And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

- John 17:20-26

In recent readings for this week, we have been going through Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the Last Supper, just prior to the time He would be arrested (beginning with Thursday's reading).  Yesterday, we read that Jesus continued:   "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."  My study bible says that those who will believe includes the Church in every generation.  All the faithful participate in the life and glory of the Trinity.  It says that Christians enjoy two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another, where the latter is rooted in the former.  As we bear witness through our own capacity to reflect the light of Christ, so "the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

"Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."   We hear in the prayer Christ's desire that all faithful "may be with Me where I am" so that we may behold His glory from the Father.  My study bible comments that the ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and even of life itself, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person.

In this prayer, frequently called the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed first for Himself, then for the apostles, and finally for all those who will come to believe in Him.  We note first the tremendous unity He expresses.  Several times He prays "that they all may be one."  But each time, it is with a particular property of the relationship Christ has with the Father.  First, through the word given first from the Father, which He has given to the apostles and which they in turn will give to the world.  Next, through the glory which the Father has shared with the Son, and in turn the Son shared with His followers.   And finally, a depth of unity through love.  We note, also, how glory, perfection, and love are somehow united in Christ's prayer.  We are meant, in Christ's words here, not simply to participate in His life, but in the fullness of life in the Father as well -- a kind of unity not possible except through God's work in us, through grace and the life of spirit.  It is also at the Last Supper that Jesus teaches the apostles that He will pray to the Father and the Father will send the Spirit:  the One who "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you . . . and testify of Me" (see John 14:16, 26; 15:26).  In this sense, we know that Father, Son, and Spirit all dwell in us and work within and through us to create a unity that is not possible except through this spiritual reality.  Through it all, there is an expression of deep love that is the true flavor or character of this unity.  Jesus wants us all to be with Him, He wants us all to be one with Him, but most of all He wants us to know the Father's love that He knows, and to be unified through that love.  In that love is, in fact, all the rest of our faith and its work in us.  It is that love that grows us in the spiritual life, in closeness to God, and more deeply toward the glory and the perfection of which He speaks in this prayer.   It is that love, in effect, that reveals to us the possibilities we contain for its expression, through the fruits of the spirit, through growth in humility, compassion, forbearance, and all the rest -- and into a capacity to discard and forego, even sacrifice, whatever it is that stands in the way of that growth.  This is the process into which He consecrates the apostles, and us in turn, which is revealed through this prayer.  It is this process which St. Paul reveals through his letters, when he teaches that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23)."  But, knowing the true reality of Christ's prayer, St. Paul teaches as well that without love, there is nothing else.  In 1 Corinthians 13 St. Paul gives his beautiful sermon left to us on the reality of love, and how love ties all the rest.   St. John, our Evangelist, leaves us a letter in which he teaches that God is love (1 John 4:8).  In all this, there is something of which we can be certain, and that is the power of love as given to us as a gift, and working in us to reveal what love is and does, and teaching us how to dwell and live and to better express and know this love.  The mystical reality Christ teaches in His prayer is the mystical reality of love, which we can learn through faith.  If our childhood is imperfect, if those whom we know are not kind, if strangers do not stand to give us anything that is love, then we have no need to despair -- for love is a gift of God through faith, and we grow in that love and that unity through our faith.  This is the promise of Christ, and it is His prayer, for all of us, none excepted.  The life of Christ -- and of the Trinity -- is ultimately the life of love which contains all else.  As St. Paul says in summing up his chapter on the gift of love:  "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).  These are the gifts we need for our life -- and through faith, and Christ's prayer, no one can take them away.  We are invited in to grow and participate "as one" in this life.  It is an open gift we have simply to receive and enter.  Our mystical union is always open; we just take the first step with faith and especially through prayer when nothing else is available.  Lent is the time for prayer, for making room for this faith to take root and a deeper hold within us, to exercise our capacity to choose for God, and to choose against whatever it is that gets in the way of our faith.  Let us take the time to make that room and let our lives grow in God's love.   As Christ reveals here, the world will not show it to us, but we must engage and grow with Him to learn and to know that love for ourselves.

Sanctify them by Your truth

 "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

- John 17:9-19

Yesterday we began to read what is called the High Priestly Prayer, which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.  He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."

 "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."  My study bible points out that, first, Christ prayed for Himself (see verses 1-5 from yesterday's reading, above).  Secondly, in today's reading, Christ prays for them, the apostles.  In tomorrow's reading, in the completion of the prayer, Jesus prays for those whom You have given Me; that is, all those who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study bible explains, the world is the portion of humanity which is in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.

"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."   The term Holy Father is echoes in the Eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2 (the earliest teaching document of the Church):  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  We can read the language of the name which echoes this High Priestly Prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. 

"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled."   The son of perdition ("destruction," related to a sense of total loss) is Judas Iscariot (6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy, my study bible tells us, alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9, 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist).

"But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."   My study bible says that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, it says, all believers attract the world's hatred.  The second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  Reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5), my study bible says, but their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one.

