Do you also want to go away?

 

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 

- John 6:60-71 

 

Yesterday we read that, because of Christ's teachings, the religious leaders quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  

 

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  My study Bible comments that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.   To this day, it remarks, there are still those who reject Christ's own words concerning the sacramental eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood, and therefore do not "walk" in this teaching.  Because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, my study Bible continues, many attempt either to define its nature rationally or to explain away Christ's words altogether.  This takes the form of giving them a purely metaphorical meaning.  In either case, these answers are dubious.  To reject the sacramental teaching of Christ is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history.  

 

 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  Simon Peter's response to Jesus contains two powerful statements.  The first is that He has the words of eternal life.  Peter implies that there is nowhere else to go; only Jesus has the words He preaches and gives to the people.  The second statement is, "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  While others turn away because of Christ's "hard teachings," Simon Peter's faith is cemented and grows deeper; he is left with the conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  

 

Let us first stop to notice the effects of Christ's truth, stark as it is, and as seemingly inexplicable to His audience as His words are.  There are those who walk away.  St. John, the author of our Gospel, will also write in one of his Epistles of those who were once followers, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19).  In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul asks, "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?"  In a modern context, in which so many people seem to "shop for faith," to consider faith a kind of smorgasbord of ideas from which to pick and to choose in the ways that are personally pleasing, this scenario -- and any sort of shaming of those who can no longer follow Christ for these words -- may seem entirely unreasonable.  But, in effect, the Gospel and the events recorded here tell us yet again about our faith and how faith works.  Several Church Fathers comment on Christ's use of language in this passage, both to persuade and to caution.  St. Athanasius writes that "it is the part of true godliness not to compel but to persuade. Our Lord himself does not employ force but offers the choice, saying to everyone, 'If anyone will follow after me,' and to his disciples in particular, 'Will you also go away?'" (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 2009; p 247).  St. Chrysostom praises Christ's way of speaking regarding the one who will betray Him.  He comments, "See the wisdom of Christ. He neither exposes the traitor nor allows him to remain hidden. In this way, [Judas] is not so publicly humiliated that he becomes more contentious, but Christ also does not embolden him by allowing him to think that his wicked deeds are proceeding undetected" (Homilies on the Gospel of John 47.4).  So we can marvel at all of these ways in which Christ not only tells what sounds perhaps like a blunt and brutal truth regarding his Body and Blood, but that in so doing He is acutely aware of the hearts of the people whom He addresses, and His effects on them.  He does not shrink from the truth, even when it offends.  And yet, at the same time, He elicits faith, as well as the reality of the heart which will betray Him.  We, with the saints and Fathers of the Church, are left to marvel, and to piece together our own faith based on what we read and encounter in this Gospel.  Perhaps the most astounding truth of all is that it is love that Christ is working upon, and that faith is closely entwined with love.  For what else do we make of Simon Peter's response to the words that have now sent others away:  "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  It's at that heart-rending point of love that we come realize the importance of such questions as, "Do you want to go away?"  Just as Christ endured everything at the Cross for the love of His Father, and for His love of us, so we are also challenged with what is in our hearts when following is difficult.  Whether it is a bond with a spouse, a child, another loved one, or indeed, our faith -- it all comes down to love.  Do we want to go away?  Perhaps with St. Peter, we must say that there is no one else for us.  But His words will always challenge, and our faith will always pull us further along into the life He asks of us.  In the end, we know that God is love, as the Evangelist attests in his Epistle.  And it is love that has to lead us forward into the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her

 

 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."

 

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  

 

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

 

- Mark 14:1–11 

 

In our present readings, Jesus has been preaching to His disciples about what are called the "end times," and prophesying the things to come at the end of the age (starting with Saturday's reading).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the doors!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pas away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.  It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest, coming suddenly, he finds you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all:  Watch!"

 

  After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."  My study Bible tells us that the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins with the Passover meal on the evening of 15 Nisan (on the Jewish calendar) and lasts seven days (Exodus 12:12-20).  Together, these feasts commemorate Israel's liberation from slavery in Egypt.  The word 'Passover' refers to the angel of death "passing over" Hebrew homes when killing the firstborn of the Egyptians, for the Jews had put lamb's blood on their doorposts (Exodus 12:13).  In the Church, we understand that this Passover was fulfilled in Christ, whose blood was shed in order to free humankind from bondage to sin and death.  

 

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  My study Bible comments that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  In particular, He accepts it was a sign of His coming burial.   But, according to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, the disciples were not wrong in principle: mercy which is shown to the poor is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (Matthew 25:40; James 1:27).  Nonetheless, they didn't understand that once the gift had been given, it was a greater mercy to accept it with love.  My study Bible quotes St. Chrysostom as follows:  "If anyone had asked Christ before this woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anyone providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."  One might wonder how Jesus would dine in the home of a leper; my study Bible explains that Simon the leper must have been healed by Jesus earlier, for lepers were forbidden to live in towns.  There are similar events told in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 26:6-14; Luke 7:36-38; John 12:1-18).  According to certain patristic opinion, these four accounts include the experience of three different women; some others teach that there were only two. 

