THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

- Matthew 27:32-44

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all with the crowd, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.   Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."   The prophesy is from Psalm 22:18.  The entirety of the Psalm tells the story of Jesus' crucifixion.  Simon of Cyrene is possibly a pilgrim in Jerusalem for the Passover, or he is possibly there for other reasons and is not a Jew.  At any rate, he is compelled as one from a Roman colony.  Cyrene was originally a prosperous, cultural Greek city in eastern Libya.  He and his family would become known in the early Church, as Mark's Gospel refers to him as "the father of Rufus and Alexander" (Mark 15:21). 

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  My study bible tells us that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His won to take upon Himself our sufferings.  He accomplishes this by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is our humanity.  A note tells us, "Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9)."   We are told here of the two robbers on either side of Christ.  Although one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), Matthew tells us that at first both criminals mock Jesus.

Once again the Gospels give us a picture within a picture:  although Christ is mocked, the truth is here in the story.  It is here in the accusation:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Apollinaris of Laodicea (Bishop of Laodicea) comments that Jesus is now glorified while the day of the righteous is always mocked by the ignorant.  The world brings to Jesus in this scene all of its scorn and mocking, a projection of its hatred and destruction and condemnation.  Leo the Great (Pope St. Leo I) sees in Simon of Cyrene compelled to carry the Cross a vision of the faith that would come to the Gentiles, to whom the cross of Christ was not to be shame but glory. He writes, "It was not accidental therefore but symbolic and mystical, that while the Jewish rulers were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share his sufferings. Thus the apostle would say, 'If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him'" (2 Timothy 2:12; Romans 8:17).  It seems essential to understand how Christ stands in for us in this place of mocking and derision.  The cruelty of His extreme suffering becomes something to laugh about, to make worse through jeers and rebukes.  He is the One who is wholly innocent and without sin, and yet He takes on this sin and bears it for us.  But the irony is that it is sin being crucified so that we may be reborn without it.  This is the hour, contrary to the worldly appearance, that Christ calls His hour of glory (John 12:23).  Regardless of what is being done to Him, the true reality of Christ is one of glory and divinity.  The lies and injustice -- for injustice is also a form of a lie -- cannot truly touch the essence of Christ, His substance.  Through faith, this becomes our own hour of glory, as to be to crucified with Christ is to awaken to our own true nature as His children:  we may be reborn through His suffering to be "like Him," to take on and grow in His likeness, and to come to understand ourselves as creatures made in the image of God.  Is this a picture of humanity, made only for the lowest and most miserable existence -- or is it rather a picture of what we do, how we sin, what lies we tell ourselves, what suffering we cause or are made only to endure?  That particular picture of sheer misery is the "worldly" one, in which meaning and value are only attached to appearance -- a "material-mindedness" that subjects us to a valuation based on rank, competition, manipulation, a hierarchy of who can claim what.  But Christ's crucifixion turns that world upside-down, gives us a reality that transcends it and even more -- the reality that is present here transforms that suffering.  It takes the suffering and through it tells us the truth instead.  That truth is that God is love, who loves us and values us so that we are worth God's suffering -- even to give us life in ways we didn't have it before.  This is a picture of the eternal God who intersects our time in order to bring us the gift of life, even hidden in this picture of a gruesome and miserable death.  There are several here who will themselves be transformed:  the centurion and men who are with him, one of the robbers crucified with Christ, Simon of Cyrene and his sons -- and these are just the immediate beneficiaries we can name, for whom a new life begins at the Cross.  And there is even more to this story:  our faith may come to us even when we are alone and outcast, when the whole world seems to collaborate to tell us we are nothing but sin.  Leo the Great goes on to note that Christ is crucified outside the gates of the city; He is the new lamb slain not in the temple whose sacrifices will come to an end, but on the altar of the Cross once and for all -- and for all the world.   This transfiguring moment means that we are never alone, He is always with us in every hour and at all times of our lives.  His gift of life is waiting for our own suffering to be transformed in His image, if we live our own suffering with Him.  And in this understanding, nothing will ever be the same again.

I am innocent of the blood of this just Person

 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. 

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

- Matthew 27:24-31

On Saturday, we read that Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.  Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"

 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.   That all the people answered Pilate and said, "His blood be on us and on our children" has been used by certain groups to justify persecuting Jews, which my study bible calls a grave and terrible sin.  In fact, what many may have seen as a curse is an unwittingly invoked blessing -- the Lord's blood is the source of their redemption.  Moreover, my study bible says, these words are implicitly spoken by anyone who sins.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that even though these Jews "acted with such madness, so far from confirming a sentence on them or their children, Christ instead received those who repented and counted them worthy of good things beyond number."  Furthermore, according to my study bible, Chrysostom additionally notes the thousands who were converted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) as evidence of Christ's mercy.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   My study bible notes here that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention here is to mock Jesus, it is, in fact, prophetic that He is crowned and hailed as King by soldiers of the governor (see also John 11:49-51, in which Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies of Christ's redemptive work).  The mockery on display here shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by human beings who bears the iniquity of all (see Isaiah 53:3-9).  He is clothed in scarlet, representing both Jesus' royalty and the sins of humanity which He has taken upon Himself. 

