Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain

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

- John 12:20-26

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

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."   These Greeks are Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham and have come to Jerusalem to participate in the Passover feast.  They are Greek-speakers, foreigners who speak what was at that time the international language (and which would become the language of the New Testament -- even at Jesus' time, the Senptuagint translation of the Jewish Holy Scriptures had been made in Alexandria and so even the Old Testament was studied in Greek).  My study bible says that as they are still called Greeks shows that they were not yet full proselytes or converts to Judaism.   In this period, it was not unusual in the Hellenistic world for Greeks to become Jews and Jews to become Greeks, as such identity was based on sets of values rather than purely ethnic lineage.  My study bible says that since Jesus had taught His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5; 15:24), the disciples approach Him before bringing these inquirers.  To be glorified refers to Christ's death on the Cross.  My study bible says that Jesus' obscure response indicates two things:  "(1) the answer these Greeks are seeking will not be found in words, but in the Cross; and (2) the Cross will be the event that opens all manner of grace to the Gentiles."

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."   Here, my study bible suggests that the image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit signifies that Christ's death will give life to the world.  In many Orthodox churches, my study bible reminds us, boiled wheat that is both sweetened and spiced is served at memorial services for the departed faithful to affirm God's promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.  In the Armenian Apostolic Church, verse 24 ("Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain") is read at all memorial services. 

Jesus is given a sign Himself, it seems, in today's reading.  From His response to the notification from Philip and Andrew that there are Greeks (Greek-speakers who are becoming Jews) who have heard about Him and wish to see Him, we infer that this is a sign to Jesus.  His fame is now going beyond Israel, beyond the boundaries of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and is reaching out into the world.  From this it seems that He understands clearly that His hour is near, or the time in which He will be glorified.  How can we understand the Cross as glorification?  For those of us brought up on images of great worldly success, how can we at this time understand what it is to be a success in the eyes of God?  Can we understand Christ when He teaches that the Cross will be His hour of glory?  Or that because already Greek-speakers, people from other countries and territories, have heard of Him, it is time for the hour of His glorification?  He makes this very explicit when He speaks of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground, and thereby will raise up and produce much grain.  Adding the next two lines is very important for our understanding:  "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."  He is affirming once again the power of sacrifice for the life that God gives, for the Kingdom, which is where the Father is leading Him.  It is a great teaching that comes as the final "event" of His saving mission.  He will give His life for the sheep, and by doing so He will be glorified.  But this message is not just about the Crucifixion, it's a message for all of us:  "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."    He makes it very clear:  if we are to serve Him, we follow Him, and in so doing we, too, will be honored by the Father.  The message of sacrifice is implicit here, but I think we have to take it properly.  Whatever happens in Jesus' life and ministry, it is all from the direction of the Father.  It is all done in love.  Nothing here is a whim brought on by the desire to be a martyr on Jesus' part; it is the outcome of His following the will of the Father, His teaching in truth, and a fearless way of living life for something, for love, for this mission of salvation.  If we miss that motivation, then we miss everything, it seems to me.  Sacrifice in and of itself is not the point here.  The point here is service.  What do we serve?  Any form of sacrifice that is made as a sort of "feel good" or "pat on the back" effort isn't getting the point here, and it's not a nihilistic sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice.  I think that would be missing the point.  Jesus teaches us that He is life itself; that He is the resurrection and the life, as He has said to Martha.  But our lives are meant to be for something.  The gift of life which we are given holds all kinds of potentials for the glory of God, if we but choose to live it that way.  It is in this spirit, I believe, that Jesus teaches us, "He who loves His life will lose it, and He who hates His life in this world will keep it for eternal life."  That is because there are things we live for, there are things and possibilities included in our lives that we are capable of serving and working for if we but look past a selfish sense of this gift, of what our lives are for.  That is the meaning of His words.   If we serve Him, therefore, we will be on the road with Him -- we "follow Him."  And in so doing, we too will be honored by His Father.  It is an important point to fathom, because Jesus glorifies His life by His choices, and chooses the honor of God the Father in all He does, including going to the Cross.  The Cross will thereby become the symbol of a life that is more than life as we understand it, but a life that doesn't die, that extends to resurrection:  that is, a resurrection that is always with us, ever-present, and working in our own lives in this world to always glorify God through us as well.  Jesus does not go to the Cross for the purpose of sacrifice, He goes to the Cross for the purpose of true life, that we may have life abundantly, something more than just "life in this world" as we understand it.  He goes to the Cross for love of the sheep, for the salvation of all who will be drawn to that Cross and what it means and stands for.  If we follow Him, then we, too, are to understand that our lives are for so much more than what a worldly perspective offers, and that we may glorify God and shine the illumination of God out into the world.  Let us come to understand what these things mean, what the beauty is He's offering us, as well as His joy and peace and grace.  Then we will understand what the sacrifice is for.  We will know the pearl of great price.  Sacrifice is made as an investment in something, a trust, in faith -- for life.