 

 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.  My study Bible remarks here that Judas on his own initiative seeks to betray Jesus.  His motives have certainly been debated over time, but if we look at patristic opinion and liturgical hymns, we find that greed is given as his underlying motivation.  This is also what we're given in Scripture, for in John 12:4-6 it's stated that Judas was upset in particular about the "waste" of myrrh by the woman in the preceding story because he was a thief (see also 1 Timothy 6:10).  We remember this betrayal by Judas on Holy Wednesday, in which many liturgical hymns contrast his greed with the women's generosity in her anointing of Christ.  In the Orthodox Church, my study Bible adds, it's a tradition dating back to the first century (see the Didache) that Christians fast on most Wednesdays of the year in remembrance of the ways in which we, like Judas, may betray our Savior through our own sinfulness.  

 

 In the generosity of this woman, we find an expression of love, and also much more.  If we take a close look at the Gospels, one thing that really stands out about Jesus is His compassion, and His various -- even surprising -- expressions of compassion.  In fact, it seems like this quality is a major distinguishing quality about God which Jesus as incarnate Son teaches us through His life and ministry.  He has power and authority, He can make incredible miracles happen, He can heal and cast out demons, He has loyal followers and an astonishing ministry.  But maybe what truly distinguishes Jesus in His divine identity (and of course, as a human being also) is His compassion.  The Gospels distinctly tell us on various occasions that His inspiration for one or another miraculous occurrence is due to the fact that He is moved with compassion.  In St. Mark's Gospel alone, we're told that, because He was moved with compassion, Jesus healed a leper through touch (forbidden by law), healed a man possessed by a legion of demons, fed a multitude in the wilderness from a few loaves and fishes (twice -- once He fed 5,000 men, and another time it was 4,000 men, plus more women and chidren), and another time He healed a possessed young boy who could not be helped by His disciples (see Mark 1:41; 5:19; 6:34; 82; 9:22).  But in this story of the woman who anoints Christ with the expensive oil, we see something unusual happen, and that is that a human being, a woman, one described in other accounts as perhaps a notorious sinner, has compassion on Christ.  She shows compassion to God, in this sense, and Christ receives her generous compassion graciously, teaching us all a great lesson.  Perhaps we should see this story through that distinguishing lens of our capacity for compassion and the exercise of its expression in our lives when we have an opportunity to do so.  For her generosity to Him is a mirror of His own generosity to us, and so He rewards her richly.  It is perhaps with great poetic understanding that she, too, will be honored with a memorial wherever the gospel will be preached.  For, after all, she has fully expressed what Jesus preaches in His gospel.  In the parable of the sheep and the goats (the parable of Judgment), the one thing that distinguishes the sheep from the goats, as Jesus tells it, is that the sheep have made expressions of compassion (see Matthew 25:31-46).  In other words, it is such expressive action that will save us and place us with those righteous who go to eternal life with Christ, as He tells the story Himself.  Let us also mirror Christ in His compassion, and be what He calls us to be, just as does this woman whose memorial is here in the gospel message, with Him, as it is preached in the whole world.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life

 

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And he said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it had been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  

 

Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 

- John 6:60–71 

 

This week we have been reading chapter 6 of John's Gospel, in which the eucharistic concepts of Christ as the bread of heaven, and also the sacrifice He will make on the Cross have been introduced.  Yesterday's text told us that the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

 

  Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And he said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it had been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  My study Bible comments here that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.  To this day, there are still those who reject Christ's own words concerning this sacramental eating of His Body and drinking His Blood, and so do not walk in His teaching.  My study Bible further notes that because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, many attempt to define its nature in a rational way, or to explain away His words completely, giving them simply a metaphorical meaning.  But either extreme is dubious.  To reject this sacramental teaching is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church through its history.  

Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  Here is St. Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ as it appears in John's Gospel, within the context of other disciples turning away because of His hard saying on His Body and Blood (see above).  Let us note also the injection here of the note of betrayal, even among Christ's most intimate set of disciples, the twelve.  

