The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!

 

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat of the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as he had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

 

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

- Mark 14:12–26 

 

Yesterday we read that after two days (following Jesus' prophesy of the "end times" to the disciples) 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.

 

  Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat of the Passover?"  The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) date the Crucifixion to the first day of Passover.  But St. John's Gospel dates it to Preparation Day, the day before Passover.  So this Passover meal is the occasion of the Last Supper here in St. Mark's Gospel.  In St. John's Gospel, Jesus dies at the exact time they killed the Passover lamb.  My study Bible comments that, while it is impossible to determine which is historically accurate, both traditions are theologically accurate -- the Mystical Supper which Jesus initiates in today's reading is the fulfillment of the Passover meal (synoptic tradition), and Christ's death is the fulfillment of the Passover lambs being slain (St. John's tradition).  

 

 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as he had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  These two disciples are identified in St. Luke's Gospel as Peter and John (Luke 22:8).  Let us note once again, as in Christ's instructions for preparation for His entrance into Jerusalem (see this reading) Jesus gives very particular and explicit directions to the disciples for this preparation for the Passover Supper.  

 

  In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish."   My study Bible comments that here Christ emphasizes both that His betrayer is one of the twelve and also that he is one who dips with Me in the dish not so much to identify who the person is, as to emphasize the level of betrayal.  He indicates that this was one of His closest friends (see Psalm 55:13-18).  That he "dips with Me in the dish" indicates a communion that will be betrayed and broken. 

 

 "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."  My study Bible notes that divine foreknowledge of the betrayal does not take away Judas' moral freedom or his accountability for his act.  For God, it says, all things are a present reality; God foresees all human actions, but does not cause them.  

 

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."   The Greek word meaning to give thanks has at its root the word ευχαριστω/eucharisto.  Eucharist (or, in Greek, ευχαριστια/euxaristia) immediately came to refer to both the Liturgy and also the sacrament of Holy Communion, as explained by my study Bible.  It refers us to the Didache, a teaching manuscript written before the end of the first century, in which we find the celebration of the Liturgy referred to as "the Eucharist."  In 150 Ad, St. Justin says of Holy Communion, "This food we call 'Eucharist,' of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing [holy baptism] for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ commanded us."  Jesus says, "This is My body."  In the Orthodox Church, my study Bible says, these words have always been accepted as true.  According to St. Justin, "that the word of prayer which comes from Him is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus."  

 

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.   This hymn is a psalm from a group of psalms which were traditionally sung after the Passover meal (Psalms 116-118).

 

My study Bible says that Christ puts emphasis on the depth of betrayal by Judas toward Christ.  First of all, we may approach this subject by understanding what my study Bible says about Judas' responsibility for his act.  Divine foreknowledge does not erase his accountability or his moral freedom in choosing to betray Christ.  Of course we know Jesus' words regarding the consequences of such an act: "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."   We need to consider betrayal and what it means, exactly.  Betrayal is a type of ultimate lie, for what has been presented as the truth to a person or a group of persons -- within this communion of the disciples, imaged in Jesus' phrase, "one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish" -- is betrayed to all of them.  To violate a trust goes perhaps more deeply into our understanding of faith than we might usually consider, for in the Greek of the Gospels, the very word translated as faith or belief has as its root the word for "trust" (πιστις/pistis).  As "trust" relates to truth, we need to consider the betrayal of Christ as a kind of great lie, as is the betrayal of any friendship or depth of relationship that we know.  Somehow that trust is twisted by the lie of betrayal, and it is a denial of that relationship.  So the destruction of right-relationship, or righteousness, is a break in the goodness God asks of us, and gives us in the power to love.  In the Revelation we read, "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie" (Revelation 22:14-15).  That "whoever loves and practices a lie" gives us a sense of the spiritual impact of betrayal, in that it turns a relationship of trust into a lie.  Perhaps we could say that, building upon that understanding, the betrayal of Christ, who is not only a Friend and Teacher in this context, but our Creator and Lord and author of all goodness.  And, as we know that God is love (1 John 4:8), Judas' act of betrayal is a betrayal not only of divinity and goodness, but of pure love itself.  Therefore the "woe" that Jesus pronounces on the betrayer is one of those profound condemnations reserved only for those in such a category (see also Matthew 23).  Let us, in response even today, seek God's love as our basis for how we live our lives and forge our relationships, and continue as disciples in the trust of the Communion He gives us.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

- Luke 5:27–39 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened when Jesus was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Him; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering or your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

 

  After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Levi, also known as Matthew, answer's Christ's call to "follow Me."  He leaves his occupation to become a disciple, my study Bible comments.  It notes that from the beginning of Christ's ministry, He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him (as we read a little further on in the text).  Levi was possibly one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (Luke 3:12).  

