If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me

 

 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there. 

 

 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

 

- Matthew 19:13–22 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.  The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."  His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

 

  Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.  My study Bible notes that, according to Theophylact, the disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and because they thought that children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master."  But Jesus rejects this thinking.  He sets little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, in the Orthodox Churches, little children are invited -- even as an example to adults -- to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion.  

 

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God." According to my study Bible, this man does not come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from a person whom he considers no more than a good Teacher.  We might be perplexed by Christ's response, but note that He does not deny that He is God; rather His response is designed to lead the rich man (often called the rich young ruler) to this knowledge.  

 

But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  My study Bible comments here that formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God.  This man had an earnest desire for eternal life, and sensed that He still lacked something.  So, he continues to press Jesus for an answer.   

 

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.   To be perfect, my study Bible says, one must willingly sacrifice all and follow Christ.  It says that nothing is gained unless this sacrifice is given freely.  Importantly, one must note that the specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person.  In this case, because wealth had such a grip on this rich man, his only hope was to sell and give away all his possessions.  Moreover, my study Bible notes, according to St. John Chrysostom, giving away possessions is the least of Christ's instructions here.  To follow Christ in all things is a far greater and more difficult calling. 

 

It might be hard for us to imagine, but if we are to understand today's reading correctly, this rich young ruler (as he's often called), should he have taken Christ's advice and sold what he had and give it to the poor, would simply have made the first step in the journey of being a disciple of Christ.  From there, he would have to "Come, follow Me."  And that would start his journey of discipleship, just as the other disciples who follow Christ and learn from Him are on that same road.  This need given by Christ, to sell what he had and give to the poor might seem like some kind of harsh penalty, unnecessary for others, but in the reading that follows, Jesus will elaborate on this teaching for the other disciples.  In so doing, we'll understand that while none of them was particularly rich with possessions, each has also sacrificed and given of their lives in the deepest ways in order to freely follow Christ in all things.  So, what Jesus is teaching for this rich young man is not so much about wealth or possessions, it's not necessarily saying something about being wealthy per se, but He is giving a teaching about the necessity for detachment in order to freely follow Him.  As St. Chrysostom indicates, this commandment given by Christ is the least of His instructions, in the sense that the discipleship that follows would be more difficult.  But what we find and must understand is this need for detachment; whatever gets in the way of loving God in this sense becomes an impediment to faith and to salvation.  Christ will name as the greatest commandment the first given in what is known as the Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6:5, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (see Matthew 22:36-40).  So, His first commandment to this young man who seeks eternal life is to give away the things to which he is so attached and find a new way of thinking, one that will open him up to the ways of God for him in his life, the key to the beginning of discipleship.  In a very particular and important sense, Christ's advice to this young man is a kind of baptism to set him on the road of discipleship.  For Holy Baptism is meant as a death (when we are covered by water) and rebirth (when we rise from the water).  So it would be with him, if he followed the teaching of Christ.  He would be set upon a different road, re-oriented toward Christ and whatever Christ's mission for him might have been.  Jesus says to him "you will have treasure in heaven" for this reason.  Discipleship is the journey in the kingdom of heaven and our dwelling there and bringing the kingdom of heaven into this world, anchoring our citizenship in Christ's Kingdom, and living it in even in our worldly lives.  Many assume popularly that the kingdom of heaven is only the final fullness of manifestation in the realm where God dwells somewhere far away from this world, but this is not true.  This is not what Jesus teaches.  Indeed, He has come into the world as Christ Incarnate in order to draw us into this kingdom and to live the life of the kingdom as His disciples, until the fullness of that kingdom in this world is complete and He will return.  Jesus will say to the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (see Luke 17:20-21).  This reality of the kingdom of heaven as something we seek to live in this world, and not relegate to the next after we pass from this life, is the fullness of Christ's mission and teaching, for this is discipleship -- that is, what the disciples are trained for -- and this is the understanding of spiritual battle.  It is bringing the Kingdom into this world by living it and following His teachings.  So let us seek the treasure in heaven through discipleship, and find our place in His Kingdom by following as He teaches.  

 

 

 

 

 

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

 

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.  Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

 

- Matthew 16:21-28 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

 

  From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  My study Bible informs us that, after St. Peter's confession (see yesterday's reading, above), Jesus reveals the true nature of His messiahship:  the mystery of His Passion.   It was expected that the Messiah would reign forever, so the idea that Christ would die was perplexing to St. Peter and remained scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Here St. Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan, for the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save humankind through suffering and death.  

