Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going

 

Christ the Bridegroom

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  

 

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  

 

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

- John 12:27–36 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast of Passover.  It is now the final week of Jesus' earthly life.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

  "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour."  Jesus' soul is troubled, for this hour is the approaching time of His Crucifixion and and death.  My study Bible comments that it is the mark of Christ's humanity to abhor death.  Yet, according to His divine nature, He affirms that for this purpose He has come to this hour.  His divine will is one with the Father's, and He will submit His human will to the same.

 

"Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."   My study Bible explains that the Father's name is an extension of His Person.  It notes that the Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, and it shows His love for all -- thereby glorifying Him.  Effectively, Christ is saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is the Lord's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross ("Now My soul is troubled").  The Father's response, according to my study Bible, is a reference to the signs which have already been performed by Christ, and to the death and Resurrection to come.

 

 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."    Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake." My study Bible says that although the Father spoke clearly, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  Those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it to be an angel.  But the disciples knew that the Father Himself had spoken, and it is to them that Jesus says that this voice came "for your sake."

 

 "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  Once again Jesus uses the term lifted up to refer to being hung on the Cross (see also John 3:14-15, 8:28).  Christ's death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same tie render judgment on the faithless, and destroying once for all the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.  

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  The light, my study Bible says, refers to Christ (John 1:4-9, 8:12).  It notes that there are several facets of meaning to Christ's teaching here.  First, He's indicating that He will soon be completing His public ministry.  Additionally, our lives are very limited.  We have only a short time to repent and believe in Christ before our own deaths.  And finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when compared to eternity. 

 

 Father Stephen Freeman, an Orthodox priest who writes a blog called "Glory to God for All Things," has written an interesting commentary on the Crucifixion.  In the Orthodox Church, these first few days of Holy Week are focused on Christ the Bridegroom, the One who will be united to His Bride, the Church.  The icon of the Bridegroom may seem like one that is very counterintuitive to us.  Christ the Bridegroom is also Christ the Prisoner.  This Bridegroom icon is also -- in a way which likely strikes us as strange as well -- the icon of marriage.  Christ's hands are tied; in marriage we are not free to do just as we please, but we enter into a covenant that means mutual sacrifice on the part of both spouses.  We also may suffer with those whom we love, as when a child or other loved one is ill or goes through harm or misfortune.  But Father Stephen's commentary focuses on the Cross as revealing what truly is.  For the Bridegroom is also the Judge.  Christ's parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins focuses on the Bridegroom coming at midnight:  which virgins have filled their lamps with oil in preparation to keep their lamps lit, and which have not. To make sense of this parable, one must understand that the word in Greek for the olive oil that traditionally filled those lamps sounds alike to the word for "mercy."  Thus, to be prepared for our Bridegroom upon His return is to live our lives in the practice of the mercy He teaches us as His disciples, keeping our lamps full, and lit with His light for this world.   We prepare for the coming of our Bridegroom by following His teachings, keeping His word, walking in His light so that we might become sons of light.  For this is what it means to keep our lamps full, to learn to practice His grace and mercy and grow in that discipline with His light, His help.  Father Stephen's commentary on the Bridegroom teaches us that we have all received of Christ's fullness through His life, and judgment is laid bare at the Cross.   Everything is revealed.  For there we accept or we do not accept, we believe or we do not believe, and His life is the revelation of God for us (John 14:9).   It is, after all, in His light that all darkness is dispelled, and life -- and truth -- are revealed for what they are.  May we all become sons (and therefore heirs) of that light.

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also

 

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

- John 12:20-26 

 

 This week is Holy Week, and will culminate in Jesus' Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.  Yesterday we read St. John's account of Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which we celebrate as Palm Sunday.  Note that this time in Jerusalem marks the start of Passover week.  This is the third and final Passover festival recorded in John's Gospel, and the Triumphal Entry marks the beginning of the final week of Jesus' earthly life.   Yesterday we read that a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!" 

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."  My study Bible explains that these Greeks were Gentiles (those who spoke Greek, the lingua franca or international language of the period).  They are Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham, having come to participate in the Passover feast.  That they were still called "Greeks" shows that they were not yet full proselytes (converts) to Judaism.  Since Jesus had taught His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5; 15:24), my study Bible says, the disciples approach Jesus before they bring these inquirers to Him. Glorified is a reference to Christ's death on the Cross.  My study Bible notes that His obscure response indicates two things.  First, the answer these people are seeking will not be found in words but in the Cross.  Second, the Cross will be the event that opens all manner of grace to the Gentiles. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."  My study Bible comments that this image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit signifies that Christ's death will give life to the world.  It is common in Orthodox churches to serve boiled wheat, sweetened and spiced, at memorial services for the departed faithful.  This is a kind of affirmation of God's promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.  In the Armenian Apostolic Church, this passage is read in the memorial service.