In Saturday's reading and commentary, we noted the peculiar sort of "mirroring" that the scenes of Jesus' trial and punishment seem to invoke.  Barabbas means "son of the father" and Jesus is the true "Son of the Father."  Barabbas, whom the crowds prefer, is seen as liberator and redeemer in his role as brigand or rebel outlaw, but Christ is our true Redeemer of all, in whom is the true continuation of Israel, the "people of God" who would be comprised out of all the nations of the world (Psalm 22:27-28).  Here in today's reading, revelations abound where they are not meant and are inadvertent.  The people in this crowd stirred up for Jesus' crucifixion by the leadership call for Christ's blood to "be on us and our children."  But they quite literally "know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).   In effect they are calling for their own redemption in unwittingly speaking of the power of the blood of Christ.   Unknown to us may be many who participated in this scene who later came to follow Christ.  The soldiers of the Roman guard of the governor mock Christ.  They call Him King and dress Him in a scarlet robe.  They "bowed the knee" before Him.  They don't know that He is the One to whom "every knee shall bow" (Isaiah 45:23), but the Gospel tells us that among them there is a leader, a centurion, who will come to faith before these events finish (27:54).  In the changes that would eventually come to the Roman Empire, it is perhaps the faith of so many of its soldiers that made the greatest difference in the eventual establishment of the religion of "New Rome" as that of Christ.  Although the images of Christ's persecution, humiliation, and sentencing are perversions of justice and of truth, the truth of Who Christ is remains hidden in plain sight, so to speak.  The twisting of truth cannot entirely prevail over the identity of Christ and the Truth that He is and brings (John 14:6).  This is important for us to remember:   that lies cannot really change what actually is.  Regardless of the attempts of evil to pervert this truth, despite injustice, deliberate lies and manipulation, envy that would destroy even the Son of God and His followers, the truth remains.  People may be deceived, and lies may be told, the truth "officially" banished, but the presence of this reality nevertheless remains and is present for those with faith and whose hearts will come to faith.  It is important to understand that manipulation does not have the power it seeks.  It deceives for a time, but it lacks the substance of truth, of reality.  Let us consider, then, the futility of what is before us in this scene in the Gospel.  Evil causes pain and suffering, it wastes the time of our lives, it seeks to delude, it uses sleight of hand to deceive and to create a false allure.  But Christ's truth will prevail.   Faith will not be dissolved; far from it (Romans 8:28).  The people who call down a curse actually call down a blessing.  The truth is there, and it always will be.  It is only lost to those who are blind and do not wish to see.

Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?

 Now Jesus stood before the governor.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"

- Matthew 27:11-23

Yesterday we read that when morning came, after Jesus' night trial, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.  And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.   Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."  And they said, "What is that to us?  You see to it!"  Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.  But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood."  And they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.  Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced," whom they of the children of Israel priced, "and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me."

Now Jesus stood before the governor.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.  The chief priests do not present their real charge of which they've convicted Jesus -- the claim of equality with God -- because the governor would not be persuaded to sentence Him to death by a charge of blasphemy.  Instead, a charge of treason is brought to the governor against Jesus; that is, that He called Himself the King of the Jews.  This crime in fact would carry a death penalty, as it is a challenge to the rule of Rome and Caesar.

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.   The name Barabbas means "son of the father."   The strange irony here is that the crowds have to choose between one Son of the Father and the other.  As the chief priests seek to persuade the crowd to choose Barabbas (v. 20), my study bible says, they indicate to which father they belong -- the devil ( see Jesus' words at John 8:44).

Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"  My study bible notes that Pilate tries three times to release Jesus in this passage.  He asks, "Whom do you want me to release to you?"  He repeats by asking, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?", and finally asks, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But the chief priests and elders incited the crowd to demand that Jesus be put to death.  We note that Pilate's final question, "Why, what evil has He done?" remains unanswered.