 

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  According to my study Bible, the cross, a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment, is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  It says that we practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  To accept this suffering is not a punishment, and neither is it an end in itself.  This is, in fact, a means by which to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).  

 

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."  My study Bible calls this the central paradox of Christian living: in grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal -- but in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9).

 

 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works."  Jesus asks, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  My study Bible comments that this question emphasizes the utter foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power, as none of these things can redeem a fallen soul, nor will it benefit a person in the life to come.  

 

"Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."  My study Bible tells us that this is a reference to something that occurs in the reading to follow; it refers to those who would witness the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9), and also those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.

 

Jesus speaks in a powerful way about exchange.   Jesus says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  If we look closely at today's reading, Jesus is addressing this problem of St. Peter insisting that Jesus should not die, should not go to His death on the Cross, His Passion, and therefore all that follows.  While each of us can understand St. Peter's perhaps horrified response to this news that Jesus will be put to death in this horrific and scandalous way, it is nonetheless that St. Peter is responding in the voice of Satan.  That is, there is a taught contradiction between how God will work in the world to bring all to the possibility of salvation and eternal life, and the purely human, secular perspective about what is good and what should not happen.  St. Peter wants to preserve the life of Jesus, his Lord, at all costs.  But Jesus is, in fact, Lord, and Christ teaches what will happen and must happen, as hard as it might be to bear, to hear, to accept.  And St. Peter, like all the rest of us, must be prepared to make that exchange between his personal human point of view, and the one that God, the Lord, is showing to him.  That is a leap of faith that would be tremendously difficult for any of us to make in the same circumstances, I would dare to say.  But nevertheless, we know who Christ is, and that He speaks with the voice of God and teaches the reality of God in the world.  ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father" - John 14:9.  So, in some sense to deny what Christ is teaching them about what must come is not simply speaking with the voice (or desire) of Satan, but also blasphemy against the Spirit.  And here, further, through St. Peter, as happens in so many instances (but most notably after his denial of Christ outside the home of the high priest in Matthew 26:69-75), we find that even a kind of blasphemy of the Spirit is forgivable through repentance, for we know that St. Peter repents of his words to Christ here.  And this is the remarkable thing about the Gospels and about St. Peter, for simply imagine enduring such a rebuke from Christ, in front of his fellow disciples, as to be called "Satan" by the Lord.  While St. Peter's impulsiveness and even enthusiasm seem to occasionally get him into trouble (such as his changeable response to Christ washing his feet at the Last Supper; see John 13:5-10), the one constant we do see is his devotion to Christ, and in particular, his capacity for humility -- in both enduring the rebuke in today's reading and continuing as apostle, and in his return to all of them and to Christ following his humiliating failure in his three-time denial of Christ while Jesus was on trial inside the home of the high priest.  It is St. Peter who teaches us so much about the continuing journey of our faith in Christ, to return in repentance and continue with Christ.  Eventually, we know that St. Peter accepts the unacceptable, even asking to be crucified himself upside down so as not to be considered equal to his Master.  St. Peter comes to embody the principle of Christ's teaching in today's reading.  He willingly, through his life and the living of his faith, finds his life by losing it for Christ's sake -- and this happens not only literally in St. Peter's death, but also figuratively in so many ways throughout his life.  In today's reading, Jesus says, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? "  St. Peter answers Christ's questions for us with a depth of affirmation that there is nothing more precious in the whole world than the value of the soul, and the life to be found in Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

 

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His exorcism of the Gergesene demoniacs, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  My study Bible reminds us that Matthew (the author of this Gospel) is also named Levi (Mark 2:14).  It explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption in extorting money from their own people, they were hated by fellow Jews and considered unclean (Matthew 11:19).  By dining with them and accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), Jesus offends the Pharisees.  But His defense is both simple and teaches us about what He is here as Incarnate Jesus for:  He goes where the need of the physician is the greatest.  Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  This is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible explains, but it shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).  

 

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  My study Bible tells us that the Jews typically fasted twice per week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover, there were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed public fasts (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15).  This was particularly important on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19). But the day of the Messiah was viewed as a wedding feast; that is, a time of joy and gladness.   Here Jesus is proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible explains, fasting is not gloomy but desirable, it is a "bright sadness," for in fasting we gain self-control and we prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.  

