Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent. 

- Luke 20:19-26

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus was confronted by the leadership as He taught in the temple in Jerusalem, He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent hi away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  We see the response of the leadership to Jesus' reply about His own authority, and to the parable Jesus spoke against them (see yesterday's reading above, and the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers).

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.   We know the intent of the leadership; now they are ready to destroy the One who does not act according to their authority, but rather to His own.  And the means by which they attempt first to question Him is not just to trap Him in an answer which they can perhaps take to the Roman authorities, but also to trap Him into an answer unpopular with the people, who are listening here at the temple in Jerusalem during Passover week.  Jesus first embarrassed them with a question in reply about John the Baptist's authority, and the leadership feared their own response before the people (see Monday's reading).  Their question to Him now about taxation is designed to set a trap for Him.  If He answers "yes" it will turn the people against Him.  But a "no" answer could bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  But once again Jesus gives an answer that defeats their trap.  He shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  My study bible says that as the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to Him.  Conflict arises when the state demands of us that which is contrary to God.

We've got to admire the intelligence and wit of Jesus.  More than that, His discussions with the leadership are not elite intellectual arguments about esoteric theology that only a scholar could understand.  Jesus speaks before the people both with profound theological insight and in ways that each can understand.  No wonder they marveled at His answer and kept silent.  Jesus' insight and intelligence can't be bested, but these are the weapons He has and uses in confrontation and conflict with the leadership.  The people can't get enough, and it all takes place in front of them.  Jesus has not come into the world with a mighty army in order to conquer Israel as a messiah-warrior.  He is with the lowly, one of them, and has ridden into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry on a donkey, not with chariots and the horses of cavalry.  But what He has got are His words, His intelligence, His capacity to speak and communicate.  He also listens and responds.  His work is dialogue, whether it be in answering prayers with signs, in teaching and preaching, in caring for others in various ways that show His love, or responding like He does in this scene in confrontation with the leadership.  Jesus has all the things that make up what it is to be not just a splendid human being, but ways which teach us what it is to be "God-like," like Him.  More than anything else, He teaches us what it is to truly use our talents -- the things with which we've been endowed and blessed by God -- in ways that please God and make them grow, as the parable He gave teaches (see the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30).  Christ shows us what it is to be illumined or enlightened by God's grace, and how our own talents are magnified and can serve God's purposes through the reflection of the light He brings into the world.  He is the prime example of what it is to use one's intelligence in a way that is at once precise, and peaceful, and incisive, and insightful, and fully bold and truthful.  He teaches what it means to "speak truth to power," as the often-used political phrase goes.  We're told that He perceived their craftiness.  He does not hide from Himself their motives, nor pretend their intentions are good.  He is the fullness of humanity, and part of His mission into the world as Incarnate human being is simply to show us this beauty of the fullness of human beings illuminated by the life He brings, the light He asks us to shine in the world.  Each of us is going to have a different set of talents, but we learn here from the Master who's come to teach us what it is to be the kind of human being He asks us to become in His image and through His spiritual truth.  We note also that Jesus does not waste His efforts:  this is the right time and place for such confrontation.  He is always measured and exact in His applications and efforts.  There will be a time when He does not bother to speak, and times when confrontation is not something He will bother with (see for example, Mark 15:2).   Jesus' efforts here in the temple are as much for us, the people who watch and listen, as they are for anyone else.  God takes our talents, capabilities, personalities, instincts, and makes of them what God will.  A lifetime of prayerful dialogue with God, learning the gifts of the Spirit, go into making us more like God, more like the image we see in Christ, in ways we can't predict nor know.  But we can see Him, watch Him.  We can see the fullness of our own intelligence and capabilities used His way.  We can learn from Him, as He has taught "for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29).   Jesus teaches us what to defend and when -- and He also teaches when it is not profitable to anyone to speak, when no one's listening who may learn from Him.  Jesus' qualities are understood to exemplify the beautiful, to the ancient classical mind that would embrace Christianity.  Let us learn from Him.

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent hi away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:

'The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone'?

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

- Luke 20:9-18

Yesterday we read that on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel,  the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent hi away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"   Jesus gives a parable to the leadership.  Traditionally it is understood that the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God's people.  The vinedressers are those leaders who are entrusted to care for the people, and particularly the religious leadership as the vineyard is a symbolic context of God's people.  Each servant sent by the owner is an Old Testament prophet sent to call the people back to God.  The beloved son is of course Christ Himself.  My study bible adds that when the Son is cast out of the vineyard to be killed, this is understood on two levels.  First, that Jesus was killed outside Jerusalem; and second, that Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers, not by those of His own vineyard.  The others who later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles brought into the Church.  That the leadership reply, "Certainly not!" to this parable tells us they certainly do understand precisely what Jesus meant to say.

Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:   'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22.   That stone upon which some may fall and which may fall upon others is Christ.  My study bible says that it illustrates two ways of destruction.  According to John Chrysostom, those who fall on the stone are those who suffer the effects of their own sins while yet in the world, while those on whom the stone falls as the unrepentant who become powder in the final Judgment. 

What is Judgment?  We might as well ask the same question the leadership has asked Jesus (in yesterday's reading, above), "By what authority are You doing these things?  Or who gave You this authority?"  Judgment is all about authority, the authority of the ultimate Truth.  Only the Person who is Truth could really be this chief cornerstone.  Only the ultimate truth and authority can function as that stone on which some will fall, and at the same time is also that will fall upon others.  Either way, it is this stone that is the force to be reckoned with -- the truth that decides the ultimate reckoning of value, worth, and reality.  Here in this illustration is where we truly begin to understand what authority is possessed by Christ.  He is the One whom they seek to destroy who is also the peace of Jerusalem.   In Saturday's reading, Jesus wept over the city, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."   Because of Jerusalem's rejection of Him, He prophesied that "[the Roman army] will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  This is one illustration of the stone that becomes the chief cornerstone:  there are those who stumble upon that stone and their rejection of it falls back upon them.  In other words, it is a force to be reckoned with -- unavoidable, ultimate reality.  One accepts or rejects, but Judgment is the result of such decisions.  It is an unmovable object, non-negotiable:  to reject this truth is like rejecting the forces of nature in navigating our lives, seeking to avoid gravity or the fact that fire gives heat and can burn.  But Jesus' truth is not like a fact of life or even a physical reality.  Jesus' truth is encountered in relationship with Him.  He is the Person who is Truth, as the Church has taught from its ancient roots.  He is the Truth that loves, that created us, that gives us our truth and creativity, our capacity for love, that teaches us love.  This truth is the door to all things for us, our salvation.  That is, He is the way, the truth, and the life that gives us substance, life, reality -- leading us into the fullness of being persons created in His image.  And so, the stone we may reject is the one that offers us everything.  And by our rejection we lose everything.  How do you encounter the Person who is Truth?  How do you find His love for yourself?  What is it one must give up in order to receive all that He offers?   How  does the life He offers outweigh the value and substance of everything else?

Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

- Luke 20:1-8 

On Saturday we read that as He drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."   The leadership in the temple ask Christ about His authority to do these things; these things, says my study bible, refers to Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as Messiah (19:35-38), the cleansing of the temple (19:45), and His preaching in the temple here in verse 1 of today's reading.  The elders are confronting Jesus since it was the duty of the priestly descendants of Levi to manage the temple.  Christ is descended from Judah (3:33), but He is the High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4).  "The order of Melchizedek" is a priestly line far greater than that of Levi, for His authority is from the Father.

How does Jesus refute the challenge from those who question Him about His authority?  It's quite interesting to "watch" Him, as we do in the Gospels, as He refutes arguments and answers back with what were undoubtedly witty retorts and strong criticisms.  We should keep in mind that none of this is happening behind closed doors, so to speak.  What we're frequently reminded of in the Gospels is that the people listen to Him with a sort of a thrill and rapt attention.  And so we see in today's reading, that Jesus' answer to the leadership happens in front of the people to Jesus' advantage -- it's something He uses in His arguments.  The leadership fears the opinions of the people over whom they rule in all religious and, of course, that includes social matters.  John the Baptist was a towering figure in his time.  He was widely regarded as a holy man, fully dedicated to the God of Israel and to the spiritual heritage of Israel, speaking out against violations of the Law by its corrupt rulers (namely Herod Antipas), finally being beheaded in prison at the request of Herod's wife.  So John, considered by Christians to be greatest in the long line of prophets of the Old Testament tradition, is a sort of popular spiritual hero of his own time.  Jesus' question about authority that comes back to challenge the leadership of the temple is given with this image in the people's eyes in mind.  Where did the authority of John come from?  Who gave it to him?  As we can see, they are afraid of the people and therefore cannot answer Christ.  Their cowardice is rather plain; although they are not necessarily one of "the people," their opinion on John the Baptist isn't very clear either from this passage.  Perhaps, indeed, they failed to recognize any authority in John as well.  Jesus has already lamented over Jerusalem as "the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her" (see Luke 13:34-35).  He calls the leadership the "sons of those who murdered the prophets" and says to them, "fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt" (see Matthew 23:29-32).  This is the time of confrontation, in the week before His human death.  It's the time for open and plain speaking in front of the people, and He's not afraid to use the words that are true and plain-spoken, nor the understanding for the benefit of the people of what is really at play here.  Whose authority does He have?  Whose authority do they represent?  Which authority do they recognize?  By what authority do prophets prophesy, and on whose authority was John the Baptist a prophet?  All of these questions are relevant and important to our faith, to how our religious institutions function, to what they recognize today at work in our own lives.  Let us consider His character and His truth and the gist of His mission.  What is He asking of us, as He invites the crowds to participate by listening to this dialogue and witnessing His own mission of faith?   What authority is speaking?