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

 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

On Saturday, we read the second half of the account of the raising of Lazarus:  After Martha had spoken to Jesus (see the first part of this story, in Friday's reading), 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."

  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 Jews" here refers to people among the  families of Jews in Jerusalem, those who are influential among the leadership in the temple and form an essential base for their leadership.  "There" is at Bethany; Jesus is at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and the event skipped over in the lectionary by today's reading is reported in John 12:1-8, in which Mary anoints Jesus with fragrant oil.  Judas seeks to rebuke her, and is in turn rebuked by 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!"  This is Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, a day commemorated as Palm Sunday.  Jesus approaches from Bethany, from the East, as is appropriate to the Messiah.   The people are quoting from Psalm 118:25-26.  Hosanna means "Save, O Lord."  These verses were repeated daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  So, we can see that this entire scene is one of Messianic expectation, the Feast of Tabernacles being the feast of the coming Kingdom.  We can understand the hope in this multitude.

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion;  Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."   This is a quotation from the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. 

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.  John's Gospel gives us a reminder that "enlightenment" is something that happens through a process of time, and of grace; it's after Jesus is glorified that the disciples understand the significance of things that have happened in this ministry and in the life of Jesus with them.  The coming of the Spirit would change everything for them.  It's similar to the episode of the cleansing of the temple in John's Gospel, which occurs in John in the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when the disciples were to recall later, "Zeal for your house has eaten Me up."

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!"   The raising of Lazarus has been a final capstone to the signs in this Gospel, and it has also been a sign of such significance that it sets a seal on Jesus' fate with the Pharisees.  That "the world has gone after Him" in their eyes is their great defeat; all they can think about is putting an end to Him.

How is it that at Jesus' seemingly greatest hour of triumph -- this Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem -- there are the seeds of suffering and death, His Passion?  Ultimately, we have to take the whole of the Passion as part of that which is allowed by the Father, for purposes beyond what we can immediately see in this scene.  Jesus' death and suffering may serve many purposes that are mystery to me, but it is clear that His death for His sheep is an act of tremendous love and the greatest sacrifice for love.  This we know in a number of ways.  There is first of all the great, oft-quoted statement in this Gospel:   "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved"  (John 3:16-17).  We have Jesus' recent, very explicit statement about sacrifice, from the dialogue in which He spoke of Himself as the Good Shepherd:  "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."   In that reading (follow the link) He spoke of the love between sheep and shepherd, that each knows the other and that the Shepherd knows each sheep and calls them by name, a kind of intimacy of understanding and love.  The challenge here, it seems to me, is to understand that cross-purposes may at some point be fulfillment or used in God's purposes.  That is, what the Father allows may somehow serve the good even if not meant or intended to do so by human beings.  Surely the Pharisees and their envy cannot "serve good" in such immediate motives as theirs.  They may delude themselves and believe fully they are serving the good.  We can think of plenty of examples in which selfish motivation is masked in concern for "the good."   I don't think John's Gospel would have us believe in any sense that the motivation of those Pharisees who wish to have Jesus killed is "good."  And we are also given examples of those among the Pharisees who are believers in Christ, such as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.  But when the Pharisees state among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!" it's a clear statement of exasperation, and of an aim directly opposed to Jesus as a person, regardless of the value of His teachings.  The motivation here is envy, which Matthew and Mark teach us is understood by Pilate, himself a man in a position to understand such things.    And so, we have to think about envy here, and how it plays out when the crowds welcome Christ into Jerusalem.   For Jesus, there is no rivalry; all are invited into His saving truth.  For those who envy Him in the leadership, there is only competition.  Here, the word for envy (Gr. φθόνος) implies a competitive spirit in which there is only the desire to drag down someone who has succeeded, but not to bring oneself up to that level.  It is a materialistic perspective, that only sees through competitive eyes that rank, rather than a desire to do good or do well.  It is, on the contrary, a desire to tear down, a form of personal corruption.  It is a part of the world we live in, even an archetypal kind of sin in which the good may be attacked simply for being good.   Jesus relies on the Father to lead this mission, and His "goodness" will not be stopped by death, nor by suffering.  In Matthew's Gospel, He says when He is arrested, "Do you think I cannot pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53).  It isn't only fulfillment of the Scriptures that is taking place, but rather God's plan and purpose have everything to do with love and salvation, even in coming up so directly against this form of evil in the world, pure envy.  Let us consider what grace may be at work even in our darkest circumstances, when we may be slandered and put to the test, particularly out of envy.  Jesus gives us the great example of love, of reliance on God the Father, of that which is always what is best for the sheep.  He doesn't shrink from the truth, and the freedom to say what is what, no matter what force of evil wants to suppress even the joy of these people who welcome their great hope into Jerusalem.  It's important that we meet any form of evil with a prayerful life, and that we understand that life isn't only what we see in front of us, but that there is more to understand.  Justice and injustice encompass much more than we know; and is central to this endeavor to save.  Later in on John's Gospel, Jesus will predict to the disciples that a time is coming when they will scatter, and leave Him alone.  "Yet," He teaches, "I am not alone, for My Father is with Me" (John 16:32).  May we all be blessed to know this love.  In effect it has assured us that we have this King with us, each one of us, for all time.