 

Jesus says, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  In so doing, He frames His entire ministry in terms of healing, for He is clearly equating salvation from sin, and repentance, as part of the work of healing, and what a physician offers to those who are "sick."  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we discussed the metaphorical parallel between paralysis and sin, a sort of paralysis of the soul.  When we consider being stuck in sin or harmful habits and behaviors as a kind of paralysis of the soul, we begin to understand repentance as remedy and medicine.  Repentance is the way to transform and transcend behaviors and ways of thinking that keep us stuck in a pattern that is harmful or disordered, for repentance literally means "change of mind" (the Greek word is μετανοια/metanoia).  Repentance is quite simply a turning away from what is harmful and turning toward Christ instead.  It is a way to become unstuck, and moving toward the proper and healthful goal for all of us, which is ultimately union with Christ our Creator, who gives us true identity.  In the Orthodox tradition, the Church is often considered to be a hospital, reflective of what we find in the Gospels.  In today's reading, Jesus refers to Himself a physician, of whom those who are sick have need.  In the final verses of today's reading, He gives a vivid illustration of the pattern of change involved in spiritual growth, the transition from the old to the new, the opening up of the gospel to those who may come in through repentance.  Fasting will indeed be part of the New Covenant Church, but it -- like everything else -- will be transfigured in the light of Christ the Bridegroom, as we await His return.  Let us turn toward Him and fill the new wineskins for the new wine.

 

 

 

Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man

 

 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Philip said to him, "Come and see."  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?  You will see greater things than these."  And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

 

- John 1:43–51 

 

Yesterday we read that, on the second day of Christ's earthly ministry in St. John's Gospel, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.   I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Again, the next day [the third day given in the Gospel], John the Baptist stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

 

  The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Philip said to him, "Come and see."  In yesterday's reading, we read about the calling of the first disciples, Simon (whom Jesus named Cephas, an Aramaic word meaning A Stone; Petros/Πετρος in the Greek, from which we derive the English name Peter); and then Andrew Simon Peter's brother.  There was another disciple led to Jesus by John the Baptist who was unnamed, and that is often surmised to be St. John, the author of this Gospel (as it was a custom for authors not to speak of themselves).  Here, Jesus calls Philip ("Follow Me") to become His disciple, and Philip found Nathanael.  Nathanael is also known to us as Bartholomew.  

 

  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"  My study Bible comments that no deceit means both having a pure heart and also being straightforward with others.  

 

Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?  You will see greater things than these."   My study Bible points out that what exactly occurred under the fig tree is not stated.  According to St. John Chrysostom, it notes, this was the meeting place of Philip and Nathanael, and Jesus was praising Nathanael for being so diligent and careful in his seeking of the Messiah.  Christ's foreknowledge and His ability to see into Nathanael's heart stir this confession of faith.  This is the fourth day given in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael.  My study Bible comments that they now see Christ as the true Light; the One revealed in the Old Testament, a lesser light.  This parallels the establishment of the lesser and greater lights governing the night and the day respectively on the fourth day in Genesis 1:14-19.

 

And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."  This title, Son of Man, is a title of the Messiah that, according to my study Bible, had a level of mystery in its meaning.  It indicated a man of heavenly origin who would usher in the Kingdom of God (Daniel 7:13-14).  In an Old Testament prophecy, Jacob dreamed of a ladder which connected earth to heaven, and upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12-15).  Jesus is the "ladder" who unites earth to heaven, and therefore is this Son of Man.  

 

