Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

- Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is what we now call Holy Week.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave a parable to the leadership in the temple who confronted Him regarding His authority in the cleansing of the temple.  He told them,   "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  The story of a wedding feast is central to our understanding of Christ, and also the fulfillment of Old and New Covenants.  A joyful wedding banquet was already a depiction of God and God's people, and the steadfast love of covenant.  But the parable gives an extension on just who God's people are.  Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (Matthew 9:15, John 3:29), and St. Paul also uses an analogy of marriage for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  In John's Gospel, the first sign of the Kingdom is the water turned to wine at a wedding feast.  The repeated sending out of servants here is a theme Jesus repeats from the parable we read in yesterday's reading, that of those sent to call God's people back to God.  My study bible says that it expresses the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom.  The first group of servants is traditionally interpreted as Moses and those with Him, the second is the prophets.  The second, "other servants," is composed of the prophets.   The oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.  The fatted cattle represent the Eucharistic bread of the New.  The word fatted would be rendered more literally from the Greek as "wheat-fed" or even more closely as "formed from wheat."  Both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled in the wedding of Christ and His Church.

"But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests."   St. John Chrysostom writes that the fire ("burned up their city") is a prophesy of the destruction of the Romans in AD 70, and so attributes the destruction to an act of God and not simply to one of men.  My study bible says that nevertheless, God "showed His patience" by waiting some 40 years from the time of Christ, meaning a generation is given a chance for repentance.  This is evocative of the understanding in yesterday's reading, the difference between being broken by falling on the rejected stone that became the chief cornerstone, and those upon whom the stone falls.   The third group of servants sent out to the highways represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles, those who were not initially invited but are now called.   They are those who will travel the roads to all the world.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."  The wedding garment, says my study bible, would have been provided by the king.  Therefore this man had no excuse for not wearing one -- and thus he is speechless.  The refusal to wear a wedding garment is analogous to a refusal of God's grace or hospitality.  It could illustrate also those who want the Kingdom on their own terms.  The garment specifically refers to the baptismal garment, says my study bible -- by extension, a life of "faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, " it says, "a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness."

We have all heard and love to know the great, generous graciousness of God:  God's love and mercy.  But in this picture about God's work among us, there is a price to be paid for refusal of that generosity and grace.  That is, refusal of the generosity has a consequence.  My study bible suggests that the parable teaches us that it is God the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in His Kingdom.  But what if this invitation is refused or disrespected?  We are invited into a life that we personally cannot imagine.  We are not capable of understanding its possibilities.  The graciousness of God is not only in the offer of this life and "place" with God in which to dwell, the eternal quality of this life, but also in providing the wedding garment.  That is, the way in which we will live our own individual lives to get there, the specific kind of life given to us. To fail to have respect for that, to value the gift appropriately, is a spurning of the gift.  And to do that is to lose it.  This is the only "price."  It is simply that we lose what is offered by improperly valuing it, by not taking it in the same terms in which it is offered.  I think the parable -- while of course speaking of much greater and grander things -- also teaches us about the importance of gratitude.   So often it's the case that we fail to appreciate what we have until it's gone.  Either we take something for granted, or because it's been a "given" in our lives, we fail to properly value the gift.  Oftentimes it seems to be a human character trait to consider all things we have to be somehow "self-gained."  That is, we fail to see gifts as gifts, and take them as part of our own identity, a self-created asset.  Friendship comes into this category.  Someone brings something into your life:  an idea for a project you work on, even a smile or a hug, a feeling of inclusion and love.   It is remarkable how easy it is to simply accept this as a result of one's own effort or persona, and fail to appreciate the gift.  I think in some way we may be blindly unappreciative of our own lives, the gifts God offers us through the gospel message, the great love that works on our behalf.  It's too easy to take it all for granted, with a very narrow and blinkered point of view on our own existence and capacities coupled with God's love, hope, prayer, and the synergy we are capable of living in cooperation with grace.  An "egotistical" and materialistic perspective leaves all of that mystery and love out of the picture, depleting the joy that comes from it.  It will also deny that there is a way for our lives that comes from spiritual guidance and prayer -- thereby denying altogether the benefits of such a life and keeping those benefits from us.  In this way, we lose what we fail to appreciate.  The price we pay is simply the lack of such a life.  So it is with Christ's parable.  We could be at this grand, fabulous, joyful wedding feast, wearing a beautiful garment.  A failure to truly care for what is on offer means we never experience the gift.    Cultivating a grateful attitude has many psychological and spiritual benefits.  It's quite a topic in popular culture and self-help books.  But I feel that gratitude without a relationship to the Giver is empty, perhaps another form of what can become self-congratulatory, the things we are grateful for ranked as yet additional personal attributes or extensions of ourselves.  But a gift is something quite different and far more precious.  It's as if one received a marvelous present from a friend, but were grateful only to possess the gift -- and not for the friend whose love and generosity gave it.  The difference in its value is simply incalculable.  To be called is one thing; but to be chosen is quite another.

Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder

 "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:

'The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD's doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes'?

