O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?

 

 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. 

 

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to the disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  

 

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

- Luke 9:37-50 

 

Yesterday we read that, about eight days after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ of God, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

 

  Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  As Jesus is just returning from the mountain of the Transfiguration together with James, John, and Peter, the disciples who were attempting to cast out the spirit were the other nine left behind.  

 

Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  My study Bible comments that while the disciples' faith was incomplete (Matthew 17:19-20), Christ's rebuke is also to the crowds, whose faith was weaker still (see Mark 9:22-24). 

 

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to the disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  My study Bible remarks here upon Christ's repeated prediction of His Passion.  It says that this was meant to encourage and strengthen His disciples for the terrifying events that they would faith -- and also to assure them that Christ was not powerless but went to the Cross willingly. 

 

 Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Perhaps because of Christ's warnings which the disciples do not understand, they believe that a worldly kind of kingdom will manifest for Christ; so they dispute among one another which one would be greatest in that kingdom.  Jesus points to a little child to correct their thinking.  Jesus emphasizes humility and gracious service as the key to greatness among His disciples in His Kingdom.

 

Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."   My study Bible comments that Theophylact sees John's comment as regret, as his conscience was pricked by what Christ said about the least and the great.  But, on the other hand, St. Ambrose of Milan see John as expecting full obedience to accompany such blessings.  Christ's response, my study Bible says, shows that those who act in good faith are not excluded, even if they are not currently numbered among the disciples.  Theophylact is quoted:  "See how divine grace is at work even in those who are not His disciples" (see also Numbers 11:24-30).  On those who use Christ's name without good faith, see Luke 11:23; Acts 19:13-16.

 

 Today's reading begins with a father desperate to save his son from the spirit that harms the child.  He has gone to the disciples to cast it out, and they cannot.  Jesus' response to this scene He comes upon from the Mount of Transfiguration is to say, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?"  Jesus then rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.   It's important that we know that Jesus has just returned from the Transfiguration, in which it was revealed to the disciples on no uncertain terms that Jesus is God; as such, this scene coming upon the heels of that event is significant in its juxtaposition.  We don't all know God's will clearly and concisely; a great revelation -- a Theophany, or revelation ("manifestation") of God -- has just been given to Peter, John, and James.  This is, of course, a rare and exceptional event that teaches about the true reality of Christ as Son of God.  But coming down from the mountain, the encounter with the people returns us back to our state of daily worldly life.  We simply don't know God fully; we are full of doubt and fear when we have troubles, and we don't have certainty.  Some would interpret this scene to say that all we need to do is have enough faith in what we are praying for, and it will happen for us.  But we are forgetting, then, that our faith is not about magic.  It's not about special incantations that "work" one way or another.  It's not even really about us; it's about Christ.  What faith must do for us is not to convince ourselves of the inevitability of the outcome for which we pray.  Faith is not about putting faith into what we want per se as if all of our desires define all possibilities of life.  Faith is about trust in Christ.  Let us note that this healing is framed as a spiritual battle, wherein the people and the disciples could not fully trust God in the struggle.  In the scene that follows, Jesus once again asserts to the disciples that He will suffer.  He says, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  We know Christ goes voluntarily to His death; and yet, in the garden of Gethsemane, He will pray, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  We see His natural human abhorrence of death expressed in a prayer we can all understand, and yet He prays, "Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."  This is trust, and this is faith, that we give our problems to God to find God's way through them.  We pray for what we deeply desire, but keep our hearts in faith that there is so much more that we don't know.  We don't understand why God allows things we call evil to happen.  We don't understand why God allows suffering, and we see so much suffering in our world.  We don't understand why God allows evil in our world, for the evil one, the devil, to continue in influence.  We know the defeat of the devil is in Christ, and the power of Christ, but we still live in the place where we human beings are the battlefield, and we are invited into the midst of this struggle.  We know that death is not the end, but that life in Christ is eternal.  And so, the devil's defeat is done -- and yet conditions in our world still render us in a struggle with temptation and sin and all that goes with it.  A friend is deeply struggling with an ill child.  It seems like things get better, only to take a step backward later, and it truly seems like this affliction works like a demon.  But the power of God is something we should remember as always present.  Regardless of this child's suffering, God has allowed a circumstance in which great glory is on display in my friend as a father, for his love shines through, and the strength of his child shines through.  There are so many people he has gathered together in prayer and care, his love has magnified across a great swathe of people who pray and who follow the illness of this child.  Of course, we don't know the outcome.  But one thing is quite certain, if even Jesus prays, "Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done," then so this should also accompany our prayers and our love.  For God's vision is always beyond ours, and our blessings are things we don't necessarily know nor grasp.  When Jesus teaches us about faith, this is what we need to remember:  that the God who loves us is the God who brought defeat of death about through death, that even the suffering of Crucifixion made possible through faith the glory of Resurrection shared and offered to us all.  Let us remember what faith is, even in the worst of times, and add faith in God to all that we do and desire.  Finally in our reading today, the disciples dispute and wish to be the greatest.  But Jesus must set them straight on exactly what greatness is, and it's not on the world's terms.  Neither is it on their terms, there are others who act in His name who do not follow with them.  The final lesson in our reading remains that of humility before God.  Let us know that even when God's outcome is not the one that we desire or expect as "good," we will find we are blessed nonetheless through the struggle in our faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!