 In yesterday's reading and commentary we remarked on the building up of Christ's body of disciples, and of His Church.  This is not something that happens overnight, or in some seemingly miraculous or instantaneous way.  In keeping with the reality of Christ's Incarnation, Jesus builds His Church as human beings must build organizations and communities.  These first disciples, in fact, come one by one, and not as an entire group.  They are first called in a way that is distinctly personal.  That is, Christ's first disciples come by way of John the Baptist, and they were first disciples of the Baptist.  In yesterday's reading (see above), this is made clear as John twice refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God and testifies to his disciples about Him.  John the Baptist explicitly directs two of his disciples to Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God!" making it clear that He is the Christ.  These first two were Andrew and an unnamed disciple, often understood to be the Evangelist John himself.  From there Andrew found his brother Simon, whom we know as Peter after the name given him by Christ.  Following this (the next day) Jesus Himself found Philip, and called him, saying "Follow Me."  At this juncture, let us note the connections that happen one by one in this story.  There is John the Baptist, who teaches his own disciples about Jesus as the Lamb of God; one of these is Simon Peter.  Simon then finds his brother, Andrew.  From there Jesus finds Philip who has another kind of connection to this first set of brothers; he's from Bethsaida, the same city as Andrew and Simon.  Then Philip himself finds Nathanael and calls him to meet Jesus, saying, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  All of these so far are individual actions, pulling people together one by one.  They are personal in nature.  There are connections between these people besides their discipleship to John the Baptist:  two are brothers, another is from the same town as the brothers, and clearly Nathanael is a friend already known to Philip.  Then there is a kind of an interesting snag:  Nathanael is skeptical.  What good thing can come out of Nazareth?  Nazareth, the town in Galilee in which Jesus was brought up, was not known for any prophecies regarding holy people, or having a particularly special identity in terms of the spiritual history of Israel.  So Nathanael asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"   And Philip responds in an equally level-headed and down to earth way, "Come and see."  He's to find out for himself.  And, of course, Christ responds in a phenomenally positive way to all of this level-headed skepticism:  "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"  All of this so far contains within it the most distinctively human elements we can find, of a sort of level-headed honesty we might even call "dull" in others, and a Messiah who praises that very quality for it possesses "no deceit."  There's no flight of fancy or fantasy for Nathanael.  We really cannot get less like the seeming mysterious or miraculous than such a story of gathering these particular people together.  This beginning of Jesus' ministry is as down to earth as it can get.  But then Nathanael immediately comprehends something about Jesus, that Jesus knows him, knows his heart.  Jesus tells him that He saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him, and Nathanael is convinced:  "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?  You will see greater things than these."  But Jesus assures him, He will see much, much greater things than this.  He tells him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."  This is a far more profound understanding of the Messiah than even the popular expectations of the Jewish people at the time, far greater than a King of Israel.  But Nathanael is rewarded for precisely his down to earth honesty, his complete lack of pretense.  It's a humbly human story, with disciples called one by one, not a mass of people convinced by something miraculous and stupendous in its effect, and a story that is built through a very personal faith which acts in the heart, a knowing of the soul, a recognition.  All of these very human elements in this story are a necessary part of the Incarnation, God's chosen way to make Himself know to His people.  And yet, hidden in plain sight, so to speak, is the very Ladder dreamt of by Joseph, upon whom the angels of God ascend and descend.  Jesus does not come into the world with great fanfare, with huge displays of power, with an overwhelming compulsion for people to follow Him or to do what He says.  He comes out of Nazareth relatively "unknown," but identified by the Holy Spirit to John the Baptist -- and from there, in this intimate personal way, his followers grow one by one, as called by Him, and led by the Baptist who prepared the way.  For this is our very human story, which contains the Creator, the Son of Man and Lord of all that is, Whom we also may carry with us in our human hearts (Revelation 3:20).

 

 

 

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword

 

 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

 

"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."

 

- Matthew 10:34-42 

 

We have been reading through Christ's appointment of the twelve disciples to become the twelve apostles, and His instructions to them preparing them for their first apostolic mission (see readings from Monday and Tuesday).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued:  "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!  Therefore do not fear them.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.  Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?  And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also  confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."

 

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword."  My study Bible comments that just before Christ's most violent death on the Cross, He promised peace to His disciples.  But the existence of evil necessitates spiritual warfare.  The earth to which Christ came was under the authority of Satan (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4).  Therefore, it's essential that Christ wage war against the leader of vice with weapons of virtue (Ephesians 6:11-18).  Moreover, peace, as we commonly think of it, may be simply a false peace which ignores issues of truth.  Genuine peace, according to my study Bible, is reconciliation ot God through faith in Christ and surrender to truth.  This genuine peace has division as a byproduct because not everyone wants truth.  In the fallen world, it says, divisions are necessary for truth to be manifest (see 1 Corinthians 11:18-19).

 

 "For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."  In Christ's mission is a fulfillment of the prophesy of Micah 7:6.  In addition to the literal meaning, which has been experienced in the Church since Christ's time, the older generation divided from the younger is symbolic of the rejection of the new covenant by followers of the old, and also of the spiritual struggle between our old, sinful state and our renewal in Christ (see Ephesians 4:20-24).  To carry his cross, my study Bible explains, a true disciple must be ready, if necessary, to sacrifice even family relationships.  