 

 Jesus lays out the plan in today's reading, a plan for His glorification.  This is the great paradox that begins with more explicit language of His Crucifixion and death which is to come.  For, as these Gentiles show up, these pagan Greek-speakers who seek the God of Israel, so we get our first hints of the gospel being sent out to all the world.  And they seek out Jesus, so He has come to be known now outside of Israel.  Again, we're given a paradox in today's reading, just the same way Jesus, the King, rode into Jerusalem in what is called His Triumphal Entry not on a horse or in a chariot, but on the colt of a donkey, so "glorification" is going to mean something seemingly entirely at odds with the world's sense of glory.  It will not only mean His death, but it will mean death by the most notorious means of suffering intended for those who are non-Roman citizens.  It will mean a death by the most ignominious way known under the Romans, a death by a method from which we derive the word "excruciating," a death of ultimate humiliation before the nation, especially for a Jewish man.  And Christ's death will be added to by the religious leaders who will go to further lengths to humiliate Him and show how they despise Him.  All of this is part of Christ's "glorification," in His own words.  For this tremendous sacrifice on His part will be done, first of all, in obedience to God the Father, within the plan for salvation of all the world, meaning all of creation (not just the earth).  For Christ's salvific and redemptive Incarnation as human being is not meant for Himself only; it is not meant as a project for God, so to speak, but as a project for us, and out of love for us.  Gregory of Nazianzinus, also known as Gregory the Theologian (one of only three saints in the entire history of the Orthodox Church to be given this title), is famous for a statement about Christ's Incarnation.  He wrote, "What has not been assumed, has not been healed."  What this means is that every aspect of human life assumed by Christ is healed through His life and divinity, thereby enabling us to enter into and participate in His life and experience that healing for ourselves.  Whatever aspect of human experience, no matter how unpleasant or humiliating or painful, which Christ assumes as one of us becomes capable of being healed simply by His entering into our life.  And this is the great love, the seed that is being planted through His death and sacrifice, so that we might live and be healed and join Him where He is in eternal life.  Christ's life, death, and Resurrection becomes His hour of glorification through this process by which we are saved, by which we may also pray and experience the energies of grace made possible through His Incarnation and His help to us, even in our very present hour, during our suffering, through our prayers, and through His life which He brings to bear on all aspects of our existence, even those caused by influence of the evil one, the devil.  Because of this hour of glorification, there is no aspect of our life, no matter how humiliating or painful, or seeming to be a failure, that Christ has not assumed so that He may be there with us, present to us.  This is about Christ salvation for everything, and for everyone, held out and given as a present, a gift to all of us, if we but will receive it.  Again, Holy Week becomes all about paradox, the good and the evil, the tremendous sacrifice of love and at the same time those who plot against our Savior to bring Him such pain and death.  But God is more powerful than all of these things which seem to be imposed upon Him, for He enters into both our life and our death in order to transfigure and transform it, to defeat death and the forces of death and cruelty for us.  Wherever we go, He is there, for He is willing to make this sacrifice, to fall to the ground as a grain of wheat that is planted for us, to bring about a great harvest.  But let us note another paradox:  He doesn't do this alone; He invites us to live and choose as He does.  He says, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."  He invites us also into glorification and honor such as God bestows, even upon Him.  For we cannot be the Christ, but we can enter into and share in this plan of salvation made glorious in believers and saints, those who love God so that their lives become also set apart for grace and for love.  Perhaps today God has something in store for you, a message, a way to address pain and difficulty, which draws you out of a human drama and into a place where love dictates instead what you can do with your time and your life, God's glory also shining through you.  Take the time for prayer, even in a time when things we cling to may be dying. 

Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt

 

Palm Sunday; the Entry of our Lord into Jerusalem.  Armenian illuminated manuscript

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

"Hosanna!

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

 The King of Israel!"

 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion; 

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

- John 12:9–19 

 

On Saturday, we read that, after Martha (the sister of Lazarus) had spoken with Jesus, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.  Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.  Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there."  Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."  Jesus wept.  Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"  And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"  Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone."  Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."  Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

 

  Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.   On Saturday we read about the raising of Lazarus, the seventh and final sign in John's Gospel (see above).  Between today's reading, and where our previous reading ended, the Scriptures cover some notable events.  There is first of all the response of the religious leaders in Jerusalem, after being told by witnesses of the raising of Lazarus.  They begin to plot in earnest to kill Jesus  (John 11:45-57).  Second, there is the notable event in which Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed Christ's feet with fragrant oil, which Jesus said was in preparation for His death (John 12:1-8).  Here we find that the chief priests are not only plotting to put Jesus to death, but to put Lazarus to death also, because it is on account of him that many from among the temple in Jerusalem now believe in Jesus.  

