This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him

 

 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.  Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."  And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.  But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.  Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.  So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter."  And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.  So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.  Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.  

 

- Matthew 14:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that, it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.  When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  Is this not the carpenter's son?  Is not His mother called Mary?  And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?  And His sisters, are they not all with us?  Where then did this Man get all these things?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."  Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

 

  At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  Herod the tetrarch is the son of Herod the Great, the builder and refurbisher of the splendid Second Temple, and also the heartless murderer of infants (Matthew 2:16-18).  Herod the tetrarch is also known to us as Herod Antipas.  He is the ruler of Galilee.  Popularly called a king, he rules for Rome.  The account of the beheading of John the Baptist that follows is meant to be understood in the past tense.  It's given to us so that we understand why Herod fears that John has returned from the dead, after hearing about Jesus' ministry and the marvels that accompanied it ("therefore these powers are at work in him").

 

 For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.  Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."  And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.  Although the Herodian dynasty ruled for Rome, they nominally practiced Judaism as they ruled Jewish people.  Thus, under Jewish law, Herod had practiced what was unlawful by marrying his brother's wife, while his brother Philip was still living.  This is what John the Baptist protests as a prophet.  

 

 But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.  Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.  So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter."  And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.  So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.  Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.  My study Bible comments that the beheading of St. John the Baptist is remembered in the Church on August 29 with a day of fasting. As part of God's plan of salvation, it notes, John's martyrdom allowed the coming of the Messiah to be announced to the souls in Hades, for John was the forerunner of Christ there as well as on earth.  At Matins on that day it is sung, "Your tongue which constantly speaks of God has preceded Christ into death, and is sent to preach Him to those in Hades."

 

 My study Bible is right to emphasize this type of "handing off" of ministry from St. John the Baptist to Christ.  We see it in the baptism of Jesus by St. John, in which the Trinity is manifest, and Christ's identity is made plain.  We see it in St. John's prophesy regarding the Baptism to come of Christ, in his testimony that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and in his introduction of his disciples to Jesus (Sts. Andrew, Peter, and John the author of the Gospel, who is unnamed).  See John 1:19-42. In John's death, as my study Bible says, we see something similar, and St. John the Baptist plays the role of Forerunner to Christ even in death.  It mirrors the overall handing off and continuation of the salvation plan of God from Old Testament to New.  As St. John the Baptist is the last and greatest of the Old Testament-style prophets, so he points and directs all to Jesus Christ, as Lamb of God.  We also see an image of the old in this depiction of the court of Herod.  This echoes the scandal of the Gentiles of old, a pre-Christian picture of the Gentile world of power and its values.  It is a scandal in that the passions on display in this story of Herod's court are meant to be cautionary tales of disordered desires and their outcomes.  Here a daughter is not only allowed to put herself on display before the powerful men of Herod's court and region, but she's schooled by her mother to request the bloody head of a great prophet, widely considered by the public to be a holy man, served on a platter at a birthday party.  Herod is no better, as he rashly swears a grandiose oath to the girl, and is too weak in front of the "great men" at his birthday party to refuse such a hideous act against a just holy man.  John the Baptist is a figure for all of us of righteousness and courage, and dedication to God above all things.  He is the opposite of Herod, who seems to understand nothing but power and a servility to things that corrupt and destroy honor.  This Gentile court is a scandal to the Jews of that time, and so we get a picture of Galilee as a region of both Gentiles and Jews; the power of holiness contrasted with the worldly power on display.  Elsewhere, my study Bible comments on the inner terror of Herod, who fears St. John the Baptist even in death.  In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' rejection in His hometown of Nazareth in Galilee.  But even in this rejection, the Baptist is related to Jesus through his martyrdom.  We live in a world today in which the slogan "speak truth to power" is often heard as a declaration of righteousness.  But one must say that one could find no better nor truer courageous manifestation of this saying than in the life and death of St. John the Baptist, and again, of course, Jesus.  Let us play our own part in the lineage of our faith, the best of our abilities, and in sincere imitation of those who have shown us the way before us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 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 returned from the country of the Gadarenes across the Sea of Galilee, 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.  The chosen twelve (6:12-16) are sent out on their first mission.  Note that Jesus sends them out by giving them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases; also to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  We note the great emphasis on healing.  Jesus does not send them out empty-handed, but invested with His own power to do these things.  His instructions further enforce their dependence upon the power which He has given to them.  They are to take nothing with them, nor extra clothing; their demeanor is to be humble and grateful for whatever is offered to them first (not to "trade up" for better lodgings after they are known).  Their power is also in testimony -- those who will not receive them receive 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.  Herod the tetrarch is also known as Herod Antipas; also known as a "king," he was the tetrarch or ruler of Galilee, who ruled for Rome.  During Jesus' time of trial, He will be sent by Pilate to Herod the tetrarch (23:7).  This Herod is the son of the Herod who slew the innocent children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  The story of the beheading of St. John the Baptist can be read at Mark 6:14-28.  The curiosity of Herod Antipas at this stage is one more indication that Jesus is coming to the notice of ruling authorities; the conflict with the kingdom of God becomes inevitable.