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

- Matthew 21:33-46

Our readings are now covering the period we call Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  We read of His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and the cleansing of the temple.  Yesterday, we read that when Jesus came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and believe him."

"Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him."  In this parable, the landowner represents God the Father, the vineyard is God's people.  The vinedressers are the spiritual leaders entrusted to care for the people.  The servants sent by the owner are the Old Testament prophets, calling people back to God.  The son is Christ Himself.  My study bible says that when the son is cast out of the vineyard and killed, it is understood on two levels.  First, Jesus was killed at Golgotha, which was outside of the city (Jerusalem).  Second, Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers, not those of His own vineyard. 

"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."   Just as in yesterday's reading, when Jesus told them the parable about the children doing the bidding of their father, the leadership here gives the answer that implicates themselves.  The other vinedressers are the Gentiles to whom the faith and the gospel message will go.

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."    Jesus quotes  Psalm 118:22-23.  The stone He describes is Himself.  St. John Chrysostom tells us it describes the two ways of destruction.  There are those who fall on the stone and suffer the consequences of their sins while yet living in this world; they are the broken. Those upon whom the stone falls are the unrepentant who fail to reconsider, and suffer obliteration in the final judgment.  To be ground to powder is similar to saying that a person's name is blotted out from the book of the living, eternally forgotten (Psalm 69:28, Revelation 3:5). 

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.  Again, the chief priests and Pharisees respond as in yesterday's reading, fearing the crowds who believe that Jesus is a prophet.

In the text of the book of Maccabees, there is a clear parallel expressed to what Jesus is teaching here, the idea of being broken by the stone so that one may repent.  In 2 Maccabees chapter 7 there is the story of the mother and her seven sons, tortured one by one and refusing to disavow the laws of Moses in favor of the foreign king's command.  The youngest son tells the torturer and executioner of the struggle of the Jews under duress:  "We, indeed, are suffering because of our sins. Though for a little while our living Lord has been angry, correcting and chastising us, he will again be reconciled with his servants. But you, wretch, most vile of mortals, do not, in your insolence, buoy yourself up with unfounded hopes, as you raise your hand against the children of heaven. You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty and all-seeing God. Our brothers, after enduring brief pain, have drunk of never-failing life, under God’s covenant. But you, by the judgment of God, shall receive just punishments for your arrogance."   (See 2 Maccabees 32-36).    We can see a glimmer of the understanding that Chrysostom's comment on Jesus' teaching gives us, that to be broken is to have opportunity for repentance, but to be ground to powder is to lose life totally and eternally.  In the image of brokenness one can find many things, but it makes us consider what it is to reap the consequences of our own actions in our lives, to stumble and also to make mistakes.  Those of us who have understood this type of brokenness may be grateful for having been exposed to our own flaws, perhaps in the only way we could come to recognize them.  There are times in life when falling flat on one's own face is the only way we come face to face with our blindness.  That is, the things within us that we were blind to, even the plank in our own eye.  There are also times when one knowingly does something hurtful or shameful, or takes risks that shouldn't be taken.  Even to sow the wind and reap the whirlwind may be a time of opportunity for repentance. To be "broken" by falling on the stone can be to have what we commonly call a "wake up call."  If we look closely at Jesus' parable above, we should realize that the repeated sending of servants to the vinedressers (the prophets to Israel, such as Hosea who spoke of sowing the wind), is a repeated call and opportunity for repentance.  However we look at this stone, it is clear that the One who is speaking is the ultimate authority, the chief cornerstone.   In this we must have faith when the going gets tough.  So much depends on what we understand of His authority and the meaning that authority gives to our lives.  We put our trust in Him, and we follow and endure through all things.  To pray with this in mind is always to seek the best way forward, to live as the Lord and author of life would teach us; to find His way of life through a world of brokenness and forgetfulness.

The baptism of John -- where was it from? From heaven or from men?

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

"But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and believe him."

- Matthew 21:23-32

Yesterday, we read about Jesus first act the morning after His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a hose of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"   Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read,  'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  The leadership in the temple confronts Jesus about His cleansing of the temple.  What authority has He to do such things?  He's not a Levitical priest, He doesn't have the kind of authority of lineage they're looking for.  But He's not going to reveal Himself as Son to those who will not believe.  Instead, He asks them a question about John the Baptist.  My study bible says that both the elders' question and Christ's question require the same answer.  They would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  But by not answering them directly, Jesus teaches us not to answer people who come asking about holy things with malicious intent.

"But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and believe him."  My study bible says that using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ's parable. 