For the first time in John's Gospel, the note of betrayal to come is mentioned.  Here, after a long discourse on Himself as the bread of life, and the bread which came down from heaven, Jesus finally interjects the truth about how His Crucifixion will come about -- the means by which He will give His flesh for the life of the world (see yesterday's reading, above).  Perhaps it is most noteworthy that just as other disciples desert Him for his hard saying about His Body and Blood, so it is at this time that Peter's faith is not simply crystalized, but the confession of faith (on behalf of the twelve as well) is made -- that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  John's emphasis is important and interesting.  Not only is Jesus the Son of the living God, with its emphasis on the power of life itself, but Peter's confession is also one about the very words Jesus offers to them and to the world.  His are the words of eternal life.  In the following chapter of John's Gospel, the temple officers are sent to arrest Jesus, but are unable to do so.  When asked by the religious authorities why they have failed, the officers reply, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  As this Gospel begins with the teaching that Jesus is Logos, the Word, so we understand that in His very words is the power of eternal life also.  As Jesus says, "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 12:49-50).  The power in His very words is the power of eternal life, rooted in the Source of all, God the Father.  Let us note once again that all things are determined through our response to these words of eternal life:  just as other disciples turn away, so Peter makes his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ.  And just as this confession is heard on behalf of the twelve, so Jesus introduces the fact of betrayal among them, calling the one who will betray him a devil, indicating that in that betrayal is the power of the spiritual forces that oppose Him.  As we go through Lent, we head toward Holy Week and the story of the Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord.  As Jesus informs the disciples about the betrayal to come (which they no doubt scarcely can comprehend), let us take into account what we know about that betrayal, that it is through Christ's death that the devil and death itself will be defeated, for all of us.  So let us also ponder that no circumstance can keep us from the love of God, nor from God's work in us and in the world.  Our present lectionary readings also give us selections from St. Paul's letter to the Romans.  Let us read his words:  "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . .  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:35-39).  Neither will betrayal by a devil; for with God not only are all things possible, but for God's purposes all things may be used (see Romans 8:28).  When we see tribulation in our own times and in our lives, let us remember that God has a place and a way for us with which to meet all things.  We can say with St. Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets

 

 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:  Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits.  And they were healed.  And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  

"Blessed are you poor, 

For yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,

For you shall be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now,

For you shall laugh. 

Blessed are you when men hate you,

And when they exclude you,

And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,

For the Son of Man's sake.

 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!

For indeed your reward is great in heaven,

For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

 

But woe to you who are rich,

For you have received your consolation.

 Woe to you who are full,

For you shall hunger.  

Woe to you who laugh now,

For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

For so did their fathers to the false prophets."

 

- Luke 6:12–26 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields.  And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.  And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"  But Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?"  And He said to them, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught.  And a man was there whose right hand was withered.  So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here."  And he arose and stood.  Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing:  Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.  

 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: . . .   Jesus, as the Son of God, does not pray as if to obtain grace or revelation from the Father, my study Bible says.  It cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who says that as the Son of Man, Jesus prays as the Advocate for humanity  (see 1 John 2:1).  Jesus spent all night in prayer before choosing the twelve apostles.   Citing Theophylact, my study Bible says that this teaches us that before choosing a candidate for any spiritual ministry, we should pray that God will reveal to us the one suited for the task.  Disciples and apostles are frequently used interchangeably for these twelve.  The Greek word translated as disciple means literally "learner."  Apostle means "one sent out." 

Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.    The names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  Here these names are given in pairs, suggesting possibly who traveled together on the first missionary journey.  Mark reports that they were sent out two by two (Mark 6:7).  

And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits.  And they were healed.  And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.  The sermon that follows these verses is called the Sermon on the Plain, we're told that Jesus stood on a level place.  .  It's similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount (found at Matthew 5 - 7), but not as extensive.  My study Bible comments that Jesus repeated many of His teachings over the period of three years in His public ministry.  It adds that, in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  But God Incarnate speaks to His disciples and a great multitude face to face.  The power that went out of Him affirms His holiness. 

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."   Blessed in the context of this sermon (and the Sermon on the Mount) indicates a heavenly, spiritual exaltation rather than our conventional sense of earthly happiness or prosperity.  In Hebrew, my study Bible explains, "poor" means both the materially poor, and also the faithful among God's people.   In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus addresses this to the "poor in spirit," meaning all those who have the heart of the poor, the same attitude as the poor, and a total dependence upon God. 

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled."  Again, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness."  My study Bible says that these see  God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  They have a desperate craving for what is right before God, comparable to a starving person's desire for food (see Matthew 6:33). 

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."   Those who weep do so over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  Laughter comes from the comfort of the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  My study Bible notes that holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action, and is the firstfruit of infinite joy.  This type of sorrow is distinguished from ungodly sorrow; which would be a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).  

"Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!  For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets."    My study Bible comments that children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other (Luke 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Those who are treated in the ways described here do so as was done to the prophets, and Christ as well.  Those who suffer persecution in this sense walk the same road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs.  See Acts 5:40-41.

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full for you shall hunger.   Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."  Luke gives us four "woes" that are not found in the Sermon on the Mount.  My study Bible says that woe is an indication not simply of sorrow, but of unspeakable destruction (Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18-19; Revelation 12:12).  It remarks that those who prize the vices listed here are liable to the "utmost misery," according to St. Cyril of Alexandria.  But they find hope when they sacrifice earthly blessings in showing mercy to others.  