They will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation

 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

- Luke 19:41-48

Yesterday we read that after Jesus had taught the parable of the minas, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'"  So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.  But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus.  And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:  "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes."  My study bible says that Jerusalem means "foundation of peace."  This is a peace that comes from faith in the truth He offers.  Christ has come to gather all to Him, in a kind of unity that brings peace and strength, like stones that might cry out in faith (see yesterday's reading, above).  This is the kind of peace that his hidden from a city that will soon reject Him, rebelling against its Savior, the Messiah who was sent to it.

"For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  The destruction that came to Jerusalem about which Jesus speaks here occurred in AD 70.  My study bible says that this also describes the spiritual end of every person who lacks faith.  Quite literally, nearly all the stones of the buildings -- especially the great an holy temple -- were toppled one from another, as the Roman army sought the gold that was rumored to have been laid between the great stones.  Only a retaining wall was left, now called the Western Wall, long referred to as the Wailing Wall.  We notice again the theme of stones, voiced by Jesus in yesterday's reading.  Here the stones being displaced from one another offer an entirely contrasting image to the stones that would cry out if the "children" welcoming Him were silenced.  Here the image of the stones is one of chaos and disarray, the opposite of peace.  That is the failure to be gathered to Him, and literally scattered instead.

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Jesus' first act is to go into the temple itself, which is the house of God, where God's presence is supposed to be.  Jesus quotes from two prophecies:  Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.  Jesus quite literally scatters those who bought and sold in the temple.  They are not "like Him."  They are trading in live animals to be used in sacrifices, profiting from the people who come for the festival and wish to make a good prayer or sacrificial offering, whatever they can afford.  It is a "worldly" pursuit in the midst of the house of prayer for all the nations.

And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.  There are those in the leadership who seek to destroy Christ, but the people know they are hearing what is truthful; they all want to have access to what He is offering them.

The images of scattering and gathering are very prominent in today's reading.  They coincide with the image given of the stones that would cry out in yesterday's reading, and also the stones that form the structures of the city of Jerusalem, especially those of the temple, that will not be left with one laid atop another.  Destruction is a prominent theme.  The leaders of the people lead the people astray by seeking to destroy Christ.  They bring upon the city that which they seek to bring upon Him.  The image underlying all these things is a theme that is clear:  He who gathers is being destroyed, and therefore destruction and scattering the result.  The Siege of Jerusalem will be pure chaos, and violation of the sanctity of the temple (what is called "the abomination of desolation," from the prophecy of Daniel).  But the temple is already being violated in certain ways under the auspices of the leadership, in the buying and selling and money exchanging going on around the sale of animals for sacrifice.  We are reminded of Jesus' recent teaching:  "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much" (Luke 16:10), and from the same reading: "You cannot serve God and mammon."  Faith asks us to be on a journey somewhere.  It doesn't mean we don't falter.  It doesn't mean we don't encounter obstacles and difficulties all along the way.  But it does mean that we have an object of that faith, a door or gate we reach toward, the Person who is Truth whom we seek in relationship and from whom we gather our own true nature.  If we seek Him in the small we will also be seeking in what is "much."  This is our peace and our unity, even the true inner unity of faith and wholeness of body, soul, and spirit that constitutes true healing.  He offers a choice, and we always have to answer the question for ourselves of what that will be.

I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out

 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'"  So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.  But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus.  And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:

"'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

- Luke 19:28-40

Yesterday we read that after His encounter with Zacchaeus in Jericho,  Jesus spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.  Therefore He said:  "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'  But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'  And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.  Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'  And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.'  And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.'  Likewise he said to him, 'You also will be over five cities.'  Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.  For I feared you, because you are an austere man.  You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'  And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.  You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.  Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'  And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'  (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.')  For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.'"

When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'"  So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.  But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?" And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus.  And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  Today's reading tells of the events of the day which we call Palm Sunday.  This is His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  The expectation of the Messiah was that he would be a king in the mold of David, someone who would conquer the enemies of Israel and make great its worldly kingdom.  But Jesus ushers in a different kind of a kingdom.  Here He fulfills prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 -- "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your King is coming to you;  He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  A donkey is a humble animal, symbolic of humility and peace, in contrast to the military cavalry of horses and chariots that would normally accompany a king, showing his military might.  In the image from Zechariah, Jesus is characterizing the nature of His kingdom.  Mt. Olivet is to the east of Jerusalem, also the place from which the Messiah would enter. 