There is a strange mirroring or mimicking effect that is happening here in this scene of great injustice and evil.  Barabbas first of all, as noted by my study bible, means "son of the father."  The very charge against Jesus is that He has called Himself "Son of the Father," making Himself equal with God.  Secondly, Barabbas is often called a robber, but is more akin to a rebel or brigand -- one who fights Roman rule through violence and theft, a rebel outlaw.  He is a violent revolutionary, a would-be liberator.  And there lies the next parallel to Jesus.  Jesus is the Redeemer, meaning one who sets the captives free, our ultimate spiritual liberator.   This is an attribute also of the Messiah.  Who is the champion of the people?  Who is the one who is truly for them and with them?  This is the question people must decide in their hearts, the question for which the religious leadership incites the crowd to choose that Barabbas be freed.   Which comes first, and what is primary?  How are we to be truly freed?  It is Jesus who has said, when He was seized in the garden of Gethsemane, and Peter drew a sword to defend Him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  Jesus' example of faith is to put God first before all things, and teaching us that this is where our true liberation lies, in contrast to putting faith in weapons and material power.  It is really a question that the whole text of the New Testament, and particularly explicitly in passages of the letters of St. Paul, puts to us about our viewpoint on life:  either we are going to see ourselves as part of a whole perspective of spirit, soul, and body -- inseparable from one another, or our lives are simply material and separate from God.  The choice between Jesus the Son of the Father, and Barabbas "the son of the father" is found just there.  Are we to be liberated at the core of our being, and thus awakened to the whole of our lives and where we may be enslaved -- or is liberation merely a material-minded concept of rebellion separate from our true heart and spirit?   Moreover, this scene is an image of heresy, given to us by Jesus in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, in which the tares or weeds resemble the wheat, but do not give its good grain.  Barabbas may look like a liberator, and the chief priests and elders sit in the seats ordained for the spiritual leadership of Israel, but each person in this crowd and all others must look carefully to make a choice, and to decide which "father" they want to follow.  So we are faced every day with choices that are designed to fool us spiritually, to enable us to forget that before all other things we have one loyalty which should guide us in our choices.  Evil -- at least as told in the story of Jesus Christ -- is not something that is patently obvious to all.  Rather, evil can be persuasive, can mimic, can be difficult to discern, and Jesus repeatedly demands our wakefulness and watchfulness.  Its very quality is to be consistently misleading, allied with a lie.  Life is not presented to us as a simple or obvious choice, but rather one that asks that we put all our intelligence and capabilities to work.  It is this kind of demand that makes Jesus our true Liberator, as He seeks for His followers to develop all their talents and gifts of God, and to grow in them.  He asks us to remain prayerful, not swayed by crowds and extreme passions, but rather to endure to the end, to be ready for His Return, and live by remembering and following His commandments (see this reading).  This is our recipe for freedom and liberation, being a slave to no one, but free in our faith in Christ and in the truth He brings to us.   Liberation begins in the heart.  We put this faith first, and all else comes of that.

I have sinned by betraying innocent blood

 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.  And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."  And they said, "What is that to us?  You see to it!"  Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.  But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood."  And they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.  Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced," whom they of the children of Israel priced, "and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me."

- Matthew 27:1-10

Yesterday we read that Peter sat outside in the courtyard with the servants while Jesus was on trial inside the house of Caiaphas the high priest.  And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee."  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying."  And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth."  But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"  And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you."  Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!"  Immediately a rooster crowed.  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So he went out and wept bitterly.

  When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.  And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.   The religious Law dictated that the penalty for blasphemers was death (Leviticus 24:16).  But under Roman occupation, the Jews were prohibited from carrying out an execution.  Therefore they had to get permission from the the governor. 

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."  And they said, "What is that to us?  You see to it!"  Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.  But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood."  And they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.  Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me."  My study bible contrasts Judas to Peter.  Peter repented in his sorrow (see yesterday's reading, above, in which Peter wept bitterly).   It notes that Judas is remorseful but does not repent.  Suicide, it says, is not a sign of repentance but rather of self-absorption.  Two accounts of Judas' suicide are given in the New Testament, here and in Acts 1:16-19.

My study bible contrasts Judas' act of suicide with Peter's repentance.  If we look carefully at the differences we can perhaps find some important distinctions.  In Jewish Law, there was no such thing as allowance for "blood money" penalties.  That is, the only punishment for murder was death; it was not allowed to pay a financial penalty in recompense for murder.  The money from Judas is considered "the price of blood" by the chief priests, and therefore unlawful for the treasury.  Judas carries out his own penalty for murder, and hangs himself.   Judas recognizes, after Jesus' condemnation, that he has "sinned by betraying innocent blood."  But the chief priests and elders can do nothing to help him, he is to "see to it" himself -- and so he does.  We must contrast this with Peter who, although he has not betrayed "innocent blood" in the same sense that Judas has, nevertheless has denied Christ and repented through "bitter tears."  Peter's denial also comes in the face of a refusal to heed Christ's words to him prophesying the denial.  For many, the key difference here is that Peter will return to Christ and to the Church, and Judas does not.  Is there hope for Judas?  We noted in the commentary in Tuesday's reading (in which Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss) that Jesus immediately addressed Judas, saying, "Friend, why have you come?"  Jesus, even after betrayal, is still attempting to save Judas.  It seems clear from Jesus' question that He attempts to engage Judas, not to condemn, but to assure him that there is a possibility of return even then.  But Judas does not return to Christ, nor does he return to the other apostles.  We don't know, of course, what his reception with the other apostles would have been, but it is clear that whatever place in which he experiences his remorse is devoid of mercy or redemption.  He is engaged only with a system in which the penalty for his action is death -- and he does not go to the One who seeks above all else our salvation.  He has given up his life as a follower of Christ.  In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three parables, each of which affirms God's exemplary joy over even one sinner who repents.  Jesus says in the first parable (of the lost sheep), "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  He repeats after the second parable (of the lost coin), "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  And finally, He tells the parable of the Prodigal Son, with the father declaring, "It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."  This three-fold emphasis on the incredible joy over one who repents, who was lost and is therefore found by returning to his father, must leave us with the assurance that there is none for whom God's love does not desire return.  We can look at the horror of the betrayal of Judas, and its depth of sinfulness, but we are then left with a question.  Do we take Judas' perspective that there is no hope at all, and that he is only deserving of death -- or can we wonder about the possibility of a return to Christ and what Christ's judgment would be?  It's clear that from a worldly perspective, there was only condemnation for Judas, and his own self-imposed exile from Christ limited his option to death by his own hand.  But with Christ, judgment comes only from God, whose love for us is so great that salvation is the key priority to all things, and the joy in heaven that we are assured awaits one who was lost and is found again.  In the story of Judas there is the assurance that although the world would condemn, our hope is with Christ -- even when there is no other hope.  This is the definition of our faith.  St. Paul writes, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  Judas, above all else, lacks this faith, but it is in that very faith that lies our hope when all other possibilities seem to be exhausted.  He lacks the very gift that Christ has brought to us when all else fails.  

Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out and wept bitterly

 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard.  And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee."  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying."  And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth."  But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"  And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you."  Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!"  Immediately a rooster crowed.  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So he went out and wept bitterly.

- Matthew 26:69-75

Yesterday we read that those who had seized Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"  And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?" 

  Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard.  And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee."  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying."  And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth."  But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"  My study bible comments that there is an echo or an icon here of Adam's temptation by Eve (Genesis 3:6), as a girl is the first to test Peter in this scene.  This fallen state is overcome when it is women who are the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-10).

And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you."  Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!"  Immediately a rooster crowed.  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So he went out and wept bitterly.  Peter's speech betrays him as he speaks with the accent of a Galilean, like Christ.  In this reading, Jesus prophesied Peter's denial of Him this night, in the midst of Peter's vehement denials.  When the rooster crowed, Peter came to himself, and went out and wept bitterly.  My study bible quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who wrote that "through tears, what cannot be defended can be purged, for tears wash away the offense which is shameful to confess out loud."

The rooster's crow is truly a "wake up call" for Peter.  It is a time when he comes to himself, understands himself, wakes up to himself -- and realizes Christ's prophesy as correct.  Tears are signs of truth, one that is faced and transformed through recognition, grappled with.  Peter's not only realizing that what Christ said about his own weakness was correct, but that Peter's grand understanding of his capacity for heroism was wrong.  He capitulates in front of a servant girl.  We can hardly blame Peter entirely for the terror of this night.  He is the one who drew the sword to defend Christ in the garden (identified in John 18:10), whereby Jesus told him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword," and assuring him that if He desired, the Father would defend Him with legions of angels.   It seems that Peter simply cannot grasp what is happening.  He is, after all, the one who insisted that Christ will not die, to which Christ responded, "Get behind Me, Satan!" (16:22-23).  Through this experience, Peter must come to terms with several different things, and it's illustrative of our own transformative processes that may take place within our faith.  First, there is his own weakness, despite his declaration to Jesus that "even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  And, after Jesus' prophesy that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crows, Peter said,  "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" (see this reading).   He has a faith in himself that comes from not knowing his own human weakness.  Secondly, he doubts even the prophecy of Christ regarding his own vulnerability.  Finally, there are the bitter tears of recognition and truth -- and the repentance that comes with them.  It's very important that we take all of these things in the context of our own journeys of faith, and the process of salvation.  We're not simply fully healed in a flash, we don't come to the fullness of union and salvation automatically, and there is really no bypassing all the steps in this process of coming to reconcile ourselves not only with Christ and His vision for us, but the recognition of our own weaknesses and things that need changing along the way.  Peter trusted in himself that he surely would never let Christ down, and when it comes time for his own death, so it will be a sacrificial, humble, and heroic one.  But in this circumstance in today's reading, there is so much more that he must learn, and endure, and grow through along the way to becoming the powerful leader among the apostles that he will become.  Thus, Peter remains such an important example of those among whom we choose to grow in our own faith, whose own experience must inform us about the powerful healing journey of faith.  There are sometimes heartbreaking truths we must accept, sometimes things we won't be able to control and things that will go the opposite way of what we think it perfect and right.  Humility can be an exceptionally tough lesson to learn.  But through it all, we have our own tears of recognition and reconciliation and acceptance -- and our own way to grow through such experiences and the fullness of who we are and can become in Christ's love.  We will all make mistakes along the way.  Let us be truly thankful that the love of God sees us through all of our own stumbling, blindness, shortcomings, through the gift of faith.

Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?

 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"  And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?"

- Matthew 26:57-68

Yesterday we read that while Jesus was still speaking to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"  And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  We note Peter's native courage; he at least followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  My study bible comments that the people misunderstand Christ's words as reported in John 2:19-21.  There were some Jews who believed that the temple would be destroyed and a new one built by the Messiah.  What is indicated by Jesus' silence?  Most likely He understands the closed minds and hardened hearts of this court and these witnesses; none are interested in His truth.

And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?"  Jesus responds to the command of the high priest, putting Him under oath by the living God.  Although He knows these men do not act in good faith, His respect for the institution of the high priest has always been consistent.  He quotes from Psalm 110 and Daniel 7:13, and confesses that He is the Messiah;  that is, He is both fully Man and fully God.  Only a divine One could sit at the right hand of the Power, and share authority with the Father.  My study bible says that this statement was clearly understood by the high priest to be a claim of equality with God the Father.   For a mere human being to claim this was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16).  Christ, however, is both human and divine, and therefore this declaration of equality is not blasphemy.  Let us note the deterioration of propriety in this court, against their own Law, set first by the example of the high priest.  According to Leviticus 21:10 it is a violation of the Law for a high priest to tear his clothing (a common response to blasphemy against God).  It's an indication in the text of the open rage at work here, and the lack of honor for the office.  The mocking of gifts of prophesy and deliberate humiliation and abuse of Jesus tells us all we need to know about this court's (and their officers') respect for the things of God.