 

 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"  The event described here is called Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and it is celebrated in the Church as Palm Sunday (commemorated yesterday universally).  My study Bible explains that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David's kingdom.  Jesus is welcomed into the city as if paying reverence to a King.  The people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It 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, my study Bible explains, means, "Save, we pray!"

 

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  In humility, my study Bible says, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride in a horse nor in a chariot, but on a young donkey (a colt), which is a sign of humility and peace.  The Scripture is quoted from Zechariah 9:9.  Christ's entrance into the Holy City, my study Bible explains, declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  Moreover, 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).  

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"   Note how understanding works; the disciples remembered this Scripture and connected these events to their meaning when Jesus was glorified (that is, after His death, Resurrection, and Ascension).  We see how important the raising of Lazarus was to these central events of Holy Week; it is this spectacular sign that has made all the difference, both to the people -- and to the Pharisees.

Palm Sunday conjures up images of processions.  As we know the Church (especially, perhaps, the Orthodox Church) has many processions, times when a saint is commemorated or another type of feast day.  This procession image of Jesus entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday might, in some way, be compared to modern parades, especially those of a military nature.  But of course, the difference is really what makes all the difference.  This is "like" a military parade of a king entering into a city to claim it, to take ownership and authority in some sense, to claim a throne.  But in a sense, it's also nothing of the kind, and that is intentional.  For although people expect a King, and many now -- at least at the present moment depicted in the Gospel -- believe that Jesus must be that King, that political Messiah they wanted, a strong man liberator against the Romans and all other conquerors, it is not to be.  For Jesus has chosen not the military style display of power and authority, not an impressive array of great men and generals and war capabilities, but to ride into Jerusalem on a young donkey, a colt.  This is the Jesus who proclaims in humility His authority, His messiahship, His true identity.  For let us face facts as they truly are.  For one thing, there is no possible earthly display that could really convey to us the grandeur of God, the unlimited power of Christ, the power to create at levels of life and death that truly belong to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.  Nothing could define or narrow down a specific image of that truth, for it is unlimited and also beyond the scope of our imaginations and understanding.  In this sense, it also follows that Christ, of course, cannot give the religious authorities in the temple what they continually ask for, a sign that will convince them of who He truly is.  His signs don't work that way.  His signs are just that, signs of the presence of God, but they cannot be fully defining images of God, for that is impossible.  How can our Creator be limited to an image conveyed in earthly terms?  For that, only humility will do, because the authority of Christ needs nothing of the sort that would convince us of its reality, it need not prove itself to anyone on worldly terms.  It is rather His life, His ministry, and what He will call the sign of Jonah -- His death on the Cross, and His Resurrection -- that will be the fullness of God's gift to us, God's grace, the gift that just keeps on giving to us.  For in His life distinguished by His humility is all the Church, its 2,000 years of history ongoing, its continual expansion -- despite persecution, its endless flow of saints in myriad form and origin, its love, its truth, and all the ways we believers are given ways in which we see in His light and our lives may be resurrected, too.  He cannot be limited to human or earthly form, but His gifts are given to us through His life that keeps on giving to us, and that even beyond the grave, beyond our deaths, beyond our imaginations.  Let us think of this spectacular paradox of Jesus parading into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, against the wishes of the religious establishment, but into the hearts of those who will receive it.  As He has said, even as Creator, He remains with us "gentle and lowly in heart," offering us His yoke of discipleship and learning, but at the same time, rest for our souls (Matthew 11:29).  He is Isaiah's suffering Servant, who "will not cry out, not raise His voice nor cause His voice to be heard in the street" -- even "a bruised reed He will not break" (Isaiah 42:1-4).  But this is how it must be, for how could anything else teach us of what is unlimited and unimaginable, a paradox our minds cannot grasp?  He is the One who will die for love of us all, given for love of the world; He is our Lord and there is none other like Him. 

 

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness

 

 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

 

- John 12:44-50 

 

In our current readings the setting is Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life.  He has been speaking in the temple in Jerusalem.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:  "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.   

 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."  My study Bible comments that Christ does not judge with favoritism or partiality.  He has spoken the words of life, words of love, forgiveness, repentance, virtue, and mercy.  It notes that His words will be the unbending standard by which all people are judged on the last day.