And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:  "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"   The people spread their clothes as a form of paying reverence to a king.  One traditional interpretation states that spiritually this images we lay down our flesh and even our lives for Christ.  The people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with Messianic expectation.  During the Feast of Tabernacles (the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), it was recited daily for six days, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means "Save, we pray!"  The salvation and the kingdom of Christ will take on new meanings in contrast to the expectations of the people.

And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."  Perhaps Jesus is thinking of the the prophecy of Habakkuk, who writes,  "For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the timbers will answer it" (Habakkuk 2:11).

In the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, Zechariah 9:16 reads, "And on that day, the Lord their God will deliver them, His people, as a flock, for sacred stones will roll across His land."  The New King James version reads, "They shall be like the jewels of a crown lifted like a banner over His land."  Whether they be "holy stones" as jewels in a crown, or those lifted above or rolling across the land, we get the image of people as sacred stones, as jewels in the crown of a kingdom.  We understand the image that the salvation and true presence of a Kingdom is within the people of faith who are the jewels in its crown, the sacred stones planted by God.  Jesus gives us allusion to all of this traditional imagery in His reply to the Pharisees.  In the next chapter of Luke, Jesus will say to the leadership, quoting again from Psalm 118, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone."  St. Peter will take this image further in his first epistle, when he writes to the the Church that they come to Christ "as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,  you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  Peter then quotes from Isaiah:  "Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."  (1 Peter 2:4-6).   As living stones, those people of faith who come to Christ (the Chief Cornerstone), are those who form and shape the Kingdom, who build up the spiritual house of God.  Each is a holy stone, a jewel in the crown that flies like a banner lifted over the land.  It is a graciously infinite way of expressing the idea that the Kingdom of God is within you, even as a faceted stone can reflect the Light that shines upon it.  The real treasure are those living stones, like gems for a crown of the Kingdom, who live the faith of the gospel as if it were the greatest treasure they have.

For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him

 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.  Therefore He said:  "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'  But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'  And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.  Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'  And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.'  And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.'  Likewise he said to him, 'You also will be over five cities.'  Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.  For I feared you, because you are an austere man.  You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'  And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.  You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.  Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'  And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'  (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.')  For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.'"

- Luke 19:11-27

Yesterday we read that Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, as He is on His way to Jerusalem and His Passion.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.  Therefore He said:  "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'  But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'  And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.  Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'  And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.'  And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.'  Likewise he said to him, 'You also will be over five cities.'  Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.  For I feared you, because you are an austere man.  You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'  And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.  You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.  Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'  And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'  (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.')  For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.'"  This parable parallels the parable of the Talents given in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 25:14-30).  Here, the setting is Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem, and He's speaking those who expected that the kingdom of God would appear immediately.  Jesus rather subtly prepares them for His rejection at Jerusalem by making the figure of the nobleman a man rejected and hated by the citizens who reject him.  Instead, the nobleman gives his wealth to ten of his servants, so that in the meantime, while in the process of receiving his kingdom, they will trade for him and invest wisely.  At his return, he possesses this kingdom, and he awaits the returns on what he has entrusted to his servants.  One way we could look at the parable is that it teaches us the role of Jesus' servants (members of His Church) who are entrusted with what the wealth He has given in His ministry.  He leaves for a far country and a kingdom for which there is a kind of struggle.  And this is perhaps the time we live in, the age in which we await His return.  Clearly, this kingdom will not manifest immediately nor without difficulty, but that is the business of the nobleman.  In the meantime, the emphasis is on what the servants do with His wealth.  With the parable of the talents, we understand God's gifts to us; our modern use of the word talent is derived from the Greek word talanton as used in the parable, which was a very large sum of money.  But here, the equal minas given to each suggests the wealth and treasure of the Church; that is, the teachings Jesus has given us, His ministry.  Each servant must do what he or she can with this treasure.  Upon his return, out of the single mina given to each, one has made ten, another five.  It seems to suggest the growth of the Church, a gathering of more disciples through the gospel message, as each is given authority over cities in the kingdom.  But there is one who failed to invest or trade, and kept his mina only to himself, wrapped in his own handkerchief.    By doing so, he's failed to be profitable, to gather more.  To deposit the money instead in the bank is a kind of parallel to the Church, to go to those other followers and invest what they are capable of using and multiplying in turn.  The one who has done nothing with his mina seems to be counted among those enemies who rejected the nobleman as ruler over his kingdom.