 

 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

 

- Luke 9:28-36 

 

In our readings from Tuesday, and Wednesday, we were given themes of the kingdom of God, in preparation for yesterday (Thursday) which was the celebration of the Feast of the Ascension (Matthew 28:16-20).  Today's reading takes up where Monday's left off, in which we read that, as Jesus was alone praying, His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."  Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

 

 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.   Our reading today describes the event called the Transfiguration (in Greek, Μεταμόρφωσης/Metamorphosis) after the appearance-altering effect of the brilliant holy light seen by the disciples surrounding Jesus' person, His face, and His clothing, in which even His robe became white and glistening.  These three disciples form Jesus' inner core of His closest disciples, the ones referred to as the "pillars" by St. Paul), the ones whose faith was the strongest.  This event is a theophany, or a revelation of God.  Additionally, the communion of saints is revealed in the appearance of Moses and Elijah, known and recognized by the disciples in this experience.  Christ's decease (in Greek, ἔξοδος/exodus; literally, "departure") refers to His death.  My study Bible comments that Christ's death is intimately connected to the glory of the Transfiguration, for Christ is glorified through His death (John 12:23).  In the liturgical cycle of the Orthodox Church, my study Bible points out, the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th) comes forty days before the feast of the Holy Cross (September 14th), showing the connection between Christ's glory and His Cross.  That the term exodus is used here in the text is an expression revealing Christ's Passion as a fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover, and the true exodus from enslavement into salvation.  Additionally, this revelation of divine power confirms that Christ's upcoming death was not imposed on Him by outside forces, but is a voluntary offering of love.  My study Bible comments that no arresting soldier could withstand such glory if Christ had not consented (Matthew 26:53).  

 

 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  Peter senses that the Kingdom is close at hand, and knowing that the Feast of Tabernacles is the feast of the coming Kingdom, he suggests building tabernacles for Christ, Moses, and Elijah as was done at that feast, to serve as symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom.  Again, the glory of Christ is a revelation of the divine reality present.  My study Bible further notes that Moses represents the law and all those who have died.  Elijah represents the prophets and -- as he didn't experience death -- all those who are alive in Christ.  Their presence, it says, shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament.  

 

 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.  Here, finally, the Holy Trinity is manifest here, as Christ is transfigured and revealed in the brilliant holy light, the Father speaks from heaven testifying to Christ's sonship, and the Spirit is revealed in the form of the dazzling light which surrounds Christ's person, and overshadows the whole mountain.  The bright cloud recalls temple worship and the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present, as my study Bible notes.  