 Today's reading concerns questions of authority.  Where does authority come from?  What is the highest authority?  What if people don't agree on sources of authority, or fail to recognize authority?  All the questions point to Jesus as the Christ.  But they also give us an image of Christ in our world.  How about those who can't recognize Him or what He is?  What about those who don't want to have faith, and who block within themselves -- a form of what is called hard-heartedness in the Scriptures -- knowledge or understanding of authority that is truly present?  Everything in the events in Jerusalem will come down to Pilate's question to Jesus:  "What is truth?"  He will answer nothing to Pilate.  But of course the Truth is standing right in front of Pilate.  Here it is the same thing.  They ask Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"  But of course, the answer is that He is the authority -- but this answer will not come from Him.  Instead He answers with a question to them about John the Baptist.  Their own fear of the crowds determines the ways in which they respond.  And that tells us another thing about authority.  It's very clever that Jesus asks them if John's authority for baptism came from men or from God, "from heaven or from men," as Jesus puts it.  The question puts out another, silent, question hidden within it.  It asks about their own authority and what they believe in.  Is their authority from men or from God?  Whom do they serve?  If their fear is more of men -- the people -- than God, what does that say about their own viewpoint on authority, or what they take for their authority?  The parable teaches about the ultimate authority, and what it looks like to follow the ultimate authority.  It's putting your action where your faith is.  It also separates saying and doing; it invites us to ask and wonder about hypocrisy (as Jesus so often does).  The repentant tax collectors and harlots, outward sinners, who eventually respond to the authority within John's baptism are those who honor the authority of heaven.  But what of them, the "authorities" in the temple?  Whom do they honor?  What do they honor?  Hard-heartedness is that which keeps us from fully loving God and thereby all that leads us to understanding and life.  What we see from this interaction is Jesus' admitted awareness, from the beginning, that their faith is lacking.  That acknowledgement, in His refusal to answer directly but rather with His own question to them, is an acknowledgement of their hard-heartedness.  He begins with the knowledge that their capacity for faith, for reception to Who He is, is lacking.  Their intention is to scoff, not to ask with open minds and hearts.  Jesus gives us a teaching here about people who confront us with their minds made up.  Better to accept the hard-heartedness and put our trust and faith in God than to attempt to reason or persuade.  This seems like a hard teaching, a hard saying, but we may find ourselves saved a lot of trouble by placing our trust where it belongs -- and not where it doesn't belong.  He is acting and teaching us to be "wise as serpents and simple as doves."  Let us learn from Him!

Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive

 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a hose of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read,

'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise'?"

Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

- Matthew 21:12-22

On Saturday, we read about Jesus' Triumphal Entry.   When He and the disciples drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion,  'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a hose of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"   Jesus is quoting here from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.   Those who bought and sold were trading in life animals, which were to be used for sacrifices.  We remember that it is Passover Week, and Jesus is here with pilgrims from all over Israel and the Jewish diaspora.  There are also proselytes here from regions around the Mediterranean.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish temple coins.  Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, worshiped as a god, and so considered to be defiling in the temple.  The cleansing of the temple, my study bible tells us, also "points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits."  We're also reminded that every person is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), a sign that hearts and minds should also be cleansed of "earthly matters," material-minded thinking separate from the perspective of gained through faith.

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read,  'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  Here Jesus is quoting from Psalm 8:2.  In all things, He is the fulfillment of the word of God; He is the Word of God (John 1:14).  The children follow Him in the spirit of the Triumphal Entry which occurred the day before, shouting Hosanna, meaning "Save Lord, we pray," and calling Jesus by the title of the Messiah.  My study bible distinguishes the praise of the children -- noted here by Jesus -- from that of the adults of the day before.  The children's praise is "innocent, fitting, unashamed, and from hearts of pure love."  So we are called to do the same (see 18:1-4).  By contrast, the adults' praises were carrying many "earthly" expectations and agendas upon Jesus as Messiah.  Left unfulfilled -- He was not to become a worldly king nor to restore the worldly fortunes of Israel as a kingdom -- they rebelled against Him just five days later, preferring a nationalist brigand (27:20-23).   Jesus returns to Bethany, and lodges as a pilgrim at the Feast.

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."   The fig tree, says my study bible, is a symbol of prosperity and peace.  It withers because it is fruitless.  This act, recorded for us by Matthew, is prophetic and directed toward the Jews.  After three years of Christ's preaching, teaching, and healing, the leadership and the crowds produce no spiritual fruit.  The curse on this tree is a warning to all generations who fail to bear spiritual fruit in response to His message.  This is the second time Jesus has referred to the moving of mountains.  In an earlier reading, He told the disciples, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  Then, the moving of mountains symbolized the removal of obstacles, especially the spiritual oppression of evil.  My study bible says this serves as an illustration of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  It quotes Theophylact as saying, "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.