The equal amount given to each servant seems to tell us that this investment is reflective of Christ's ministry:  it is given to all equally.  What we do with the treasure He's left us is up to us and to our initiative.  The mina is like the gospel message, the commands with which he's left us.  It is a treasure that if we choose to invest it wisely, will pay off great dividends.  Not only that, but it will also generate more of itself; that is, our true trading and commerce with others in investing what we've been given will also gather more for the Kingdom, for the Church, for the Body of Christ, for all those who truly desire to be part of this Kingdom.  Ultimately, in each citizen we also find the face, the Person, of Christ the ruler.  What we're given isn't something we hold only wrapped up in our own little handkerchief, so to speak, and kept to ourselves.  It's something to be invested in all the commerce, the relationships, the works, the choices of our lives.  If we cannot imagine and do not know what we should do with it, the least we can do is take it to the Church itself and find help there, or "investing" in those who will know what to do with it.  There is always someplace to use and exchange the love we've been given, the good gifts of Christ's ministry, the gospel message.  We are in the world in order to live what we treasure, not to hide it away.  And of course, living the gospel comes in as many forms as the choices and decisions we're offered in life.  In this sense, "commerce" becomes the commonality of choices and interactions, our entire way of living in the world, even a personal struggle against what is called "worldly" and for the Kingdom.  This is not frowning on those who lead lives of prayer nor monasticism, for that too is an investment in the life of the Kingdom, an active working to increase what we might call the pool of grace in the world, devoting one's life as fully as possible to the struggle for the Kingdom.  What is condemned in the servant who wraps up the treasure he's given into his handkerchief is the fruitless life that comes of viewing what we're given in simply a worldly sense, something to keep to ourselves like a possession -- rather than that which gains and redeems its value by being given away and used in all our interactions and encounters, even in prayer.  To view the gospel as one more possession is a materialistic way of thinking, without comprehension of the power of life in the treasure invested with us, unaware of the qualities of the Kingdom shown in its possibilities.  Those possibilities include the capacity for growth and multiplication, the quality of life in abundance.  We can see the Kingdom illustrated this way in varied examples, such as the feeding of the five thousand, or in parables such as those of the mustard seed and the leaven.  What Christ looks for is this growth that comes from real trading on the treasure He's given us, and our capacity to understand and use the wealth as we've been taught.  Is it something we have, or something we live?  Thus the judgment is fair:  to each is given the same wealth, and to each is given the same choice as to how we will use it.

Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

- Luke 19:1-10

Yesterday we read that Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.  Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God."

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  Jericho was known as a place notorious for sin and unjust behavior.  Zacchaeus, as a chief tax collector, may be just the representative for such a place.  Not only is he a chief tax collector, with all that means for the Jews, but he is also rich.   We can imagine how he came to that wealth, especially as we read further down in the story.  Recently, Jesus remarked to the disciples during an encounter with a rather virtuous wealthy man,  "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a came to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."    And He replied to their query, "Who then can be saved?" by saying, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  The story of Zacchaeus certainly proves the possibilities in the grace of God!  Everything about Zacchaeus indicates symbolically his deficiency in spiritual terms;  he's of short stature, and he must climb up into a sycamore tree to see Christ.  St. Ambrose interprets this as showing he's short on faith and virtue, and that no one so attached to earthly matters can see Jesus.  Christ's intention to pass that way reveals that Christ will approach anyone willing to repent and to believe.  The crowd that prevents Zacchaeus from seeing symbolize all those worldly concerns and passions that keep us from seeing Christ.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  In some sense, Zacchaeus is chosen by Christ, in a kind of conversion experience that may come to any of us.  We see how Zacchaeus responds to the presence of Christ in that he received Him joyfully.  Zacchaeus' response in his joy at receiving Christ is repentance.  He will give a free and generous offering to the poor, and he will restore what he owes to those whom he has cheated, as was required by the Law (Exodus 22:1).  So Zacchaus responds to Christ by not only fulfilling the Law, but also showing his love of the gospel.

And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  My study bible says that the title son of Abraham indicates that Zacchaeus had become like this patriarch of Israel: he's counted righteous by his faith, he became generous toward the poor, and he was united to the people of God.  Early records of the Church tell us that he went on to become a bishop.