Lazarus, come forth! 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."

- John 11:28-44

In yesterday's reading, we were told 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 to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and You are 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.  Now 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.  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."   We recall that Mary was sitting in mourning in the house, while Martha had gone out to meet Christ as He approached.  My study bible points out that Mary approaches Christ with the identical words that Martha used (see above), "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  But while Jesus engaged Martha with words, here He engages Mary with deeds.  Her brother Lazarus is raised from the dead.

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?"   Here we are given a great picture of the humanity of Jesus, and His great compassion, His empathy and love for His friends.  My study bible says that John emphasizes that Jesus wept and groaned in spirit (further on in the following verses) to show that He had fully taken on human nature and was subject to grief as any man would be.  It says that "weeping is the natural response to the tragedy of death.  In the Eastern Church, one hymn at Compline on the Saturday before Holy Week says, "Shedding tears by Your own choice, You have given us proof of Your heartfelt love."  Jesus wept is the shortest verse in the Bible, but so full of poignancy and powerful meaning for us.

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 says that though Martha's faith had increased, she still understood neither Christ's will nor His power.  The spices and oils used to anoint a dead body would only hold back the stench of decomposition for a short time.   Emphatically the text is telling us that Lazarus has not only died, but his body is already breaking down, decomposing.  Icons of this scene depict bystanders covering their noses.

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."   My study bible suggests here that Jesus is showing His divine will was one with the Father's, and that His human will was freely subject in every way to the Father's.  He deliberately prays aloud for the sake of the people. 

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"   My study bible notes that Christ calls Lazarus forth not in the name of the Father, but by His own authority.  It says, "This shows the people that while Christ came from the Father, He fully possesses divine authority in Himself."  We need to understand all this as part of the seventh and final sign in this Gospel, and as building up to Holy Week, with witnesses present from Jerusalem who come from among those influential in the leadership of the temple.

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."   Traditionally, it's seen that Lazarus comes out bound in graveclothes as a sign that he will need them again; his resurrection continues an earthly life which will again end in death.  By contrast, Jesus' graveclothes are left in the tomb (John 20:5-7).  My study bible says, "Unlike Lazarus's, Christ's Resurrection transfigures human nature; He will never die again.  This sign not only prepared the disciples to believe in Christ's Resurrection, but in the words of the hymn for the day, it also 'confirmed the universal resurrection,' proving Christ has the power to fulfill the promise given to Ezekiel that all the dead will one day rise (Ezekiel 37:1-13).