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."  To sanctify, my study bible explains, is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for the use of God.  St. John Chrysostom interprets of this verse as follows:  "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

What does it mean to be sanctified?  Jesus is setting Himself apart so that we, also, His followers, will understand that it is up to us to be sanctified by the truth.  These verses are said at the Last Supper, in this High Priestly Prayer, just before He goes to His arrest and subsequent death by crucifixion, and to His Resurrection.  Jesus speaks of His own sanctification, implying that the events which are to follow will forever set Him apart through the holiness that He is about to engage through His fidelity to the Father's will.  Jesus asks that, in turn, His followers also be sanctified in the Father's truth; that is, through participation and communion in the life of God.  He is asking for the Father's hand in creating the kingdom in this world, in which we may participate through faith, and be set apart through that entire field of truth which is this realm.  It is to make us different from "the world."  My study bible defines sanctify as "to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for the use of God."  In Greek the root of this word is also the root of the word "saint."  It also means "holy."  What we encounter, then, in the sense in which Jesus is using it here in His High Priestly Prayer, is a sense in which we, as His followers, are also to be set apart for God's purposes.  We walk in our faith -- not in order to be made kings of this world and all that may imply -- but, in fact, to be like Him, to be set apart for a particular purpose.  Indeed, that purpose and that "set apart" quality is more likely to make us strange to the world rather than exalted pillars of the world.  It makes us different, but in a way that is most important.  The world, as defined by Christ here, is that life of the world that is ruled by the "prince of this world" -- the devil.  Supremely selfish, set against God and the places God calls all creatures to be, that sense of the "prince" of this world is one in which we see what ails the world:  manipulation, greed, contempt for truth, taking shortcuts in which the end justifies any means, delusion, false gods which come in seemingly endless forms, and all the things we place ahead of how we are to live our lives in this truth.   The contempt one may experience for an integrity in faith, and the results that produces in life, are simply still with us, as perhaps one may have encountered in life when standing up for something that your faith calls you to do.  It is, in fact, in my experience, quite remarkable how true the words in this Gospel remain, even living in nominally "Christian" societies and perhaps even among those who are nominally "faithful."  There are times when really living our faith means standing up to something and setting oneself apart.  Sometimes it means just moving apart from who or what we know is not conducive to our spiritual growth, the things that we have found hinder us in our journey closer to God.  At times there will be apparent in our lives changes that we need to make:  not spending so much time with people who have extremely negative things to say about us or others, not living around those whose pastime is to gossip, and perhaps more importantly, making time to be alone to pray.  In each of these circumstances, moving away from what hinders spiritual growth and the deeper practice of our faith means setting ourselves apart, even when we do so unobtrusively and without any fanfare.  We will find, frequently, that others either comment that we have changed, or possibly do not like the results of our choice.  Either way, being set apart is part of the journey of faith, even in "little ways" we think others might not notice.  While Christ's spectacular sacrifice -- once and for all of us -- may be something extraordinary, we should be prepared for the less-than-extraordinary changes we might need to make, and for the effects that can be surprising when they do tend to set us apart from what we already know that is "worldly."  As faith is an ongoing journey, let us understand that this is a deepening process, even surprising, as we can see from the Gospels.  How prepared are the disciples for what is to come to them?  And yet each -- with one exception -- will make that leap and follow, becoming themselves martyrs, outcasts, and those set apart for their faith.  How will we, in turn, follow?

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."

- John 17:1-8

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

 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."  With these words, Jesus begins what is frequently called the High Priestly Prayer, as it contained the basic elements of prayer which a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is about to be made.  My study bible says that these elements include:  glorification, remembrance of God's works, intercession on behalf of others, and a declaration of the offering itself -- which is Christ Himself (Glorify Your Son, verse 1).   Christ's words bear witness to His divinity and to His filial relationship with the Father.  The hour has come signifies that Christ is Lord over time, as has repeatedly been indicated throughout John's Gospel in several ways.   Glorify, my study bible explains, refers to the redemption of all creation that will be accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection -- the purpose for which Christ was sent into the world.  In this redemption, Father and Son are glorified.  In the Eastern Church, the Cross -- a sign of death -- is glorified as "life-giving" and the "weapon of peace."

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."  My study bible says that the knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding.  It is participation in God's divine life and in communion with God.  Therefore, my study bible explains, eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

"I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."  My study bible notes that Christ's work can never be separated from who He is.  It claims that this verse is a statement each believer can make at the end of life, no matter how long or how short that life may be:  that our true work cannot be separated from who we are.  Christ is ready to go to that end that is the culmination and fulfillment of all "work" that is His, the glorification of Himself and the Father, revealed through the Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."  The men whom You have given Me are the apostles.  My study bible explains that they are the ones through whom God's word comes to us.  This handing down of God's word to successive generations is called apostolic tradition.  It cites Isaiah's prophesy that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Your name:   In the times of the Old Testament, the phrase "the Name" was a reverent substitute for God's actual Name "Yahweh," which was too sacred to pronounce, as my study bible tells us.  It says that the fuller revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, as Christ manifested the Name not simply by declaring the Father, but by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him.