If our goal is "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," then prayer as an act of faith is done through desire for unification with the will of God.  That is, not done simply as a laundry list of things we would like or fantasize about, but rather a kind of communion that allows us to be changed -- transfigured -- by the grace of God.  In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul speaks about the work of the Spirit in salvation, and specifically about the role of the Spirit in prayer, teaching that "the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).  This is a power that is truly (and literally) unimaginable, because it is the power of God.  Thereby our prayer becomes a unification; we pray with the Spirit (or in the Spirit) and this opens up all possibilities.  In this sense, we hear Jesus telling us to have faith and do not doubt.  Doubt is a word in the Greek can mean to waver back and forth in a sense, to hesitate.  This is not about faith in ourselves or our own resolutions or demands for what we think we deserve.   Rather it implies faith or trust in God.  It may help us also to consider the word believing, where Jesus teaches, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."   The Greek word for believing means to trust, to enable confidence in something.  If we think of belief not merely as an effect of the will, but rather as a consciousness of trust toward the One to whom we pray or make request, then we really get a sense of prayer as foundational to a particular type of relationship.  To have trust or confidence in prayer is like the relationship to "Father" -- One whom we trust has love, and who will use good judgment for us; one who loves so as to give confidence in such a relationship, and thereby a correct foundation for the rest of our lives.  That is a very deep and profound way to live one's life, in this kind of confidence and trust.  In that way, we may live "prayerful" lives, in which such a relationship becomes a foundation for the way in which we view our lives in the world, and also how we view ourselves in the world.  Just as a good parent may give such a foundation to a child, this "Father" is also a parent par excellence, the One who may give us what has been lacking in a worldly sense.  All of this is to describe a way of experiencing God, or rather a relationship to God, which Jesus gives to us and shares with us as Son.  It is Jesus who teaches us to pray to "Our Father in heaven."   It is Jesus who shows us in every respect and teaches us with His words what it is to be a son (which means we are all inheritors) in this kingdom.  It is He who confers upon us sonship.  If there is any substance in the good news of the gospel message, this is it right here, in this understanding of the truth and dynamics of prayer.  We are all invited in to this relationship.  It is one that invites us in to trust and confidence, to a kind of love we can place our faith in, even trust our identity to.  It's there that we really find God, and our place in the cosmos, one that unites heaven and earth.  With that kind of faith, one may really move mountains, the kind of mountains that are impossible otherwise:  the sense of who we are, what we need, how we are truly loved, and how we are filled and nurtured in our deepest places of the spirit and soul.  With this understanding of our own sonship, we keep in mind the image of the children in the temple, and "that out the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise."

Tell the daughter of Zion. "Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey"

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"Tell the daughter of Zion,
'Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

- Matthew 21:1-11

Yesterday, we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho, headed toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"    Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent tow disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion,  'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  The event described in today's reading is called Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  The Church celebrates this day on Palm Sunday.  At this point in history, Jewish nationalism was extremely high.  Centuries of warfare and kingdoms fighting against kingdoms, finally culminating in Roman occupation, had left the people thirsting for a deliverer and a restoration of their nation.  This nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah, someone who would deliver them from Roman control and who would re-establish David's kingdom.  Jesus' deliberate display of humility shows what kind of deliverer He is, what kind of Messiah He is.  It's not an earthly kingdom He is after.  He rides on a donkey, not a horse, and not with an army with Him.  This is a sign of humility and peace.  The Gospel quotes from Zechariah 9:9.  Matthew's Gospel, in common with the "doubling" we've noticed in other stories (such as in yesterday's reading about the two blind men), reports both a colt and a donkey.  Traditional interpretation sees both animals as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in Christ, in His kingdom.

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  The people spread their clothes in a manner of reverence to a King.  Spiritually, says my study bible, this is interpreted as the need to lay down our flesh, even our lives, for Christ.  Here the people quote from Psalm 118, associated with messianic expectation.  These are words recited daily for six days during the Feat of Tabernacles (the feast of the coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means "Save, we pray!"  The people call Jesus a prophet.  Until John the Baptist, who proclaimed the coming of a Messiah and the Kingdom, there had been no prophets in Israel for centuries.  One can only imagine the expectations of the people here.

Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem as king and liberator.  The expectations of the crowd run very high.  He is the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee, an almost-impossible thing in terms of how Galilee was popularly viewed here in Jerusalem among the religious hierarchy, and particularly the view of Nazareth itself.  But welcomed He is.  It's overwhelming to consider the events Jesus has come to, the crisis point here, the meeting of expectations placed upon Him and the ways in which He is going to end His ministry.  His Kingdom is not a worldly one.  He doesn't come as military fighter or liberator.  He's not a deliverer with an army.  And on the other hand, neither is He merely a prophet.  This Messiah is also Lord, He is God.  How on earth to proclaim the truth about His life, His ministry, His mission, into this field of expectations placed upon Him? How to do so in Jerusalem with the religious authorities who are already His enemies and plot against Him?  Could God really be incarnate as a man, as Jesus, this  man from Galilee?  Who can recognize the person who is Truth itself?  He will fulfill neither the expectations of a worldly king and warrior, nor conventional understanding of the Messiah as an exalted man.  This is something quite, and completely, different.  He comes into Jerusalem to defy all expectations, bearing a gospel message of the good news of God's Incarnation and the inauguration of a spiritual kingdom that lives in each one through faith.  How will it all come about?  One might well consider these circumstances and reflect on Jesus' words from a recent reading:  "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."   This is a seemingly impossible, improbable task.  And yet it is His, and it is ours.  The reality of this Kingdom and its message for us is always going to defy expectations.  We may now have had two millenia of establishment of the Church as worldly institution, but the reality of the Kingdom is always something 'different' in our expectations and understanding.  Insight and inspiration comes to us despite our understanding, and despite what we expect.  The working of the Spirit can be surprising in our lives.  The message of the Gospel can still take us by surprise, no matter how many times we may have read or heard.  This is the truth of the spiritual Kingdom that permeates our reality, our consciousness, even our awareness of who we are within ourselves.  It's the wind that "blows where it wishes, and we hear its sound, but we can't tell where it's come from nor where it's going" (John 3:8).  It is the 'other' that yet works in our world, shaping and giving meaning and form and even definition to us, and yet we cannot fully contain it.  Jesus is the ultimate improbability, and yet He was prophesied from ancient times,  and is the One who "was foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:20), the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17).   The reality of this Kingdom, the Paradise He's come to restore, is outside of time and space as we understand it.  Our laws and rules and expectations don't necessarily apply.  So Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, the same way He has come into the world through the Virgin and the Holy Spirit, in the humblest of settings, as an outsider, looking for room for His message to be born into this world of great expectations and boundless speculation.  He will defy each one of them.  At the same time, He will establish a kind of hope that lasts through centuries of lifetimes, and in innumerable hearts and souls, as the light of the world.   When things really look to be utterly impossible, let us remember this scene of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, and put our faith in this Kingdom and the working of the Spirit in our midst, within us and among us.  It's not at all about our expectations, but it is all about our faith, and endurance. 