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.  Jesus tries to go away privately with the apostles, those twelve who have been sent out on their first mission.  But the crowds and their constant need, and demand for healing, makes this impossible.  Note that Jesus spoke to them about the kingdom of God; His mission is to spread this word, not simply to respond to demands.

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.  My study bible cites the commentary of Theophylact, who sees a liturgical parallel with the feeding of the five thousand.  First Christ healed and spoke about the gospel, then fed the multitude with the miraculous bread by the hands of His disciples.  In the Church, it says, a person is first healed through baptism; then at the Liturgy, the gospel is preached and the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands of ordained clergy.  "You give them something to eat" is a command -- a kind of commission that is a preparation for the apostolic ministry to come after the Resurrection.  My study bible says that they will feed the world with the word of God and with the Eucharist.  On the five loaves and two fish, St. John Chrysostom comments 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."   St. Chrysostom further comments on the image we're given of Christ looking up to heaven, suggesting that He does so "not as receiving power from elsewhere, but as honoring the Father who begot Him."  Moreover, he adds, 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 has an additional comment on the feeding of the five thousand, which adds that Jesus' blessing of the bread with which the crowds were fed gives us a clear eucharistic image, and therefore directs us to pursue spiritual food greater than that which is earthly (see also John 26-27).  In our modern age, which has made and continues to make tremendous progress in the realm of the material (such as scientific and technological progress and new advances of all kinds), we tend to think in material terms.  That is, we think that addressing the problems of the world can be done through material gain.  If only we had enough money for research into this or that problem -- for medical research, or research into the production of more food for more people, or for investigation into the abolition of disease, pollution, natural disaster, etc., we could truly solve all the problems of the world.  But the problems of the world do not rest simply in the material.  Christ comes into the world with the fullness of compassion for all of our problems:  our illnesses, our needs and wants, our desire to be fed.  But never in the Gospels is compassion simply a matter of material understanding of material problems.  Compassion is, in the first place, a product of a spiritual life and spiritual understanding.  Grace comes from God -- and through our understanding of a gracious Creator, we may in turn share a communal concern and right-relatedness with others.  In other words, the material doesn't simply come first, but rather the material is fulfilled through the direction and guidance of the spiritual.  As creatures, we are both material and spiritual beings.  We have a body and also possess a soul.  As such, in the cosmology of the Church, human beings occupy a special role in the fullness of Creation, we straddle both the visible and invisible worlds.  But with so much emphasis on the material, right down to the images purveyed through the mass penetration of social media into more and more of our lives, we forget about our own spiritual side.  We tend to discount that it means anything, because we don't see overtly evidence of its impact or a lack of spiritual attention in our lives.  We may simply come to know and understand, after the fact, an emptiness in our lives, a lack of good direction, the overt callousness of the selfishness and self-centeredness propounded through such total emphasis on image.  But still, our own awareness of ourselves as spiritual beings competes with the ever-driving demand for more:   a better house, more money, to look like a social media star or to be one, to have a child as a kind of commodity that makes us okay or part of a group, to have the right amount of friends and do the right things.  All of these, in a self-centered world, focus on one thing:  what is my image in the eyes of others that will feed me what (I think) I need for myself?  The chaos that emerges from the lives of those driven to be stars in such a cosmos tells us something about the social breakdown that occurs in hidden ways within ourselves when we forget that we, too, are made of spirit, and that our lives need spiritual values to be meaningful and fulfilling, and even challenging in the right ways.  That chaos includes the hidden anger and resentment, the constant challenges of competition for its own sake, and the rivalry for things and even for image that go on all the time under the surface of what we consume -- especially and even through a social media-driven world.  Without a real spiritual basis for community, we find easy scapegoats, terrifying punishments for those who fail, obscurity and rejection of images that don't fit the latest thing, whatever that might be today or this moment.  We find inconvenient facts something to ignore; a threat to the illusion that we are swimming in a stream of progress becomes a threat to our own sense of well-being.  But let us note this little verse in the reading today, that when the apostles come back from their mission, Jesus' first desire is to draw them away from the crowds, to come away for a time to rest and also to discuss with Him all the issues of this mission.  And we must take our cue from Jesus:  we need time alone with Creator; away from image, from the thoughts and popular opinions of others, from the desire merely to please the demands of the crowds.  Jesus always takes time for the spiritual, for the word of the gospel.  Healing doesn't come without it, and we can't heal without a perspective that will give us an independent and especially a detached point of view of all the fuss, demands, and chaos that surrounds us -- and especially the impulse that drives a feeling that all there is is the material and nothing more.  To escape alone by ourselves, to retreat into faith and worship, to set aside every worldly care in order to worship in true freedom (as the Cherubic Hymn of the St. Chrysostom liturgy declares in all languages in which it may be heard -- here is a famous version by Tchaikovsky), is to find ourselves in communion with our Source, with the One who loves us better than anything or anyone else, and who can teach us what it truly means to heal.  Let us consider what we lose in a world caught up with its own fantasies about itself, separate from Creator.  And let us return to what has given us so much, and continues to love and to bestow grace, to await our love and hearing in return for what it offers.   We continue to dwell in a Kingdom that lives midst our own world, no matter what the state of our world may be, and for all times and places.   The twelve baskets left over to the twelve apostles for the whole of the world are still left to feed us all with the spiritual food we need.