 

Everything about this extraordinary witness tells us about the presence of the Kingdom, even in our midst.  This transfiguration of Christ is, in fact, a revelation of a reality so deep that it is, in fact, timeless.  Our own experience of time doesn't apply to this experience of the disciples, for as we can read, Moses and Elijah, although living in completely different historical times both from one another and from Christ and the disciples, appear and are immediately recognizable.  All is present here at once, and the knowledge of each person is present to the others as well.   In this sense of a timeless eternal reality, it's understood that the Father's declaration, "This is My beloved Son," indicates that the divine glory witnessed by the disciples is Christ's by nature.  That is, as my study Bible puts it, from eternity past, infinitely before Jesus' Baptism and Transfiguration, He is God's Son, fully sharing in the essence of the Father.  As God is light (1 John 1:5), the bright cloud, the alteration of His appearance, and the white and glistening quality of His clothing, testify to the same.  Thus in the Creed of the Church we can say He is "Light from light, true God of true God."  It's these experiences and stories we're given that define the theology of the Church.  In the hands of the Church Fathers and Mothers, they became tools and prisms through which we have come to know and to understand Christ, and our faith, to the extent that we do.  This would include our understanding that so much of the reality of the kingdom of God is a mystery, and we approach through mystery and the sacraments.  Let us understand that what we're given -- what's revealed to us -- holds so much more than we know.  But it's given to us through the apostles and the life of Christ so that we may find our faith and seek to know and understand. 

 

 

 

But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you

 

 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?  Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?  And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

 

- Luke 12:22-31 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

  

  Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?  Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?"  My study Bible advises here that Jesus is warning against anxiety, not against thoughtful planning.  It notes that our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing.  Anxiety over earthly things, it adds, demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care.

 

"For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things."  Because the Gentiles (the nations of the world) served pagan idols, my study Bible says, they were consumed by dependence upon earthly things.  Those who follow God, it notes, can be freed from this dependence. 

 

 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."  My study Bible comments that the kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus' teaching.  As we are called to be freed from anxiety regarding earthly things, Jesus teaches us to look to heaven, secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings. 

 

 Why are we completely dependent upon God?  What is Jesus' purpose in teaching us to be so?  In the first place, opening up to the reality and presence of this Kingdom is a way of entering into an identity.  In the ancient world, identity was formed not by theories of racial lineage or heritage in that sense, but by the sense of the "code" one belonged to.  The ethos, if you will, of Athens made one an Athenian.  The law of Rome made one a Roman, hence St. Paul, a Jew and a Roman citizen was not crucified, and he was entitled to demand a hearing before Caesar.  Law of Moses made one a Jew, and the Old Testament Scriptures are filled with foreigners who became a part of the people of Israel (the story, for example, of Ruth and Naomi comes to mind).  In St. Matthew's Gospel, these teachings we find in today's reading come just prior to the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus gives us the Nomos, or Law, so to speak of the kingdom of God.  In the context of St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus is addressing His disciples, and will heavily emphasize courage, faith, and confidence in the missions they are about to undertake, preparing them for their future in establishing the Church.  Jesus' gospel is precisely that, a "nomos" or body of law that governs the kingdom of God.  We, as faithful, with the disciples, enter into and bear that Kingdom into the world, just as they are sent out as apostles to bear that Kingdom -- the gospel message -- into the world.  Jesus is telling us to bravely and courageously do so, relying on God in faith, and placing our values, our code we live by, into the proper order.  We seek the kingdom of God first, and then to that all things are added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

 

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

 For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one."

 

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

 

- Luke 11:1–13 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus was alone praying, His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."  Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here  who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

 

  Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  My study Bible says that "teach us to pray" is an expression of a universal longing to be in communion with God.

 

So He said to them, "When you pray, say:  "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  The Father-Son relationship within the Trinity is a revelation of our own potential relationship with God, my study Bible notes.  It says that Christ, the Son of God, grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God," a Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God the same way Christ does the Father.  My study Bible adds that we must know that God is not our Father only because God created us.  God is only Father to those who are in a saving and personal relationship with God, a communion that comes only by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).  

"Give us day by day our daily bread."   Daily, my study Bible notes, is a misleading translation of the Greek word επιουσιος/epiousios, which literally means "above the essence" or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread, it says, indicates not simply bread for today, for earthly nourishment. This is bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  In the Lord's Prayer, then, we're not simply asking for material bread for physical health, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).  