I'm always struck by the humiliating and abusive behavior in the court, and in particular toward Jesus after sentencing.  It seems somehow exceptionally blasphemous in and of itself.  Even if there were sincerity in the pronunciation of the verdict of blasphemy, to ridicule by using terms of prophesy seems particularly odious for members or officers of a court established through Mosaic Law to preserve a spiritual heritage based in prophesy.  St. Chrysostom has an extensive comment on the inclusion of these particular acts of humiliation against Jesus.  He comments with admiration on the self-restraint (in contrast to the high priest) of the disciples who carefully preserved every detail in the Gospel, and says that it clearly shows their disposition to love the truth.  He writes, "They relate with all truthfulness the things that seem to be opprobrious. They disguise nothing. They are not ashamed of anything. Rather, they account it as a very great glory, as indeed it was, that the Lord of the universe should endure to suffer such things for us. This shows both his unutterable tenderness and the inexcusable wickedness of those men who had the heart to do such things to Him that was so mild and meek."  What this does for us is several things, among which is a teaching about injustice and bullying.  If, as His followers, we are to see in Him in the face of others, then how do we see any such circumstance, in which a "mild and meek" person is treated brutally?  What do we observe if the holy things, such as prophesy, are used or abused in the service of such behavior, even to denounce one who is supposedly blasphemous?  What are we to see where forms of brutality and violence rule, even supposedly in the nominal service to what is holy?  Christ goes there for us and asks us to watch; His disciples shy away from reporting none of the humiliating details of what He voluntarily endured.  The great and transcendent truth here is that the world, regardless of its harsh treatment, cannot be the judge of our worth.  That judgment belongs only to the One who underwent this humiliation, who stands in our place and takes on all the worst that the world can offer.  Injustice is illuminated here, the doors are thrown wide open for us to observe and understand what sin really is, what giving full vent to rage and envy and selfishness can mean.  Our Lord has taken on this part to show us the truth.  Let us have the courage to follow His lead and see for ourselves this reality, living as He asks us to live and not turning a blind eye to His love that teaches us to do so.  For this is how we live the Kingdom even in this world.

How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?

 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

- Matthew 26:47-56

Yesterday we read that Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you to watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

  And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Many commentators have observed Jesus' response to Judas here.  By asking, Friend, why have you come? He is still giving Judas an opportunity to save himself through repentance.

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  Here Jesus rebukes Peter (who is identified in John 18:10) for using the sword.  Peter still has not accepted that Christ goes to His death willingly, so that salvation for mankind might be fulfilled.  A legion is 6,000 soldiers, according to my study bible.  Therefore twelve legions are 72,000 angels.   That Christ's death was prophesied in the Scriptures will serve to strengthen the disciples at the time of their greatest test.

Jesus' disciples are scattered; it is a time of the fulfillment of prophecy, as Jesus says in today's reading, and also indicated when He quoted from Zechariah at the Last Supper:  "I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered."  The text tells us that all the disciples forsook Him and fled.  This is the time of the greatest danger.  It is unclear what is going to happen. But we notice that throughout this text, at this time of final confrontation with these leaders and their followers who come to seize Jesus in the middle of the night, Jesus' confidence is supreme.  He tells Peter to put away his sword, noting that He could ask the Father for more than twelve legions of angels which would be provided to Him.  He tells Peter, "How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"   And He affirms and repeats for everyone, "But all this was done so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  This is the final chance before His Crucifixion to shore up the faith of all of His followers, to affirm that He goes voluntarily, that there is a plan in place here, and that all things are in the hands of God.  Once again, we note that Jesus sets the example here for what confidence truly is.  This is not a supreme confidence in Himself alone, and surely not merely in His human abilities and intelligence, but a supreme confidence in God the Father, in the holy will He shares.  Although He is the Christ, and the only-begotten Son, as the fully human Jesus He teaches each of us what true and surpassing confidence is:  a full reliance on and faith in God.  His rebuke of Peter shows us clearly that we are not to trust in swords for our life; if that is what we put our faith in, so we will perish by it.  As He goes, so we may rely on Him to help us in our deepest challenges; it is our own self-emptying and capacity for faith that gives us the transcendent thread through all things and the power to endure.  It is our capacity for salvation that is supremely important, transcendent, and essential.  Note how Jesus tries still to save Judas by addressing him as Friend.   It may seem paradoxical and even irrational, but through all things, including through our greatest trials and threats to our well-being, it is really our salvation that remains of central and crucial importance.  That connection we have to Christ, to the Source of life itself, to the abundance of life He offers, is our one remaining capacity for strength and resources in short supply.  It is this that makes the difference in our hope for a silver lining, for the intelligence to see what we might otherwise be blind to, for opportunities for growth and change, and especially for creative imagination to see beyond the limits that we find are placed upon us in difficult times.  Christ emphasizes the fulfillment of the Scriptures -- not to say that all things must happen because the Scriptures are written, but rather to teach us that the Scriptures pour out of a place that sees beyond what we see, a Source that has foreseen what will happen and why it will happen, from the prophets who were given a glimpse of that which surpasses time and our own understanding of how all things work together for good to those who love God.  Scripture gives us a reassurance that surpasses time, so that we may taste and see the life in God, the reality of our union in Christ.  Let us look to Him and hear those reassurances He offers to us.