I think that Jesus' words, "Loose him, and let him go," apply to so many things in our lives, and can be applied in so many ways as true words of resurrection and the promise of life abundantly that He has made.  While we understand this spectacular sign as that which caps off all of His ministry, and which is just so astounding that it will put the seal on His fate with the temple authorities at Jerusalem (who already seek to find an accusation for which they can put Him to death), we also see everything in this ministry -- including this astonishing seventh sign -- as those things that teach us about Christ and the qualities belonging to Him, and how His ministry works in the world.  The picture of Lazarus walking out of his tomb, still wrapped in graveclothes, is not something to forget.  It makes a vivid impression on the imagination.  It lends itself to so many interpretations, and so many understandings.  He has not just beaten death; this is a picture of a captive being set free, it's a picture of a beloved brother being returned alive to his sisters, and it's a picture of a man who was fully bound and is now released, unbound.  Christ has taught that it is the truth He bears for us that makes us free, and this is the ultimate truth:  that He is the resurrection and the life, as He has said to Martha in yesterday's reading.  His input into our lives, our participation in Him, renders us freed from so many things, whatever it is that binds us and brings some form of death into our lives.   This scene illuminates great truths about Christ for all of us, but it is His illumination that sets us free in our own lives, each in our own way, as we bring everything to Him, to His light.  He has taught that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin, but there are all kinds of "sins" we may be a slave to that limit us and take away our freedom.  Addiction is one such limitation that is a slavery that we can think of.  But there are also all kinds of other things in which we "miss the mark" (the meaning of the Greek word for sin) that may bind us to slavery and death in our lives.  We may think we're not "good enough" for Christ, that our pains and problems and difficulties are just too unimportant for Him.  This is a lie, a thing that binds, a form of sin ("missing the mark") and slavery that keeps us from His light, His illumination and His resurrectional life of abundance that He wants to share with us.  It keeps us from fully participating in His life, and whatever it is that keeps us from Him is truly "missing the mark."  It goes against what He teaches us about relationship to His sheep.   We may stay away because we feel unworthy of His love, but this is another false front, another lie, another form of slavery.  God's love is pure grace, and "worthiness" really has nothing to do with it.  Grace doesn't require a payment because no payment could possibly equal the value of the grace.  It's a free gift, an expression of God's love -- it's a strange form of self-centeredness and "missing the mark" that censors the potential of such a relationship of love and grace where God has done the offering and given us His Son for our salvation.  Lazarus in those graveclothes symbolizes us walking out of darkness and into the light; one can just imagine the blinding light, the difficulty of seeing, the overwhelming astonishment that makes this scene nearly unbelievable to those present.  It is said of Lazarus that later he himself became a hunted man, wanted by the authorities because he had been the subject of this great miracle by Jesus.  He lived in Cyprus, we are told, and was ordained the first bishop there.  In addition to whatever else is said of him, it's said that he never smiled in the years after his resurrection, except for once.  He saw someone stealing a clay pot, and joked, "The clay steals the clay."  Perhaps living with the weight of such a life experience and witnessing the death of Christ was the cause, we don't know.  Perhaps it was the sense of missing His friend Who so loved him.  But in the joke, "the clay steals the clay," we can understand the perspective of one who knows what death is -- even a living death without the light of Christ.   Let us remember this picture of Lazarus walking from the grave still bound in the graveclothes; it applies to all of us.  Our lives may not be "the same" after His light has touched them, but resurrection is like that.  It is to be transfigured by His light, and to bear it into the world.

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus

 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 to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and You are 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.  Now 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

Yesterday's reading began at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles (an autumn festival), where Jesus' sayings had caused a division among the leadership. 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 then 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 have I 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."   My study bible tells us that the resurrection of Lazarus is the seventh sign in John's Gospel; today's reading begins chapter 11 in which we read of this final sign.  It is this sign that sealed the religious authorities' decision to put Jesus to death.  Bethany is on the slope of the Mount of Olives, approximately two miles from Jerusalem.  Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar" which literally means "God helps."    Similarly to the man blind from birth, whose healing formed the sixth sign of John's Gospel, and whose blindness was not because of any sin but meant so that the works of God would be revealed in Him, Jesus tells us here that Lazarus' sickness is for the glory of God, that the Son might be glorified by it.  This message, says my study bible, was sent back to Mary and Martha in order to strengthen them at Lazarus' death, so that they might take confidence in Jesus' words.  It says that the Son of God being glorified must not be understood to be the cause of Lazarus dying.   Rather, Christ is glorified as a result of Lazarus' death -- occurring from a natural illness -- and his being raised from the dead.

 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 to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and You are going there again?"   Christ deliberately delays His trip to Bethany, and in doing so secures the fact that Lazarus is confirmed dead, the corruption of death setting in to the body.  Thereby, there can be no doubt of the miracle.  My study bible says, "The might of the Lord would be clearly seen by all."   Now is a short time before Passover.  At the time of the Feast of Tabernacles (almost six months earlier), the religious leadership sought to stone Him.  They accused Him of blasphemy after He stated, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

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."   This teaching echoes again Jesus' words just before He "enlightened" the eyes of the man blind from birth.  At that time, He said, "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."  

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."    To sleep is often used as a reference for death in the New Testament, as it is associated with a temporary state:  true death can only occur after Judgment.  All will awaken for that time.  (See Acts 7:60,1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.)  My study bible says that Thomas's statement here is an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It also illustrates the path that all believers must take -- that we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24).

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.   The notation that Lazarus has been in the tomb four days is very important.  My study bible reports that at the time there was a rabbinical opinion that the soul lingered about the body for three days.  After four days, however, resuscitation would be impossible.

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.   It's in important understanding conveyed here concerning just what other witnesses are present.  This is a prominent family; many among those ranked with the leadership have come from Jerusalem to comfort and to mourn with them.  Mourning, says my study bible, began on the day of a person's death.  Weeping and wailing lasted three days; lamentation lasted one week, and general mourning lasted for thirty days.

Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  This verse characterizes the two sisters, reflecting the stories we know about them elsewhere (Luke 10:38-42).  Both react differently to Christ's arrival.  My study bible tells us, "Martha, being inclined to active service, rushes out to meet Jesus, while Mary remains in mourning until called by Christ" (which we shall read about tomorrow).   Mary is sitting in the traditional posture of mourning and receiving other mourners (Job 2:8, 13; Ezekiel 8:14).

