  He's also warning them of what was to come in their lifetimes, within a generation from the time He is speaking.  As my study bible pointed out, the Church at Jerusalem was able to heed His warnings of what was to come, and fled Jerusalem.  On Saturday, we discussed in commentary the many things that seem to be happening in our world, changes occurring at this time through technology and other developments in our history.  But it's not for us to know, really, when the "end time" is here.  It is up to us to challenge ourselves to live as He has taught us to live.  Perhaps especially as we look around at our world, and we see our capability for destruction, for harm, for causing suffering, and the power of manipulation as well, it is very, very important to ask ourselves how exactly we may be contributing to the things that do not make for a world in which His teachings on love can be taught and lived.  This past Thursday, we read that Jesus was asked by a scribe, "Which is the first commandment of all?"   Jesus responded with both a first and a second:  "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."   We still have these commandments to live by, and if we look around in our world, we will see all kinds of ways in which what we may term "abominations of desolation" seem to be occurring.  Ancient churches are being sacked and destroyed by supposedly popular movements in parts of the world where Christianity first took hold.  Jesus' teachings, that we must endure suffering and tribulation, seem to come home to us yet again as we witness events that seem to show us images of the prophecies taught by Jesus.  "Shortened days" remind us of our sense of time; how, as we have more and more "time saving" technologies, most of us find ourselves with, seemingly, less time.  Daniel's prophecy, cited in my study bible, that "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" sounds eerily like the bustle of today's world, that holds for us so many potentials and at the same time magnifies so potently our failures.  It is important that we remember these two greatest commandments that Jesus has taught, because if we really want to live our faith, then we're taught exactly how to do that.  If we wish truly to endure as He has taught, then we do so by living our faith according to His commandments.  To love God and love neighbor is far more powerful in a world where our neighbor may now be across the world, where we are in such close communication with people who live in other countries, and where one thing happening far away has immediate effects across the globe.  The world we live in today is one in which the suffering of neighbor is communicated to us from all around the planet, so we are in a position to ask ourselves the great question from Luke:  "Who is my neighbor?"   Let us consider how we follow His commandments, how we endure, and what love of God and love of neighbor mean for us today. 

He who endures to the end shall be saved

 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled, for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.

"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

- Mark 13:1-13

In yesterday's reading, Jesus responded to His questioners with a question.  He answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord,  "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

  Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."    My study bible tells us of this entire chapter in Mark's Gospel:  "This passage has two points of focus:  (1)  the destruction of Jerusalem and (2)  the end of the age.  These points converge in Jesus' teaching and guide our interpretation.  The temple had been rebuilt by Herod the Great, including porticoes, courtyards and colonnades, covering about sixth of the area of Jerusalem -- an architectural marvel dominating the Holy City.  some of the stones were about 10x40x20. . .  The grandeur of the buildings made Jesus' comment about their destruction very dramatic.  It would be hard for the listener at that time to imagine such great destruction.  In A.D. 70 this prophecy of Christ came true when the Roman general Titus recaptured Jerusalem and leveled everything on the temple mount.  It was rumored there was gold between the stones, so not one stone was left unturned.  Only a retaining wall remained, later called the Wailing Wall, after Emperor Trajan (c. A.D. 135) permitted Jews to come to this site once a year to mourn the temple's fate.  Jews still mourn at the Wailing Wall today."

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"   My study bible points out that interest in the end of the age is nothing new.  "The disciples want to know when all the things spoken about the end times will take place.  Jesus obliges them."

And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled, for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows."  My study bible tells us that "Jesus' first word about the end of the age is a warning about deception.  Take heed is a dominate note throughout the discourse.  Do not fail because of deceit by impostors, speculation about dates, political upheavals, natural catastrophes, or persecutions.  Today, popular preachers contradict one another with novel doctrines which are at odds with the historic interpretations of the Church.  Take heed that no one deceives you!"  Sorrows here reads literally "birth pangs" in the Greek.  My study bible tells us that they are applied to the "world-renewing events and crises at the consummation of the Kingdom."