My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me

 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you to watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

- Matthew 26:36-46

On Saturday we read that as Jesus and the disciples were eating the Passover meal known as the Last Supper, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble"  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.

 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  My study bible tells us that this cup refers to Christ's impending death.  He willingly goes to His death according to His divine nature.  But as a man, He wishes He could avoid it, because it is a mark of humanity to abhor death.  He prays if it is possible that it be taken from Him, thereby giving us abundant proof of His human nature.  But nevertheless, Jesus is without sin and completely subjects and units His human will to the Father's divine will. 

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What?  Could you to watch with Me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.  Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."   Jesus gives us -- at this time of greatest tension and danger -- the key to Christian spirituality and the struggle against temptation:  to watch and pray.  In this way, the Lord's human soul is strengthened, my study bible says, and He may face death with divine courage.  In contrast to Christ's vigilance, the disciples sleep.  Body and soul are united, and the spirit is paralyzed by a lethargic body:  a willing spirit, recognizing the weakness of the flesh, will struggle against its weakness, relying on God's presence and power.

What is the greatest weapon we have at times of tremendous stress and difficulties?  Constant prayer.  One of the greatest gifts our faith has given us is the practice of prayer of the hours.   This is the daily practice of prayer at particular intervals during the day.  It stems from Jewish practices.  Psalm 119:164 refers to these formal prayer periods:  "Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments."    In Christianity, these set times for different prayers during the day evolved in different centers, becoming standardized forms in various denominations of the Church.  One may easily adapt the practice to individual use if not available in a church, in accordance with various forms among the Orthodox, Anglican/Episcopalian, Catholic, and varied Protestant traditions.  (Here, for example, is an Orthodox page on the daily hours of prayer.)  It is highly effective as a rule for regular prayer, and particularly so in the context of this event in Jesus' life:  at our times of greatest stress and difficulty.  In times when we are stressed to make difficult decisions, such as the ill health of a loved one, or a financial crisis, or a great challenge to our sense of ourselves, we are in a position of vulnerability.  Great temptations can come and seem to accompany such times, along with great stress.  As Jesus tells us in this worst-of-times example, it is particularly important to have regular times to pray when we find ourselves in such circumstances.  Prayer withdraws us from our immediate stresses, and allows us to "plug in" to the Source of all our being and strength.  It enables us to draw upon the great well of eternal strength that is there for us, recharging us and giving us a perspective that isn't found anywhere else.  To schedule regular times of prayer in the midst of a crisis is to call a time-out, a time for recharging our batteries, and most especially for drawing upon the energies found in the source of all life, our God.  It is at those times when each of us may be in the greatest spiritual danger.  It is as if, in our times of great turmoil. we are vulnerable to temptations that are unknown to us or for which we are unprepared.  At such times, taking timeouts for regular prayer, using the written prayers of the Church, can make an exceptional difference in how we handle terrible circumstances.  Personal prayer is always important, but the daily cycle of prayers composed of traditional prayer make a great difference, as they take us out of our immediate circumstances and give us the tools, foundations, and strengths shored up and accumulated through centuries of human experience in which we may participate and share when we need it.  Jesus gives us the example:  watch and pray.  There is nothing more crucial when the flesh is weak -- at our times when all our personal mental, physical, and spiritual resources are tested and in danger of exhaustion.  Even if we have to take time out of our sleep for such prayer, the reward is greater stability, balance, and energy for making the decisions we need to make in times of distress.  Let us learn from Him and follow His commands for the good of our own lives.  At those times, He will watch with us when we enter into prayer, along with a host of witnesses and help.

I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

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

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

"But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.

- Matthew 26:26-35

Yesterday we read that on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And he said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.  When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  he answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.   This is the institution of the Eucharist.  On the evening He is about to be seized and arrested, this is the long-awaited messianic banquet, to which He admits even Judas (compare to Esther 7), and seeks by all means to save him.  My study bible says that because of his wicked heart, Judas' participation leads to his condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).   In the Divine Liturgy, Jesus' words are repeated, which invite the faithful to receive His body and blood.   Holy Communion is meant to unite us to Christ.  Here Jesus gave thanks (which is from the Greek word for "eucharist").  My study bible says this is in order to teach us: first, how to celebrate the sacrament; second, that He comes willingly to His Passion; and third, to accept sufferings with thankfulness, knowing that God can use sufferings for ultimate good.  The Old Covenant was sealed with the blood of bulls and goats, but the New is sealed by the git of Christ.  He shed His own blood to conquer sin and death, and to reconcile us with God.  This Jesus calls the blood of the new covenant, which is God's promise and the fulfillment of the Law.  By new, my study bible says, Jesus means that this covenant brings immortality and incorruptible life.  We are to understand that this covenant will always have the quality of newness; this is the very nature of Christ Himself and the power of God (Revelation 21:5).