Jesus says of His manifestation of the presence of the Father ("Your name") to the apostles:  "For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."   We note how Jesus connects the words which You have given Me with the thread of the presence of God, and faith in Christ.  As Christ is Logos, the Word, so the words of the Father as given through Christ come to us in order to reveal the Father in Christ, and Christ's divinity.  The "living word" is therefore both the Person of Christ and also the Gospel message, given from the Father through the Son who was sent to us, and who manifested the life of the Father in the world for us.  And this is His work.  As my study bible points out, Christ's work and identity are inseparable from one another.  As faithful, we are to understand ourselves and the work of the holy in a similar light.  We dwell in the place where both our work in life and our identity as persons come together in faith.  That is to say, if we grow in our faith so we also grow in the true work which manifests, builds, and grows our identity in Christ.  Just as saints are dynamic individuals characterized by their love of Christ, so we each may grow in unique ways through this love, culminating as do the saints, in outstanding ways that are expressions of the Spirit at work in the world.  We carry His word, given from the Father, expressed through Christ, and made living and present through the Spirit -- and thus we grow to become "more ourselves."  This is the work of the faithful, as stated by Jesus in chapter 6 of John's Gospel:  "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (6:29).   In yesterday's reading, so central to this time of Lent into which we enter, we read the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (see above).  Let us note that the Pharisee did many good works, and he was satisfied with his life.  The work of God, the work of Christ and that of the saints, is not simply doing "good works" (especially done to be seen by others).  It is not nominally thinking up ways to do good.  The work of God is faith, active and ongoing, holding fast to the words we've been given and living those words through the love of God, a participation which requires dialogue in prayer.  What makes a person saintly is not a list of good deeds, but rather sharing deeply and growing in that love of the Father, Son, and Spirit and shared with us and for us.  It is, as Jesus said, faith.   And faith is a living, growing, dynamic instrument within ourselves, a way that we become even more truly "ourselves" through time as we grow in that faith and live it and enter more deeply into it and the places it takes us.  This faith, this work of God, cannot be defined only by external signs or rules or public opinion.  As Jesus says to Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  Saints may be found in places no one ever heard of and no one would suspect.  Our deepest hearts are called to come to God and be given to God's work, and thereby we find ourselves and become more deeply ourselves.  This is the work of God, the work of the saints, and the work of Christ who manifests the Father -- and whose deepest revelation is yet to come in His Passion, death, and Resurrection, the events we celebrate as Easter.   Let us consider this unlikeliest image He calls glorification -- death on a cross -- and think about how little we may know of ourselves until we, too, walk in that faith and thus the work of God.

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

Teaching fresco of the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector; reproduced as a Lenten Greeting

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

- Luke 18:9-14

Yesterday we read that, after His trial by night at the home of the High Priest, the religious leaders led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.  Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector."  My study bible explains to us that the Pharisee is a highly respected and careful observer of the details of the Law, whereas the tax collector is despised as a sinner who collaborates with the occupying Roman forces, betraying and cheating his own people.  We should not be confused as to the places of these two characters in the story in the eyes of the people and the society.

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' "  My study bible tells us that the practices of this Pharisee are worthy examples to follow.  His good deeds (such as fasting and giving tithes), it says, are the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion).  Therefore, that makes this particular parable highly relevant to this time as we enter into Lent.  Without a humble and repentant heart, my study bible says, these outward practices are worthless, and as we can see from Jesus' parable, they lead to pride and judgment of others.  It is of great importance to note that Jesus tells us the Pharisee prays with himself.  My study bible says that "God is absent where there is boasting."

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' "  My study bible says that the tax collector shows by his posture an awareness of the state of his soul.  He stands afar off from the altar of sacrifice, and his eyes are cast down, showing his deep awareness that he stands before God as he prays.  This prayer, God, be merciful to me a sinner, is the foundation of the Jesus Prayer practice (see this article and this one for more information).   The refrain "Lord have mercy" permeates all liturgical and personal prayer.

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  To be justified, my study bible explains, means to be forgiven and set right with God -- as inward humility is blessed while pride in outward deeds is condemned (see Matthew 6:1).

Twice elsewhere in the Gospels Jesus repeats this same statement, that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (see also Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11).  But the sense of this statement appears many, many times throughout the bible (see, for more examples, this link).  My study bible makes note of the fact that Jesus tells us this Pharisee prays with himself.  In other words, for him there is one judge, and that is himself.  This is the very definition of self-righteousness, a justification within ourselves, and without a consciousness of standing before God.  By contrast, the tax collector is repentant, hanging his head, quite aware that he prays not with himself but with God.  He enters into a dialogue as he prays, and not a one-way street.  We can see the contrast between the two men exemplified quite often in the ways that people approach others whom they feel they have offended.  A childish person will immediately begin with justification according to their own feelings and ideas, and use that as a substitute for a proper apology.  This is akin to self-justification, and, even if they do have a good reason for their offensive behavior, it still lacks an awareness of the person they are addressing.  That is the difference between dialogue and speaking "with oneself."    To be truly humble is not a matter of necessarily humiliating oneself to others in some servile sense, but rather to be aware that we are always -- in a very real sense -- in the presence of God.  There is nothing about us that is hidden from Christ, who knows us better than we know ourselves.  Each, we're told, has a guardian angel, a being of an intelligence vastly superior to our own.  If this isn't enough to keep us humble, let us consider the "perfection" of this Pharisee.  He is, indeed, meant to be a model for all others in the society, and he truly does do the good deeds he says he does.  By contrast, the tax collector falls far short of any social ideal of good behavior.  In fact, tax collectors were despised by the rest of their communities, not only because they collaborated with the occupying Romans to collect taxes from their fellow Jews, but because that frequently included extortion (with the aid of the might of the Roman state) for their own personal graft.  They were seen as sinful traitors who preyed on their own community.  Let us not forget that Jesus does not diminish any of that in this parable.  Rather, He uses these two figures to make a point:  that "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   The tax collector is aware and humble before God, and the Pharisee is seemingly unaware that no matter what his "good deeds," God always has a way for us to come closer to God, something more in our journey of faith that we're unaware of.  It is, in fact, the Pharisee who is in this sense blind to himself, and the tax collector who sees himself.  Therefore let us consider, as we enter into this time where we make more time with God, what it really means to pray.  To pray is to enter into dialogue with God.  It's not before others that we need to compare ourselves and see how we measure up.   The Gospels have a choice phrase that sums up that mistake as well.  John tells us about the leaders who believed in Christ, but who would not say so openly:  "for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (see John 12:43).  It doesn't matter where we are on our own spiritual journey; there is always a way God calls us to come forward, to become more aware of ourselves, to make the changes God calls us to make.  It equally applies to both the Pharisee and the tax collector.  This is a walk forward, not a status quo standstill when we reach a certain place in our faith, for such is the nature of we creatures, human beings, who live in time and are meant to be challenged and expanded, like the new wine which needs new wineskins (Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37-39).  For that true journey of faith, and our walk with Christ, we need humility, the greatest of the virtues and gateway to all the rest, if we pay attention to the whole of Christian tradition.  Let us remember this time upon which we enter, and its purpose.  In keeping with the spirit of Lent, I post above what is no doubt meant to be a greeting.  It is a reproduction of a teaching fresco depicting the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  In the corner above we see an angel weeping at the Pharisee's mistake, with a giant fish about to swallow him up in his spiritual error.  Over the door of the temple, into which the tax collector enters, is the phrase from Hosea 6:6, which Jesus quotes back to the Pharisees in Matthew 9:13, 12:7:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  (Interestingly, in Matthew 9:13, Jesus has just made Matthew the tax collector his disciple, and Jesus is responding to the  Pharisees' criticism that He dines with him and other sinners.)   The tax collector enters in with his sinful means of gain clearly evident:  he wears a sword and carries his money bag.  And yet it is he who will leave justified.  In Greek, the phrase superimposed above is a greeting that reads, "Good Triodion," which is the three-week period in the Eastern Orthodox Churches that is the entryway into Lent.  Below the greetings read "Good  Repentance and Good Struggle" -- both a true depiction of our spiritual process during Lent.  Yes, these are meant to be joyful greetings, and so we enter into the joy of our Lord as we enter this period of Lent.