 

 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."  My study Bible notes here that apostles are ambassadors who represent the Lord.  So, therefore, all who extend help to them are showing mercy directly to Christ and will receive God's reward (see Matthew 25:40).  

 

 Once again, in today's reading, Christ's words convey the meaning and effect of His power.  That is the power with which He is sending out His apostles into the world to heal and to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.   Here He first speaks of that power as a sword:   "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."  St. Paul also speaks of the word of God as a sword:  "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).  Here in Jesus' words, that sword pierces even families, for the love of Christ -- even as He says so Himself -- is the ultimate arbiter and discerner of reality, even beyond the things and people we love most in this world.  This also includes taking up our own crosses to follow Him; for our very lives are truly in His hands.  These words might seem harsh and extreme, but we need to consider that it is the author of our very lives who is speaking, the Creator of all reality that we know.  And at the same time that He's teaching us about sacrifices that may have to be made as we follow Him in carrying our own crosses, Jesus adds to another dimension of His power, that it is a blessing to all who honor it and those who receive another who carries this gospel and this kingdom within themselves into the world in His name:  "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."  The blessings of the Kingdom extend to all who may welcome it, or even show hospitality to one who does.  When that goodness is recognized and honored in another -- as a prophet, as a righteous man, even as one of the little ones in the name of a disciple -- this is honored by God.  Let us consider the graciousness of God, God's awesome power and the truly magnificent working of God's grace.   For His truth, His word is a two-edged sword that cuts both ways, depending upon the side of it on which we fall.  For this mysterious power works as Christ has indicated, in the myriad ways that pervade all that we know and do, and connect between people.  Let us seek His grace always and honor it.

 

 

 

 

 

For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 

 

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9–17 

 

Yesterday we read that, following the encounter and exorcism of the Gergesene demoniacs, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came back to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.   My study Bible tells us that Matthew is also called Levi (Mark 2:14).  It explains that Roman overlords would assign specific areas to Jewish tax collectors.  These Jewish tax collectors were then free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, using the power of the Roman state.  Because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, other Jews hated them and considered them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Here Jesus is dining with them and has accepted a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), and so the Pharisees are offended.  But Jesus' defense is quite simple:  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6.  This is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible explains, but it teaches that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  The Jews would typically fast twice a week, my study Bible explains (Luke 18:12), on Monday and on Thursday.  In addition, public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But the Jews saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Here, Jesus is proclaiming that day, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible notes, fasting is not gloomy but desirable; it's a "bright sadness."  This is because, by fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit who dwells in renewed people; who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

 

 Jesus makes a seemingly radical choice in today's reading: He calls a tax collector to become His disciple.  We're told that He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  This might seem almost like a random event in terms of the way that you or I might read these words, but with Jesus, nothing is random.  He knows the hearts of people and He knows the ones He calls.  Matthew's response is an indication of how ready He was to follow and to become a disciple.  But Jesus' calling of the disciple Matthew (the author of our Gospel) is indeed a radical act, because Matthew is a kind of outlier.  He is, moreover, scorned and shunned by the community because he's a tax collector.  The next thing we read is that Jesus is sitting at table with a whole houseful of tax collectors and sinners, no doubt St. Matthew's friends.  This is yet another radical step, for He's openly among a community known widely as sinners, and unclean in the eyes of others.  In a sense, it's Jesus openly declaring His gospel by this physical act of attending a dinner.  He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Note that, yet again, everything is not quite what it might seem to us as we read this Scripture.  For Jesus is not sitting at dinner to simply approve of and enjoy this company.  Matthew has become a disciple, has decided to follow Jesus, and Jesus is calling this table to repentance as well.  The fact that He is eating with them is yet another radical act, for He has no concern that in so doing, He is sharing whatever sinful or imperfect behavior tax collectors and sinners might practice.  Just as He touched a leper when it was forbidden to touch the "unclean" (in this reading) in order to heal him, so Christ's sitting among these people is also an act of healing.  Christ has nothing to fear from closeness to those who are either physically or spiritually unwell in any sense.  This is because He is the divine Physician; He has come to heal, to set us on the right path and give us the right medicine we need for our ailments.  This invites us to understand ourselves as those who might also sit at that table, and the particular perspective that engenders in us.  Jesus doesn't come to Matthew's table to celebrate and laud Matthew or the other tax collectors and sinners, He comes as honored teacher, while Matthew is pleased to tell the world that he has become a disciple, and to share this with his friends.  So even if one is not a notorious sinner, nor hated as unclean or despised in community for some reason, we think of ourselves at this table as one of those who are imperfect, and who need Christ's guidance and healing prescriptions for our lives.  It invites us to think of ourselves as part of a community, in which there may be all kinds of sins and their effects present, and so therefore whoever we are, we are a part of a community that needs Christ and what Christ has to offer.  He, Jesus, has come into the world to be part of this community, to do His healing and preach His gospel within this community, and to call us out of that community to be His followers and practice His gospel as He teaches.  St. Matthew will go on to become an apostle, and author of this first Gospel that appears in our New Testament, and so he continues to call people to Christ from the midst of our communities all over the world.  Let us understand ourselves also as those who need Christ in our lives and our communities, and be grateful as Matthew who invites all to sit at His table with joy and thanks for His Teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them