He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick

 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 other side of the Sea of Galilee, the multitude welcomed Him back in Capernaum, 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.   It is the point in Jesus' ministry where He sends the disciples out on their first mission; hence, they become apostles (disciple means "learner" and apostle means "one who is sent out").  Their mission is like Christ's:  they are to preach and to heal.  They are to take nothing for the journey:  not staffs, nor bag nor bread nor money, nor extra clothing.  Their dependence is to be fully on God, and their mission also depends on them not being accused of greed.  To stay and depart from one house only means they will not "trade up" for better accommodations or to stay with more wealthy folk as they are welcomed.  Everything depends upon the reception they get; the first house to welcome them will be the place they remain and stay.  But in towns where they are not received, they are to shake off the very dust from their feet as their testimony against them.  So, like the word of Christ, everything depends on those to whom they go hear and receive the good news -- or not.

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.  Herod the tetrarch is also known as Herod Antipas, to whom Pilate will send Jesus during His trial (23:7).  He's the ruler of Galilee, and the son of Herod the Great, who had slain the innocents in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  We learn of the things that people are saying about Jesus, how perhaps it is John who's risen from the dead, or that the prophesy of Elijah's reappearance has been fulfilled (Malachi 4:5-6).  Throughout the Gospels this Herod is seen as a figure who has a strange curiosity about the holy.  He was intrigued to listen to John the Baptist before he beheaded him and knew and feared that John was a holy man.  He will be disappointed and contemptuous that Christ performs no miraculous sign for him nor responds to the charges against Him (Luke 23:9-11).

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.  My study bible tells us that this first feeding miracle is seen as a parallel to the liturgy by Theophylact.   Christ first healed and spoke of the gospel, and then He fed the multitude with the miraculous bread by the hands of His disciples. In the Church, a person is first healed through baptism; then at the Liturgy, the gospel is preached and the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands of the ordained clergy.    In such a parallel, we can see a clear indication that after the first apostolic mission, this is a clear beginning of the Church.  We note that there are twelve baskets of leftover fragments, one for each apostle, the bread of life to be taken to all the world.