What is truth?

Icon of Christ the Bridegroom, by Theologic (found here).  Title reads "Behold the Man" (John 19:5)

 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

- John 18:28-38

 Yesterday we read that, after Jesus' arrest, Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple.  Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside.  Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.  Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?"  He said, "I am not."  Now the servants and officers who made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves.  And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. . . . Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.  Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"  He denied it and said, "I am not!"  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"  Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.   The religious leaders take Jesus to the governor, Pilate.  My study bible cites commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who notes the irony that Christ's accusers do not fear being defiled by condemning an innocent Man to death -- but they would not set foot into a court of justice.

 Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," . . .    My study bible explains that, since the chief priests of the Jews had no actual crime with which they could accuse Jesus to the Roman state, Pilate refused to pass judgment.   When the chief priests say, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," they are not referring to the Law of Moses, but rather to the laws of Roman occupation.  The Romans reserved the right for themselves only to execute people.  Therefore, the chief priests were relying on Pilate to sentence Jesus to death.

. . . that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.   Under Jewish law, stoning was the prescribed usual means of execution.  But Christ has prophesied that He would be killed by being lifted up on the Cross (3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33), expressing the foreknowledge that He would die, not at the hands of the Jews, but by the Roman state method of crucifixion. 

 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"   My study bible comments that it is unheard of that the accused would have to name charges against himself in any court, since it is the captors who would be the ones to name the crime.  That Pilate has to ask Jesus what the charges are shows that the chief priests could name no crime that He might have committed (see the previous verses above).   Moreover, it shows that Jesus was Lord over the events of His death (see also verses 4, 8 which take place at the time of His arrest).  Even the governor has to come to Him in order for the trial to proceed.

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."  My study bible says that although Pilate knows Jesus is innocent of any crime, he attempts to strike a compromise with the Jews by declaring Christ to be guilty, but will seek to free Him on account of Passover (verses 39-40).   He seeks to placate the chief priests with an official declaration of guilt, but avoid the unjust punishment of Christ through the traditional clemency practiced on the Passover.

Jesus says to Pilate: "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  And Pilate responds:  "What is truth?"  These important statements in some sense can be understood to sum up the whole of the Gospel of John.  Jesus speaks of bearing witness to the truth.  Moreover, He declares that those who are of the truth hear His voice.   It is in John's Gospel that Jesus declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" to His disciples at the Last Supper (14:6).  Pilate is right to ask, "What is truth?" as this is a truth that is more than simply facts on the ground, an article in an encyclopedia, a newspaper story, or some kind of report on a subject we seek to know more about.  Truth, in Jesus' sense, is inclusive of, but much more than ascertaining the guilt or innocence of a person on trial, and obtaining witness statements.  This truth is an entire field of reality, and it is connected to a Person.  Or, if we want to take it as Jesus has pronounced it, truth is a Person.  This is a special kind of a person, not one exactly like you or like me, but a Person who is divine, a creator of our world.  And thus, Jesus is the truth, and also bears witness to the truth.  This is the reality behind all that is, and it is that field of existence, the one that truly gives us life, of which Jesus is sent in order to bear witness, to testify for us about all that truly is.  He seeks to reconnect us with our Source, our origins in that truth.  And when He speaks of bearing witness to the truth -- even revealing this boldly and plainly to Pilate -- we must understand that it is all of this to which He refers, and so much more that we cannot know, that remains for us to discover in our journey of faith which lasts a lifetime and beyond a lifetime.  When Pilate asks then, "What is truth?" we should not scoff and we should not simply remark upon some kind of flaw of character in him, for at least Pilate knows that he does not know what Jesus is talking about.  Pilate's question gives over to the perspective that he is, in fact, outside of this truth and has no exposure to it.  And so, he asks, "What is truth?"  While we may speculate that perhaps, as Pilate is presumably a well-educated man, educated in the Greek and Roman system of his time and prepared for public service to the Roman Empire, he may be asking a philosophical question.  Whatever is behind it, Pilate shows that he is in some sense outside of the "system" or "field" of the capacity to perceive this truth.  Pilate reflects very much a modern mindset of a particular kind, in which truth is only what lies in formal education, popular understanding, or a certain kind of zeitgeist -- the "energy" of the time.  But the truth of which Christ speaks is always there and it is also eternal.  It is precisely because the truth Christ refers to is personal -- that it is, in fact, a Person -- that we may commune and participate in it.  We may have relatedness and relationship in it and with it.  This is where the recognition comes in that Christ tries to speak of before Pilate.  This truth, the Person who is truth, is also the Person who is love, for God is love.  And love makes possible the interrelation between persons who are "of" the truth to hear His voice.  St. John writes, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  It is this field of love, which is God, in which we find Christ's truth.  It is there where the gate or door is opened to the sheep who hear His voice (10:9).  It is this field of love where we find truth, the truth that makes us free, indeed, of all the misleading missteps that would teach us half- or partial truths about what love is and isn't; it is this field of love that defines our reality and lights our way on the path that opens up a deeper understanding, gives us the discipline we need, teaches us how to participate and know a greater love than we know from our less-than-perfect lives.  That is the truth into which we are invited in communion and relationship, in which we have a home and a way that we may go forward.  Pilate asks rightly, "What is truth?" because this is the question of the world.  And the One who stands in front of Pilate, awaiting judgment, is the answer.