 Jesus' final address here in the temple concludes, while the following three chapters deliver to us Jesus' farewell words to His disciples at the Last Supper (John 13 - 17).  Here Jesus' final words sum up what a great deal of John's Gospel has had to teach us about His message and about judgment.  Jesus is here in the world to save, not to condemn (John 3:17).  But the words themselves, given to Him by the Father, constitute judgment:  whatever side of these words one falls upon becomes de facto judgment, for they are the words of life (John 6:63).   Here, He says that they are the Father's commands, and the Father's command is everlasting life.  In this sense, Christ has come "as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."  We might be tempted to abstract out Christ's words and teachings, to decide that without worship, or even without a deity, we can accept His teachings as moral lessons and simply seek to live by them as we will, or as we can.  Many think that this will suffice.  But in order to do that, one would have to strip out all meaning of communion, and the essential importance of Person-to-person relationships that Christ purveys here.  Christ has called Himself the good shepherd:  "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own."  He knows the sheep, and the sheep know Him.  They recognize His voice:  "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" (John 10:3-4, 14).  The teachings and commands He gives to us are not abstracted principles, they are living, they are even "everlasting life," and this does not come through cold absolutes, but originate in love, the love the comes from the divine Persons (Father, Son, and Spirit) to us -- and which we may likewise return so that we grow and participate in this communal relationship of love.  This are commands given to us which give us light: the light of a communion of saints, of a Kingdom, of adoption as heirs.  It is unmistakable that we enter into this place where the fullness of our participation is unity, to be eternally with God.  At the Last Supper, Jesus will pray, "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:24-26).  He will institute the Eucharist at the Last Supper, affirming the depth of communion as the substance of faith and worship and His saving mission into the world.  Let us always seek to live in His light which is love (1 John 4:8).  

 

Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

 

 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. 

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

"Lord, who has believed our report?  

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, 

Lest they should see with their eyes,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them."

These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

 

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 

 

- John 12:36b–43 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said, "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

  "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  Jesus spoke these words to the people in the temple in Jerusalem.  It is now the final Passover of Christ's ministry (there are three Passover festivals reported in John's Gospel), and it is the last week of His earthly life.  He is the light, but He will not be with them for much longer.  This statement, however, applies to all of us who hear His words.

 

 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"  Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that Isaiah's prophecy does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  This is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture and reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).  When the Scripture declares that He has blinded their eyes is that God has allowed or permitted their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  They didn't become blind because God spoke through Isaiah; rather Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.  

These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.  My study Bible notes that Isaiah . . . saw His [Christ's] glory in about 700 BC (Isaiah 6:1) and spoke of Him in many places throughout his extensive prophecy.

 

 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. St. John Chrysostom comments that these rulers are in reality the worst of slaves, in that they are enslaved by the opinions of men.  This keeps them from leading as God would have them lead.

In yesterday's reading, we observed the struggle between Christ's human impulses and the love of God the Father and His alignment with the Father's will in His divine identity as Son.  ("Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name.")   As a human being, Christ struggles with the healthy impulse to abhor death, but in His identity as Son of Man, His love of the Father, and trust in the Father, takes priority.  But this sort of struggle is not meant for Jesus only.  We are all meant to follow Him.  Moreover, we need to understand -- especially in context of the prophecy of Isaiah cited here -- just what healing is all about from the perspective of the Holy Bible.  In the context of the story of Genesis, and what is often called the fall of humankind, we see the truly "natural" state of human beings as created by God being in communion with God, able to communicate with God.  But the falling away as exemplified in the first sin, that of following the temptation of the devil over God's teaching, created a separation.  From the perspective of the Bible, the prophets have come one by one to call people back to God, and Christ Himself, the Son, is the One who makes that bridge for us.  His healing for us is precisely restoring the relationship of communion with God, and this is what it means to become sons of light, as we read Christ teaching today.  By placing our faith and trust in Him, we grow more deeply into communion with God, even though we may stumble and face many temptations, just as the disciples do.  So when we read Isaiah's words that teach us that blindness and hardened hearts prevent healing, this is what it refers to -- and this is what the Gospel is teaching as fulfilled in these men of the Council who reject Jesus.  Just as with a doctor, in terms of what Christ offers, our healing depends upon our capacity to put our trust in Him, our dependence upon Him.  Christ is the light that leads to our healing, but we have the capacity to be blind to that light, to prefer darkness, and to harden our hearts so that we do not understand.   The final verses of today's reading supply us with one very good example of why people harden their hearts or refuse healing:  "for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."  Clearly, this tension and temptation has always been with us, a stumbling block to those among the rulers, and among us now.  But it seems to have been magnified with the advent of social media.  When everyone's profile becomes a part of a greater and greater system, when we're viewed with so many eyes at once, what kind of pressures and temptations can come to bear on those who "love the praise of men?"  In times of cancellation and even censorship, how more powerful does a type of public opinion play a role in our lives, to have to make choices between where God wants us to go and where others might encourage us to go?  We have constant prescriptions given to us -- even from random strangers in terms of technological experience and use of social media -- that we must do this, believe this, look like this, impress others with this.  Those prescriptions are often phrased as moral imperatives, not simply social appearances that are pleasing.  But let us remember what must come first, the healing that we seek, and the dedication we need to pursue that healing.  Isaiah writes, "Lord, who has believed our report?"  Jesus came down from heaven, testifying to the world with His words and works -- all of which witness His identity and the Father.  Who has believed His report?  Let us ask ourselves, "And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going