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."  This request to be forgiven is plural, my study Bible asks us to note.  So, we're directed to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts is a reference to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).

 

 "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13).  Temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  Temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  My study Bible further explains that no one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.

 

 And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."  My study Bible claims that this parable demonstrates God's faithfulness to those who are in need and who pray with persistence.  The patristic consensus interprets midnight as both the time of our death and a time of great temptation.  The friend is Christ, who, as our only source of grace, provides everything we need.  

 

 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  In Greek, my study Bible explains, these verbs rendered ask, seek, and knock imply a continuous action.  They're better translated as "keep asking," "keep seeking," and "keep knocking."  It says that God responds when we persistently ask for things that are good.  Bread, fish, and an egg are all images of life and symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:13-14; James 4:3).  

 

Jesus speaks of asking, seeking, and knocking.  As this comes in response to a request to be taught to pray, we can understand that He's speaking of what we do in prayer.  As my study Bible points out, these verbs are given in a form that indicates continuing action:  keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.  But while modern concepts of prayer focus on asking for something, we need to look closely to see what Christ is suggesting, what it's presumed the disciples are asking, seeking, and knocking to find in response to their prayer.  He says, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  This is the thing most devoutly to be desired:  not for all our material woes to be solved, not for our wishes and dreams in a worldly sense, but to be given the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit that involves.  St. Paul names the fruit of the Spirit in this way:  "But 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).   Do we pray for such things?  When we seek to pray -- or to learn how to pray -- is it with such blessings and fruit in mind?  How much do we value these things?  When Jesus speaks to His disciples, it is with a foundation in the things He teaches, the life of the Kingdom He has come into the world to give us and to teach us about.  When He makes disciples, it is those who wish this life, who devoutly wish the Holy Spirit and the gifts and fruit of the Spirit.  We are taught to pray by Jesus with this grounding in mind, the orientation of this Kingdom devoutly to be wished.  We pray for the will of the Father to be done in this world as it is in heaven.  Let us think about what that means for us, and what we wish to be a part of.  For to pray for this Kingdom and for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven is to understand that we commit to this will and this Kingdom by living it in the world, by bearing the values of God's will into the world, and seeking to live and to do that will.  At the same time, let us understand that means practicing forgiveness, struggling against temptation, understanding our place in the spiritual battleground that is this world, to be delivered from the evil one who is the "ruler of this world."  How many understand this when we pray?  Bread, fish, and eggs give us images of the Spirit, my study Bible says; we think of the bread of life, the fish as that which was multiplied by Christ, the egg that would come to be a symbolic gift at Easter.  In the Greek of the text, the word for fish is ἰχθύς/ixthys.  Used as an acronym for the Greek words "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ) this ancient word for fish would give us the symbol of the early Church.  By contrast, serpents and scorpions are images of devils and demons.  Again these are images of contrasting kingdoms in spiritual warfare.  Let us remember the spirit in which we're given prayer, the things devoutly to be wished for and prayed for, the promise of the Holy Spirit Jesus makes to us here.  

 

Who do you say that I am?

 

 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  

 

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."  

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here  who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:18-27 

 

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

 

  And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."   My study Bible comments that, as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  My study Bible indicates that Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?" is the ultimate question in Scripture and in all theology.  It notes that how this question is answered will define the universe.  Christ (from a Greek word equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah) means "Anointed One."  This declaration by Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God reveals that Jesus is not simply another anointed king of prophet.  He is the long-awaited Savior.   

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."    My study Bible tells us that Jesus desires to keep His identity as the Christ hidden in order to avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings.  It's only after His Passion and Resurrection that His identity as Messiah can be understood.  Other factors involved include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, and our Lord's desire to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on miraculous works or signs.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah, emphasizing that Christ is the fulfillment of that Servant of whom Isaiah speaks (see Matthew 12:16-21).  My study Bible comments that this Servant first of all refers to Christ, and by extension to all who follow Him (as expressed in Jesus' words in the following verses).