The image above is an icon called "Christ the Bridegroom."  It is also considered to be an icon of marriage.   As our Bridegroom, He humbles Himself for us before Pilate, as a prisoner.  The Bridegroom is the judge of all, and yet He submits to be judged by one who must ask, "What is truth?"  As our Bridegroom, He sacrifices all out of love for us.  Christ the Bridegroom is an image of the mutual devotion and love in marriage, the two becoming one flesh (Mark 10:7-8), as Christ becomes one flesh with us in His humanity, and suffers voluntary for us.

Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Saint Peter in Tears, 1587-1596.  El Greco Museum, Toledo, Spain

 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple.  Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside.  Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.  Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?"  He said, "I am not."  Now the servants and officers who made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves.  And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

* * *

Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.  Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"  He denied it and said, "I am not!"  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"  Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

- John 18:15-18, 25-27

On Saturday we read that a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

  And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple.  Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside.  Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.   Today's lectionary reading skips us forward from John chapter 11 to chapter 18.  Jesus has been arrested and taken to the home of the high priest.  My study bible says that the other disciple is John, the author of this Gospel.  It notes that it was a common practice for an author to conceal his name in the details of his story (see 13:23; compare Mark 14:51-52; Luke 24:13, 18).

Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?"  He said, "I am not."  Now the servants and officers who made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves.  And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.   My study bible explains that a girl being the first to test Peter is viewed as an icon of the temptation of Adam by Eve (Genesis 3:6).  This fallen state, it says, is overcome in Christ, when it is a woman who is the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection (20:1, 11-18).

Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.  Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"  He denied it and said, "I am not!"  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"  Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.   After his three denials of Christ, Peter will be restored via his three affirmations of love which follow the Resurrection (21:15-17).

As we enter into the Lenten season, the lectionary skips forward to Peter's denial of Jesus.  Later in this week we will read about Jesus' trial, the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, and Christ's words to His disciples at the Last Supper.  This year the cycle of Lent falls at roughly the same time across all the Churches, East and West.  This week the Western Churches begin Lent on Wednesday (called Ash Wednesday).  The Eastern Orthodox observe this week a preparatory fast where dairy is allowed, and next week begin a strict fast for Lent.  For the Oriental Orthodox, Lent begins today.  Interestingly, while Ash Wednesday's Daily Office reading is the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, in Eastern Orthodoxy this parable always falls on a Sunday that begins a three-week preparation period for Lent (called Triodion).  At any rate, across the world, Christians begin the Lenten season at this time, and our readings for today reflect this.  Both the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14) and today's reading, in which Peter denies Christ three times, give us an orientation toward the Lenten period that is essential to our faith.  Lent is a time of reflection, in which self-knowledge becomes a key to what is desired of us and what we must seek as those who stand before God in truth.  In today's reading, we have the outcome of Peter's avowed declaration that he would lay down his life for Christ's sake; at that time, Jesus predicted that Peter would betray Him three times before the rooster crowed.  See 13:36-38 for John's version of these events, which occurred at the Last Supper.  There is no doubt of Peter's sincerity when he declared he would die for Christ's sake, and yet Christ knew him better than he knew himself.  It is our Lord who knows us thoroughly, both our capabilities or capacities for faith, and our weaknesses.  Clearly, the Gospels teach us that none of us is perfect, through the experience and the growth of the disciples.  But it also teaches us about the necessity that we understand our imperfection, and also our capacity for redemption, for change and growth, and especially for repentance (literally in the Greek "change of mind").  And that's where Peter's denial of Christ comes in:  it is the witness to how little we really and truly know ourselves and the false and misleading notion of "willpower" in times of great temptation and stress.  But it is also an affirmation of the love of God, even in our weaknesses.  Lent is a traditional time for the practices which shore up faith and give us a sense that we are capable of self-mastery, of overcoming temptation and entering into a discipline of strength -- not of willpower, but of faith.  Historically, monastics were called "athletes" and the word "asceticism" comes from the Greek word for exercise.  We are in training for something.  It is not for nothing that St. Paul tells us to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12).  Fasting is one of those athletic exercises that puts us into training for something, for the ability to remember God and give something of ourselves in the strength of faith.  Together with the practice of prayer it is the most powerful weapon of faith, as prescribed by Jesus after the healing of a demoniac (Mark 9:29), and also by example in His forty day period before He began His public ministry (Matthew 4:2).   This is our model for Lent, a time of prayer and introspection, when we set things aside (as in fasting) in order to prioritize God and our faith.  Such a time of depth of prayer is a time to come to know ourselves.  In facing God, we also face our own weaknesses, we focus on where we ourselves need to shore up our strengths, and to make changes.  We seek that direction from God that dictates our lives and to which we seek to be obedient.  Above all, it is -- somewhat paradoxically -- a time to escape selfishness.  Paradoxically, because it invites us to focus on prayer, to practice a time of solitude in order to do so, to cultivate a capacity for inner stillness and focus.  But the whole purpose is a deeper communion with God, who is our strength.  And there we come back to Peter and his avowed assertion that he would die for Christ.  Here, humiliatingly, it is before a girl that he lapses into denial, and it throws his whole character and his notions of himself into vivid relief.  In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we're told that Peter wept afterward (Matthew 26:75, Mark 14:72, Luke 22:62).  Lent is the time when we are taught to focus on our own communion with God, the strength and shape of our faith, so to speak.  It is a time to make more time for that communion, for prayer, for making space for God's work in us, including personal change that might be asked of us, and recognition of our own weaknesses.  If the Church is a hospital, as it is so often depicted throughout the centuries of tradition behind it, then Lent is a time for medicine, healing, retreat, rest in God, and the prayer that relieves what ails us.   Let us enter in and consider this most essential part of our lives, upon which all else rests.  El Greco's portrait of St. Peter in tears captures the moment after realization of Peter's failure.  Let us note that Peter, great disciple that he is, looks toward God in prayer.  On his wrist, reminding us of his confession of faith on behalf of all, are the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:15-19).  Let us remember how much rests on the strength of our faith, and where that strength comes from in the first place, as Peter's humble and illumined eyes - in deep recognition of truth -  turn toward God in prayer.  This is the place for healing.  Peter sets an example for all of us.