 

 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  My study Bible comments that this feast is an expression of Matthew's joy and gratitude.  The guest register, it says, is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness. 

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."    My study Bible tells us that Christ's earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But, of course, there will come a time when Christ's followers will be practicing the fast.  Jewish fasting practices would be transfigured in Christianity to reflect preparation for the wedding feast of the Messiah/Bridegroom at the end of the age.  Thus historically there have been practices of fasting in the Church to prepare for the feast of Easter, and also for Christmas and other short fasting periods before certain feasts or commemorations.  

 

 Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"   Christ here gives this parable of wineskins to illustrate the growing ranks of His Church, the New Covenant as it transfigures the Old.  My study Bible remarks that this final saying regarding old wine occurs only in Luke's account of this story.  It suggests that this last remark illustrates, first of all, the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, and secondly, the inner resistance which a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life.  Finally, it teaches us about the general stubbornness of the human heart. 

The analogy of the old wineskins and the new illustrates an important aspect of the difficulties of repentance.  We always want what we are used to, and it's often hard to accept the new and what is unfamiliar to us.  We're used to doing things a certain way, or being taught that a particular habit or way of doing things is good and preferable in general.  But just as the new wineskins allow for expansion, for new members welcomed into Christ's Church, so the practice of repentance asks us for a constant type of growth and expansion.  Often our faith and our prayers might lead us to make new choices, new decisions we haven't made before, new concepts we hadn't considered to embrace, or perhaps new alternatives to the ways we've always done things in the past.  Occasionally we run into seeming roadblocks in our lives, and we can't understand why things are not working or we seem to have hit a dead end.  It's then that prayer and spiritual guidance can help us find ways to move forward out of our "stuck" places, giving us options and insight into new possibilities and new ways of thinking.  The "new wineskins" of Christ offer us an opening to consider that within His Church and as His disciples we are always asked to grow and to expand, for we are made to learn (the word disciple in the Greek of the Gospels literally means "learner").  To grow within the discipline of following Christ is an expanding way of life, inviting us to continue toward that wedding feast of the Bridegroom and His Church, for union with our Lord has an infinite horizon beyond what we know.  While we may consider that repentance entails turning toward something we already know, the word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) actually implies change, and it literally means "change of mind."  Let us consider the ways Christ calls us to change, to expand our own ways of thinking, to follow Him.  

 

 

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you"

 

 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

'I will strike the Shepherd,

And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

"But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.

 

- Matthew 26:26-35 

 

Yesterday we read that on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.  When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."

 

 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."   My study Bible notes that this is the institution of the Eucharist, which it calls the "long-awaited messianic banquet," to which even Judas is admitted (compare Esther 7).  Jesus is seeking by all means possible to save him.  But because of his wicked heart, my study Bible says, Judas' participation will lead to his condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).  These words of Jesus are repeated in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; they invite the faithful to receive His body and blood.  In Holy Communion we are thereby united to Christ.  As Jesus gave thanks (εὐχαριστέω/eucharisteo, forming the Greek root of "eucharist"), it teaches us how we are to celebrate this sacrament, also that He comes willingly to His Passion, and even, my study Bible says, to accept sufferings with thankfulness -- knowing that God can use sufferings for ultimate good.  Moreover, the Old Covenant was sealed with the blood of bulls and goats.  But the New is sealed by the gift of Christ Himself, who my study Bible says shed His own blood to conquer sin and death and to reconcile us with God.  Christ names it the blood of the new covenant, effectively God's promise and the fulfillment of the Law.  "New" indicates that this covenant brings immortality and incorruptible life; and it's very important to understand that this covenant will always carry the quality of newness.  Shed for many uses an Aramaic expression meaning "for all."

 

 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  My study Bible notes that patristic commentary teaches that Jesus also drinks the cup of His own Blood.  He does so in order to lead all believers into participation in His heavenly mysteries; one more incident in which He fulfills all righteousness.   In My Father's kingdom, my study Bible says, relates to the time after Christ's Resurrection, when He will both eat and drink to show the reality of His victory over death (Luke 24:41-43).  Additionally, it points to the eternal banquet of the Kingdom in the age to come.  