 

 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels."  My study Bible asks us to note two things.  First, that each person must take up one's own cross.  The burden in this world, it says, is different for every person, for each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for our own salvation and for the salvation of those around us.  Second, we note that our cross is to be taken up daily.  So, a commitment to follow Christ isn't merely a one-time event.  To follow Christ asks a continuing practice of faith and obedience -- even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world.  

But I tell you truly, there are some standing here  who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."  My study Bible indicates that Christ is here referencing those who will witness the Transfiguration (Matthew 9:28-36).

 

 Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  The disciples give the answers from the crowds:  "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  All of these answers are mistaken, of course.  The crowds don't know who Jesus is, and collectively they can't come up with the answers.  My study Bible remarks upon this that, as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  Perhaps in our modern day and age a similar problem has been magnified and is ever-present with us in the form of social media, the internet, and other popular media such as television, various news media, and film production.  As usual, the crowds so often get it wrong.  Today there are also new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), that aggregate whatever information is available, and make computerized "guesses" to draw new conclusions, often extraordinarily wrong.  A friend is a distinguished academic, well known in his profession.  He told me that using AI in an internet search on his own name has become a strange adventure, as AI will generate all kinds of information that is made up out of whole cloth, in addition to whatever might be true -- even books he's never written, and awards that don't exist.  I'm told that in AI technology circles, this phenomenon is referred to as "hallucinations."  So what passes for the crowds in our modern, connected world is just as unreliable as in the time of Christ.  But what we need to focus on here is not necessarily "the facts" about Jesus reported by the crowds, because -- in whatever age we might choose -- even the facts available to us are not necessarily the reality presented by God.  For God will always surprise us and work outside of the box that is our daily, worldly reality.  God is not limited by what we consider to be worldly.  Christ's miracles and signs point to the presence of a reality beyond ours and not limited by our understanding.  So when we speak of Jesus, or when we today encounter God in the myraid ways that are possible for us (such as through worship, prayer, icons of the Church, saints, and so many other ways in which grace might express itself), we need to hold the door open, so to speak, for things we can't expect, for things we don't know, and facts we can't know which are beyond our grasp and in the mysterious working of grace and the Holy Spirit.  The truth about Jesus, that He is the Christ, is beyond the capacity of the crowds to grasp even as their own expectations of what the Messiah will be are false and skewed by their own desires.  Again, we live in a world in which every desire (and its fulfillment) is magnified and indulged through modern technologies, from the food we consume, to how we dress, to what we interact with online, and to things that are harmful such as certain drugs, and internet pornography.  In the ancient practice of the Church, our desires and passions are things we're taught to regulate, and to learn to master, in order to perceive spiritual reality more clearly, and not to be misled by our own fantasies.  Heresies are things that are defined by that which looks like the truth, and even resembles it, but they're not the truth.  One detail might be missing that skews the whole truth picture (for example, those who would say Christ wasn't really human, or that He wasn't divine).  This is why we turn to tradition to understand, why we practice traditional disciplines like fasting, we keep a guard on our hearts, we take note of how easily we can be misled by our own desires and fantasies.  Let us note here Christ's emphasis on His own suffering, on taking up His Cross, and how His disciples must do the same with their own unique crosses each day.  For our faith is not one based on fantasy or self-indulgence, but on the truth of God, and evading our own traps  and desires to find what Christ wants of us.  Jesus has come as Servant, not conventional or worldly king, to usher in a spiritual Kingdom that lives within us and among us.  In a world filled with crowds and pitfalls that grow ever more powerful, let us remember the tools we're given to stay grounded in spiritual truth, and the revelation of God that defies the world's predictions and expectations.  As my study Bible says, "Who do you say that I am?" remains the most important question we can ask, for the answer defines our universe and the way we live in it.

 

 

 

And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them

 

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

 

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him. 

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

 

- Luke 9:1-17 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus and the disciples returned from the country of the Gadarenes (back across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum), the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."  While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.  