That our eyes may be opened

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"    Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. 

- Matthew 20:29-34

Yesterday, we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  so He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"    Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, and to the Passion, which He has now predicted three times to the disciples.   The two blind men here greet Jesus as Lord, which is the common title for God, and Son of David, a title which was associated with the Messiah.  Just as in yesterday's reading, Jesus asked the mother of Zebedee's sons, "What do you wish?" here He asks them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  My study bible says He knows what we want before we ask, but calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  This story has also been traditionally interpreted spiritually, saying that the blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  The ones who tried to silence the blind men are persecutors and tyrants in every generation who try to silence the Church and the faithful.  Nevertheless, under persecution, the Church all the more professes Jesus Christ.  Jericho was notorious as a place of sin.  The blind men may symbolize our blindness in sin, and those universally who cry for the healing compassion of Christ -- on His way to the sacrifice for the life of the world, so that we may all have our eyes opened.

In yet another sense of interpretation of today's reading, we can think of the two blind men being told to be quiet as if they are viewed as unruly children.  In a recent reading, mothers brought children to Christ for a blessing, and the disciples tried to discourage them as the children were considered too 'unruly' for the dignity of Christ.  Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  As a sign of His compassion, Jesus turns to the cries of the blind men, despite the crowd, and asks what they want Him to do for them.   This is also another occasion where Matthew's Gospel tells us the healing involved two people, where in Luke and Mark the story involves one.  (It is possible that Luke and Mark mention only one, when there were more together.)  But this too can be interpreted spiritually as a teaching that Jesus as Messiah is also Lord of the Gentiles, and that His mission and compassion are for all:  for the life of the world.  It is for the life of a world that lives in darkness that He is going to Jerusalem, to the Passion, and His sacrifice, death, and Resurrection.  He is the one who transfigures everything with His light.  In the light of His mission into the world, everything will change.  Our whole picture of salvation changes, and our understanding of life in the world changes.  Jews and Gentiles both undergo a transfiguration of their spiritual history; it is a mission for the whole world and all of our blindness.  As we mentioned above, Jericho in its time was notorious for sin and corruption, even a place frightening for its crime and violence.  Jesus sets the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35) on this road going the opposite way -- from Jerusalem to Jericho.  It's through that world He is passing, the one where humanity lives with such darkness, and it's this world He has come to illuminate, into which His light shines in the darkness.  These blind men symbolize all those who recognize their blindness and want His light.  I think it's important that we consider what life we wish for when we are complacent with blindness and darkness, or when we choose to embrace it.  It's difficult work to embrace Christ's light.  It casts light on all the things we can so easily forget, or live in denial about.  It asks us for change, for transfiguration, and reaches deep down into who we are, for surprising results.  People may find us to be different from the person they are used to.  All of this involves the strength of faith, the courage to cry to Him, to be "unruly" for some, perhaps to be called out, and no longer to fit in with the crowd we know.  But wisdom is justified by her children, and His light is still the light of the world in which we see light.  For the early Christians, the allegorical road from Jerusalem to Jericho was the way of death, and His road out of Jericho to Jerusalem the way of life.    It's our choice.

Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  so He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

- Matthew 20:17-28

In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave a parable to His disciples, teaching about the kingdom of heaven:  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'   Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'   So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to use who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  This is the third prediction Jesus makes to the apostles of His coming Passion, death, and Resurrection.  Each prediction gives them more vivid details.  My study bible says that Jesus' repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen them for the terrifying events they are going to face.  Theophylact comments that it's as if He were saying to them, "Think on all these [words and miracles], so that whenyou see me hanging on the Cross, you will not imagine that I am suffering because I am powerless to do otherwise."

