Truly this was the Son of God!

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  

 

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

- Matthew 27:45-54 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the soldiers of the garrison came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of the Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, / And for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one of the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

  Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  See the prophecies of Zechariah 14:5-7 and Amos 8:9.

 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."   It's important to know that Jesus is praying on the Cross.  These are the words that begin Psalm 22, a psalm which gives even the details of the Crucifixion.   As my study Bible notes, if this beginning of the psalm is taken alone without the rest of it, this cry of "Why have You forsaken Me?" could be misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  Because Jesus took on our nature, my study Bible explains, He experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress, yet He does not despair.  He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father.  

 

 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study Bible comments that Christ's death was voluntary until the very end, for even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but in order to enter death as the divine Son of God, thus enabling Him to destroy this last enemy, which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  

 

 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, . . .  The veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and humanity.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all, which is God Himself, my study Bible says.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize this communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, but is now available to all who approach in faith.  Additionally, Fr. Stephen De Young has said (in accordance with St. Chrysostom) that this tearing of the veil was in fact symbolic of judgment, revealing the Most Holy Place (where only the high priest could go and only on the Day of Atonement) to be empty.  In this Second Temple, it is now devoid of the presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant, no longer containing the glory of God under the high priest who in fact has condemned Jesus and agitated for His Crucifixion.  

 

 . . . and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  My study Bible comments that the completeness of the salvation won by Christ is signified in the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  This guarantees the promise which was given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all humankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).

 

 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  The centurion is a Gentile; according to my study Bible, he realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In Church Tradition, he is known as St. Longinus. 

 

 In today's reading, we read of the "powers of heaven" being "shaken."  When Jesus gives His prophecy concerning "end times" (Matthew 24), He says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Matthew 24:29).  In addition to the prophecies of Zechariah and Amos cited above, we can look at these events reported at the time of Jesus' death and understand that there is a tremendous "shaking up" indeed happening here.  There is darkness at noon until approximately 3:00 in the afternoon (the sixth hour until the ninth hour).  When Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many."  All of these actions echo the apocalyptic nature of the end times prophecy given by Jesus; they make it clear that there are layers to the reality that we know, and Christ Himself is somehow active and evident in all of them.  So much so, that all is shaken up (quite literally in terms of the earthquake).  This can be understood in various ways, all of which we must take into account, as all may be true at once.  That the veil in the temple was torn in two is the subject of discussion among many Church Fathers, but again, all may be understood as possible at once.  That Christ opened up mysteries in faith to His followers is something He Himself has testified to (Matthew 13:31).  St. Ephraim the Syrian, in addition to agreement with other opinions noted above, also gives an additional poetic understanding of the tearing of the veil, in that it is similar to a person tearing their clothes, and in that sense an expression of grief.  Clearly we might see it as the temple itself expressing grief that its glory had gone, its joy in the form of Christ the Lord, and indicating a change from the old covenant to the new. That the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised" seems to tell us about Christ's entering into the place of the dead and bringing life.  Most interestingly St. Matthew writes of their coming out of the graves after His resurrection, and entering the holy city (Jerusalem) and appearing to many, thus giving us a picture of the resurrection as manifest to many in the city.  We see many layers of reality being manifest at once here:  that Christ is both Lord and Judge (including of the temple), that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), even that His body is the true temple (John 2:19).  What we should understand is that in all of these dimensions, Christ spans the reality of existence.  That is, as human He is within time, but as divine He is not limited by time; the same is true of space.  The reality of the Kingdom of heaven, as He has said spans all of these varied dimensions of existence, of reality, and yet it, too, is within us (Luke 17:21).   What that boils down to is simply that each of these things can be true at once, because we are speaking of Jesus Christ, and all of these things can be taken together, even as signs of "end times," yet belonging to things to come, and manifest as echoes and repetitions of one another at that time, and even in our own time, if we look carefully.  For, since His death, we are living in the time of the end as we await His return.  He remains for us the way, the truth, and the life -- and the way to the Father (John 14:6).  We must understand the salvific power of His Person and His identity as both fully God and fully human, bringing divinity to all things He experienced as a human being, even death, and transfiguring and healing all for us, so that we may follow Him.  