 

 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  

 

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

- Matthew 4:18-25 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, / By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, / Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

 

  And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.   My study Bible asks us to understand that these first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and so they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, it notes, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to the be the wisest of all.  

 

 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  My study Bible says that we should note that these crowds do not swarm Jesus when He commands repentance (as in yesterday's reading; see the final verse, above), but only as He begins to heal and work miracles.  This fact, it says, shows that the people misunderstand the true nature of His Kingdom.  It also shows Christ's concession, according to Theopylact, "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the fickle multitudes.  

 

Jesus reveals the presence of the Kingdom with Him in the healings that He does.  He heals diseases and torments, epilepsy, paralysis, and of course this goes hand in hand with casting out demons from those who were possessed.  This is all an expression of the Kingdom very present with Him, and of course, a manifestation of His power and authority in His identity as Son.  But, as we discussed in yesterday's reading and commentary, all the things that Christ is, and that entire presence of the Kingdom that encompasses all that He teaches and will do, including even Judgment, are part and parcel of what comes with Christ.  We can pick and choose healing, or casting out demons, but we can't leave out repentance, for this is basic and fundamental to His gospel message.  It is a sad and tragic thing when people suffer; when they suffer from diseases that afflict in terrible ways, when people die.  These things are "not fair."   In the historical understanding of the Church, these afflictions are a part of the effects of sin in the world, and that includes death and all that comes with it.  But each one of us will contend with death in one way or another, and what that means is that the ways in which we meet death, or any of the varied forms of death we encounter in life, such as illness and suffering, injustice, and the entire gamut of myriad things that are detrimental to life, must first of all be the encounter with Christ.  He is the One who transfigured death on the Cross, defeated it, but in His suffering created meaning and purpose.  We also, turning to Him in our distress, must meet all of our suffering and ailments with Him, and the fullness of what He is and teaches us.  Many people look to the amazing healings described in the Gospels and think that prayer's effectiveness is only about those times of trouble we have and the banishing of that trouble, like using a magic wand to fix our problems, or saying particular words that will have this effect.  Some see Christ's preaching as teaching us that all we have to do is believe that we have what we want, and call on His name, and it will be manifest.  But this is not the fullness of His ministry and message.  Even St. Paul writes that he had to accept an affliction, for he had received so many blessings and revelations, and been granted so many graces by God that, as he says, "a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure."  Praying about this "thorn in the flesh," this "messenger of Satan," he was told by God, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Can we, in our quest for healing, accept what St. Paul says here?  That his own thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, was allowed intentionally for the greater glory of God, that his weakness was in fact a way through which God's strength is made perfect?  How many of us can accept so fully this gospel that we could meet our own afflictions this way, finding meaning and even intention and purpose in our suffering?  But St. Paul met his suffering in prayer, and embraced the message that God had for him.  He concludes, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  It is a healthy and good thing to seek life, to reject death in all its forms, and to find the good and abundant reality of creation which God has given us and of which we are a part.  But when we substitute something else, an idol even of something nominally good, for the fullness of Christ and the meanings and grace to be found in the transfiguration of life possible through faith, then we're missing the mark -- we're failing to find what God has in mind for us and the beauty therein.  None of us wants to suffer; even more so, none wants to see their loved ones suffer in any way.  The mother of God, Mary, comes to mind when we think of her watching her Son suffer and die.  This kind of agony we wish upon no one.  And yet, she accepted God's reality for her; it was her faith that guided her response to even the worst cruelties of life.  These things are also great and profound mysteries; they are difficult to fathom, more difficult even to see when we are in distress.  But prayer will see us through them, even in the times when God's grace must be sufficient for us, when God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, or that of someone we love.  An acceptance of the potentials of meaning even within suffering shifts our perspective to one of compassion, and transcendence.  We find a dignity in forbearance but most of all in our capacity for care in the midst of imperfection, a beauty in seeing the grace that is still possible in the expression of faith and of love and the strength made perfect in weakness.  For we are on a journey to God which takes us through all kinds of things in life, even the sad things of this world.  Let us find His way and the comfort in His easy yoke, and light burden (Matthew 11:20).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me