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."   My study bible suggests that while Martha possesses great faith, her statements indicate a lack of understanding about Christ.  There's a limitation on what Christ can do, according to her statement, "If You had been here, my brother would not have died.   If Christ is God, he did not need to be present to heal (contrast 5:46-54).  In saying that "whatever You ask of God, God will give You," she shows a lack of understanding that Christ possesses full divine authority to act as He wills.

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."     Regarding Jesus' statement, "I am the resurrection and the life," my study bible says that to correct Martha's misunderstanding, He declares His divine authority to raise the dead at the last day, as well as here in this world.   A note says, "Such is the power of these words that Martha is immediately led to her great confession of faith.  Do you believe this? is a question directed not only to Martha, but to all of us."

It's interesting to think about the differences between Martha and Mary in character, and the ways in which each is a friend of Jesus.   John's Gospel tells us (above) that Jesus loved each one of them:  Martha and her sister and her brother Lazarus.  Each plays a unique role, and each sister has strikingly different characteristics, but true to the things Jesus has been saying about each one of His sheep, that He knows them by name and that they love and know Him, Jesus loves each one of these very different people.  Over the course of the reading, we'll get a chance to delve more deeply into the differences of character, and also to see how Jesus loved these people.  But what we remember today is Christ's love for each one, that He knows each one (as Good Shepherd He "calls each one by name") and has stated in chapter 10,  "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own."  (See John 10:1-18.)  In Jesus' dealings with this beloved family, we can see His interaction with each one.  They're not just a "group" to Him; they're not just a prominent family.  They are all, or each, individuals who are loved and given what each one needs.  This is the illustration in action of the Good Shepherd, and all those who wish to be good pastors (whether laypeople or clergy) should take note.  In Jesus' interactions, even as He will perform the most spectacular miracle or sign possible, he behaves in ways that teach us what it is to truly practice love in action.  There's no formula here, but He meets each one where they must be met, and His teaching and instruction are also forms of love in action as each one needs them.  This characterizes all interaction in the Gospels between Jesus and these sisters and brother.  So well known, in fact, is Mary to the readers of this Gospel that John refers to an episode at the beginning of today's reading that is actually given later in the Gospel (John 12:1-8).  John tells us that Mary is the one who anointed Christ's feet with fragrant oil; thus we know not only of her great love for Christ but even an important and essential role she plays in the Gospels.  (She's also aware that she is anointing Him for burial, as that takes place just before Passion Week.)  It's an alternative reading for today, and worthwhile reading even though space confines us to one reading today.  But love in action is what we see today, and what we will continue to see in tomorrow's reading.  For now, let us consider what Christ does and how He does it, let us consider what love is and how it does its interaction among us, for each of us -- as the Gospel says, by name, knowing who each one of us is.  Let us consider these very different sisters and the role each plays, their beloved brother, and the love of Jesus, both human and divine.  Let us strive to be like Him in this way in which we may learn that kind of love, too.  In today's reading, Jesus says that Lazarus' illness and "sleep" "is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  When we choose to emulate His love, all situations can be ones in which we glorify God, via His grace.

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

 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 then 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 have I 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 our current readings, it is the end of the Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus is in Jerusalem at the temple.  This is a fall harvest, and it is approximately six months before Jesus' Passion.  Jesus is in dialogue with the leadership, who have already sought to stone Him, and to find accusations against Him.   He has just restored the sight of a man blind from birth (the sixth sign in John's Gospel), which the Pharisees challenge.  Most importantly, they dispute Jesus' authenticity and authority.  Jesus said to them, "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 whoever 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?"  Again, it's important to note that the term "the Jews" as used in John's Gospel is indicating the religious leadership of the time, and not the Jewish people.  My study bible says of this passage, "Those who respond is faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of His words."

 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."   The text moves us to the next holy day festival, the Feast of Dedication.  This was a commemoration of the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it (167 BC -- see 1 Maccabees 1-4).  This festival took place in winter, approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles.  It is also known as the Festival of Lights -- also called Hanukkah.

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."  My study bible says that both what Christ told them and the works He's done answered their question.  It notes, "Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind or perform these miracles that bear witness to Him.  Likewise, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ had (7:46; 9:21)."

"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 then 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 have I 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 refers back to His words given at the Feast of Tabernacles (as we've just read), and thereby we know that He is speaking to the same Pharisees again now.  My study bible says that in responding to their question, Jesus reveals Himself to be fully God:  "One means one in nature or essence.   He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.   The plural verb are indicates two distinct Persons, while confirming a continuous unity."   His audience here clearly recognizes that He is claiming divinity; they thus accuse Him of blasphemy.