 

 

 

 

Tell the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey"

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"Tell the daughter of Zion, 

'Behold, your King is coming to you,

 Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  so the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

- Matthew 21:1-11 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho, on their way toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  The event described in today's reading is known as Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on Palm Sunday, so-called because of the description of the people taking palm branches to welcome Him to the Holy City, as people would welcome a king returning to his kingdom (John 12:13).  In this case, it is a welcoming of the Messiah, as a son of David the king.  My study Bible explains that by this time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David's kingdom.  But in humility, Jesus shows in His appearance at this occasion that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride on a horse nor in a chariot as a conquering king of the world.  Rather, He enters on a donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace, as indicated in the quotation from Zechariah 9:9.  My study Bible says that this entrance into the Holy City is a declaration of the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It says it's also a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  Additionally of note is that St. Matthew reports a colt in addition to a donkey.  In patristic commentary, my study Bible says, these two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  At Vespers of Palm Sunday, the Orthodox sing, "Your riding on a foal prefigured how the untamed and uninstructed Gentiles would pass from belief to faith."

 

 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The people who spread their clothes before Jesus did so as paying reverence to a King.  My study Bible explains that this is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh -- even our very lives -- for Christ.  

 

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  so the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  The cry of the multitudes comes from Psalm 118:25-26, verses associated with messianic expectation.  This was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

 

 Jesus is greeted as a returning king, come home to His city, His kingdom after a long absence.  In this manner, the multitudes greet Him and welcome Him as Messiah, Son of David (see yesterday's reading, above), who comes to them in the name of the Lord.  But, as my study Bible explains, this celebration will be short-lived, on its very worldly terms.  This is because the expectation is wrong, even if His messianic status as King and Son of David is correct.  Jesus is returning to establish a Kingdom that is not one in the sense of a worldly conqueror, but in the sense of the spiritual reality He is bringing to re-establish and take control of a world given over to the evil one, the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:1-3).  This is the way Christ's Incarnation is framed for us, and symbolized in the return and welcome of the King into the Holy City.  This is the prophesied King who is "lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  He is the One who comes as a weak human being, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, the "man of sorrows" who will be "numbered with the transgressors."  All of this reality is about to be brought to bear upon Christ, and in the Holy City of Jerusalem in the week that follows.  It will be an agglomeration of many factors, including the religious leaders' fear that Christ will eclipse them and be embraced as a king by all and set to rule over the temple, by the fears of Herod of Galilee and his soon-to-be friendship with Pontius Pilate, the Roman need for peace and control at all cost, and the threat of the religious leaders and the ruling Council who will stir the people against Christ.  But, as always with Scripture, there is so much more to this story than meets the eye, and we cannot understand what is happening here without accepting the spiritual truth and reality that is behind it.  Christ has come to draw us all toward God, to defeat the devil and death, to enable all of us to follow Him, and to establish His heavenly Kingdom even here in this world.  But all of this eclipses time, as it invites in all of us to participate in this journey and the establishment of this Kingdom.  We are all welcomed into the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 1:18; 6:12), to participate in Christ's life, death, and Resurrection so that we may in turn ascend with Him, even as He bears glorified human flesh in His Ascension.  All of this meets in this central place of this event in Jerusalem.  While it is true that Jesus is a King, and this is His Holy City, there is so much at the same time that is not true but will seemingly prevail.  And this is a key, in the sight of some of the great theologians of the Church, that the enemy of Christ who seeks to defeat Him will also be fooled by the malice he stirs, the desire to kill Christ, and in this sense tricked by his own devices into his defeat through the Cross.  This is the great mystery of our faith, and of what is called spiritual warfare:  that when we meet the evil among us, around us, even within us -- with faith -- so we wage the good fight and enter into the labors of others before us (John 4:38), following our Lord.  Let us bear His Cross and our own, as He has taught (Matthew 10:38).  For with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