"But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.   My study bible tells us that patristic writers teach that Jesus also drinks the cup of His own Blood.  He does so in order to lead all believers into participation in His heavenly mysteries.  In My Father's kingdom relates to the time after His Resurrection, when Christ will eat and drink to show the reality of His victory over death (see Luke 24:41-43).  Moreover, it directs our understanding to the eternal banquet of the Kingdom in the age to come.

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.   Jesus quotes from the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7, and He makes His own prophecy of what is to come for the disciples, particularly for Peter.  But they all deny what He tells them about themselves.

There are two extraordinary things that happen in today's reading.  The first is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ not only prepares us for this time in which we await His Return, but also initiates the presence of the Kingdom in the world, and our way of participating in it and in His very life.  The second is Peter's (and the rest of the disciples') denial of Christ's prophecy that Peter will deny Him three times this night.  Peter vows that this will never happen, as do the other disciples.  But it's a very important lesson for us about reliance only upon ourselves for something.  We can't really calculate all our own weaknesses.  Only Christ understands that about His disciples, and about the powerful forces that will be at play to scatter His followers; these forces are both worldly and those described as the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12, Luke 22:31).   So often we are simply unaware of our real struggles and real needs, but Jesus is not "in the dark" about the reality of the present time and the dangers that are there.  Peter, and the subsequent story that is to come in his denial of Christ, illustrates an important story about our own confidence in ourselves.  While confidence is generally a good thing, and our culture certainly seems to admire it or form cults around those who seem to possess it to a great degree, there are different kinds of confidence.  There is a kind of toxic side to self-confidence (if we may call it that) when we fail to understand our vulnerabilities and weaknesses as human beings, and most particularly when we are blind to our own spiritual needs.  But having confidence that comes from a spiritual orientation to Christ and His promises is a completely different kind of confidence.  It is rather a confidence in the reliance upon Christ that acknowledges vulnerability and is aware of our need for spiritual strength in faith and communion.  And therein comes the Eucharist, which Christ institutes at this Last Supper before He is taken by the authorities.  Christ institutes the Eucharist in order to initiate us into the Kingdom that is present even while we live in a world full of threats and insecurities.  He allows us through the Eucharist to participate in His very life.  He gives us strengths, confidence, and nourishment of a kind we can't find elsewhere.  He gives us what we need for confidence in Him, even as He predicts that all of His followers will be scattered, but that He will meet them again in Galilee.  He meets us in the Eucharist.  Until He returns at the Second Coming, He is with us mystically in His presence through this communion that includes all of us in His mystical connection with us; His very Body and Blood allow us to participate in Him as He also is in us (John 14:19-24).  In order to find a genuine and realistic sense of confidence and security, this is what we need for a life in a world that is never without its risks and a life in which our imperfections and weaknesses are part of our very nature.  Life is a learning curve, but through reliance on God we pray that we may walk in the ways that are best for us, and that even our mistakes are used to bring us closer to God and more deeply into true communion and confidence.  In this way it is truly our humility that gives us the greatest strength, the reality of wisdom, and the capacities for faith through all things.  Let us be filled with the food He offers us.

The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!

 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And he said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  he answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."

- Matthew 26:17-25

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had finished all of His teachings on the end times and the time of His Second Coming, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."  And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And he said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.   My study bible reminds us that the Passover commemorates God's deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Land of Promise.  It prefigures the Passion of Christ, the new Passover (Pascha in the Greek), which is God's redemption of all humanity from sin and death, and entrance into the promised Kingdom.    Among the patristic commentators it is debated whether the first day of the Feast was Passover or the day before Passover.  However, it is certain that Jesus regarded this meal with the disciples to be the Passover meal.

When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  he answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."  That it is written of Him does not cancel the responsibility of Judas for his betrayal of Christ.  My study bible tells us that God foresees but does not cause the evil actions of human beings, who always have free will.  Jesus allows Judas to accuse himself, but even hearing that Christ knows of his deception, Judas does not repent.