 

 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

 

- Mark 8:34-9:1 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples came to Bethsaida; and some  brought a blind man to Jesus, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town." Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered  and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  

 

  When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  The cross, my study Bible explains, was a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment.  However, it is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  We practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  To accept this suffering is not punishment, my study Bible says, neither is it an end in itself, but rather it is a means by which to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom, and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).  

 

 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."  My study Bible comments that the central paradox of Christian living is that in grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal; but in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9).  

 

 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Jesus asks, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  My study Bible comments that this question emphasizes the utter foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power, for none of this can redeem a person's fallen soul, nor benefit a person in the life to come.  

 

 And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."  My study Bible calls this a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-13 - tomorrow's Gospel reading), as well as those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.  

 

Today is the day of the celebration of the Transfiguration in many denominations across the world.  Tomorrow will be the day that we read the account of this event in St. Mark's Gospel.  But it's important to consider -- especially in light of Jesus' teaching in today's reading -- how the Cross is deeply related to the event of the Transfiguration, and the principle of our faith which we understand through this significant event in Christ's ministry (especially for the witnessing disciples).  In Greek, the Transfiguration is called Μεταμόρφωσις/Metamorphosis, and we should understand this word to understand the event.  Of course, metamorphosis is also a borrowed word in English.  It quite literally means to be transformed.  More specifically it involves a transformation from being with something or someone, a change in form due to particular influence or participation.  In Jesus' case, the Transfiguration will reveal identity as He truly is, a deeper and more full understanding of the reality Christ brings with Him into the world.  But for us, the Transfiguration works hand in hand withe the Cross, and its message of change or exchange for us.  Jesus sets this out clearly when He speaks of taking up one's cross, and this as necessity for those who would follow Him and be His disciples.  To take up one's cross is, in this sense, to be actively becoming something -- to be transformed through discipleship.  He makes this even more clear when He says, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  To lose one's life for Christ's sake is to exchange one way of life for another, to give up what we know -- or think we know -- for the life He offers to us instead.  To take up our cross in this sense is a question of the heart.  For He offers us an exchange:  will our lives be lived with the understanding we have and its limitations, or are we ready to follow Him, to come to know what life He wants for us, and the way of life He teaches?  Some people would believe that this is just a matter of learning principles or values, or following rules written down somewhere.  But it is not.  This taking up of one's cross is a matter of truly following Him; that is, to be transformed, as the word "metamorphosis" indicates, by being in proximity with Him, by being His disciples, and participating in His life, death, and Resurrection.  As noted in other readings and commentary, to do so is to understand the concept of "energies" and to know that participation with Christ is a sacramental kind of a life in which we learn to be "like Him" just as the disciples did.  For each person, this "exchange" of the cross, of one way of life for another, of losing our lives in order to find them, will likely take on different forms, depending upon what God deems we need to exchange and to learn or accept.  But the process is similar for all of us in terms of Christ's transfiguring power.  The same is true of our prayers; when we take things in our lives, give them up to Christ, and ask for direction and understanding of how God would direct us in our lives and responses to circumstances, we open the door to a kind of transfiguration even of our environment and the ways we live.  So let us consider Christ's Cross, and the taking up of our own as He asks, the exchange we make.  For this is an ongoing process that lasts a lifetime, just as it did for the disciples.  What do you exchange today, when you ask for His way, and His teaching for you today?

 

 

 

 

You do not know what manner of spirit you are of

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village. 

 

 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  but he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:51–62 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus, James, John, and Peter had come down from the mount of the Transfiguration on the following day, 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."