 

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

- John 12:27–36a 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the Passover feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor." 

 

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour."  Jesus is troubled in His human soul; but He is willingly going to His hour, the time of His glorification.  My study Bible comments that it is the mark of humanity to abhor death; but Jesus is without sin and so completely subjects and unites His human will to the Father's will, for this purpose.  My study Bible adds that it shows that each person must submit one's own will to God's will (Luke 11:2).  There is a quotation from Pope St. Gregory the Great:  "The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened."

"Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  My study Bible explains that the Father's name is an extension of His Person.  The Son's death, it says, completes the purpose of the Father, and shows His love for all, thus glorifying Him.  Jesus effectively says, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is our Lord's divine response to the human desire to avoid the Cross.  God the Father's response, my study Bible adds, refers to the signs already performed by Christ and to the death and Resurrection to come.  

Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake."  Although the Father spoke clearly, my study Bible notes, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  People with a little faith heard the words, but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  The disciples knew that the Father had spoken ("This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake").

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  Lifted up is a reference to Christ being hung on the Cross (a phrase He has used already; see John 3:14-15; 8:28).  Christ's death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same time will render judgment on the faithless and will destroy once for all the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.  

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  The light, as has permeated John's Gospel, refers to Christ (John 1:4-9; 8:12).  My study Bible comments that Christ's teaching here has several facets of meaning.  First, He will be completing His public ministry shortly.  Additionally, our lives are very limited.  We all have but a short time to repent and believe in Christ before death.  Finally, the second coming of Christ is only a little while when compared to eternity.

There is a movie made in 1945 titled I Know Where I'm Going.  It's about a British woman headed off to marriage with a man who's a great captain of industry, a rich man, a great catch.  She thinks she has her life all bundled up in a neat bundle.  But, when she gets to where she is going (an island in Scotland rented by the rich man for the wedding), she meets a local man, down to earth, wise in ways of the sea and his heritage -- and one can figure out the ending, although it still comes as a surprise.  The title (and the title song) is all about how certain we are of our own worldly plans, and how little we know once a much deeper impulse and love makes itself known to us.  That title might well be appropriate for us to consider in light of today's reading, and Christ's very plaintive words regarding the trouble in His soul, but overcome by His love of and loyalty to the Father.  Everything comes down to that love that is inseparable from Christ's identity as Son.  He will glorify His Father's name.  There is no separating Him from the Father, not all the worldly impulses and temptations, not the human fear of death, not His possible concerns over the eventual state of His Church or His disciples.  Everything goes into His love of and trust in the Father.  Everything depends on this, for in that trust and love is the confidence that Christ expresses when He says, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  All of salvation depends upon this act, and its fullness comes from the love of the Father and the Son, and Christ's confidence in where He is truly going because of that love.  There is none who would deny Christ's human impulses, His desire to draw away from death that He knows is coming.  But where He is going is a place to which God the Father calls Him, and it is that place that will result in transcendence of death, the defeat of death, and that defeat is a blow for all of us.  It is that defeat of death in which "the judgment of this world" can take place; and even more specifically, that "now the ruler of this world will be cast out."  And this is where Christ is really going.  He has already shown, in His seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, that He, indeed, is the author of life.  But now He will experience human death, and in so doing, He will draw all peoples to Himself.  In the Synoptic Gospels, after Peter makes his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Jesus then reveals the manner of His death to the disciples, St. Peter tells Jesus that this must not happen.  But Jesus' response to Peter is, "Get behind Me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33; Luke 4:8).  He tells Peter that he's not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.  That is, in a worldly sense, when Peter tries to prevent Christ from this death, he thinks he knows what he's doing and where he's going.  But there is something else to follow, and that is the light of love that defines God, that is God.  It is the life that is in Christ, which is the light of human beings (John 1:4).  It is the way that might not sound good or right to our human, earthly ears, but is the draw of surpassing love and light, the greater outcome that offers things far beyond our vision that we can know now, at such a moment.  In this moment, Jesus says to all, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going."  In the darkness that we know still lives in this world, with which we contend who seek to follow the light, what destination or goal sounds good to you?  Have you had the experience of thinking one thing is good, and finding that God changes your life and offers you something else completely different?  Jesus knows where He is going, but He is the light with us.  As He says, he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  Even when St. Peter thought he was doing a good and loving thing, he wasn't mindful of the things of God.  The light opens up so many possibilities that would not exist without it; Christ's death will save an entire universe and we all know today that He did this for us, and we are loved.  Do we know where we are going?