We might be puzzled by the "woes" that are included here in the Sermon on the Plain.  In a modern context, it's not often that we think of Jesus as one who assigns "woes" to people.  This is especially true because the things named as part of these woes are overwhelmingly seen as things that are highly desirable and good, notable signs of success which perhaps all would like to pursue.  Wealth, fullness, laughter, and particularly perhaps those who are spoken of in a positive light, with renown or great publicity all seem to define success.  These are the people we tend to define as stars, upheld to others for their admiration, and constantly courting public opinion.  But clearly Jesus frowns on these as goals worth dedicating our whole lives to as if they are the fullness of life and its sole purpose.  In fact, if that's all we do, forgetful of Christ's words and the important things we should be pursuing, then our laughter is hollow and temporary, our consolation only of this world and not for life beyond, we'll be starving for things of more real substance, and mourning what we could have pursued, and missed doing.  For again, as in yesterday's reading and commentary, we go back to what righteousness is, right-relatedness.  If all we do is pursue these goals, if these are our highest good, then where are we in terms of our capacity to love others and do good for community?  Where is God in such a set of goals?  As "every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17), then how we pursue those gifts, how we use them or think of them, is certainly the purview of the Author of the gift.  If all things come from above, then what is our role in placing gratitude to God first before all else, and seeking God's way to live in the world?  Jesus adds, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."  In the developed world, our capacity for the pursuit of all the things Jesus names becomes magnified and enhanced through every facet of what we call progress, every new development of technology and consumer goods.  But perhaps nothing is as magnified over and above the past as our capacity for the seeking of publicity, the hope that "all men speak well" of us, flatter us.  Giant social media networks like Facebook are driven by this desire, and those who have designed and engineered that know this very well, a system that goes by Likes, and Subscribes, and online Friends.  This great desire for a favorable image or outcome from the opinions of others drives its power to deceive through the failure to accept that it's God's opinion that matters most, takes priority in our choices and decisions.  We are so fixed in the idea of image as merely that which is reflected in the sight of others, rather than in the eye of God, that we run a risk of emptiness that never gets filled.  Indeed, studies have shown a depression correlated with social media use, the envy of what one sees crafted through photos and other posting coming to seem like the grass that is always greener somewhere else.  But needing to please God has to take on a different sort of priority, regardless of the rewards one might seek in a social context.  John's Gospel gives us a picture of the members of the ruling Council:  "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 12:42-43).   The heretofore unprecedented levels of interactions available to us through modern technology make each of us hyper-aware of that "audience" available through the screen.  It leads us to focus a certain way, to think of ourselves within a particular sort of community that hasn't existed previous to recent times.  But God still calls to us, and perhaps that applause or approval we seek today is more fleeting than ever.  And yet there are also gatekeepers; we stand in constant awareness of the possibility that we will be censured, cancelled, shunned, and literally censored as well depending on how we serve that desired image and what it demands from us today.  Let us be attentive to the woes that Christ names, for it is an empty and merciless life defined only by  this kind of mutual praise, without the substance and grace that comes from the only God. 

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life

 

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 

- John 6:60–71 

 

Yesterday we read that the religious leaders in the synagogue at Capernaum quarreled among themselves because of Christ's teaching regarding His flesh as the bread of life, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.   

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  My study Bible comments that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many consequently walked with Him no more.  There are still those who reject Christ's words regarding the sacramental eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood, and so do not "walk" in this teaching.  My study Bible continues, saying that because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, many try to define its nature rationally, or else to explain away the words of Jesus completely, giving them a solely metaphorical meaning.  But, it says, either extreme is in fact dubious.  If we reject this sacramental teaching then we reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history. 

But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  Here we witness Simon Peter's confession of faith in the Gospel of John, that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God."  My study Bible comments that Peter's understanding of the identity of Jesus defines Christianity.  This comprehension prevents Christianity from being seen as simply another philosophical system or path of spirituality, because it names Christ as the one and only Son of the living God.  Hence it excludes all compromise with other religious systems.  He Himself is the Savior.  Once again, John's Gospel emphasizes Jesus' capacity to know people, as part of the divine wisdom present in Him, when He speaks of the future betrayal by Judas Iscariot.