 

  Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Here the twelve disciples are called to become apostles.  "Apostle" is from a Greek word (ἀπόστολος/apostolos) which means "one sent out."   Disciples and apostles are titles used interchangeably for the twelve.  Disciple (Greek μαθητής/mathetes) means "learner," or "student."  My study Bible asks us to note that Jesus gave them power and authority to cast out demons and to cure diseases, while He does the same by His own power.  Note His instructions and how they emphasize a humility that contrasts with the power and authority He gives to them:  they are to take very little with them, their clothing must be humble and simple, they are not to "trade up" for better accommodations once they are welcomed in one place.  A place that will not receive them receives this response directed by Christ:  "Shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."

 

 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  This is the same Herod to whom Pilate would send Jesus during His trial (Luke 23:7).  He is Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee.  He is the son of Herod the Great, the one who slew the innocent infants in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  For an account of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, see Mark 6:14-28.

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat." This commission ("You give them something to eat") is a type of preparation for the apostolic ministry which the disciples will perform after the Resurrection, my study Bible comments.   It notes that they will feed the world with the word of God and with the Eucharist.

 

And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.  Of the five loaves and two fish, my study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that Christ is the same Creator "of both the earth and the sea, who in the beginning brought fruit from the earth and life out of the water."  Moreover, Christ looked up to heaven "not as receiving power from elsewhere, but as honoring the Father who begot Him."  That Christ blessed and broke the bread teaches us "not to touch any meal until we have given thanks to Him who gives us food."  My study Bible comments further that this blessing also presents a clear eucharistic image and directs us to pursue spiritual food greater than that which is earthly (see John 6:26-27).

 

When Jesus sends out the disciples on their first apostolic mission, He tells them, "And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  To our minds at the present time, this might not sound so much like the Jesus of popular imagination.  He is the same one who told us, "Love your enemies" (see Matthew 5:43-48).  How do we reconcile the Jesus who preached those words with the Jesus who teaches His apostles to "shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them?"  Apparently, to love your enemies, then, doesn't mean it is simply fine for the gospel message to be rejected.  We observe that there is no type of retribution or punishment involved here, at least not in a conventional sense.  There is only their testimony which is made against those who don't wish to receive them (symbolically made in shaking the very dust from their feet).  We may observe that, in the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul and Barnabas were persecuted and expelled from one region, they did this very thing -- and "the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit" (see Acts 13:50-52).  We might wonder, why testimony?  In St. Matthew's version of this event there is far more talk in Christ's instructions to indicate consequences to rejection of Christ's Kingdom.  He says to them:  "Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!" (Matthew 10:11-15).  An unworthy household will not retain the peace with which its greeted, and rejection results in the terrible consequences in the day of judgment.  So testimony, as inconsequential on worldly terms as shaking the dust off one's feet seems to be, has an effect.  It will have an effect on the day of judgment; and unworthiness has a spiritual consequence regarding the blessing of Christ's peace. In Deuteronomy 32, we read the song of Moses.  God says, "Vengeance is Mine" (Deuteronomy 32).  St. Paul reminds us of the same, in the Letter to the Hebrews, when he also speaks of the consequences to the rejection of grace (see Hebrews 10:26-31).  A rejection, rebuke, and testimony -- all while remembering the gospel message and carrying it to all, even the command to love our enemies.  For love does not dismiss truth or reality; quite the contrary.  Just as Jesus teaches the disciples as they go out on their first mission, these instructions for their conduct convey the qualities of love:  "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (see 1 Corinthians 13).  They are to be humble; they offer peace; and they also rejoice in the truth, including that of testimony.  Jesus' powerful love is a strength that comes from confidence in God, and we are to bear that into the world.  A rebuke, a testimony, remains an act of love, for lies have no place in love.  In that love, Christ's strength is on display, and we are to take confidence in all that He teaches, even when others do not receive nor believe.  Our job is to witness, and to live as He teaches.

 

 

 

Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace

 

 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  

 

Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."  

 

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. 

 

- Luke 8:40–56 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.  And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg You, do not torment me!"  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain.  So they begged Him that he would permit them to enter them.  And He permitted them.  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.  When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.  And he got into the boat and returned.  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. 

