For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt

 

 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.  

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into that fire that shall never be quenched -- 

"where

'Their worm does not die,

And the fire is not quenched.'

"And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched --  

"where 

'Their worm does not die,

And the fire is not quenched.'

"And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- 

"where

'Their worm does not die,

And the fire is not quenched.' 

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

 

- Mark 9:42-50 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.  Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

 

  "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."  Jesus continues His discussion with the disciples from yesterday's reading (above).  He was responding to their debate between themselves over who would be greatest in the kingdom they believed Jesus was going to establish, a worldly kingdom such as was popularly expected with the coming of the Messiah.  His teachings to them in response were about what kind of stewards and leaders He will want in His church, with the keyword for these teachings being humility.  He took a little child to Himself, and taught that if they receive even a little one in His name, they receive Him, and by receiving Him, they receive the One who sent Him.  My study bible comments here that little ones include all who have childlike humility and simplicity, all who are poor in spirit.  Here Jesus begins to give severe warnings to the disciples about possible abuses of power and authority in the Church, and the severe consequences that await such behavior.

 

 "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into that fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched --  where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' "   Jesus gives a similar teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:29-30), where He uses the image of an offending eye or hand to teach against adultery (that is, gazing upon with covetousness or reaching out for that which is inappropriate to oneself).  Here, Jesus teaches the disciples -- again, those who will become the stewards and bishops of His Church -- that the hand, or foot, or eye which causes one to sin is better cut off.  These are metaphorical images, as in the Sermon on the Mount, for our own impulses which cause unrighteous behavior, that which abuses power and authority especially over the "little ones" who are the humble in the Church.  A hand may reach out for that which does not belong to oneself, an eye covets what is inappropriate, a foot may tread with disrespect and trespass across proper boundaries.  These are all warnings against abuses of power and inappropriate behavior which disrupts peace within a community.  My study bible says that the references to mutilation are illustrative of decisive action to avoid sin, and -- obviously -- do not advocate for literal amputation.  These teachings also apply to harmful relationships which need to be severed for the salvation of all parties (see Luke 14:26, 1 Corinthians 5:5).  The repeated quotation and warnings of hell and fire are from Isaiah 66:24.

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."   To be seasoned with fire means to be tested to see if one's faith and works are genuine, according to my study bible (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  When Jesus says that every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt, He is quoting Leviticus 2:13, in which salt stands for the remembrance of God's covenant with God's people.   The reference to peace with one another is clearly pointing to the commandments which are made to keep peace in community, and His commands regarding doing all one can do to refrain from trespass against one another and abuses of power.

Jesus writes about the need to identify and to take decisive steps regarding our own failures to live up to His commandments, His word.  If we couch ourselves in that basic understanding of God as love (1 John 4:8), then we come to accept and to understand that the commandments of Christ are made from love:  they are given to us from love, and to build love, and to create love among one another.  It is in this context that we must understand Christ's teachings, as they come to us regarding how we use what power and authority we have, and especially in our behavior toward one another.  It's also important to remember that these teachings are given to the disciples -- the Twelve -- who will be the leaders and pillars of His Church, those who will shepherd His flock and become His bishops.  His teachings really apply to every single one of us who are His followers, but here He is particularly responding to the disciples' desire for greatness, for position, for authority in a worldly sense.  He first instructs them on being servants to all, and teaches humility (see yesterday's reading, above).  But today's reading focuses on a rigorous self-discipline, on the need to identity one's own proclivities toward "bad behavior" within community, especially abuses of power and authority over and against the little ones.  A hand or foot or eye can go where it is not wanted, where it causes abuse or disruption of community, committing sin against another.  These are Jesus' gravest warnings.  The dire warnings against hell and an eternal fire should not be lost upon any of us.  If one finds a stumbling block in a seeming contradiction between a God of love who preaches and teaches love, and whose commands are for loving relations within community -- and the warnings about hell and fire, then one must consider the teachings we find in the Gospels, and especially references to fire.  That is to say, Jesus gives us His own framework for this understanding in today's reading, where fire is an image of the Holy Spirit -- which is both a testing energy and one that leads and teaches and brings justice and mercy.  One must think of fire as a test in the sense of traditional testing of metals for purity; that which burns away is not the pure gold.  It is that fire in which we stand, with which we commune, and which can work within us, that helps to burn away all the things that keep us from being active living agents of God's love and those commands of love.  To cut away a foot or hand or eye is to find a way -- by any means necessary in the terms of Christ's dire exhortations -- to live and dwell within that fire and not to be consumed.  In Luke's Gospel, St. John the Baptist says of Christ, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16).  Jesus says, also in Luke's Gospel, "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" (Luke 12:49).  The warnings about fire must be taken in this context:  that it is the very fire of God who is love that will burn away the things that are not love in us.  Thereby is our baptism of fire, and the fire Christ says He came to send on the earth, and they include our own need to put aside that which is not compatible with love in ourselves.  This work, in short, requires our cooperation and actions.  Christ's words call us to a kind of self-responsibility that says that we are  not pawns of life, nor hopelessly subject to the ill influences we might find in the world.  We are not simply slaves to worldly patterns of abuse and selfishness and exploitation and their endless repetition in us, but we are called to something much, much greater and with a grandeur and stature in God's service.  He has said, in yesterday's reading, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Our greatness is found in our capacity for humility, self-discipline, a willingness to become the true person in the image to which Christ calls us, fashioned in the fire of His love and His commandments of love.  We are given the fire of the Holy Spirit to help us along the way, but it is our own awareness of what we're to be about that is also necessary to this journey, and the direction toward which we set our face.  We will all be seasoned with this fire, and the salt of our covenant with Him is in every sacrifice we make for the sake of His love.