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  so He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."   Jesus has just made a prediction of His Passion, but the disciples remain focused on concepts of the Kingdom in a worldly sense.  It seems quite clear that they believe His Resurrection will mean an immediate manifestation of a Kingdom on earth.  My study bible says that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting in a disciple.  Matthew tells us that it is the mother of Zebedee's sons (James and John) who requests the honor.  But as the Greek makes clear, Jesus is addressing James and John in the plural you when He replies, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  He calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  My study bible says that the cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2), and His death is baptism, because He was completely immersed in it, and at the same time it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  These disciples will participate in this same cup and baptism in lives of persecution and martyrdom after Pentecost.  James will be the first martyr among the Twelve, John will be put into exile and live a long life through the depth of persecutions of the early Church, giving us three Epistles, one Gospel, and one Book of Prophecy (Revelation).  Jesus displays His own humility before the Father when He says the the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give.  Christ does not lack authority, but these places are not His to give arbitrarily.  They will be given to those for whom God has prepared them.  St. John Chrysostom, says my study bible, tells us that no one could sit as an equal on the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom.  As to the highest places of honor for human beings, the Church historically and traditionally gives such place to the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women) and John the baptist (greatest born of women).

And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  Over and over again, as Jesus has prepared the disciples for the journey to Jerusalem, He teaches them the message of humility as leadership, as image of the kind of power He wishes to rule in His Church.  Here is the clearest and most explicit teaching on the difference between worldly power and the kind of power at work through Him, in the Kingdom He wishes to bring into the world.  It is the kind of power He wishes to be at work in them and among them. The Church is not supposed to be a competition, nor a bloodthirsty battle among aristocrats for power and position (such as was exemplified for example in their contemporaries Herod the Great, and his son in Galilee, Herod Antipas).

The political conditions of worldly power of Jesus' time and place were particularly bloodthirsty.  Herod the Great and his family were extreme, even by Roman standards, in terms of ruthless rule, murder and intrigue -- even among themselves.  If we read the Old Testament books written in the century or two prior to Jesus' birth, we get a picture of the Mediterranean world of the Near and Middle East to be one of constant battles for kingdoms and power among the Romans and the various dynasties who were successors to Alexander the Great.  There hardly seems to be any time of peace at all, nor any steady alliances but rather a dizzying array of constant warfare and changing allegiances depending on the circumstances.  Certainly the Jews suffered through this period (and the temple suffered abuse), and awaited a deliverer, a Messiah.  This is why that particular time and place of Christ's birth is so important, essential to this story and to the popular hopes and expectations of the people.   It's into this world of competition and slaughter that Jesus is born, the Deliverer, the Messiah.  One can understand the impulse of James and John here, given the reality of the world they lived in.  Today, too, we can only see the competition and slaughter of the Middle East if we understand on worldly terms the naked nature of ambition, greed, and pure materialism.  It's St. Paul who taught that "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), and he gives it as a warning to those who would stray from the faith via greediness, resulting in a life of great sorrows.  As followers of Christ -- and this is particularly so for Christians from the early apostolic churches of the Middle East -- we may find ourselves wondering where our Deliverer is, and where we are headed.  But we turn to Him.  There are those today who theorize that martyrdom and persecution in the period of the early Church has been exaggerated, but there is little doubt of persecution happening today, particularly in the places of the earliest Christian churches.  Most Westerners have little idea about the survival and coexistence of Christians in the Middle East throughout the centuries.  But now is a time in which, in many countries, their survival as a community is threatened by world events, great powers playing politics, and alliances that defy all reasonable understanding save one: power and greed.  Mercenary armies cruelly repress all who disagree with their particular point of view of faith, including those of nominally the same faith.  For Christians and others, conditions threaten their very survival in ancestral homelands.  We can look around ourselves and see a time of tremendous divisiveness and dissension.  Into this our Church must follow Him and His teachings, His commandments, His prayer for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  We carry this Kingdom in our hearts, and we have those who have come before us, learning the same hard lessons in a harsh time.    It may be the best time for prayer -- but that moment is always now.

The last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'   Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'   So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to use who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

- Matthew 20:1-16

Yesterday we read that, after turning away the rich young ruler, Jesus taught His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children of lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'   Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'   So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to use who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."  Jesus illustrates work for the Kingdom with this parable.  The vineyard is life in this world.  The day may be both the span of a single person's life and also the whole of human history.   Laborers are those who are from every nation.  My study bible says that each hour could refer to times in a person's life, such as infancy, youth, adulthood, maturity, or old age.  There is also a second meaning in terms of spiritual history, referring to those called during the different covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally Christ.   This parable puts salvation history into perspective for the disciples, as it gives a picture of all those who labor for the Kingdom in the world.  There is equal reward for both the early and late comers.  The former should not be proud of their long service nor resent those who are called at the eleventh hour.  For the latecomers, the parable teaches that it is possible even in a short time or at a very late stage in one's life to recover and inherit all.  This kingdom doesn't work as a worldly kingdom does, and time and space make no difference to it.  For the early Church, this was seen as an image applying to Jews (the first called) and the Gentiles (those called later).  Today, says my study bible, it can apply to those raised in the Church and those who find the Church later in life.  They will both receive an equal reward.  In his paschal sermon (read each Easter in the Orthodox church), St.  John Chrysostom applied this parable to the preparations of each person in approaching the Paschal Eucharist.