It is easy to imagine the changes that happen in Zacchaeus' life because of this "intervention" of Christ.  We can imagine the people he's used to associating with, those who share in the gathering of wealth through extortion and false accusation, enforcing (and abusing) the law and power of the occupying Romans.  There are probably those as well who profit from his wealth, including whatever family he has.  And, one imagines, he associates also with those like him, who are glad of his wealth and don't much care how he came by it.  Jericho, after all, was known as a place of iniquity.  But the encounter with Jesus shakes up his life.  It doesn't much matter where he starts, an encounter with Christ, whom Zacchaeus receives joyfully, is going to disrupt his life.  A conversion experience, when it does come to someone as Christ comes to Zacchaeus and insists that He must to stay at his home that night, will have such an effect.  All those people he knows, all the things and places and ways in which he associates with the world, are going to be put into new order and discarded in favor of a different kind of life, and different choices.  This is what God's effect in our lives does, this is what Christ making His home with us is going to do.  Zacchaeus is going to change, and it means that everything in his life will change as well.  All those people with whom he associates, anyone who profits from what he's doing, the ones who are used to him as he is, are going to be given a surprise.  It is no longer going to be business as usual or life as usual.  Christ asks us to rethink what we hold dear and whom we hold dear; receiving Christ joyfully into the home of our own hearts will call upon all the connections we have in life and re-evaluate them in light of the gospel and our relationship to Him.  Our old interests may no longer interest us, and friends may find it simply inexplicable to understand the things that become important to us, and the ways in which we change.  Even loved ones may not want nor understand what has happened, even when it's for nominal good.  These are the fruits of spiritual conversion. The fact that my study bible says Zacchaeus goes on to become a bishop in the early Church tells us the depth of change and the transformation of his life that takes place.  One can only imagine the difference it made to all those around him or who knew him.  I think it's important to remember what is perhaps hidden in this story:  that change for the good isn't always going to be welcomed by those associates we know and are habitually used to us as we are.  An encounter with God is going to change us and change our lives; prayer is not an ineffectual exercise but something we do to call upon Deity.  And we just don't know the power of God and where and how it will reach into us.  Let us be joyful to receive Christ, as is Zacchaeus, and prepared for the kinds of changes he makes in his life as well.

Receive your sight; your faith has made you well

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God."

- Luke 18:31-43

Yesterday we read that people also brought infants to Jesus that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a came to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So he said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.  Jesus is deeply and clearly explicit with the disciples; He's telling them everything that is going to happen, the thing which they are going toward in Jerusalem.  My study bible says that the saying was hidden from them not by God, but because they could not understand its meaning until the events of the Passion had taken place. 

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God."  There is a spiritual interpretation given to this story by tradition:  the blind man represents those of future generations who will only know Christ through hearing about Him, and not seeing Him.  (See John 20:29.)  All those who warn the man to be quiet are those tyrants and persecutors -- who will come in various forms -- who seek to silence faith.  But under persecution, the more the Church confesses Christ.  My study bible says that the story also tells us that Christ knows whatever it is that we need before we ask.  But He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  We note that the blind man clearly realizes Jesus is Messiah, addressing Him as son of David.  As He goes toward Jerusalem, Jesus' enlightenment is for all of the people who await in expectation of the Messiah.

What is the sight that Jesus is bringing people?  Certainly there are many expectations placed on the Messiah.  Among other things, perhaps we might consider expectations of a political Messiah, one who would be a  conquering king like David.  This would be a person who would dispel the enemies of Israel, her colonizers like the Romans, and other warring states vying for power in the region.  Like the kings and rulers who brought goods to their country, such a king could also bring plenitude to Israel's fortunes, and glorify the country through prosperity.  Peace would come perhaps through power and conquering.  But Jesus is Messiah with a completely different mission.  His enlightenment will be for the world once He is rejected by the leadership.  It won't be a kind of kingdom He is bringing here like that of a material state.  It will not be a kind of conquering by force but by a different sort of power that is operating within people.  What is the kingdom of God?  Where is it?  Jesus has already answered that question, when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  (See the reading from Thursday.)  This is a kind of voluntary kingdom that depends on faith.  It depends upon the love of God.  And it is open not only to Jews but to all those who would come to it through faith, a voluntary acceptance, a relationship of love.  As Jesus travels on His way to Jerusalem, His encounters tell us a story of what is coming, what kind of Messiah this is.  His healings come not as an expression of power, but a sign of the presence of the Kingdom, and most particularly in response to faith.  this is corroborated by His words to the blind man, "Your faith has made you well."  It is faith that shores up citizenship in this Kingdom, the basis of relationship and steadfast love that makes its covenant between its people. 

It is easier for a came to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God

 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a came to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So he said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

- Luke 18:15-30

On Saturday, we read that Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  My study bible says that infants are the standard of faith by which adults receive the kingdom of God, and not the other way around.  It cites Theophan, who writes, "A little child is not arrogant, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless.  He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from those in sorrows.  Instead, he lives in compete complicity." 