"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit."  My study bible says that "such experiences are recorded in the Book of Acts and Paul's Epistles.  Until the return of Christ in glory, His followers will suffer and people will fall into apostasy.  Discipleship produces martyrs and confessors (those injured or maimed for confessing Christ before men).  Jesus tells His disciples plainly what will happen to them.  Tradition holds that of the Twelve, all but John died a martyr's death.  The promise that the Holy Spirit will speak through us is not intended to discourage preparation for Christian teaching.  It refers primarily to crises."

"Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  A note in my study bible reads, "There is security of salvation for him who endures to the end, but it is not ours to say when the race is over.  the modern innovative doctrine of 'eternal security' -- once saved, always saved -- is not the teaching of Jesus; rather, He teaches the endurance of the faithful through God's strength and grace."

"End times" seem very much to be on many people's minds today, but it seems, also, that they have always been a concern and preoccupation -- especially in times of crisis.  We should remember that Jesus' stress on endurance is the key to this passage.  The word used here for endurance literally means "remaining under" as in bearing a load, a kind of bearing up, and it is also closely related to the word for "patience."  Clearly, Jesus does not promise His disciples an easy life!  Nor does He promise that the Kingdom is coming immediately, easily, and without struggle.  On the contrary, they will be the recipients of the effects of that struggle.  As my study bible points out, all but John will die a martyr of the first Apostles.  Today, "end times" are very much upon people's minds.  Not only is it that two millenia have passed since Jesus' time on earth in the flesh, but more particularly the new millenium into which we are entering now seems to be filled with threats not just to our security and our immediate well being, but in fact, threats that are -- one could say -- to the planet.  We have problems with pollution (including those possible from nuclear accidents and radiation), problems indicative of possible climate change, wars that seem to be unceasing in their frequency, weapons capable of almost inconceivable destruction, and every day seems to bring news of crime and breakdown of social behaviors that undermine qualities of life.  Human slavery, rather than ending from legal criminalization, is actually on the rise throughout the world in perhaps new forms.  Throughout the Middle East, Christianity is being threatened in its birthplace.  Worldwide, refugees and mass migration are becoming greater and greater; world populations are on the move far more than we understand from displacement through warfare and economic crises.  The internet itself -- a modern phenomenon that allows me to write this blog and send it out into the world -- can also be used for great harm, not only targeting individuals, harming children, or abusing trust in one way or another -- but as our reliance on these systems grows more and more, the internet itself becomes a security concern for nations.  Our understanding of ourselves changes as we shift into a new age of instantaneous communication, worldwide markets that interact with one another within hours, and crises that magnify one another, so that what happens in one place affects others.  The sense of who we are is changing based on these developments.  My study bible also points out Jesus' emphasis on a breakdown in family loyalties, although elsewhere Jesus says this will happen for His sake -- that His truth is that which pierces all other realities and relationships.  And there we come right back from international crises and threats and problems to the real emphasis Jesus has been placing in all of His talk in the temple at Jerusalem, which is on the affairs of the heart.  When we remember that ultimately it is the decision for each of us in the heart that really plants this kingdom in the world (see the greatest commandments dialogue from Thursday's reading), then we get down to the place that puts this all in perspective.  How do we go through crises?  How do we "bear up" as Christ teaches His disciples here, as they went through their own inconceivable crises of war and destruction in Jerusalem, and eventual persecution as apostles sent out into the world with the gospel message?  Really, the teaching is the same.  We are to endure.  We can't say when the end is, and it's not our job to do so.  It's our job to do what is asked of us, to carry on in faith, in following these two great commandments to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love neighbor in extension of such relatedness.  Jesus gives us one other great promise in His teaching today, and that is also with us in all times of crisis, a reliance on the Holy Spirit and the implication of the necessity for prayer.  We have a Comforter.  The apostles are not promised a perfect life, and neither are we.  We may see all kinds of things breaking down around ourselves in one way and another, even as new innovations that can do a lot of good also are used for bad; but that's just a reflection of human weakness that has always been with us, a reflection of our own imperfections, ambitions, pride, and frailties.  What we can rely on, however, are His words which will not pass away.  We each have a job to do to live these two great commandments in the ways in which choice comes to us in our lives.  We each have a choice to contribute to this world in the ways in which He has taught, and we can come together as community to do so as well.  We may not be able to control the world and everybody in it, we might not be able to solve all these problems of human failure and control the nature of the planet, but we can do something that is ours to do, and starts in the heart.  His words come to mind from Matthew's Gospel:  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  In all things, we are to endure with patience, and rely on the Comforter.  He's warned His disciples -- and us -- in advance, of the birth pangs of the Kingdom, which we still endure.  But He also gives us the Help to do so.