 

 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  Here Jesus returns to the "home country" of His ministry, having returned from the country of the Gadarenes (see yesterday's reading, above).   After healing a man oppressed by a legion of demons there in that country across the Sea of Galilee, the people there begged Him to leave them.  Here He returns to crowds who welcomed Him, as they were all waiting for Him.  Among them also is a ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum, Jairus, who seeks Jesus out as his young daughter is dying. My study Bible comments that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As Jesus is of one essence with the Father, He has this authority (John 5:21).  

 

Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  My study Bible comments here that for the Jews, contact with blood caused defilement and led to religious and social isolation (Leviticus 15:19-27).  This woman displays bold faith as she approaches both Christ and also Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, in a crowd, thereby potentially defiling all of them and subjecting herself to ridicule. 

 

And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."   My study Bible notes that Christ's question, "Who touched Me?" does not simply mean a physical touch, but rather, "Who touched me in faith?"  It comments that, just as "the temple sanctifies the gold" (Matthew 23:17), so also matter is sanctified by Christ's Incarnation; the power of Christ works even through His garment.  To touch Christ's garment in faith, therefore, is to touch Him.  In the Church, my study Bible says, we touch Christ through icons, oil, water, bread wine, etc.  When this is done in faith, the power of Christ is received.  Jesus calls this woman forward to take away her fear and trembling, to bring her good cheer because of her faith, to correct her thinking that she could hide her touch from Him, to dispel the idea that she is excluded from Him due to her illness -- and also to exhibit her faith to all, so they might imitate her.

 

 While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  but when Jesus heard it, He answered hi, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.  Note the trouble that Jesus takes to shore up faith.  First, He has made an example of the woman healed because of her faith, which would strengthen Jairus for the news of his daughter's death.  Second, He tells Jairus, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  Then He permitted no one to come in to the house except His three closest disciples (those strongest in faith), Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  All those who weep and mourn and ridicule Him for saying that she is not dead, but sleeping, He puts outside.  It's only after all of this that He takes the girl by her hand, and tells her, "Little girl, arise."   

 

There are interesting parallels between this little girl and the older woman with the blood flow.  The girl is inside the house, and needs even to be further separated from the "crowds" and company all around her in order to strengthen the faith of her parents enough so that Jesus can truly heal her.  The woman with the blood flow wades through the crowds who throng Jesus so that He has no idea who touched Him, but in secret she reaches for His hem through that crowd, and He feels His healing power go from Him, due to her faith.  "Your faith has made you well," Jesus tells her.  The girl is twelve years old, and the woman has had a blood flow for twelve years.  The woman is presumably past the point of childbearing, and has spent all her livelihood on physicians to no avail; Jairus' daughter is just on the cusp of maturity and eligibility for marriage and her future.  But both stories share in common a kind of protective bubble of faith around the recipients of Christ's healing, old and young woman alike.  The secret and hidden nature Christ requires for the girl's healing (to protect her from the ridiculing and wailing crowds) is in a sense similar to this woman anonymously coming through the crowd to touch Jesus.  Had she consulted others -- particularly a whole crowd or community -- about approaching Jesus they would have been appalled at the suggestion; she could theoretically "pollute" all of them with her blood flow.  So, in both cases, secrecy and privacy, used to empower and protect faith from those who would tear it down, become important tools to reach God, and to reach the healing of God.  One thinks of the privacy of a confessional (or for that matter the confidentiality of a doctor's office or other professional), necessary for a therapeutic approach for people with problems.  Solitude for prayer is often a must, for it is in solitude we find those voices and ridiculing crowds cannot reach us as easily as otherwise.  It is often that we need time alone with God, or to restrict our spiritual surroundings to those that shore up faith in order to find the place where our prayers are effective, where God can be reached and we are healed.  We seek a little solace in a crowd with silent prayer, or perhaps the comfort of a church pew surrounded by those who come to worship in a liturgy.  We might light a candle before an icon, or take the time before bed to sit in prayer.  All of these things are ways in which the power of our prayer reaches in to help us heal, to know that we talk with God and are heard, to be soothed and comforted -- with the jostling, ridiculing, carping crowds far away.  Let us cherish that privacy and put it to go use, for so our Lord does also.  Faith is not found in great clamorous groups and excited crowds, otherwise Christ's miracles would have abounded upon demand by those who didn't believe.  Let us take this to heart, and remember the woman with the gumption to reach through the crowd in secret, the little girl whose parents needed to be separate from friends and crowds to help heal her, and mostly the Man who praises and preserves and protects our faith. 