In today's reading we see the early seeds of the Church: the disciples are now ready for their first mission, and to be sent out.  Jesus teaches them that they are to rely on God for this mission, and that the word of God will somehow direct them.  Everything depends on how that word is received, the good news of the kingdom of God, and the healing they bring.  And the state power, in the person of Herod Antipas, gets news of Christ.  For the state, everything material to its rule is a concern, and Christ becomes an object of interest and curiosity, and even perhaps of fear as He may be John the Baptist risen from the dead.  We know how Herod's father responded to news of the birth of the child Christ, but Herod does not realize who Jesus is in that respect.  And finally there is the return of the Twelve and the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness.  Theophylact gives us the liturgical parallel, and we are to understand that we are reading about the birth process of the Church.  Of course it is also a stupendous parallel on par with Moses and the feeding of Israel with the bread from heaven, but this bread will never be exhausted and will be continually consumed by those with faith in Christ, even as we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," with its eucharistic significance in the Greek.  "Daily" is translated from epiousion, a word that more literally means "supersubstantial" -- the bread of the eternal day of the Kingdom.  It is this "day" of the Kingdom that we are watching unfold in real time, so to speak, as the Gospel unfolds the story of Jesus' ministry and His life.  Everything intersects, and in the miraculous signs present in the Gospels, eternity makes itself known within our own system of time.  So it is with the feeding of the five thousand; it is as if time is suspended, and so eternal multiplication is possible without awaiting the time for natural processes to take place.  And this, too, must be what we understand as "daily" or "supersubstantial" bread, this food with which we're fed as Christ is the bread of life (John 6:35).  This is really how we must view our faith, as that of the eternal intersecting with the world, just as Christ is God incarnate as human being.  When we pray, we should understand that it is this reality in which we participate, in which all dimensions of being may play a role even at just a moment in our lives.  We are here as faithful to intersect with this Kingdom, even as the apostles were sent out to preach just such a word to those who would receive it.

He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick

 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 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 returned from the country of the Gadarenes across the Sea of Galilee,  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 towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  The disciples ("learners") become apostles, those sent out on a mission.  Jesus gives them power:  giving what is His to those who are His disciples, so that they in turn go out into the world to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  What we note about this first mission is Jesus' careful instructions that emphasize humility.  They are not to be at all ostentatious, taking nothing with them but bare necessities of clothing.  Staying in the same house that welcomes them first means they will not "trade up" if offered better lodging.  And here is another side of that power:  when they leave a place that will not receive them, they are simply to shake the very dust from their feet as a testimony against them.  We note the importance of testimony.  The one judgment that counts is not worldly nor temporal.

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.  Herod the tetrarch is Herod Antipas.  He is the one to whom Pilate will send Jesus during His trial (23:7).   He is the son of Herod the Great, who slew the innocents in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).   For the beheading of St. John, see Mark 6:14-28.  What we notice here is something that will recur in the Gospels:  Herod's fascination with the holy power of both Christ and John the Baptist.

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.  Here the feeding of the five thousand begins a recurring note in the Gospels, that Jesus and the disciples are meant to go into a deserted place, so that they may rest and discuss their first apostolic mission.  But the people come following Jesus.  He first does what He sent out the twelve to do:  He preaches the kingdom of God, and heals those who need healing.  We note the common themes of this story as it appears in the Gospels; Jesus instructs the disciples to give them something to eat.  When very little is found on hand, Jesus proceeds with that, blessing and giving the food to the disciples to distribute to the crowd.  The five thousand men is a common way of counting; there were more women and children in addition to the them.  It is a mirror to us of the Eucharist; symbolic in the fish and the loaves is the inexhaustible food of Christ, all the forms of God's grace and the depth of communion He will share with us. The twelve baskets of leftover fragments will be the inexhaustible bread taken up by the apostles for all the world, and those who will follow in the Church.

There is a kind of movement in today's reading, as it sweeps across the progress of Christ's ministry.  First the disciples are sent out:  twelve disciples symbolizing perhaps the people of God, the twelve tribes of Israel.  They go out on their first apostolic mission, calling out those who will come in faith -- preaching the kingdom of God and healing.  Those who respond to them are those who receive this word.  Their "people" are those who will first receive them.  This is a mission based on the connection of faith, of those "who have ears to hear," in the words of Isaiah so often quoted by Jesus.  Jesus is distributing His power to the apostles and through them to the world.  And the world does hear about Him, in the person of Herod the tetrarch, a man we could say is fascinated by the holy in perhaps a peculiarly childish way.  As king, what he might understand of such power is a kind of material phenomenon, something like a possession one might marvel at, although it's not completely clear what it is he seeks from both John the Baptist and then Jesus.  In him we could possibly say we see the world of material power separated from faith, and this world has taken notice now of Jesus.  Finally the disciples return, and what occurs afterward is a prefiguring of the Eucharist, the depth of participation in the Body of Christ, and that which will remain so long as the Church remains in the world and for all those to come.  It will spread to all the world, a movement that has not stopped but continues.  What we see in today's reading is the growth of this word of the Kingdom, as well as a deepening sense of what it is to be truly a part of that Kingdom and to share in His grace and blessings, a depth not reached until we know His sacrifice and understand the Eucharist in the ways He will teach.  We can reflect again on the parable of the Sower, which Christ has so recently given in the Gospel; the seeds are sown, the world is given what Christ brings in His mission.  But it is the growth, the struggle, the patience required, and the fruit of an eventual harvest He emphasizes.  We remain in the midst of that process of nurturing, growth, temptation, the essential need for care of the heart, and patience.  Let us be grateful for our part in all of it.