Betrayal is something no one likes to think about.  I heard a talk by a priest who writes a regular column in a popular blog, in which he spoke about sin as essentially broken communion.  Sin breaks community.  In the context of the Mosaic Law, we can see an attempt to establish "good community," as summed up in the two greatest commandments Jesus named -- to love God with all one's heart and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as oneself.  This is a description of community, or more accurately, of communion as the love of God enables the sharing of God's nature of communion.  Betrayal is fundamentally in opposition to communion.  Betrayal is a breaking of trust.  We don't like to think about it because it stirs up every fear for our most basic needs as human beings, touching on issues that are fundamental to our well-being.  My study bible says of Judas' betrayal that it shows that religious position is worthless if not accompanied by faith and virtue.  But Judas' betrayal does more than betray Christ to the authorities who wish to put Him to death.  It breaks the communion of the disciples.  The betrayal makes it clear that even among nominal followers of Christ, hearts can betray communion and work destructively not only to betray trust but to lead people away from Christ.  Like so many of Jesus' teachings, the betrayal of Judas takes us once again to the state of the heart as the true place where faith either dwells, or does not.  Judas could carry out all Christ's commands to the satisfaction of appearance, but the heart could not follow.   There is a broken trust here, and trust is the root of faith.  The knowledge of the existence and possibility of betrayal is something revealed to us in the story of Christ and therefore in the heart of the story of our salvation.  It must inform us not only about ourselves but about the reality of the world in which we live, and in which we seek to live as members of the Kingdom, in communion with God and with one another.  It lays bare the power of our choices, and the responsibilities placed by God in human beings.  It teaches that we are given so much, and that without a right orientation to what is precious, our actions may prove exceptionally destructive.  But the very good news here that comes with this awareness is that even when the worst happens, God's work is not thwarted.  The betrayal itself, and the Crucifixion and death, will all come into play as instrument in our salvation with Resurrection.  The worst damage that human beings can do to break communion may in fact remain, in God's hands, an instrument of a greater redemption for those who love God (see Romans 8:28).  Do we have the faith to put all things into God's hands, even at the moment of terrible betrayal, our worst fears realized?  Christ will show us the way, and how to follow Him.   With faith, our communion remains; our God meets us even in our tragedies and the sadness of human failure and sin.  We just need to find God's way in the midst of the brokenness.

Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

- Matthew 26:1-16

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave His final summation in the discourse on the end times, and the time of His Second Coming:  "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuh as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."   My study bible comments that Jesus is delivered up to His Passion by His accusers, but He goes willingly.  Unless He had willed to go, His accusers could never have taken Him.  After His Resurrection, many saints imitated Christ by willingly going to martyrdom.

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  My study bible says that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  He particularly accepts it as a sign of His coming burial.  St. John Chrysostom comments that the disciples were not mistaken in principle:  a mercy shown to the poor is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (25:40; James 1:27).   But they did not understand that once the gift had been given, it was a greater mercy to accept it with love.  He writes, "IF anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anything providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."  Simon the leper must have been healed by Jesus earlier, as lepers were forbidden to live in towns.  Because of her faith, Jesus promises perpetual public memory of this woman.  My study bible notes that there is no consensus as to her identity in relation to accounts of similar events in Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-38; and John 12:1-8.  Some patristic commentators say that there were three different women in these four accounts, others that there were only two.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.  On his own initiative, Judas seeks to betray Jesus.  While his motives have been historically debated, both patristic writers and the liturgical hymns in the Eastern Church declare that greed was his primary motive, following John 12:4-6, in which John states that Judas was particularly upset about the "waste" of myrrh in the preceding story because he was a thief (see also 1 Timothy 6:10).   The phrase used here, one of the twelve, is not used in order to identify Judas (already known to Matthew's hearers) but rather to emphasize the depth of betrayal  -- that it was one of Christ's closest followers.

The extravagance of this anointing of Christ perhaps tells us a deeper story than meets the eye.  The suggestion that the money should have gone to the poor ignores the fact that Christ Himself is poor -- poor not only in the immediate sense in which we think about a lack of wealth or goods, but poor also in the sense that He is about to endure a terrible suffering and death, and that He will undergo misery and anguish.  As such this act of gratitude on the part of the woman can also be seen as an act of compassion.  Just as Jesus says, she has done a good work for Him, she has anointed His body for burial.  When we use our compassion, when we follow the heart of gratitude and love, our acts may work in ways that are even mysterious to us.  We could even consider the idea that this anointing by the woman is a kind of healing balm for Jesus, one that is in full acceptance of the Cross, and yet anointing with a kind of honor in preparation for His burial.  At least, this seems to be the way that Christ sees it.  Compassionate behavior works in this strange way, in that it stands out from the norm, the accepted way of understanding charity.  St. John Chrysostom says that the objection in favor of donation to the poor is not wrong in principle, but John's Gospel tells us it is made by Judas as he kept the money and stole from the treasury.  But what is noticeable in this story is not the objection, but Jesus' rebuke in front of the rest of the disciples.  Here that rebuke is general, but if the objection came specifically from Judas, the rebuke would be perceived in response to him personally.  As such, the failure to take Jesus' correction in a humble way is another sign of pride and lack of real discipleship.  This woman understands fully Jesus' love, but Judas fails to grasp it or understand it for himself.  Discipleship is more than following a Teacher, it is understanding the love of Christ and sharing in it.  Jesus will give a final command to the disciples at the Last Supper, to "love one another as I have loved you" (Jesus repeats this command three times in John's Gospel).  St. Paul writes of the fruits of the Spirit, which include love, "against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).  This woman's act of compassion and gratitude is born of love, and therefore not subject to the usual ways by which we judge.  It is not efficient and not nominally given to the "right people" we define as poor.  But it is an act of love and true faith, and therefore challenges us to broaden our understanding of what our faith is and does.  Moreover, it is deeply personal, as are all the stories we read of Christ when He is "moved with compassion."  Compassion calls us out of ourselves and into a complete understanding of what it is to love another as ourselves.  Let us seek to love as He commands, with the extravagance of gratitude.