She out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood

 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '

Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.

Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

- Mark 12:35-44

In this week's readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem and it is Holy Week.  He has been having disputes in the temple after His Triumphal Entry and the cleansing of the temple.   He's been challenged by the leadership as to His authority, and questioned by groups of Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees.  In yesterday's reading,  one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is not other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.

  Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord,  "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  My study bible tells us:  "The tables are turned:  Jesus' interrogators are interrogated by Him.  In the presence of the common people Jesus questions the scribes, and they are unable to answer (Matt. 22:46).  The answer, of course, is that David calls Him 'Lord' in His divinity, yet Jesus is also David's Son in His humanity."  For the references in Jesus' question, see 2 Samuel 23:2 and Psalm 110:1.

Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  My study bible says, "Jesus exposes His opponents publicly, warning, Beware of the scribes.  By now they hate Him.  Their plans have gone awry.  Though expert in the Law, they have failed to answer Jesus' questions.  Mark reports only briefly on Jesus' extended critique of the Jewish leaders."

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."  A note in my study bible says, "As Jesus observes the temple treasury, a poor widow donates two mites, the least valuable coins.  Jesus' deity is again manifest as He knows she put in all that she had.  It is not the amount that counts with God, but the degree or sacrifice out of what a person possesses.  Many who give the least give the most; some who give the most, give the least in proportion to their abundance.  God takes note of our giving (Acts 10:4)."

It's interesting to look at today's reading in light of yesterday's.  Jesus told the scribe in yesterday's reading, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  In today's question put before what is apparently a group of scribes, He takes them further into the kingdom of God, and the question of the Son of God.  It is a riddle that stumps them, and a profound reply to the question of authority which began this series of interrogations.  By what authority did Jesus cleanse the temple?  The answer is in the riddle, and the riddle is the answer to the identity and authority of the Person who stands before them in the flesh.  But how are they to perceive this?  And the hint is taken further, into the words that the scribe is "not far from the kingdom of God," because indeed, the kingdom is right before him.  But what's more essential to Jesus' teachings are again His words against hypocrisy, because, as we said in yesterday's reading and commentary, Jesus' choice is always to emphasize the matters of the heart, wherein we grasp the true reality of a person, just who they are.  Yesterday Jesus spoke of the greatest commandment, and the second one like it -- both involve love; the first the love of God with all the heart and mind and soul and strength, and the second the extension and sharing of that love with neighbor, the righteousness found in a proper love of God.  Here in today's reading, He preaches against hypocrisy, a central tenet of His teaching.  When He speaks of the "pretense" of the long prayers, He's speaking of "making a show" just for appearance's sake.  This is the root of hypocrisy (a word which in its origin means "actor" in the Greek).   In every teaching, Jesus' stress is on the condition of the heart, as contrasted with outward acts and appearance.  Finally, we get to the story of the poor widow, who in contrast to the small amount of donation, gave with all her "heart and soul and mind and strength."  She is truly the "least of these" in the temple, and so is her donation.  Let us remember that in our own lives we'll see lots of hypocrisy, many "shows."  But the true judgment of a person is in the heart, and there is our true measure and picture.  Christ comes to Jerusalem, and engages in open confrontation with the leadership on the issues He teaches to all of us.  He opens the Scriptures, and delves into the affairs of our own hearts.  All of this, in Mark's Gospel, is by way of liberation, to unbind us from the things that oppress us, from the "strong man" of this world.  Let us remember that He will give His life as a ransom for many.  These teachings of the heart are the ones that liberate each one of us, if we would be free via His truth.  In today's reading, He teaches us to focus on who we truly are, while He reveals Himself as well.

Which is the first commandment of all?

 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is not other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.