You give them something to eat

 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 returned from across the Sea of Galilee, 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.    We note again that disciple and apostle are terms that are interchangeable for these men:  a disciple is a "learner" while an apostle is one who is "sent out."  Here, the momentous news is that they are sent out on their first mission.  We note that they share in Jesus' power given to them, to preach and to heal.  They are to be totally reliant on the providence of God.  Not changing houses is often seen as an imperative to humility, not to change for better accommodation but to stick with those who have an immediate response to them.  People are also free to refuse, with the dust shaken from the apostles' feet as the only response or rebuke.
 
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.  My study bible says that this is the same Herod to whom Pilate would send Jesus during His trial (23:7).  He's the son of Herod who slew the innocent infants in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  The incident of the beheading of St. John is found in 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."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and tow 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.  My study bible says, "Theophylact sees a liturgical parallel with the feeding of the five thousand.  Here Christ first healed and spoke of the gospel, and then fed the multitude with the miraculous bread by the hands of His disciples.  In the Church, a person is first healed through baptism; then at the Liturgy, the gospel is preached and the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands of the ordained clergy."

The interesting thing to see in today's reading is this sharing and spreading of Christ's power.  It starts with Him, it's rooted in Him.  It's His authority as well (as when we're told that people were astonished that He spoke with authority).  But those who are His disciples live with Him, come to learn from this close encounter, in order to be like Him.  And when they get to a certain point in their discipleship, they are sent out in order to share in that power, and distribute it to others.  Here we see a true blossoming, the fruit of the seeds of the Sower.  So, as my study bible points out, the reading (in both the sending out of the apostles and the feeding of five thousand) mirrors what is given in the liturgy, and thereby what we are to be about in our lives.  Christ's authority and power is brought into the world in order to be in relationship to us, and so we may - not as the Source of this power and authority, but as participants - share in this power and distribute it as well.  It heals, it feeds, it clothes, it cares for, it nurtures.  But above all, we participate in the love of the Creator, the One who is the Source of love, in order to share it.  If we think of Church as that which spreads and distributes via relationship to the Source, we can ask ourselves many questions.  How does this happen exactly?  Does it happen only on a macro scale, in great movements?  Does it happen on a micro scale, perhaps even in a one-to-one intimacy, in private moments nobody else knows about, in encounter where we too may connect and make a circuit in faith, as with the woman with the bloodflow who was healed by her faith?  (See yesterday's reading.)   Is it in the moments where we bolster our faith by setting aside those who ridicule, or who would trample the good things we can share under their feet?   If we think about it, the action exemplified in today's reading via both the sending out of the apostles and the feeding of the five thousand is something we are called to share in myriad ways.  God will provide the opportunities for us to rely upon and share in this power and authority, to put it to use in all kinds of ways in our lives.  Perhaps this is what it means not to sleep, and to be alert to each call of the Master at all times,  each command, even as we await His return.  It is to be awake to all the opportunities to be disciples, to share in all He offers to share and asks us to distribute for Him.  It's a most important concept, something entirely central to our faith.  In the middle of the actions we're taught about today, there is the curiosity of Herod, the one who beheaded John in favor of his wife and her daughter, the one who was then curious about John and now curious about Jesus.  That's not the kind of interest that invites discipleship; it is in fact a way of looking at the things of God in order to possibly use them.  Herod Antipas will show the fruits of this sort of curiosity.  Faith, however, brings us into an entirely different place, one that is ordered by the authority of Christ to direct our lives, to teach us how to be alert as He wishes, to carry out His plans, to share in His ministry, and His love, His kind of relationship.  Let us think about the difference.