 

 

You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve

 

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,'

and, 

 'In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

 

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him,  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

 

- Matthew 4:1-11 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are you coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water;  and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  My study Bible explains that to be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  As in St. Mark's Gospel, here Jesus is led up into the wilderness after His Baptism to be tested by a struggle with the devil (in St. Mark's Gospel, we're told that He was thrown or driven out by the Spirit; in Greek ἐκβάλλει).  My study Bible comments that we who are baptized in Christ need not be defeated by temptations because we too are aided by the Holy Spirit.  The wilderness forms a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory. 

 

 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Jesus fasted to overcome temptation; according to my study Bible, in so doing, He gives us an example of our own power and limitations in the face of temptation.  We are to note that Christ's hunger of His flesh doesn't control Him.  Rather, He controls His flesh.  Christ's fast of forty days is the foundation of the Church's forty-day Lenten fast before Holy Week and also a traditional fast before Christmas.  In the verses that follow, we read of the various temptations given by the devil.  In this contest or struggle, Jesus reverses Israel's falling to temptation in the wilderness.  My study Bible reminds us that the Israelites were tested forty years in the wilderness and proved disobedient and disloyal.  God humbled them by first letting them go hungry and then feeding them with manna to help them learn to be dependent upon Him (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).  In today's reading, Jesus is tested with hunger for forty days, and He does not sin.  All of His answers to Satan are from Deuteronomy, and they all call for loyalty to God.

 

 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  Note that the devil's temptation is to challenge Christ's relationship to the Father, the very thing revealed at His baptism in yesterday's reading, and the messianic secret for which He will be judged a blasphemer and be put to death.  If You are the Son of God calls into question that declaration by the Father (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible comments that the devil wants Jesus to act independently and to detach Himself from the will of the Father -- thus, destroying His mission.  According to my study Bible, in Christ's divine nature, He shares one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), apart from the Father.  But in His humanity, He possesses free will and at all times must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father.

 

 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"   Jesus rejects the first temptation of the devil, thereby rejecting an earthly kingdom.  This shows us not to pursue earthly comfort in the "food which perishes" (John 6:27), my study Bible says.  It notes that while Adam disregarded the divine word in order to pursue the passions of the body (Genesis 3), the New Adam -- Christ -- conquers all temptation by the divine word, giving human nature the power to conquer Satan.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3.

 

 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down."  The holy city is Jerusalem.  Once again, the devil is tempting Christ to reject His identity as Son and His loyalty and love of the Father.

 

"For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and,  'In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  As in the first temptation Jesus had defeated Satan through the power of the Scriptures, he vainly tried to use Scriptures here to put God's power of protection to the test (see also 2 Peter 1:19-21).  Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11-12.

 

 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  My study Bible comments that trials and temptations come on their own; we should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to test or prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16.

 

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"   Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.  My study Bible notes here for us that God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions.  In this test by the devil, Jesus is being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  (Note also how the devil mimics divine actions by being on an exceedingly high mountain; see, for example, Matthew 17:1-3.)  My study Bible comments that the devil is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  It notes that Jesus refuses the road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13.  Note also that in Greek, "Away with you, Satan!" reads literally, "Get behind Me, Satan!"  These are the same words Christ will use with St. Peter, when he suggests that Christ not go to the Cross (see Matthew 16:21-23).  