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  This relatively young man is clearly in a position of wealth and authority.  My study bible says that he doesn't come to test Jesus but rather to seek advice from someone he considers to be a good Teacher and no more.  Jesus' response, my study bible tells us,  does not deny His divinity, but rather begins to lead him to this knowledge.  Jesus quotes commandments of God given to Moses (Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20) as the beginning of wisdom. 

So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  Again, Jesus offers the exchange:  we sacrifice treasure on earth for treasure in heaven -- by giving to those in need.  This is particular advice for this rich ruler, but the principle of exchange remains.  My study bible says that perfection really consists in sacrificing all to follow Christ.  This however, is a free sacrifice given of love.  The specific nature of the sacrifices asked of us will be different from person to person -- so much depends on the things we cling to for our identities.  Christ takes us "out of the world" to give us in exchange His identity for us.  My study bible explains that because wealth had such a grip on this man, his only hope was to sell and give away his possessions.  It cites St. John Chrysostom, who says that giving away his possessions is the least of Christ's instructions here.  To follow Him in all things is a much greater and difficult calling.

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a came to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  There are various suggestions for the meaning of Jesus' saying, but any way we look at it, He's speaking about the impossibility of salvation for those attached to riches.  (We may look at it figuratively as if to say that a camel may be unloaded  of its baggage, for instance.)  As we can read, the disciples respond with an understanding that this difficultly applies to all when they ask in reply, Who then can be saved?  The answer returns to God and a loving relationship with God:  the things which are impossible with men are possible with the grace of God.

Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So he said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."   Peter lists the sacrifices these disciples have made to follow Christ, and through him we understand there is much more to the sense in which we may be called to sacrifice or give up what is precious than standard notions of material wealth.  Once again, we note a kind of exchange promised by Christ, even in the present time.

So what are the treasures of the Kingdom?  There is surely more that compels Peter and the other disciples to sacrifice all and follow Christ than some sort of promise of material return!  This was the furthest thing from these disciples' lives and experience.  What compels us to love God, and sacrifice the things that may get in the way of our discipleship to do so?  Surely there is a deeper, greater, and more compelling understanding than that of purely material exchange or a promise of the future.  We may get a hint when we read the exchange of the disciples who realize they have encountered Christ on the road to Emmaus, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (24:32).  This sort of internal quickening, an inner response that gives more to life (or more of life), is characteristic of relationship with God.  Not only does Christ promise us what we need in life, but there is so much more to a life lived in the Kingdom, in following Him.  There are the intangibles that give meaning, value, and worth to everything else.  There is a peace and a joy we may experience that are added unto us, that tinge all else and render life more abundant.  There is love to experience that teaches us love in ways we may not understand otherwise.  St. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  These are just a few of the things we may experience through grace, that keep us going in discipleship.  But there is so much more to Christ's teaching.  The things we're taught to let go of are meant to set us free to accept a fullness of life and identity in Christ on this spiritual journey.  We look at the men and women who are followers of Christ in the Scripture, and we see them changed, transformed, transfigured, their lives given over to a power and purpose not given to everyone.  The key is as my study bible teaches:  we don't know what it is we will be called upon to give up to God on the mission of discipleship as we seek to follow Him.  This is not about sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice.  But the grace God gives in return sets us free to grow in His life and love, and the life in abundance He offers us.  That exchange gives us blessings we can't count, too numerous to know, and far greater in their rarity than anything that can be acquired another way.  The struggle for faith is one waged in richness and depth within us.  We can never predict where it leads, but its gifts are greater than we can gain by ourselves.

God, be merciful to me a sinner!

 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 18:9-14

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke a parable to His disciples, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:  "There was a in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'"  Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector."  The Pharisee is an expert in the Law and the Scriptures, one who carefully observes all details of a pious life according to the Law.  The tax collector is his opposite:  despised by the community as a sinner who not only collaborates with the occupying Romans forces, but who betrays and cheats his own people, taking via extortion what he can for himself.

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'"  My study bible points out for us that the practices of this Pharisee are worthy examples to follow.  His good deeds listed here (fasting and giving tithes) are the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion are two of the things he lists as properties of other men).  But without a humble and repentant heart, outward practices such as these have no value.  They lead, says my study bible, only to pride and judgment of others.  Note how the text tells us he prays with himself.  Prayer is communion and dialogue with God.  My study bible explains of this case that God is absent where there is boasting.

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'"  This tax collectors shows by his posture an awareness of himself -- of the state of his soul.  He stands afar off, away from the altar of sacrifice with his eyes downward.  This prayer, God, be merciful to me a sinner, is the basis for the Jesus Prayer (a practice designed to fulfill St. Paul's admonition to pray without ceasing), and also the refrain that permeates worship everywhere, including personal prayer:  "Lord have mercy."