 

 

Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you

 

 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.  And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg You, do not torment me!"  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.  

Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain.  So they begged Him that he would permit them to enter them.  And He permitted them.  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.  When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.  And he got into the boat and returned.

 

Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.  

 

- Luke 8:26–39 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him." Then His mother and brothers came to  Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

 

  Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.  And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg You, do not torment me!"  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.   The demons recognize Jesus as the Son of the Most High God.  Once again, the Gospel has thrust us into an opening in which we view the "unseen warfare" going on all the time in our world, with human beings as the battleground.  This unfortunate man is occupied by a legion of demons, language suggestive of the political occupation of Israel but teaching us about the "strong man" whom Jesus has come into the world to overthrow (see Luke 11:20-22).  We see evidence of the enslaving, destructive, and torturous nature of the demonic influence, the realm opposed to Jesus, in the description of this afflicted man.

 

 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain.  So they begged Him that he would permit them to enter them.  And He permitted them.  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.  When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.  And he got into the boat and returned.  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.  My study Bible comments that, although the malice of the demons is great, they can do nothing against the will of God.  Therefore, they can only enter the swine with the permission of Christ.  It notes that the immediate destruction of the herd shows that the man had been protected by God care.  Otherwise, he would have perished under the demonic influence.  It further reinforces that swineherding was not lawful for the Jews, my study Bible comments, and shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every price.  While there are those who teach that the presence of the swine indicates a Gentile population, this passage would seem to indicate otherwise.  Jesus forbade His disciples to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5), and He Himself was reluctant to seek them out (Matthew 15:24).  These are likely to be Jews engaged in a sinful occupation.  their hardhearted response to the healing of this man seems to be further validation of their irreverent attitude.

 

Let us take a look at the man who's been "relieved" of the affliction of a legion of demons.  The last part of today's reading tells us:  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.   In some sense, the man has been through a terrible ordeal from which he's been relieved.  It reminds us, perhaps, of a person who has been through the experience of a terrible addiction, years of self-destructive behavior, with his world that of people who know him in this state, find ways to tolerate him, or otherwise live side by side in the same place.  But now that this man is healed and cleared of the demons, the ones who were formerly his "neighbors" in this wilderness of tombs and caves and deserted places away from the city want nothing to do with him.  For he in his "right mind" and in his healed state, is a symbol of the effects of Jesus, who has also sent the legion of demons into their swine.  For the swineherders of this region, the loss of their property is a far more distasteful experience than any good news of this man's healing could cover.  They've made their choices, and just as they sought an occupation sinful in the eyes of Jews for a lucrative Gentile market, so they choose again that the power of God working to relieve a man of a legion of demons is not what they want anything to do with if it threatens their livelihood by which they profit handsomely.  They have made their choice for money over the values of their faith, and now over the direct act of the Messiah.  The healed man understands this and knows that his former habitation is no place for him to remain.  Like an addict seeking to be freed of a life of addiction, he no longer fits where he was and must find a new life, and new company.  But neither does Jesus allow the man to continue with Him and with the apostles.  Instead, Jesus finds the healed man the right occupation, and gives him a new path to pursue.  He's told, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."   This is, in fact, a strong indication of Christ's work on us when we come to a kind of dead end -- when we can't go on the way we were, need to change, and to find a new life, so to speak, a new direction.   It is Christ who will give us direction, a new place we can't necessarily create of ourselves, for God's perspective is so much greater than ours is.  There are times when God will give us inspiration beyond what we could have planned or even the alternatives we can see, just like with this healed man, to whom Jesus gives a great new job -- and sends home with glorious good news.