If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

- John 11:1-16

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus continued in His dialogue and confrontation with the religious leadership (at the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah), they took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  Today we begin reading the story of the seventh sign of seven given to us in John's Gospel, the Resurrection of Lazarus.  The entire story is covered in verses 1-45 of this chapter.  It is this seventh sign that sealed the religious authorities' choice to put Jesus to death (verses 47-50).   Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  My study bible tells us that Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar" in Hebrew, which literally means "God helps."  Interestingly, John gives us a parenthetical remark about Mary, one of the sisters of Lazarus, which refers to an event which will take place in chapter 12, the anointing of Jesus (12:1-8).  Evidently, this must have been a story well-known to the early Christian community.

When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Similarly to the tragedy of the affliction of the man blind from birth, which Jesus pronounced was neither the result of sin on his or his parents' part, but rather an occasion for the manifestation of the works of God (9:1-3), Jesus proclaims here that Lazarus' sickness if an occasion "for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  My study bible says that this message is sent back to Mary and Martha in order to strengthen them so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in Christ's words.  The Son of God being glorified, my study bible tells us, must not be understood as the cause of Lazarus dying.  Rather, it is an indication that Christ will be glorified as a result of Lazarus' death -- which results from natural illness -- and Lazarus' being raised from the dead.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  My study bible explains that Christ delays in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough that the corruption of his body could set in (see verse 39).  In this way there would be no doubt of the miracle of the raising of Lazarus, and the work of the Lord would be seen clearly by all.

Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  In yesterday's reading (above), we read that -- not for the first time -- the religious leaders sought to stone Christ for blasphemy, after He declared that "I and the Father are one" (see Thursday's reading).

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  Jesus has already twice declared Himself the light of the world, and in the previous chapter, spoke about working while it is day.  All of these statements point to Himself as light, in which is illuminated the way to proceed.

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  Once again, John's Gospel gives us a misunderstanding regarding Jesus' allegorical language.  My study bible compares the use of the term "to sleep" as similar to that of Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.  It notes, also, that Thomas' final statement, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him," is an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It adds that this also illustrates the path that all believers must take -- that we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 15:31).