 

 

 

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain

 

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

- John 12:20–26 

 

Yesterday we read that a great many of the people of Jerusalem knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many (even from among the ruling classes of the temple) went away and believed in Jesus. The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!" Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:"Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt." His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. Therefore the people who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"   

 

Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."  My study Bible says that these Greeks mentioned here were Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham, and they have come to participate in the Passover feast.  That they are still called "Greeks" shows that they were not yet full proselytes (converts).  Jesus had taught His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5; 15:24), so the disciples approach Christ before bringing these inquirers to Him.   When Jesus speaks of being glorified, He's referring to His death on the Cross.  My study Bible adds that Christ's obscure response is an indication of two things.  First, the answer these Greeks are seeking won't be found in words, but in the Cross; and second, the Cross will be the event that opens all manner of grace to the Gentiles. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."  This image of a grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit signifies that Christ's death will give life to the world, my study Bible explains.  In the Armenian Apostolic Church, this passage is read at every memorial service for the faithful who have passed.  In many Orthodox churches, boiled wheat, sweetened and spiced, is served at memorial services.  My study Bible comments that this affirms God's promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.  

A grain of wheat springing to life from death is such a ubiquitous image that it is impossible to separate ourselves from Christ's framing of His death and Resurrection.  Jesus says "it falls into the ground and dies."  But this seemingly sad image is contradicted by His phrasing that the grain only remains alone when this doesn't happen.  To fall into the ground and die is to guarantee that it produces much grain.  So we are to understand His death and Resurrection -- that it produced and is producing much grain, much fruit.  In the story of the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, Jesus refers to the returning villagers coming toward Him as a field of grain white for harvest (John 4:35).  But here He speaks of His own death which will give birth to many faithful, and also invites the disciples into this process as well:  "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."  It is not just Jesus who will undergo such a sacrifice; others will follow.  Perhaps the sacrifices we make in our lives will take on different forms, but nonetheless, Christ's saying still applies.  For what we give of our time, our efforts, our dreams and goals, these also count when given toward service and following Christ.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says that giving even a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple will be rewarded (Matthew 10:40-42).  This sense of sacrificial giving and receiving permeates the whole of the Gospels, and all of the Christian life.  It is part of the process of transfiguring our lives in His image.  Indeed, we might consider our recent reading in which Mary covered Christ's feet with a pound of highly expensive fragrant essential oil as a story of what it is to make an extravagant sacrifice given for love of Christ, and to be received by Christ with a gracious reward indeed (see this reading).  For we should count also His words teaching us that "where I am, there My servant will be also."  In giving of our own sacrifices for Him and for the Kingdom, so we also become inheritors, servants, and those who dwell with Him even in an eternal reality.  He promises even more:  "If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."   In today's lectionary readings, we're also given the final chapter in the book of Job.  There we read of the tremendous reward, even while yet in this world, which Job receives after his great sacrifice of suffering for the sake of his faith in God (Job 42).  Throughout the Scriptures, then, the sense of sacrifice as gift which will be returned in abundant measure plays its role and gives its message to us.  In Luke chapter 6, we read Jesus' Sermon on the Plain, in which Jesus discusses topics widely covered also in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus says, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you" (Luke 6:38).  This is taught together with the concept of forgiveness, and so it is that in forgiving we "give up" or "let go" of something to God, and we should understand it that way, as a type of sacrifice for which we'll be richly rewarded.  Let us consider, then, Christ's example of His own sacrifice and abundance of harvest to reap as result, and see that in doing so He teaches us to do the same.  For the countless examples amongst the saints and figures of the Gospels and in the Old Testament we have an entire spiritual history to consider.  What else could inspire such faith but the love shown in such sacrifice, especially by Christ the firstfruits who gave His life for us?  For there is no doubt that this is true.  In a highly consumer-oriented modern society, we might have difficulty considering the idea of sacrifice in a positive light.  But it's what makes the world go around, and civilizations are built not on selfishness but on the willingness to give for what might be, and for love of the good.  Let us consider where we make our sacrifices, and why.  What else can give us back so much?