 

  Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  As we have observed of others in the Gospels (such as, for example, the sisters Martha and Mary), these two brothers, James and John, are here true to type.  We recall that Jesus has named them Boanerges, meaning "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17).  In our previous reading (see above), it was the brother John who said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  (Take notice of the plural "we" in that statement).  Jesus replied, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."  Here, it is these brothers who ask if the disciples should command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans who did not receive Christ into their village (for His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem).  Here Christ's reply to these brothers similarly tempers their "fiery" responses, and puts them in mind of what manner of spirit they are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

 

  Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  but he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on the phrase I will follow You.  It notes here that there is a cost to discipleship.  Here, it says, Jesus reveals three of them.  First, the disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  That is, if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, then neither will the disciple.  Secondly, there is nothing -- not even the honor due to parents -- which can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.  

 

 We often minimize the demands of discipleship in our modern context.  We live in a world which, for the most part in the developed or developing countries, glorifies consumerism to a certain extent.  Or, barring overt glamorizing of money and all that it can do for us, popular culture and modern life of great advancements in technology and all manner of consumer goods becomes a template for the way in which we live our lives, and the ways we think about how life works.  All manner of things become some kind of object of consumption, even to the point of choosing what our religion teaches and how we follow it.  In other words, "sacrifice" as a concept becomes minimized and even to some extent a scandal.  On a certain level, this even becomes unconscious, for it is the stuff of the societies we live in and the modern telecommunications we consume and use.  Do we want a Christianity that enables us to pursue the great dreams of success taught by the modern world?  We can find a variety or flavor that offers this.  Would we like a Christianity that teaches us that we needn't learn any discipline on our appetites and passions?  We can find that too.  Do we want a Christianity that corrects no one, and says "no" to nothing?  It's easy to call ourselves tolerant while we refuse to notice how much these attitudes allow or even enable harm to others.  On the other hand, the modern world in popular culture is often reacting to overly harsh attitudes of the past as well.  In today's reading, we get a balance between both of these extremes.  On the one hand, Jesus corrects James and John Zebedee, who wonder if they should bring down fire upon the Samaritan villagers who refuse to receive Christ, for Christ has now set his face to go toward Jerusalem and the Cross.  We recall that when Jesus sent the apostles out on their first mission, He taught them to "shake the very dust" from their feet in rebuke against those places where they are not received (Luke 9:5).  Here the Zebedee brothers seem to be consumed with the idea that a worldly kingdom is about to be established by Jesus, complete with the power of holy fire such as shown by the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 18:20-40), and we can imagine that the dispute about who among the disciples would be the greatest reflected this understanding (see yesterday's reading, above; see also Mark 10:35-45).  In today's reading, Jesus rebuffs such attitudes toward power among His disciples, saying to them, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of."  Following immediately upon this lesson, we are given examples of sacrifice necessary to be a disciple, which couples with Christ's teaching on the use of power.  Even such pressing circumstances which we deem ostensibly "good," such as the burial of a parent, fall to a secondary place when called to discipleship.  Here, Jesus tells the would-be disciple, "Let the dead bury their own dead," implying that those whom he has left behind are not interested in the kingdom of God Christ asks him to go preach instead.  Another reflects the same sentiments of home and family:  "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house." But Jesus replies, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."   In a modern context, midst a breakdown of the family, we are often told that family values are the emphasis of Christianity.  But this can also obscure the fact of discipleship and the sacrifices it requires, even its priorities as explained here by Christ.  Sacrifice entails not only dispelling our conventional social ideas about power (which includes the power of consumption) but also social obligation and the priority given to a call from Christ.  To carry one's cross, to be crucified with Christ in this sense, is to learn to discern where we're called away from the things we might think are "good" to the higher good of service, discipleship, and sacrifice that God asks of us.  Each one's cross will be different, just as each social construct belongs to its own period of time and place in terms of how we're asked to change our thinking, and what to give up at times even what we think of as "good" and "successful" for the vision that God has for us instead.  In our time and place, we have a powerful call to consumerism, to the latest technologies, to obedience to one social realm or another, even to cancel culture.  Let us temper all of our impulses with prayer and the call from Christ, as best as we can discern.  Let us embrace the sacrifice that leads us to our own higher good that we can't know nor realize without it.  For Christ calls us beyond where we are and what we know, into the places we don't know, in order to grow as His disciples.  For all these things are teaching us "what manner of spirit" we must be of.