Jesus says, in today's reading, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   This is His response to the fears of His disciples, that He is willing to go again near Jerusalem (to Bethany, a nearby town), after the leaders have repeatedly sought to stone Him to death.  Ultimately, we know He refers to Himself as "the light of the world" and that He has said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."   John's Prologue introduces the Gospel Book to us and the story of Jesus by speaking of light and the darkness that seeks to oppose it and can neither comprehend nor destroy the light (John 1:4-5).  What Jesus tells the disciples is that He has an illumination, a way to walk in His life, to live through His mission, that is guided by something akin to the light of day.  His path is illumined, and He knows which way He walks.  All things are done in following the will of the Father, and by this light also He knows that Lazarus' illness is not for the purpose of death, but rather "for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  "Glory" is in some sense related to the light, for it is that very light which gives the substance of this kind of glory:  a reflection of goodness, a type of radiance that reveals true worth and substance.  It is in this sense that we want to think about light today, because it is through this light that we want all of our own lives, and our own works, to be revealed to us.  We need this light to reveal our potential, to illuminate our own ways and choices and walk through life.  We, too, are taught by Christ to radiate this kind of light and value and worth out to the world, as when Jesus teaches, in the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  It is this light that we want to think about today, because it is the light we need in order to truly see the path for our footsteps, as well as the light that we are called to reflect in the world.  Some people think of splendor as that which belongs to the generated output of PR agencies, a public relations media machine that can make us famous or well-known.  Those who look to the "stars" of Hollywood as the greatest glory in life can think about what they seek to value or worship in so doing.  But we are called toward a different kind of light and a different kind of glory in life.  We are called to the values of Christ, His weightiness, His worthiness, His light through which He calls us to illuminate our own lives, and to reflect, as well He does Himself, the light of life.  We may call upon God, through Christ, to illuminate our own lives and our pathways so that we also walk in the day, and glorify God through what we do.  We are not called to be great heroes of the popular media, neither are we called to court public opinion as the end-all and be-all of the world.  Jesus warns us about doing good deeds -- and specifically, charitable works --  to be seen by others (Matthew 6:1).   And neither are we told that we must be as popular as possible.   In fact, it is John who condemns the hypocrisy and cowardice of those among the religious leaders who believe in Christ but will not confess Him publicly, when he writes that "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (see 12:42-43).  We are called first to seek the kingdom of God, and not the kingdom of the world, and then "all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).  The glory of God is the work of God, that which comes through faith and is found through this particular light which is called the light of life.  Our glory comes through God's glory at work in us and through us, through our own consent and the living of our faith -- living by walking in the light that shows us the way for our footsteps.  We need to seek His path, the one that He illumines, and to find His way for us so that we, too, might share in His glory, participating with Him in His life.  If all that sounds much too complicated, think of it like this:  God sheds His light, and we must seek it, so that we can truly see where we are going.  That is the way to the life He offers, and there is no other.

And many believed in Him there

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

- John 10:31-42

At the Feast of Tabernacles, after Jesus healed a man blind from birth (the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel), and was disputing with the leadership, there was a division again among them because of His sayings. And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   The religious leaders are responding to Jesus' words in yesterday's reading, above:  "I and My Father are one."  They recognize His claim of divinity, and therefore accuse Him of blasphemy.

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   My study bible comments on Jesus' quotation (from Psalm 82:6), "You are gods."   It says that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and therefore can rightly be called gods.  St. John Chrysostom is quoted as paraphrasing Christ in the following:  "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty by calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  Jesus once again appeals to their conventional understanding of justice, by citing a witness to His claim:  the works that He has done.

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  My study bible notes here that as Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (verses 17-18), His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (7:30; 8:20; see also Luke 4:28-30).

 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  Interesting to note that there are repeated places in which John observes that there were many who believed in Jesus.  In yesterday's reading, above, it was also noted that among the leaders, there are those who dispute the claim that Christ had a demon, saying, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  All along, John has made it clear that, especially among the people, and even among the religious leaders, there is division of opinion about Jesus.

The array of public opinion that is split and divided over Jesus is quite interesting to read included in John's Gospel.  John gives us a picture of people who are "like sheep not having a shepherd" (Mark 6:34).  Frequently throughout the Gospel we are given a picture of the common people who collectively speak of Jesus and yet have no common answer about Him.  In chapter 7, when Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, we read that the leaders are seeking Him to seize Him, while the people disagree about Him.  The Gospel tells us that there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  But also that no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the religious leaders.  (See this reading.)   There have also been indications that the leaders themselves are divided about Jesus, such as in yesterday's reading (above) in which there was a dispute about whether or not such a person who has performed the works that Jesus has could have a demon.  Earlier Nicodemus, a Pharisee, questioned his fellow Pharisees who wanted to immediately condemn Jesus:  "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" (7:51).  In today's reading, John tells us that in the region east of the Jordan, away from Jerusalem, many believed in Him there.   In the foreground of the Gospel is this great drama, a conflict between Jesus  and the religious leaders.  We read of their open disputes at the festivals.  But this is the foreground, and it is set against a backdrop of a type of Greek chorus, the people, who are scattered and wary and bewildered.  They expect a Messiah, someone who will deliver them from the Romans and restore to Israel its former glory, yet they do not know if Jesus is the one.  Some say He is, and others simply do not know.  Some follow for a time and fall away at His "hard sayings" (see this reading).  Others witness His great works, and Jesus chastises them for doing so, and yet failing to believe (we read His words in Matthew and Luke), and neither do His own brothers (extended family) believe (see this reading).   And those who have witnessed His miracles -- the ones fed in the wilderness -- seek to make Him king, and miss the point of His ministry entirely, which He tries to correct in His subsequent preaching (see this reading).  All in all, the people who make up this Gospel story of Christ are people like you and me, and all those who surround us.  They find themselves midst a sea of opinions, fears, desires, expectations, curiosity, and bewilderment.  They lack really true and good leadership.  Jesus goes so far as to teach them regarding the things that make for good leadership (see Wednesday's reading), as opposed to the "hirelings" who will simply mislead in order to exploit the sheep for their own ends, caring little or nothing for them.  We live in a world beset with opinions and false aims, those who will mislead for their own good, everybody with a different agenda, and far too few who are truly concerned with how to love, how to be like the Father, to whom Jesus is constantly pointing.  In yesterday's reading, and those recent readings preceding it in which Jesus spoke of Himself in the temple, we were assured that the number one consideration of a good leader is love, and that through and beyond and above all things, it is God the Father's love for us that drives any true and good leadership.  Of this we can be certain, because Jesus' assurances are emphatic.  Therefore, if we are to know good leadership and who to follow or to put our trust in, we must consider our own need to put the love of God first in our hearts.  It is in this way that Christ says we will be able to know a true prophet from a false, a good shepherd from one who leads astray.  And that is because to know love is to recognize it; to be familiar with God's love for us is to be able to hear the voice of the Shepherd.  The Gospel, with all its myriad opinions and bewildering conflicts and changes and betrayal, gives us a picture of a changing world in which we can be sure of very little.  It shows us that with a particular perspective of self-righteousness, we can delude ourselves into disbelieving even what is right in front of us.  It warns us that this will indeed continue to happen around us, and even among those to whom it is entrusted to lead.  The one thing of which we are assured is God's love, first and foremost, and the memory of the voluntary sacrifice of the Son, made also in that same love.  We start there, and root ourselves there.  Through our prayer and faith, we may come to know this love, hold fast to it, and learn to recognize it, share it, and live it.  We may also come to know, thereby, where it is missing.  It is love, after all else, that teaches us discernment.  It little matters where we come from and what we know from the world; we can always start with God who loves us so that no one is turned away.  Let us remember what He is here for, the message of love He brings, His great sacrifice which teaches us how much we are loved, and this communion of love into which He invites us always.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