In today's reading, my study Bible comments on the understanding of the sacrament of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist.  What we might call "sacramental thinking" permeates the Church, and has done so from the earliest times of Christianity.  In a first century teaching manuscript called Didache (meaning in Greek, the Teaching) we may read the celebration of the Liturgy referred to as "the Eucharist," and so indicating its centrality to faith and worship.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, I quoted from this article by Fr. Stephen Freeman, a priest in the Orthodox Church of America, regarding the nature of sacraments.  Fr. Stephen wrote of the sacraments of the Church, including the Eucharist, "In each of these we observe that God has taken up an ordinary action and made it a means of grace. The sacraments of the Church are each, in their own way, given to us as a means of communion with God."  This notion of communion with God is so important that our Gospels are permeated with it.  Christ chooses disciples who will live with Him, observing all things He does, learning from Him through a shared communion and participation in His ministry.  It is a Person-to-person communion, if you will, comprising both individuals and the community of disciples as a whole.  In St. Paul's writing, this communion extends beyond this world, to the "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1), consisting of the faithful who have passed and also the angels of God.  Fr. Freeman elaborates that grace itself, in the Orthodox understanding, is the "energies of God."  That is, God in God's action of mercy, reaching toward us, and active in our world, thus present to us in a way that we might receive even though we cannot grasp God in God's fullness of being.  So, this notion of sacrament that Christ gives us in communion, that is made possible through His sacrifice on the Cross (His suffering, death, and Resurrection) is something we must accept as an action of God given to us for the deeper communion that saves, that gives us the saving faith that makes life with God, in this "everlasting" sense of life, possible for human beings.  Ultimately, as Fr. Freeman, explains, grace is love, God in action seeking to bring us closer and deeper, even in the sense of the life of the Kingdom, and its eternal or everlasting reality.  Therefore the notion of sacramental thinking -- of that through which, though consisting of "earthly" matter, is imbued with something greater than itself, made possible through the divine grace and action of God, so that we may partake of it, participate in this life, experience it.  In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, when Peter makes His confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus tells Him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17), and this revelation of faith, through God the Father, becomes another example of grace made possible for us, which Jesus has referred to in our present chapter of John by quoting from Isaiah:  "And they shall all be taught by God"  (see Saturday's reading).  In today's reading, Jesus reiterates a similar thought, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  If we fail to grasp that God can be active in the world, even working in and dwelling within and among us, then we fail to grasp our faith, so central is this understanding to Christianity and the teachings of Christ.  Even in the Incarnation itself, it is grace, God's love, reaching to us for deeper communion.  In the Eucharist, the material things of earthly life become instruments of that grace, giving us a depth of communion conferred by God, for this is how holiness works.  In this sense, the world can become a sacrament, as Fr. Freeman writes.  Works done in the name of faith or devotion, a garden dedicated to the glory of God, an act of beauty -- to see the work of God in the beauty of the world, in a life lived righteously in relation to any or all of it, is to come to a deeper sense of faith and God's love.  In today's reading, Jesus teaches about the power of Spirit to confer life, that even His spoken word has this same quality of the living reality of Spirit, of sacrament and grace:  "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."  St. Peter, through his faith, understands this, saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  A world with the kingdom of God stripped away from its meanings and lived experience bears no relation to the sacramental picture of life Christ offers us, in which God participates with us and within us, drawing us into deeper communion.  Let us recover who we are in this sense, and where it places us in the grand scheme of creation, for in the story of Jesus, God has come to search for us, to save us and take us back to our true "home" and the fullness of true life, as only God could offer us -- even today, in the here and the now of our world.  Let us be thankful!

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her

 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."  

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

 

- Matthew 26:1–16 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been explaining the "end times" to His disciples.  His discourse concluded with three parables.  Yesterday we read His final parable, that of the Sheep and the Goats, a parable of the judgment of Christ to come at His return at the end of the age:   "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

 

  Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."   My study Bible notes here that Jesus is delivered up to His Passion by His accusers, but He goes willingly.  Unless this were so, His accusers could not have taken Him.  After Christ's Resurrection, many saints would imitate Christ by willingly going to martyrdom.  The willing martyrdom of Christian faithful in the face of pressure to renounce their faith continues today in countries around the world.

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."   My study Bible comments that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  He explicitly accepts it as a sign of His coming burial.  However, my study Bible notes that according to St. John Chrysostom, the disciples were not wrong in principle; mercy shown to the poor is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (Matthew 25:40; James 1:27).  But what the disciples don't understand is that once the gift is given, the greater mercy is to accept it with love.  My study Bible quotes St. Chrysostom:  "If anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anyone providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."  Regarding Simon the leper, he must have been healed by Jesus earlier, as lepers were not allowed to live in community.  Additionally, my study Bible says that because of her fervent faith, Jesus promises perpetual public memory of this woman.  Among patristic commentary there is no consensus as to her identity in relation to similar events recounted in Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-38; John 12:1-8.  Some say that there were three different women in these four accounts, others that there were just two.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.  My study Bible says that Judas on his own initiative seeks to betray Jesus.  It notes that his motives have been debated, but the Fathers and the liturgical hymns declare that greed was his primary motivation.  In John 12:4-6, we read that Judas was particularly upset about the "waste" of myrrh by the woman who anointed Christ, because he was a thief (see also 1 Timothy 6:10).  The phrase one of the twelve is not used so much to identify Judas, my study Bible says, as he was already known by Matthew's hearers, but it does emphasize the depth of this betrayal -- it was done by one of Christ's closest followers.  