 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."  My study bible says that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  His works are evidence enough of that nature.

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.   My study bible says that because Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will, His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (7:30; 8:20; see also Luke 4:28-30).   The text tells us that outside Jerusalem, where John first baptized, there are those who believe, and follow what John taught about Jesus.  The text is never without reminders that there are many who believe; this is even true of many among the leadership as well (see John 12:42), some of whom play prominent roles in this Gospel as believers (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea).

We have to think, sometimes, that Jesus' questions to the leadership take on an air (I imagine) of near-exasperation.  He's saying everything so that they may "see," just as He has healed the man blind from birth.  That healing, the sixth sign of seven given in John's Gospel, is truly spectacular by Scriptural standards, as it was unheard of for a man blind from birth to be healed, to have sight restored.  But still, they don't want to see.  It sounds to my ears almost like a desperate last-minute plea here from Jesus (who knows when His time will come, a few months later on), when He tells them, "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."    If we consider that it is their salvation He's pleading for, we may understand Christ a little better, and we may see what is essential to Him in this mission.  He's here to save, and they don't want to be saved.  They don't want to accept what is right in front of them.  We have to believe, in accordance with the Gospel, that He understands what is in store for them -- and for the people -- as a result of these choices.  That's part of why everything goes back to the Father.  Perhaps (and again, I use my imagination here) it's unthinkable to the human Jesus that this leadership can be so wrong, so wrong-headed, so headed for a dangerous and disastrous path.  But Jesus' faith in the Father is complete, and the journey of His ministry began with this faith, and as it has continued this faith has deepened.  The subject of Jesus' relationship to the Father, and the Father's role in this ministry, has played an increasing part in the words Jesus teaches to the world, especially in dialogue with the leadership.  There are those who are His sheep -- and He will lose none of them, because of the power of the Father, and the sureness of that faith that Christ places in the Father.  But think of the dangers present in human terms:  how the people can be misled by a leadership that is not willing to open their eyes to the evidence of even the works He's done, the signs that are present here.  One may imagine all kinds of human temptations to fear, to fear the failure of mission, and the outcome of the disasters that are ahead (such as the siege of Jerusalem, which He predicts in the Gospels) or the open rejection by the leadership and their swaying of the people, and His understanding of His Passion and death to come.  When Jesus tells Thomas and the rest of the Apostles, "Blessed are those that have not seen, and yet believed," later on in this Gospel, we can understand that He's keeping in mind all those who will come later, and all those who recognize themselves as His sheep.  All these human fears regarding His mission of salvation must be at work, and yet it is His own faith in the Father that is complete and triumphant.  He says in today's reading, once again, that "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."  And He links this always with the Father and the Father's work in us and in His mission:  "No one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."   Jesus' faith in the face of so many possibilities and potentials for disaster becomes a great polestar for each of us.  Just think of all the disasters that can happen, that might happen, that He knows are going to happen -- including the scattering of the disciples, the betrayal of one of His own chosen twelve, even the denial of Peter who also gave us the confession of faith.  It's impossible to imagine the pressures of this mission, and the factors that He knows are present.  And yet, in this speech what I hear is the desire to save, the constant reasoning and defense has nothing to do with Jesus and His identity in the sense that He doesn't need anyone to affirm that He is the Son.  He is, was, and always will be the Son; only the Father can determine that.  We have to see in His repeated remonstrance with the leadership His own choice to repeatedly endeavor to save, to attempt to give every opportunity for them to do what is in fact best for them.  In His plea for them to at least allow the works He does to speak for Him, even if they don't want to accept Him, is the plea for them to evade disaster and to find the pearl of great price, even a life of abundance.  He is doing His mission, which is to save and not to condemn.   It may be hard to recognize, as we so often layer our own experience and lives onto the words we hear, but when we take into consideration Jesus' point of view, we have to hear these words as pleas of love -- as remonstrance to get these "children" to do what will be best for them.  It must be clear that whatever blindness remains is deliberate, and persistent in the face of all opportunity to change, to repent.  We have to believe that our own lives are similar -- that the One who knocks is always waiting for us to open the door; the One who is the Door is always wanting us to enter.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep

 "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 whoever 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