 

Jesus refutes every temptation of the devil with one central thing:  His loyalty and love of the Father.  More essentially, He does so by clinging to His real identity; He is the Son of  God, the Son of God the Father.   This, of course, is the one thing the devil attacks, consistently and repeatedly.  He begins the first two temptations with, "If You are the Son of God . . .."  Jesus' adherence to this identity, of course, is not the product of pride, of social life or a system of social values, nor is it something He inherited or was conferred upon Him at birth.  This is the spiritual reality of who He is, and occurs within the power of a fully loving and participating identity within the embrace of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  This is a divine reality, and His relations within it are relations of love and loyalty.  The devil makes his last appeal to Christ in a way that reveals what he really wants. He says, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  The devil wants to usurp God's place and the things that belong only to God.  He wants worship; He even wants Christ's worship and loyalty, which seems to indicate that he doesn't understand Christ the Son at all, and so continues to challenge Him.  But Jesus responds by turning the tables on the devil.  His words, "Away with you, Satan!" are more accurately translated, "Get behind Me, Satan," indicating who is really in charge here, whose authority must be followed.  Therefore in today's reading about temptation in the wilderness we are getting a sense of the true meaning of Christ's saving mission.  We must keep in mind that to be tempted is to be tested.  There is the devil, who is the "ruler of this world," and Christ who comes to claim it as the Son.  This is salvation, redemption.  So, what happens in this time of fasting in the wilderness is what we should understand as spiritual warfare, and in our own lives we also participate in that warfare.  As my study Bible indicates, the wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world, and we human beings are in the middle of it.   In the Lenten tradition of the fast, the Church makes it clear that we are also called into this struggle, with Christ, for we also are tested.  He shows us the way; He is the firstfruits in all ways, and we enter into His life.  In today's lectionary reading, we are also given the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:1-21.  We often forget that the foundation of those commandments, and the first half of them, is the worship due only to God.  But Jesus never forgets that; it is His basic weapon with which He fights the devil in today's reading.  Let us also hold fast to what comes first.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!" 

 

- Matthew 27:45-54 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus and the Roman soldiers they came out of the Praetorium to walk to the place of crucifixion, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear the cross of Jesus.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.   Much of what comes to pass at the events surrounding the Crucifixion is found in Biblical prophecy.  Regarding this darkness, see Zechariah 14:6-7; Amos 8:9.  

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  Those who hear Christ misunderstand Him.  He is praying Psalm 22, which is a foretelling of the very details of the Crucifixion.  If we do not understand this prayer and the fullness of the psalm, then Christ's cry of "Why have You forsaken me?" can be easily misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  But the whole of the psalm tells a different story.  As Jesus took on our human nature, He experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress.  But Christ does not despair.  My study Bible notes that He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity He is never forsaken by the Father.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study Bible comments here that Christ's death was voluntary to the very end, for even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but so that by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy this last enemy, which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  See also Christ's words reported at Luke 23:46, quoting from Psalm 31 (verse 5). 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split . . .   My study Bible notes that the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all:  God.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize this communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, and is now available to all who approach in faith.

. . . and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  That the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament is reported signifies the completeness of the salvation won by Christ.   My study Bible says that this guarantees the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all humankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).  

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  My study Bible says that this Roman centurion, a Gentile, realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In the tradition of the Church we know this soldier as St. Longinos.  

I am intrigued with the picture of the saints of the Old Testament walking through the holy city and appearing to many.  Surely it seems to give us a picture of the fullness of reconciliation between heaven and earth through Christ and His transfiguring death upon the Cross.  Just as the veil of the temple is torn in two, so that human beings may now more fully share in communion with God, so these saints appear visibly to human beings, as if heaven and earth are united in the same place.  Indeed, there are many who experience something similar at the death of a loved one, a glimpse or vision of the one recently passed, as if to reassure us that all live to Christ, and that our continuing prayers for those who have passed live also and are heard by God.  In Luke 20:38, Jesus explains to the Sadducees, who do not believe in resurrection, that God "is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."   The veil of the temple torn in two, and the "thinness" of what is often called the veil between heaven and earth, affirm for us in additional ways the transfiguring power of Christ's voluntary death on the Cross, and its effect of reconciling God and humanity, bringing us into closer communion and therefore healing.  If hell is a state of separation of human beings from God, and if the problems of evil in our world are representative of the effects of separation, then Christ enters into death as both fully human and fully divine in order to conquer death and separation from God, for all of us.  This was the understanding of the early Church, and remains our powerful symbol of God's transfiguring love in the Cross.  In the Incarnation, all things are drawn into God's purview, even the gruesome events of the Crucifixion, even Christ's death on the Cross, so that all may be transfigured in the light of Christ, and so that we might have that veil torn in two, the curtain lifted for our own deep experience of God's love for us.  For Christ teaches us that despite the separation from God in our world and the evil that we experience, God is with us and asks us into a communion of love.  The early saints surely understood this, for in their own martyrdom they joined Christ as those who would live His faith in this world and become also those who transfigure death and suffering for the kingdom of God.  If this seems like too great a paradox to you, consider that walking through a hard or evil time with faith simply means that we bring God's love into it, for we seek Christ's way through it, thus gaining a spiritual victory for the kingdom of heaven, for which He instructed us to pray ("Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven").  The Cross of Christ runs more deeply within the realities of this world than anything and everything that will touch our lives; and just so, for this is its power for us.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God