In the anointing of Christ, we find another incident which is so significant that it is reported in all four Gospels.  Regardless of who we think this woman was or may be, the circumstances of the anointing remain the same.  She is motivated not only by faith, but her faith includes the element of deep love.  While my study Bible quotes St. Chrysostom himself in generally favoring gifts of generosity to the poor, it seems that we cannot leave out what Christ has acknowledged here.  In this case, He is the One who is "the poor," if you will.  He is the one who is needy, a poor person who faces death at the hands of the state power and the religious establishment.  She has provided the fragrant oil for His burial.  So therefore, "wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Effectively, her act is a prayerful one, deeply moving as it likely comes from the depth of her heart and soul and from her love of Christ.  Clearly the Gospel invites us to contrast the coldness of Judas with the deep love this woman shows for Jesus.  Additionally, it prompts us to think that we don't always know what is the proper gift to give, and prayerful giving is important.  We are to use discernment in our giving, and the love of God and our communion with Christ mean more than anonymous giving alone or works done without faith or this love.  It builds on the context of the parable of judgment, of the Sheep and the Goats, where acts of kindness and compassion are those that take priority, those that are motivated by responding to need.  Jesus' defense of this woman, and His praise, seems to teach us to remember that there are proper gifts in all circumstances; what is needful and proper at one time may be different at another. There are all kinds of ways to be poor.   Sometimes people need a kind word more than the money -- a word may give hope which is more valuable.  It's been reported that a simple respectful conversation with a homeless person does far more than a small sum of money.  It's important to bear in mind, also, that we don't know how many people our gift will benefit beyond immediate circumstances, especially in time.  It seems quite reasonable to assume that had this woman sold her ointment, and given to the poor as Judas suggests, the untold numbers of faithful would never have heard this story of gracious love for Christ, nor His defense of her gift.  It seems important to be guided by prayer in our giving, so that we do the best we can with what we have.  Let us remember that the love of Christ, and the compassion of the heart it builds in us, is always appropriate and needful.  For this is what we are asked to extend to the world, to neighbor -- and Christ in this story is the neighbor in need.

 

 

 

 

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him

 

 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 

 

- Mark 3:7–19a 

 

On Saturday we read that it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of the grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.  And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."  Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they kept silent.  And when He had looked around them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.  

 

But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  At the end of our previous reading (see above), we learned that the Pharisees began to plot with the Herodians to destroy Jesus.  So, in today's reading we understand that Jesus withdrew in response to this, and also so that He would preach in other places.  Let us note that people now come to hear Him from all over Israel:  not only do they follow Him from Galilee but also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and beyond the Jordan -- even those who come from the nominally Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  Christ's great popularity is another factor in the threat to their leadership the Pharisees feel because of Him. 

 

 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  The Gospels repeatedly let us know that there are not only the faithful who seek Him out, but also among the people are unclean spirits.   Let us note that these would seem to plague even those who seek out Jesus, just as there are other afflictions among them.  But His authority over the unclean spirits is clear, and they recognize Him.  But just as it is not yet time for His Passion, it is also not yet time to open reveal His identity as Messiah and Son of God.

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.   As multitudes gather to Christ from all the regions of Israel, a new turning point occurs for Christ's ministry.  It is time to appoint those who will become apostles, whom He will send out to preach.  Let us note that the tax collector earlier identified as Levi the son of Alphaeus is now called Matthew.   To go up on a mountain is an indication of the spiritually-led nature of this new change, and the communion with God that prompts this new revelation of holiness.  The word for disciple means "learner," while apostle is from a Greek word that means "one sent out" as on a mission.  My study Bible notes that they not only are disciples (they might be with Him) and to be sent out to preach as apostles, but also Christ gives them power to heal sicknesses and cast out demons.   This power was given to them by Christ, while He healed and cast out demons by His own power.  My study Bible also notes that the names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  Besides Matthew/Levi, Bartholomew, for example, is also known to us as Nathanael.