- Mark 12:28-34

In yesterday's reading,  Jesus was questioned again in the temple in Jerusalem, after telling the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers.  They sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.  Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died, nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."   Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

  Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"   My study bible tells us:  "The scribes are a professional class of experts in the Mosaic Law.  While most of them were hostile to Jesus, this scribe seems to be a sincere inquirer."  Repeatedly in the Gospels, we'll note that there are no groups of individuals who are entirely monolithic; that is, there will always be exceptions.  The Gospels teach us that Jesus had sincere followers among all classes of people, including Pharisees and others in the leadership.  His betrayal would come at the hands of His own handpicked apostle, one of the Twelve.

Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."   My study bible says here:  "In response, Jesus quotes Deut. 6:4-5, the greatest Jewish confession of faith, called the shemá (meaning 'hear,' the first word of the confession).  In verse 31, He quotes Lev. 19:18, combining what is already in the Old Testament to create a new understanding:  love of neighbor is an expression of love of God." 

So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is not other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."   A note here tells us:  "This scribe's insight has penetrated beyond the Pharisees' obsession with outward forms.  He understands that the condition of the heart is central to righteousness." 

Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.  My study bible tells us:  "This scribe's wisdom and honesty bring him not far from the kingdom of God.  Only God can say who is, and who is not, far from His Kingdom."

Today's reading focuses us on matters of the the heart.  Throughout the time of His questioning, Jesus focuses on hypocrisy, one of the chief criticisms He will ever raise about the leadership.  In Matthew's Gospel, He elaborates quite a bit about hypocrisy, and teaches His followers not to be like hypocrites.  In yesterday's reading, Mark's Gospel told us that Jesus "knew the hypocrisy" of His questioners.  But here, something different happens.  Jesus praises the scribe, saying he's not far from the kingdom of heaven, and we go directly here into the matters of the heart, the place where we live our lives most truly, in terms of the way Jesus views us as human beings.  To love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength is to love God in a way that defines our whole being, the inner self.  Of course there's an obvious assumption that the truth of the inner self is expressed outwardly.  The condemnation here in the Gospel context of hypocrisy is of the outward show masking a different internal order of the heart, and that's where we come to the real crux of things here in today's passage.  Love of God comes first with all that we are and can be, and from there the second commandment teaches us about love of neighbor.  In the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the language of this second commandment gets down to specifics, by forbidding vengeance and the nursing of a hostile anger.  But here in our context Jesus teaches us something more when He praises the scribe.  Because the scribe takes the commandment further than what it seems to say on its face and we recall where we are and exactly Who is being questioned.  The scribe tells us (and more specifically, tells Jesus) that to love God with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.  And that's where we come down to the contrast with the hypocrites.  To love with all the heart, understanding, soul and strength is more than all the outward show of devotion we can muster, because really and truly we are dealing here with God, as my study bible points out when it notes that "only God can say who is, and who is not, far from the kingdom."  God deals in matters of the heart and soul; God is the "knower of hearts."  That place where we really and truly live is within us, as is the kingdom of God.  Over and over again, Jesus will go preaching through the Gospels and asking us about what we really love, what we really treasure.  Because that's where the crux is.  It's all about what's in our hearts, what we nurture and nurse, and what we seek to let go of.  It all comes down to what we are really about, and what we truly devote ourselves to.  And those are the kinds of followers He wants, the ones who really love, and who are willing to ally themselves that deeply in the heart that such love becomes a full life, a ministry, a way to share in God's care and love with others.  We can't say what this will look like in every person, and that cements even more deeply for us the need to take care of the heart, and quit focusing on the externals.  We can't judge what every action or gesture means, but Christ knows what the heart is about, and where we put our trust.  Ritual and worship and devotion are all very important expressions not only of where we are, but of our intentions to love, our sincere desire for a heart that is cleansed and pure, and can follow these commandments truly.  But they can also be used as masks, and that's where today's teaching comes down.  Jesus will warn us about wolves in sheep's clothing, and warn us of betrayals even among those closest to us.  But all of these things come down to love, and what is in the heart, what we nurse and what we choose and what we treasure.  This is why the first commandment Jesus names is so important, because all things flow from there, especially a love of neighbor, and even "the least of these."