In our current reading, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, an autumn festival taking place approximately six months before He will go to His Passion.  He has debated with the religious authorities, and enraged them by saying, "Before Abraham was, I AM."   They took up stones to throw at Him, but He hid and passed by, going out of the temple.  There He met a man blind since birth, and restored His sight (see Monday's reading).   The Pharisees questioned the man who had been healed, they 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 though 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 unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of 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 may 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."   My study bible notes that this is the continuation of Jesus' conversation with the Pharisees from chapter 9.  Everything is taking place at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Here, Jesus contrasts their leadership with His own.  My study bible says, "They have failed as pastors of God's people ('pastor' comes from the Latin word for 'shepherd').  Their leadership has been marked by deceit and pride and has lacked compassion.  Christ, on the other hand, fulfills all virtue.  According to St. John Chrysostom, the door is God's word, meaning both the Scriptures and our Lord Himself, since the Scriptures reveal God the Word.  The one who tries to lead in a way that is neither in Christ nor according to the teaching of the Scriptures is a thief and a robber.  Rather than using this door so all can see His works openly, these false shepherds use underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, ultimately destroying their souls (v. 10).  In contrast, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life (v. 9)."

"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.  My study bible says that as Christ has intimate knowledge of each person, so also true pastors in the Church strive to know people by name -- in other words, personally.  These pastors, it says, seek to understand each person's situation and their needs, from the greatest to the least, and therefore possessing Christlike compassion for each one (see Hebrews 4:15).  That's a true leader that people, in return, respond to.  They trust that such a person is a follower of Christ.  Ignatius of Antioch has been quoted as saying, "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather."  My study bible says that, indeed, the response of the faithful can be a better indicator of who a true shepherd is than the claims of leaders (7:47-49).  In many cases, and particularly in the Eastern Church, this is what truly begins the process of sainthood.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All whoever 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 that "all who ever came before Me" doesn't refer to Moses or genuine prophets, but rather to people who claim to be the Messiah both before and after Christ (such as Judas of Galilee and Theudas -- see Acts 5:36-37).

"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."  My study bible notes, "The ultimate thief is Satan, who spreads lies and heresies among the people of God, luring away both leaders and people.  Life means living in God's grace here on earth, while the more abundant life indicates the Kingdom to come."   Jesus' words are a good marker, and remain a steady compass, by which to judge those who would be leaders.  A "thief" is one who preys on the sheep for his or her own gain -- one who uses people (and doesn't mind misleading) rather than pastors to them.

"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."  How does Christ reveal Himself as the good shepherd?  My study bible suggests that (1) He enters by the door -- that is, He fulfills the Scriptures concerning Himself; (2) He knows and is known by the Father; (3)  He knows His people personally, and therefore is known by them;  and (4) He gives His life for the sake of His people, which is a direct prophecy of His coming Passion.

"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."   The other sheep are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock with the Jews under one shepherd.  Therefore, says my study bible, the Church transcends ethnic and racial lines.   From the beginning, the Church has held that there be one bishop serving a city (Canon 8 of I Nicea); therefore this principle is affirmed for every generation.  My study bible quotes St. Ignatius, writing in the early second century to a church that held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians.  He wrote:  "Be careful to observe a single Eucharist, for there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup of His Blood that makes us one, and one altar, just as there is one bishop. . . .   This is in line with God's will."

"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."  My study bible says here:  "The Lord is clear that His life-giving death will be voluntary.  He does nothing apart from the will of His Father.  As He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him and for the sake of others."

There is so much to "chew on" in today's reading!  Jesus lays down many principles for us in this soliloquoy, if we may borrow a word from the theater.  He is teaching us about Himself -- that is, He who is the Good Shepherd -- but also about what it takes to make a good shepherd.  He's teaching us about what He will expect in His Church.  And, perhaps most importantly, He's modeling for us the great model of leadership that must stand the test of time.  And, indeed, it does, even 2,000 years later.  How do we take in this Good Shepherd?  He is one who calls the sheep by name and knows each one.  More than that, they know Him.  He is the door Himself to this sheepfold.  He is leader and protector, but more than that, He truly loves His sheep:  and not as a collective, but in each one and personally; by name, meaning he knows thoroughly each one.   He contrasts the Good Shepherd with the thief and the hireling, the ones who don't really have any relationship to these sheep at all, but instead see them as prey for their own selfish purposes.  They are users and manipulators, liars and exploiters, and this is the way know what a false shepherd is.  (Like the "father of lies," or those who wish only to "lord it over" others.)  And no matter how far apart this flock of sheep may be from one another; no matter, in fact, which flock they are from, all these sheep know one another and they are united in Him.   No matter how far flung, where one may find oneself, the sheep know the shepherd and He knows them, and they are one flock.  Moreover, the true Father of the flock is His Father, who loves Him because He will lay down His life for the sheep.  What we see from this collection of the qualities of the Good Shepherd is one very powerful, potent, and important thing.  It's not His sacrifice that Jesus is pointing to here, although that is something extremely significant, and it is central to the whole mission of the Redeemer, the Good Shepherd.  But the sacrifice itself points to something else, as do all the qualities of this Good Shepherd, and the real thing they all point us to is love.  The Good Shepherd acts and lives (and will die) in and through love.  Love characterizes the relationship to His Father, who in turn loves Him because of His great love for the sheep.  Compassion, love, knowing each sheep by name, protection, and yes -- sacrifice:  all these things are qualities of love, a great love of One who teaches us how to love and what it means to love.  He teaches us the central importance of love to all the things that are truly of God.  And this is what He brings to His Church and to the world, to each one of us who may reflect His light and seek to be like Him.  He calls all those who would be pastors in His Church to be like Him.  And if we are His sheep we respond to that love in kind, and we must seek also to be like Him as much as possible and throughout our lives learning from Him, the Good Teacher as well as the Good Shepherd.  If we leave love out of all of this equation of what it means that Jesus is our Good Shepherd, then we have missed the boat, and perhaps are misleading ourselves or are being misled by someone else.  The qualities of compassion and love remain valued commodities, something rare when it's genuine, and all too often implied as being for the "collective" or "institution" or "body" rather than for "each person."  Let us remember what a genuine love is and does, and look for it in those whom we'd call our leaders -- even if that person is sitting right next to you.  In ourselves, we show that leadership by following and being "like Him," no matter where we find ourselves or in what circumstances.