It's interesting to think back upon our lives and recognize the various turning points we believe we've experienced; that is, times when our lives have shifted or pivoted onto new paths and we've made new decisions for the directions we'll go.  So it is with today's reading, where, going up on the mountain, Jesus institutes something new, a profound new development in His ministry.  He chooses the Twelve for special missions, to be given power, and to be sent out to the world.  They will learn from Him as disciples by living with Him and continuing as part of His ministry, and they will be sent out to preach, and heal sicknesses, and cast out demons as He does.  This happens because He will share His own power with them to do so.  Notably, Jesus went up on the mountain, and then called those whom He wanted to Himself.   Since we know that Jesus frequently goes to a mountain to pray (for example, Mark 6:46), and we also witness other events of a profoundly divine nature that take place on a mountain (like the Transfiguration), we may make note of the importance of this new change in His ministry.  Moreover, these mountaintop events seem deeply to be connected with prayer to the Father, and thus we might assume the Father's direction coming to Him as He grows His ministry and decides future steps in its growth and evolution.  Perhaps it is even in prayer with the Father that Jesus chooses which disciples He will call to Himself for this new mission of apostolic ministry.  It seems significant that it is at this stage where His ministry has evolved to attract so many people from everywhere in Israel that it is now time to consider appointing apostles and training them for their future mission.  But it shows us how God's blessings and plans evolve and grow, and the incredible notion that indeed, God shares power with human beings.  This work of Christ's ministry will not remain solely in His hands, but He will use human beings for His work and ministry to be carried on and outward to the world, as it continues even today.  We understand angels as beings that serve God in a ministering capacity, even going out with messages (the Greek word ἄγγελος/angelos means "messenger").  But now these are human beings who are chosen and prepared for such a mission, even to share in Christ's power for healing and casting out demons.  And that is a tremendous new understanding of the evolution of God's power and the kingdom of God among us.  We might even consider that in our own lives God tries to prepare us for a deeper spiritual sense of who we are and where we are going in life.  Our journeys in life are meant to be accompanied and guided by prayer, as Christ sets the true example for us, as well as the apostles and those who would come afterward in the saints of the Church.  For we, too, join that communion in faith and in prayer.  So, therefore, we must accept that we also may be prepared and guided with challenges that teach us about being a part of God's kingdom, and how to bear it into the world.  

 

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd

 

 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

 

- Matthew 9:35—10:4 

 

Yesterday we read that two blind men followed Jesus, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."

 

  Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  My study Bible asks us to note that here Jesus doesn't condemn sinners, instead seeing them like lost sheep, to be found and brought home.  Compassion, it notes, means "suffering with."  This quality is characteristic of our Lord.  The illustration of sheep having no shepherd is drawn from the Old Testament (Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:5), and it is an accusation against the Jewish leaders.  For they are charged with the duty of shepherds, and have acted as wolves.  The same would apply to leaders of our time who forget they are shepherds of the Church.

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  The harvest, according to my study Bible, suggests an abundance of people who are ready to accept the Kingdom.  Jesus is both the Sower and also the Lord of the harvest.  His disciples are not sent to sow, but to reap what the Lord had sown by the prophets (John 4:36-38).  How many are sent to harvest is less important than with what power they go into the harvest, which we will read about in the following verse, as Christ sends out the apostles.

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  My study Bible comments that disciples and apostles are often used interchangeably for the twelve.  Disciple means "learner" (in Greek, μαθητής/mathetes), and apostle means "one sent out" (ἀπόστολος/apostolos).  We note that Jesus gave them power to perform miracles, but He performed them by His own power.  The names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists; many people had more than one name.  These names in Matthew are given in pairs.  My study Bible comments that this list suggests who may have traveled together on this "first missionary journey," as Mark tells us they were sent out two by two (Mark 6:7).  

The theme of sheep and shepherds runs through the Bible.  Jesus, of course, is the good shepherd:  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:11).  Here in today's reading, He expresses His role as the Good Shepherd in His compassion and concern for those who are like sheep. He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  The people aren't just like sheep, they are "like sheep having no shepherd."  They are weary and scattered, and they need a Good Shepherd who can unify them and give them strength.  This is part of the role of our Good Shepherd.  It's a good clue about what constitutes real leadership that the text offers to us this insight regarding Jesus' understanding of this need of the people, and His own capacity to fill it.  What do we want from a good leader?  What inspires us to follow a good leader?  Jesus often gives courage to His followers, telling the disciples to take heart at times of fear.  He inspires with His willingness to give of Himself first.  Everything He does is for His sheep.  And He gives direction, teaching us how to live, how to go forward in life, how we must shape our lives.  He responds with teaching for those who are like sheep with no shepherd (Mark 6:34).   Christ's next action that exemplifies leadership is to take charge and send out His messengers of the Kingdom.  In tomorrow's reading we'll find His instructions for the mission.  But let us note that on this first apostolic mission He prepares them for it by giving them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  This is a power that works for the kingdom of God, and against the unclean spirits, the ones who create ailments, problems, and troubles for human beings, the forces opposed to Christ.  Like a good leader, Christ chooses those whom He will send out, His soldiers, His representatives, those whom He has trained to be like Him, and entrusted with mission to the sheep.

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her

 

 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

 

- Mark 14:1–11 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus finished His discourse on end times (see also the first and second parts of His teaching on this subject).    As He completed His prophecy, He taught:  "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the door!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.  It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all:  Watch!" 