The standards that apply to the Kingdom aren't those of worldly life.  What we consider to be equal or fair isn't really the same kind of 'setting' for the Kingdom.  Those who labor their whole lives long in service to this King may receive exactly the same reward as one who comes to this work late in life, even at the end of life.  Those who were the early founders in this work, who came to it at a time in the world when faith really meant taking on an entirely different understanding of life and faith than that which existed in one's culture or time and place, share an equally essential role as those who've come long after and benefited from the establishment of the Church and all that has come before it.  Time and space matter little, as in the communion of saints all are not only united but in communication with one another.  And hierarchy matters very little at all:  the great saints are there and praying for all, and they may be called on for intercession, for all of us who are "the least of these" in terms of our spiritual understanding or development.  The Kingdom sets down its own standards for citizenship and participation, and there is really only one King, only one Teacher, who lays down what is what and sets the tone and circumstances for all of us.  This defines the "good."  (When the landowner in the parable asks, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" we understand that the 'evil eye' refers to envy.)  And that's where we start, with the one truly essential relationship that sets down standards of love and what is "good" for all the rest.  This is a kind of equality that takes into consideration not just "how much" but "how deep."  It measures us in every dimension, but it is the heart where all resides and that determines everything else.  It is truly the "kingdom within us," because it is the reality of the heart.  The heart is where one will find the kingdom of heaven (and also, sadly, and paradoxically, hell -- the place without God).  In its immediate telling, this parable may be a teaching for the apostles, those who come first in the Church as its pillars in the world.  Jesus is preparing to make His way to Jerusalem, and He has been teaching the about life in His Church.  That the 'first may be last and the last may be first' is a teaching of the greatest humility, and also gives them the perspective on their places in the Kingdom.  Our usual understanding of wealth and accumulation just doesn't apply.  This is a reality that permeates the places within us where time and space are simply relative terms, where a long deceased loved one still is present, for example, or where we meet Christ or are given the Holy Spirit's promptings.  This is a place where love declares its reasons, and wisdom its paradoxical truths -- where we are not measured by the standards of the world and its measurements, but by something much deeper and more profound in its understanding.

With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children of lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

- Matthew 19:23-30

Yesterday, we read that little children were brought to Jesus that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.  But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.  Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."   In yesterday's reading, we discussed the idea of attachment to riches.  My study bible notes here the various interpretations that have been given for the image in Jesus' expression, "a camel to go through the eye of a needle."   Some cite the Aramaic word for camel which sounds like "rope" -- that gives the saying a type of analogous quality.  Some suggest that the eye of a needle is referring to a small city gate  through which a camel could squeeze if it were first unloaded of all its baggage, which would symbolize wealth.  There is an expression in the Talmud "for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle" which is quite similar to Jesus' expression.  But all of these have one thing in common -- the image of great difficulty, or rather impossibility, of salvation for those who remain attached to riches.  My study bible notes the response of the disciples' response, "Who then can be saved?" as evidence that Jesus' words seem to preclude salvation.  That they are greatly astonished seems to suggest how deeply this saying may affect each of us.  Here, Jesus' rather shocking pronouncement becomes a moment for teaching:  by God's grace, all things are possible.

Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children of lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."  My study bible says that Jesus isn't commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children.  St. John Chrysostom suggests that this statement teaches about the struggle to keep one's faith under persecution, even when it may mean losing one's family.  It also suggests acceptance of the possibility that family members may seek to cut off ties with those whose faith is unacceptable to them (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).  My study bible says that believers are promised a hundredfold of houses and relatives not in an earthly sense, but rather in a spiritual sense:  the fathers and mothers of the Church, brothers and sisters in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship.  Many who are first will be last once again gives us a note of humility in His teaching to these first followers.