One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see

 But the Jews 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 though 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 unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of 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 may 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."

- John 9:18-41

Jesus is at the Feast of Tabrernacles in Jerusalem.  He has preached to the leadership, "Before Abraham was, I AM."  They took up stones to throw at Him, but He hid and passed by them out of the temple.  Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  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 He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."  They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

 But the Jews 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.  Again, it's important to remember that in John's Gospel the term "the Jews" is used sort of like a political affiliation; most of the time it's used not to refer to the Jewish people, but rather to the religious authorities, those who consider themselves the "regulators" of the faith.

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."    My study bible suggests that while Jesus isn't present, the Pharisees call Him a sinner, but earlier He's already asked them face-to-face, "Which if you convicts Me of sin?"  (8:46, see this reading), and they evaded the question.  Give God the glory! is an oath formula that was used before giving testimony.  But the whole purpose of this man's blindness from birth, as Jesus has indicated in yesterday's reading, was to "give God glory" via his healing.  My study bible says that he also gives God glory in that, the more he is pressed, the more fervent his faith becomes, while the Pharisees "lapse into deeper darkness."

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."   My study bible says, "This healed man becomes a model of Christian witness.  Many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear they will be asked questions they cannot answer.  This man's answer to people much more educated than he provides the solution:  he admits what he does not know, but follows up with what he does know.  The formula, 'That I don't know, but what I do know is this,' is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others."  Another form of giving God glory is this model of witnessing for all the rest of us.

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 unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."    This unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one born blind is a kind of confirmation that Christ is Messiah -- it was one of the signs indicated by Isaiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) and, my study bible says, "a prerogative belonging solely to God"  (Psalm 146:8).

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.   My study bible points out that "having opened the blind man's eyes, the Lord also opens his heart and illuminates his spirit."   He's moved from knowing nearly nothing about Christ, to the conclusion that Jesus can't possibly be a sinner ("God does not hear sinners"), to a confession that Jesus must be from God ("If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing"), to finally seeing Him as the Son of God and worshiping Him.   The Pharisees can't and don't refute his logic or the truth of what he reveals in testimony; instead they resort to personal insult (see also 8:48).

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who may 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."    My study bible says, "Our Lord's coming brought judgment into the world not because He came to judge (12:47-48), but because of man's accountability to Him.  Those who see and hear Him but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness."  Quite clearly, these men don't want to believe; their concern is to zealously guard their positions of authority against Jesus and his criticisms, as they did against John the Baptist.

Witnessing is an important and essential thing to think about.  How do we witness to what we have experienced, or to the things that have illuminated our own vision?  Yesterday, we read a comment in my study bible that baptism has always been understood as "illumination," that this was the goal of the catechumens in the ancient Church.  In our past two readings, a man blind from birth has had his own illumination.  His eyes have been opened to the light of day, the light of the world, even as we've read that Jesus taught, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  As "light of the world," or of the cosmos, His is the light by which we are taught to see the many things truly there for us in our lives, and it's to that kind of light that we witness.  What have you discovered on your own journey with Christ?  Christ's light can also illumine the not-so-pleasant things in our lives, the dark corners, the things that we need to change or at least acknowledge.  Many forget that part of the journey, or talk like it's not there.  But His light is always leading us somewhere, on a closer road with Him, and with the Father, and the Spirit.  So, how do you need your eyes opened today?  To what can you witness as to the light that has illumined you in your life, one way and another?  This is the important vision and goal we take with us as we understand our faith, what it means to glorify God, and to testify as witness.