 

 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."  My study Bible explains that the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins with the Passover meal on the evening of 15 Nisan (on the Jewish calendar), and lasts seven days (Exodus 12:12-20).  Combined, these feasts commemorate Israel's being freed from slavery in Egypt.  The word "Passover" refers to the angel of death "passing over" Hebrew hones when killing the firstborn of the Egyptians, as the Jews had put lamb's blood on the doorposts (Exodus 12:13).  My study Bible tells us that Unleavened bread is a reminder of the haste with which the Hebrews left Egypt (Exodus 12:39).  This Passover, it teaches, was fulfilled in Christ, whose blood was shed to free humanity from bondage to sin and death.  

 

 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  My study Bible explains that Simon the leper must have been healed by Christ earlier, for lepers were forbidden to live in towns.

 

But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial."  My study Bible comments that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  Specifically, He accepts it as a sign of His coming burial, and an act of mercy and love.  Nonetheless, my study Bible says, St. John Chrysostom says that the disciples weren't wrong in principle:  mercy shown to the poor is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (Matthew 25:40; James 1:27).  But what they did not understand is that once the gift had been given, it was a greater mercy to accept it with love.  St. Chrysostom, writes (as quoted by my study Bible), "If anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anyone providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."

 

"Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."   My study Bible says that because of her fervent faith, Jesus promises perpetual public memory of this woman.  It notes that among the patristic writers, there is no consensus as to her identity in relation to accounts of similar events in Matthew 26:6-13; Luke 7:36-38; and John 12:1-8.  Some say that there were three different women in these four accounts, but others that there were only two.  

 

 What is quite appealing in today's reading is Jesus' insight and perspective on the gift of this woman who brings to Him an alabaster flask of what we're told is very costly oil of spikenard, a fragrant oil sometimes said to be similar to lavender in scent.  According to some sources, this spikenard was costly partly because it had to be imported from far away, as it was made from a flower that grew in the Himalayas, a part of the honeysuckle family.  So this is indeed a treasure that she is bringing to Jesus, something considered to be extravagant and a form of luxury.  But let us consider that she does not use it for herself (as St. Chrysostom commented), and neither does she give it as treasure, but uses it to anoint Jesus.  Let us remember also that the title "Christ" means "Anointed One."  So, in a sense, she is declaring her faith that He is indeed the Christ, the Messiah.  But it is Jesus' own perspective on what she has done which is the most impressive here, and the most insightful, for Jesus also gives us clues about how we, also, might more properly form perspective on various occasions or events in our lives.  For Jesus sees this as purely an act of love and care, and even one that is prophetic in and of itself, making it a sign of a true gift of the spirit.  For Jesus sees this -- and explicitly corrects the disciples in saying so -- as an anointing for His burial.  She has brought Him, in effect, a prophetic gift, an act of love and mercy at the death of one who is Beloved.  For this is what people do for their loved ones.  This is the way to give care in death.  This is what the women go to do at the tomb who will be the first to be given the good news of the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12).  This is the way that Jesus teaches us to see this act, the way He teaches the disciples to see with His eyes, for He has the deeper insight into the prophetic, and His perspective renders great praise to this woman.  Let us examine His words:  "For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  In other words, she understands the time and the preciousness of the life of Christ, so that this is her opportunity to do something good for Him.  In this sense, "she has done what she could."  And His praise is so great that "wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Imagine the honor He declares is due to her that she has a permanent, universal memorial to her "wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world!"  Jesus not only gives praise, He commands a memorial such as this.  In so doing, He also reminds us what it means to "watch and pray" as He has repeatedly taught during the past three Gospel readings concerning the end times.  To watch is the opposite of sleeping; it is to be alert, awake and aware as possible, to be vigilant.  In her own vigilance of this time, she has brought an anointing to prepare for His burial; she has found the spiritual possibility of this moment.  She, walking into this home in Bethany near Jerusalem, in this dinner where no doubt Christ was the guest of honor at the time of the Passover when so many pilgrims had come to Jerusalem -- she among all of the others knows the time and the opportunity to do what she could.  She has found and understood this moment, and expressed her devotion and faith, as Christ is One whom "you do not have always."  She has done a good work for Him in this time in a proper way.  Let us consider the time and moments of our lives in which to do a particular good work is proper and right.  For this is what it means to be truly watchful and prayerful.  Over the previous three readings, we have been following Christ's discussion of end times -- that is, from the time of His Resurrection until His Second Coming, which we now await.  Throughout, Jesus has repeatedly punctuated His teachings with admonitions to "watch," to "pray," and to "take heed."   For it is a time of upheaval, of things being exposed, unveiled, revealed, and the old things passing away.  She has discerned this time in which the leaders plot against Christ, and she has given Him the anointing in preparation for what is to come, where He goes voluntarily, even as Judas plots betrayal.  May we each be so wise and bear the fruit of our awareness and the gift of His praise.