- John 10:19-30

In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem (John 7:1-10:21).  After healing a man blind from birth, the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel, Jesus has been disputing with the leadership in the temple.  Yesterday we read that He said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  We see that the leadership in Jerusalem is divided over Jesus (the term the Jews is used like that of a political party, to designate the leaders in the temple).  My study bible comments that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs Jesus does, but they also perceive the holiness of His words.

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  My study bible explains that the Feast of Dedication took place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles (where Jesus healed a man blind from birth and was disputing with the religious leaders; 7:1-10:21).  This feast was also known as the Festival of Lights (also called Hanukkah).  It is a commemoration of the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem, following the desecration by the Seleucid King Epiphanes in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1-4).   At the Feast of Dedication, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated.  As my study bible points out, many of these leaders of the past were themselves shepherds, just as Jesus has recently spoken of Himself as the Good Shepherd.

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you."    My study bible comments that both what Christ told them and the works He had done have already answered their question.    Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind from birth (9:32), or perform the signs that have born witness to Christ.   Additionally, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as did Christ (7:46, 9:21).    As I said to you indicates that these are the same Pharisees to whom Christ was speaking three months earlier, at the Feast of Tabernacles (10:1-5).                                                                                     
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."  Jesus repeats here what He has said to them at the Feast of Tabernacles regarding His sheep.  But it is important that we note the tie between Himself, His sheep, and the Father.  This isn't merely a kind of linear or descending tie, in Christ's images.  Rather, the Father has a deep love for the sheep, who are directly given to Christ by the Father, which in turn assigns the Son both His loving mission to the sheep, and the love and loyalty of the Father.

"I and the Father are one."  This statement gives Christ's response to their question as to His identity as Messiah.  My study bible explains that Jesus reveals He is fully God.  "One" means one in nature or essence.  That is, He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are, my study bible says, indicates two distinct Persons, while confirming a continuous unity.

In yesterday's reading, we read that while Jesus disputed with the Pharisees at the Feast of Tabernacles, He told them,  "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  In today's reading, He continues with a similar theme, in which He expresses the loving relationship between His Father, Himself, and the sheep -- that is, those whom the Father has given to Christ.  What we remark upon is not that this is expressed as a hierarchy, for it is not.  What is remarkable in the statements Jesus makes (both in today's reading and yesterday's) is the way that Christ has indicated that out of God's great love for God's sheep, those who know Christ's voice, Christ has been sent -- to gather the sheep, and to do so through a tremendous selfless act:  the laying down of His life, and His subsequent Resurrection ("that I may take it again").  What comes first in this structure of relatedness is God the Father's love of God's sheep, and out of that love comes the Son who has been sent.  In turn, there is the Father's love for the Son, who will willingly follow the Father's command to lay down His own life for the sheep, and to take it again in Resurrection.  Jesus cements this understanding of the circular nature of love (as opposed to a descending and linear hierarchy of power) when He says in today's reading, referring to the sheep, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."   What He is saying to the religious leaders is that it is God the Father in whose hand are the sheep, and whose love and strength are expressed through the mission of the One who has been sent, the Son, Incarnate Christ.  It is through these words -- and others, of course -- that we are to understand the tremendous power of love that God the Father has for us.  Without that love, which circles directly to us and then through the Son and back to the Father, there would be no mission.  It is a sign of the direct relation that we as sheep have with God the Father, whose love is the backbone and framework and instigator of all.  It reminds us of Jesus' words to St. Peter, when Peter recognizes and confesses that Jesus is the Christ:  "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:16-17).  It is through the Father's love for us that we the sheep are able to know the voice of our Shepherd, Christ.  We faithful human beings, capable of love for God, are first in order of priority in Christ's statements.  It is for love of us that He is sent by the Father, for love of us He is commanded to lay down His life and to take it up again.  It is for love of us that His sacrificial act is responded to with love by the Father.  Inside this circle of love, we as human beings -- last in order of power and hierarchy -- are first in the bonds of love, even those direct bonds of communion with the Father, which Christ expresses to Peter upon Peter's confession, and which Christ is expressing to the leaders in the temple.  We are loved, not simply through the Son, but directly from the Father, whose love for us before all else is cause for the mission of the Son, for which the Father responds with love for the Son.  We cannot help but remark upon the incredible nature of this love that so loves us first that we are the cause for the mission, and the Son's mission for us prompts the love of the Father.  We are left to wonder why God loves us so much.  It is, indeed, an awesome thing to ponder.  How could we not return such love?  How could we hope to return its fullness?