 

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:

 'He shall give His angels charge over you,'

and 

'In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. 

- Matthew 4:1-11 

 

In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus came from Galilee to John the Baptist at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."   

 

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. My study Bible says that to be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  As in Mark's Gospel (Mark 1:12), the Spirit leads, or rather "throws" (in the Greek) Jesus into the wilderness after His Baptism, to be tested by a struggle with the devil.  My study Bible comments that we who are baptized in Christ need not be defeated by temptations because we also are aided by the Holy Spirit.  The wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory.  

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  My study Bible comments on all of Jesus temptations that we're given a framework in which Jesus reverses Israel's falling to temptation in the wilderness.  Once again, we can't read the New Testament apart from the Old, for it is the story of salvation.  The Israelites were tested forty years in the wilderness, and proved disobedient and disloyal.  God humbled them by first letting them go hungry and then feeding them with manna to help them to learn to be dependent upon God (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).  Here, my study Bible continues, Jesus is tested with hunger for forty days, but in His response He does not sin.  All of Christ's answers to Satan are from Deuteronomy, and all call for loyalty to God.  Jesus fasted in order to overcome temptation, which gives us an example of our own power and limitations in the face of temptation.  It is essential that we note Christ's hunger of His flesh does not control Him.  Instead, He controls His flesh.  It is the same when we practice fasting in service to our faith.  Christ's fast of forty days is the foundation of the Church's historical forty-day Lenten fast (often essentially a vegan fast, or one in which we refrain from certain foods) before Holy Week, and also one before Christmas.  

 

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  My study Bible points out that here the devil challenges Christ's relationship to the Father.  If You are the Son of God is a challenge that calls into question the Father's declaration at the Baptism of Christ (which we read in yesterday's reading, above), "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  The devil wants Jesus to act independently of God the Father, and to detach Himself from the will of the Father.  In His divine nature, my study Bible says, He shares one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), apart from the Father.  But in Christ's humanity, He possesses free will and at all times must make a choice to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father.  

 

 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"   As Jesus rejects this first temptation, my study Bible says, so He rejects an earthly kingdom, and shows us not to pursue earthly comfort in the "food which perishes" (John 6:27).   As Adam disregarded the divine word in order to pursue the passions of the body (Genesis 3), the New Adam, who is Jesus Christ, conquers all temptation by the divine word instead, which gives human nature the power to conquer Satan.

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and  'In their hands they shall bear you up, / Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  The holy city is Jerusalem, and the temple is the splendid temple as reconstructed by Herod the Great, one of the seven architectural wonders of the world at that time.  My study Bible comments that seeing that Christ had defeated him already through the power of the Scriptures, Satan vainly tries to use Scriptures to put God's power of protection to the test.  (See also 2 Peter 1:19-21 regarding the use and interpretation of Scripture.) 

 

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  My study Bible comments here that trials and temptations come on their own; we should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to test or to prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD.  

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Here my study Bible comments that God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions.  In the devil's test, Jesus was being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  The devil is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  But Jesus refuses the road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world.

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.   It is well to remember that we also have angels who minister to us, although we face temptations, trials, and difficulties in the world ourselves.  