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  To be justified is to be forgiven and set right with God; that is in right relationship to God (and by extension to others).  My study bible says that inward humility is blessed while pride in outward deeds in condemned.

One thing we can notice about the tax collector:  for all of his sins, he's honest with God.  At least here and now and in this moment, he's honest about the sins he's committed.  And there's more to it, there is real relationship -- a give and take, if you will -- involved here in his prayer.  He asks God for mercy, but in a form that is suggestive of the words, "Forgive me."  He's aware of his sin, and he's engaged with God:  he's asking for God to overlook his sins, to consider them 'paid' in some sense.  This is what his particular prayer for mercy suggests.  As the text tells us, the Pharisee isn't really engaged with God.  He prays with himself.  It's as if he's looking in his own mirror, and admiring himself by looking down on the tax collector.  It seems to me there is a great stress placed on our choices.  The Pharisee seems to take for granted that somehow God has made him superior to others; but he is in fact congratulating himself.  Even among His disciples, Jesus discourages us from comparing ourselves to others.  At the end of John's Gospel, Peter is told three times that he must "Feed My lambs," after Jesus asks three times, "Do you love Me?"  And Jesus tells him, "Follow Me."  Then Peter asks, indicating John himself, "Lord, what about this man?"   Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."  (See John 21:15-25).  Our work is to focus on our own lives and our own relationship to God in our prayer.  It's a very real sense in which we are to mind our own business.  Jesus has just warned of the time of His Second Coming, and of the Judgment (yesterday's reading, above).  The best way we learn discernment for the time in which we live is through constant prayer, such as the Jesus Prayer practice, which is a repetition and variation of the simple prayer, "Lord have mercy."  But here Jesus teaches us how to pray:  we enter into dialogue with God, we seek to make right our most basic relationship -- that with Creator.  In the mirror of God's gaze, there is nothing hidden nor secret, but we stand before love and truth.  That is, before judgment itself.  It's in this understanding that the tax collector can pray, with trust, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"

When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?

 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:  "There was a in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'"  Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

- Luke 18:1-8

Yesterday we read that when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!'  Do not go after them or follow them.  For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.  But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:  They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  Even so it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away.  And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.  I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed:  the one will be taken and the other will be left.  Two women will be grinding together:  the one will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field:  the one will be taken and the other left."  And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?"  So He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together."

 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:  "There was a in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'"  Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus described tribulation to come to the world (see above, 17:22-37).  My study bible says that persistent and faithful prayer, as described by the tenacious widow in Jesus' parable, is the remedy for that tribulation.  Prayer is the "recipe" for our way of life in this time that we live in.  St. Paul teaches, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  All of these things:  rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks, refer mainly to prayer.

"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"  My study bible says that Christ often uses this form of a question when speaking of characteristics that are rarely found (see also 11:11, 12:42).

The time of tribulation and testing isn't only about a period just before Christ's return.  It is a certain way that we can think about the period we live in now, the age, which begun with Christ's Incarnation and will continue until His Second Coming.  It is a time of testing, that requires discernment on our part.  There's a struggle going on, a spiritual battle.  Christ is the "stronger man" who has come to bind the "strong man" (see Luke 11:21-23).  With this description, Jesus responded to those who accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons.  In effect, what Christ described is something He has come here to do, to claim His authority in our world -- over that of the "prince" or "ruler of this world" (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).  What that indicates is a kind of power struggle going on, a spiritual battle behind the scenes of our world, one in which we struggle -- as followers of Christ -- with things that may oppose our faith and our work in discipleship to Him or as servants of Christ.  This isn't like a political battle in the world we see around us, nor is it manifest as some sort of real-world military battle.  This is a battle that goes on in the midst of us, where we meet the kingdom of God that is within us.  It's a battle in which we struggle within ourselves, because it is a battle for hearts and minds, for souls.  Therefore the key to this particular struggle is discernment.  The way to help our capacities for discernment, to arm ourselves in the struggle for faith, is through practices that shore up our own discipleship -- but the main weapon is prayer.  In fact, one could say that all practices of the Church:  almsgiving, fasting, worship, thanksgiving, etc. are forms of prayer.  They are ways of communion with the One whom we serve.  We rely on His Holy Spirit.  We seek relationship always with the Father, Son, and Spirit.  Where one is, there the others are also.  To stay in communion -- to pray --  is to choose a side, to wage a battle, to struggle for one's own faith.  And so, St. Paul teaches us, "Pray without ceasing."   It is upon this kind of struggle that Christ establishes His Church in the world, and gives us the Kingdom within us.  And He asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"   This question is not for the time of His return, as He's made perfectly clear that we don't know what time that is.  It is always asked for right now.