Hosanna! "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" The King of Israel

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

"Hosanna!

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

The King of Israel!"

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion; 

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  

 

Therefore the people who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!" 

 

- John 12:9–19 

 

Yesterday we read that the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  (This marks the third Passover reported in John's Gospel, and gives us our understanding of Christ's three-year period of earthly ministry.)  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.  Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 

 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.   Once again, we note that the term the Jews is most often used in John's Gospel to indicate the religious leadership.   Some comment that it might be better translated as "Judeans," and indicating people from this region, as juxtaposed against Galilee, where Jesus is from.  But it seems quite possible that, given those who had come to grieve with Martha and Mary, and so witnessed the raising of Lazarus, this term here indicates people from Jerusalem and so those connected with the ruling classes of the temple.  All of the people in our reading are Jews, including Jesus and His disciples, which included the author of this Gospel.   Clearly what the Gospel describes here is a falling away to Christ of even those in Jerusalem and perhaps among the families connected to the ruling Council, in a very real sense rejecting the opposition of the religious leaders to Jesus.

 

 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!"  This day is known as Palm Sunday, for the branches of palm trees the people carried as went out to meet Him.  It is the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life.  The scenes in today's reading mark what is called Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  This cry of the people comes from Psalm 118:25-26, which was associated with messianic expectation.  It was recited daily during the Feast of Tabernacles, my study Bible tells us, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  The Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot in Hebrew) commemorates the time Israel wandered in the wilderness following Moses toward the promised land, and is also called the Feast of the Coming Kingdom.  Hosanna means "Save, we pray!"

 

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: "Fear not, daughter of Zion; 

Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  These verses, recognized later by the disciples as fulfilled in Christ's riding on a young donkey in His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, come from the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.  

Therefore the people who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  The raising of Lazarus from the dead, the seventh and final sign performed by Christ in John's Gospel, becomes a sword which separates people.  Let us note the details mentioned here.  John speaks of "the people who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead," and it is to these details they bore witness.   On the one hand there are these faithful witnesses who testify to the truth of this event, and the people go to meet Jesus because of the testimony of these witnesses.  But on the other hand, the Pharisees can only think that Christ is in their opposition; they haven't vanquished Him, but the people follow Him.  Therefore they are "accomplishing nothing."

One thing is clear to see in today's text:  the people are waiting for a Savior, the Messiah.  That is, someone who will deliver them from Roman rule, and establish Israel as a sovereign and prosperous state.  The people's shout, "Hosannah!" sets the tone for this plea.  And so, as the people welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, it is clear that the raising of Lazarus -- spread through the testimony of the witnesses to this final sign of John's Gospel -- has had the effect of convincing people that Jesus has to be the one.  But expectations are tricky and possibly devious things.  While in our faith, we understand that Christ is indeed, the Messiah (this is what the word "Christ" means in Greek, the "Anointed One"), the expectations of just what the Messiah will do are not necessarily fitting to what He is and who He is.  He is a Deliverer, and a Savior, but what does that deliverance look like, and what is salvation?  All of these meanings, essential to Christianity, taught in His ministry, will have to be understood and apprehended by the faith and trust people put in Him, and through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the evolution of the Church.  In the gospel of St. Matthew, when Jesus cleanses the temple, the children shout "Hosannah to the Son of David!" (Matthew 21:14-16).  This "Hosennah" again suggests the cry for a Savior, a Deliverer, and the title Son of David is a messianic title.  But we understand it as akin to the words of welcome to Jesus in today's reading, "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"  The King of Israel would have to be the Son of David, as the true King and Messiah, one from the lineage of David, and that is Christ.  But what are the expectations of this king? What do the people want?  In commentary on the passage from Matthew, my study Bible notes that in the eyes of the Church, the children's praise is perfect (and we know Christ's own response to the criticism of the children by the chief priests and scribes: "Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?").  But by contrast, the expectations of the adults are different and earthly in nature; when these are left unfulfilled, my study Bible says, they would be led to rebel against Jesus just five days later.  In John's chapter 6, we read that, after feeding the multitudes with bread in the wilderness while still in Galilee, the people tried to take Him by force to make Him king (John 6:15).  But Jesus responded, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  And so, Jesus' ministry has been filled with His efforts to teach the people what His messiahship means, what kind of King He really is, and what sort of Kingdom He brings into the world.  He asks for faith, but what does this faith look like?  Is it the same as obedience to Caesar?  Is it different?  How do we worship Him; most importantly, how do we trust in Him?  The people's improper expectations of Him have been a concern expressed through Christ's ministry all along.  What do we expect from Him?  How do we trust Him?    At this time, lots of people seem to be searching for a Deliverer or a Savior, as perhaps people always have.  What does He teach us about that?  How does He teach us to live our faith in Him even when we cry out to Him?  In whom or what do we place our trust?  The chief priests and scribes complain, "Look, the world has gone after Him!"  What does the world go after today? These matters are still with us, and we need to consider them carefully, and ponder how He answers to us all. 