My study Bible comments on today's passage that the wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory, as noted above.  Why do we have this image of the wilderness?  It is, indeed, a picture of this world, under the influence of Satan and evil, a place where we are born into a heritage of the effects of sin that has come before we're born, and into the mindset of such a world which we inherit and from which we learn.  This is the condition of all of us.  But Christ comes into the world on a particular mission for salvation.  This mission has nothing to do with some heroic feat as pictured in a physical battle where sheer might or invented weapons defeats an enemy, and moral values might be assigned to one side or another depending upon one's perspective and point of view (or who is telling the story).  This wilderness is a battleground that is also mirrored within us, for it is connected to who we are, our own place in the story of salvation.  Just as with Jesus, this wilderness battleground also reflects the battleground within us, where we need to make choices regarding our own lives and our direction in this world -- where we deal with various temptations and yet are also ministered to by angels.  In other words this "wilderness" battleground is one that is also inside of us, our state as human beings, our place in the cosmos as creatures of God within God's creation.  As Jesus has free will as a human being (as pointed out by my study Bible above), so do we.  Often, of course, our ways of thinking and the patterns set in our minds are also things we have inherited from our environment and experiences in one way and another.  But this story does not deny that.  It does illustrate, however, that in our vulnerability to all kinds of influences, we also have another influence to which we can choose to turn in life.  We have Christ who has already gone before us, and through it all.  We have His example, and most powerfully we also have the Holy Spirit to help us.  So it does not really make a difference where we start in this process of recognition of where we are, what the world is about, and where God would call us to go forward within this salvation story.  What matters is that we understand the conditions, the powers and influences at work, and our place in this scheme or plan of Creation.  Because the truth is that we as human beings are most important in this plan.  God has elevated us to this place where we see Jesus go before us, in this temptation scenario and in His responses.  Jesus shows us the way, but does not "fix" things so we have no temptations whatsoever and so that evil is completely banished from our world.  Instead, Jesus has given us the spiritual weapons and tools to make our own battle and our own stand in this wilderness, even within ourselves in fighting the influences we must deal with in our lives.  Christ has weakened the power of the devil, and given us the Holy Spirit to help and to guide through all things.  So, when we are faced with difficult struggles and choices, with things that tempt us to rage, or to despair, or when we think things are so far above our heads and out of our control that we don't know which way to turn in what seems like an impossibly dark place, we have allies to get us through.  We have weapons in a battle for hearts and souls, even when we feel we are most alone and have no allies.  Because Christ has gone there before us, He is also here with us, right in the middle of this struggle and in the difficulties in our lives.  What we have to do is decide that faith is the one thing that will get us through a battle to a place where our lives are meaningful, toward a vision of light that holds for us love and truth, the wisdom of God who loves us -- and not those things that tempt but simply enslave or trick us into something we'd rather not serve at all.  We are bound to be imperfect.  We are bound to make mistakes.  But the purpose of our place in life is not to be perfect in a worldly sense; it is to struggle midst our imperfection and what we have to deal with.  This is not a worldly story, but a true one of love and of salvation; it is not a fantasy invented for a movie or cartoon network or for a posed selfie on social media designed to leave us with a particular impression.  This is real; it is a clear look at our condition, and it gives us a clear answer about how important it is that we take this seriously, and know our places in what is really a cosmic battle with deep significance.  We each have our place in it.  From the Gospels, we know that the ones Christ has selected to carry on this battle were anything but perfect in a worldly sense; they made mistakes, they came with strikes against them, they struggled to understand their faith and to follow Christ.  But it is love, in the end, that wages this battle, a love of Christ that drives us, and our response to knowing His love for us.  For the humility that serves God, forgoes temptation for short-term worldly glory or approval for faith, is the kind of love that is willing to make sacrifices for a greater good, a deeper truth, a better place of the heart, and for the meanings and purposes that truly glorify what it means to be a human being, even when seemingly no one else is around to applaud.  The devil challenges Jesus, "If You are the Son of God . . .."   But He knows who He is.  The question is whether or not we know that we, also, are children of God, and loyal to our own place in God's salvation plan, to the Savior who is the Word of God.