Once again Jesus gives us a kind of exchange in His teachings.  We exchange one thing for another in faith.  He spoke to the rich young ruler of "treasures in heaven" that he would have by selling what he had and giving to the poor.  It's a sense in which what we give away returns to us "a hundredfold," a spiritual sense.  But the inner riches of the spirit -- linked to "treasures in heaven" -- also translates into riches in this life.  That is, the "treasures in heaven" teach us about values that are truly important and essential and which are added unto us.  The internal wealth of a generous spirit, for instance, translates into something deeply joyful and satisfying and almost inexplicable in its effect upon us when we have done something to give others a blessing.  Such actions turn our minds to the things of God and to where God may lead us.  Often the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is seen as an impediment to the development of God-given talents and capacities for creativity or other positive work which we're capable of doing.  We may find that an initiative to follow the words of Christ in detaching ourselves from "possessions" leads us to pursue a more meaningful and constructive and disciplined life of true self-development, building our talents and skills for positive contributions that also enrich us on many levels.  Jesus' words teach us to see life differently, putting our primary pursuit in perspective.  So much comes down to what we love and cherish, or what we choose to serve and worship.  Then, the rest of our life falls into order behind that main decision.  St. John Chrysostom felt very keenly the call to share or distribute wealth in alms-giving, saying that expenditures on unnecessary or vain choices to impress others was taking food out of the mouths of the poor.  Whatever way we come to understand Jesus' words, there is no doubt that giving away whatever it is that stands in the way of our faith comes back to us a hundredfold, in ways we couldn't have expected, ways that are opened up to us through that faith and the more clear pathway to God made by doing so.  Jesus' words are true, that with God all things are possible.  What I have found that means is that there are myriad possibilities contained in every moment of action taken in faith.  So much so, that the pathway before us might be filled with treasures we can't yet see or know, but are made possible through God's opening up of our lives.  We just need to decide where we put our faith, and step forward into that life.  All of Jesus' teachings on wealth bring us to mind of His parables of the pearl of great price and the treasure buried in a field.  Our true treasure makes everything else pale in value and worth.  It is worth everything else. 

If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me

 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.  But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

- Matthew 19:13-22

On Saturday, we read that after teaching the disciples about humility, becoming like a little child of faith, care of the little ones and mutual correction in the Church, and forgiveness,  Jesus departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.  The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce from your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."  His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

  Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.  But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.  This is an emphasis on the teachings of the previous three readings (see links above).  But in those readings, Jesus' reference to the "little ones" meant the humble faithful of the Church who would be in the disciples' care.  He taught that to enter into the kingdom of heaven one must become "like a little child" -- that is, humble and embodying the characteristics that make for faith.  Here the disciples rebuke the mothers because they thought the children unruly, and and that they "diminished His dignity and Teacher and Master" (according to Theophylact).  But Christ sets the little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Children are invited to participate in the Kingdom and the life of the Church.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"   The emphasis on "good" and what or who is good is really an emphasis by Christ that what is good in life comes from God, and that a good life comes from dependence on God for the "good things" of life -- of soul, body, and spirit.  He begins with the commandments of God given to Moses.

The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  My study bible says that formal observance of commandments doesn't make one righteous before God.  This man had an earnest desire for eternal life and sensed that he still lacked something -- so he continues to press Jesus for an answer.

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."   The real goal of a spiritual life, for an eternal life, is closeness to God, a union with God.  This young man was a very wealthy man; given his depiction here and in other Gospels one can assume his identity was defined by his wealth and position.  That is, a social identity.   Often called a "rich young ruler," it's implied that he is a type of aristocrat whose wealth is in landed properties (as the Greek word translated as "possessions" literally means).  My study bible says that wealth had such a grip on this rich man that his only hope was to sell and give away all his possessions.  The goal is following Christ, and whatever impediment is in the way of that goal is eventually voluntarily given up.  The specifics of how each one follows Christ, therefore, will be different for each person.  St. John Chrysostom writes that giving away possessions is the least of Jesus' instructions here.  Following Him in all things is a much greater and more difficult calling.

To detach from the things we "love" in order to follow a greater and more profound love is indeed the stuff of maturing, and of spiritual maturity.  This is about releasing impediments to the love of God, to the love of Christ.  It is just as Jesus taught the disciples earlier:  "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire."  Those body parts named by Christ were images of ways of thinking and being in the world, habits even dear or close, that had to go in order to truly fulfill their calling and mission.  So it is for this man often described as a "rich young ruler."   His wealth isn't just something to which he was deeply attached, it was an attachment that became an impediment in the way of following Christ.  It's important that we understand that carrying our crosses means we come up against such impediments in our own lives, but that they may be different for each of us depending on our own orientation and lives.  St. Francis is a saint for whom this was the call.  A rather profligate son of a well-to-do merchant, St. Francis was called to give up things to which he was attached in order to rebuild the church of his time.  Returning his father's possessions, he declared himself to be dependent upon God.  He modeled himself after one such as John the Baptist, a man of extraordinary humility before God and of single-minded determination to live only for God's work as he was called to do it.  But for every great holy ascetic there is also the work of individuals who are called to live holy lives for God in the most commonplace of professions and walks of life.  Each is capable of being called to the qualities described in my study bible as exemplified in the "little ones" -- humility, dependence, lowliness, simplicity, obedience, and a willingness to love and be loved.  In our relationship to God, these are the qualities that count, fruits of the Spirit.  We will each be led as we are uniquely called to fulfill that mission of love and service; no one is a carbon copy of another.  The real goal of such work is love, true love of God which teaches us love of neighbor.  How that happens for each one,  the things we may be asked to cut off or give up, depends on how we are called.  The end result is riches that are too deep to fathom, an internal joy and love, an intrinsic value worth the greatest pearls and treasures.  That is, a life transfigured.  And "all things added unto" these.