 

 

 

 

 

For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always

 

 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him. 

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 

- John 11:55—12:8 

 

On Saturday we read that many of people from Jerusalem who had come to Mary when mourning Lazarus, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him (see this reading for the raising of Lazarus).  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

 

  And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.   My study Bible tells us that, because Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the connection between the Passover, when lambs were slaughtered to save the Jews from death (Exodus 12:1-13), and the death of Jesus, which saves humankind from sin and death, is continually emphasized.  This is the third Passover of Christ's earthly ministry, and it is the final year of His earthly life. 

 

 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Jesus comes early toward Jerusalem as pilgrim for the Passover, and arrives in Bethany which is east of Jerusalem, and the home of His friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  (See John 11 for the story of the raising of Lazarus, Christ's seventh and final sign given in John's Gospel.)  As noted above, this is the third Passover mentioned in John's Gospel (see John 2:13; 6:4), and frames the setting for the final week of Christ's earthly life (Holy Week).  The following week will be given to us in careful detail.  My study Bible comments that Jesus had already been glorified through His signs and words; at this stage it remained for Him to be glorified through His death and Resurrection.  Note that Martha served, in keeping with the consistent portrayal of her character in the Gospels.  Lazarus is now a person who is the object of tremendous attention from both the people and the religious authorities (as we will read in tomorrow's lectionary reading); here he sits at table with Christ, clearly alive and well.

 

  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  My study Bible comments that the other disciples said to the same thing Judas said, but with a very different motive (see also Matthew 26:6-13).  Judas spoke from greed, it notes, while the others spoke from the virtue of charity.  That Jesus had put a thief in charge of the money, it says, shows that by every means Jesus attempted to save Judas:  He fulfilled his lust for money; He allowed Judas to exercise apostolic authority (John 6:11; see also Mark 6:7); He washed Judas' feet with the other disciples (John 13:5); and He allowed him to partake at the table of the Mystical Supper (John 13:26).  But Judas could never overcome his greed.

Given our recent readings and commentary, perhaps the first thing we might notice is once again the contrast between these two sisters.  Martha, the one consistently portrayed by the Gospels engaged in active service, serves her guests at the table.  But Mary is silent in today's reading; she's not reported saying a word but takes a pound of very costly oil of spikenard in to the place of this supper.  One might suppose that a pound of such costly ointment would truly be very high in value; however, it is more the quantity that seems quite impressive here.  An entire pound of any type of essential oil is a very large quantity, and there is no doubt of that the fragrance surely filled the house.  Spikenard, according to this article, is made from a type of plant related to honeysuckle.  Mary's astonishing act needs no speech; it is so eloquent that it speaks for itself.  But Jesus does speak up for her, and declares that "she has kept this for the day of My burial."  To save an anointing oil for burial must have been quite an act of love in and of itself, a testimony to the depth of friendship among these people, and to Mary's reverence for Jesus.  For such oils were used to prepare a body for burial, a final loving act.  Indeed, the first ones to receive the good news of Christ's Resurrection will be the women who come to Christ's tomb to anoint His body for burial, and they are known as the Myrrh-bearing women to us in the Church.  But this Mary, perhaps knowing already what is to come (perhaps she is aware the religious leaders already plot against Him), and that it is the result of His raising her brother Lazarus from the dead, anoints His body with this oil she has been saving for the day of His burial.  Wiping His feet with her hair, she enacts the great pose of giving Christ supreme honor, showing that she understands who He is, and perhaps even a sense that He will die for the love of them all.  Theodore of Mopsuestia comments that Mary’s act of love should be seen for what it was, an honor given to our Lord, who would not be long among them, rather than pitted against the idea of caring for the poor, which (according to John's Gospel) was not really Judas’s primary concern.  St. Ambrose comments that Judas valued Mary's act of love at a much higher price than he would be paid for the very life of Christ, writing, "O traitor Judas, you value the ointment of his passion at three hundred pence, and you sell his passion at thirty pence. Rich in valuing, cheap in wickedness!" (On the Holy Spirit).  Clearly Christ Himself pronounces this extravagant act of love on the part of Mary to be quite precious, saying, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  And so it is, and so we understand.  May all our generous acts of love be as precious and, indeed, priceless -- and so very graciously received as by the author of grace Himself.