Tell the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey"

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall just say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  

"Tell the daughter of Zion,
'Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee." 

- Matthew 21:1-11

 Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho on their way toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

  Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall just say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"   Today's reading gives us the image of Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated by the Church on Palm Sunday (so named for the branches spread by the people on the ground, verse 8).  My study bible explains that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah who would deliver Israel from Roman control and reestablish David's kingdom.  But in humility, Christ shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He doesn't ride on a horse nor in a chariot, but rather on a donkey -- which is a sign of humility and peace (see Zechariah 9:9, quoted by the people who welcome Him).   Noteworthy also is that Matthew reports a colt as well as a donkey.   In patristic commentary, the two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom, the colt being an image of the "untamed and uninstructed Gentiles who would pass from unbelief to faith" (Vespers of Palm Sunday Orthodox hymn).  My study bible adds that the entrance into the Holy City declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It is also a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers, and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  The people who spread their clothes on the road before Jesus did so as if paying reverence to a King.  My study bible says that this is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh, and even our very lives, for Christ.  The people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26, associated with messianic expectation.   It was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (Heb. Sukkot, also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom).  On the seventh day of the festival, as branches were waved it was recited seven times.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

 Jesus enters into Jerusalem, welcomed by the crowds.  We note that they call Him "the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  This is not precisely who Jesus is, although He is welcomed in a way that suggests the welcoming of a king, or the Messiah.  The verses from the psalm they chant are used at the Feast of the Coming Kingdom, which commemorates the time Israel wandered in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.  Perhaps the text is meant to give us a sense that although these crowds welcome Him, all is not understood about Jesus.  There are mixed messages running through the crowds, and this is something important for us to understand.  Is He a prophet?  The Church does not say so, and He has indicated this is false in this reading, in which He asked the disciples specifically who people say that He is, and who do they think He is.  The messianic expectations of the time also lead to those in the crowds expecting the manifestation of a kingdom of Israel that will last forever -- if He is truly the Messiah, people will reason, then why is this new kingdom not appearing for them?   They've surely heard of the miraculous cures that have happened and all about His ministry.  Jesus even enters into Jerusalem from the East, as was expected of the Messiah.  But in His choice of transportation we find an expression of humility, not a warrior king, and that is indeed a message about what type of Messiah He is.  In John's Gospel, Jesus teaches to the Samaritan woman that "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).  The people who will remain His followers must see through all of this, the worldly expectations, the varied and conflicting messages that stir the crowds, the misunderstandings -- and the intentions of the leadership -- in order to understand precisely what this means.  What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?  How do we see past our own worldly expectations to find spirit and truth to lead us?  Neither do the people expect that the Messiah is divine, but rather an exalted human being.  Jesus defies all expectations in His ministry.   He defies the expectations, desires, and even demands of the desired Messiah.  He challenges every assumption about Himself.  Even these who proclaim and welcome Him do not necessarily understand Him.  There is an important message for all of us here, in that it is not what the crowds say about God or Christ that matters.  It's not what the rest of the world thinks about our faith that counts.  The God who is Spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth will often be misunderstood and miscategorized, ill-defined and distorted by people's desires of God.  But the message of the heart is something else altogether, and it requires great humility to accept it -- and ongoing prayer to continue in His path for us.  God's life of spirit and truth will always ask of us to tear away our expectations, to check our own desires and projections, and to find His love, His way.  Without the necessary humility, we won't come to that understanding of the life He gives us -- and without the commitment to spirit and truth in the heart, it's much too easy to be misled by the strong emotions and persuasion of the crowds of our times.  Let us consider this Man on the donkey's colt, and remember that He became one of us for all of us.  So many expectations are always placed upon Him.  Will we, too, be disappointed if He doesn't fulfill all of ours?  Or will we be capable of shoring up our faith and resetting our compass to His light?