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.  This prophesy of Christ regarding Peter's denial will be fulfilled as Peter stands outside the home of the chief priest, with which Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin.  We will read this story of denial later on in this chapter.   But for now, let us note how emphatically Peter and all the disciples declare they will not deny Christ.

As Jesus is on the cusp of His Passion, He tells the disciples, "Take, eat; this is My body."  It is remarkable to consider the time, not only because of its proximity to the Crucifixion, but because He is literally teaching them the truth behind what is about to happen. Everything about to unfold is the culmination of His ministry, the final gift He gives for salvation, to the world.  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."  Let's consider that His blood will indeed soon be shed, for which He now gives thanks in front of the disciples.  God is using this occasion for something much greater than anyone can understand in that room, and likely for something much greater than any one of us has realized even two thousand years later -- and Christ Himself is giving thanks for the opportunity, the blessing, the grace, and the magnanimity of this new covenant which will remit sins for all who take it up and live it.  He insists that they all drink -- even His adversary, soon to be His betrayer, Judas, who has been with Him all this time.  Because this grace is on offer for many, meaning "for all," He commands all to drink.  The remission of sins is the acceptance into His eternal Kingdom, His Father's kingdom, the one established in the promise of Christ the Bridegroom, and this is that true New Covenant.  It is now available to all who will take it up and live it.  So Jesus establishes where He is before all the disciples here, explaining to them what is about to happen and why, even giving thanks for the occasion, so that they and we will know the depth and meaning of what they will witness, and what is being initiated for the life of the world.  He predicts their denial, and their scattering and stumbling in the face of the shattering reality they will face.  Can we imagine giving thanks in such a circumstance?  And yet, with God, all things are possible, and "we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  If Christ can give thanks at this moment, then let us remember at all times in our lives to give thanks, for we do not know how God is calling us, through the good and the evil, and what God will make out of every moment of our lives, in ways which we can't yet see.

 

This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you

 

 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves.  But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

 

- Luke 22:14-30 

 

Yesterday we read that the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.  So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.  And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.  So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.  Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.  And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."  So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"  And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.  Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, 'Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready."  So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

 

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  My study Bible tells us that Christ has a fervent desire for this Passover because this meal will impart the mysteries of the new covenant to His followers.  Moreover, this event will inaugurate the great deliverance of humanity from sin through the power of the Cross.  

 

 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." This first cup is a conclusion to the Old Testament Passover meal which Christ eats with His disciples in order to fulfill the Law.  Until the kingdom of God comes is explained by my study Bible to mean until Christ's Resurrection; at that time He will again eat and drink with His disciples (Luke 24:43; Acts 10:41).  

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."   In the language of the text, gave thanks has as its root the Greek word eucharist (ευχαριστία), which my study Bible says immediately came to refer to both the Liturgy and the sacrament of Holy Communion.  Before the end of the first century, a teaching manuscript called the Didache refers to the celebration of the Liturgy as "the Eucharist."  In the year AD 150, St. Justin said of Holy Communion, "This food we call 'Eucharist,' of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing [holy baptism] for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ commanded us."  Jesus says, "This is My body . . .."  My study Bible comments that the Orthodox Church has always accepted Christ's words as true, "that the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from Him is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus" (St. Justin).  See John 6:51-56, 1 Corinthians 11:23-32.

 

"But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.  My study Bible asks us to note that Judas is also invited to this table for the mystical supper, as Jesus is seeking by all means to save him.  Judas' unworthy participation leads to his utter destruction (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-30; compare to Esther 7).  Note the tie between Christ's words regarding "the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you" and the betrayal in the spilling of His blood.

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves."  My study Bible comments that this small-minded dispute is out of place in the context of the mysteries which Christ has just revealed.  It notes that He corrects the disciples by first comparing them to the power-hungry Gentiles, whom they themselves considered an abomination, and contrasting them to Himself, who serves us even though He is Lord of all.

 

"But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."  My study Bible quotes the commentary of St. Ambrose of Milan on this passage:  "Christ judges by discerning the heart, and not by examining deeds.  So also the apostles are being shaped to exercise spiritual judgment concerning faith, and in rebuking error with virtue."  My study Bible comments that the apostles will judge not with earthly judgment, but by the witness of their own lives.  Since God's kingdom begins with Resurrection of Christ, the authority of judgment has already been given to the apostles and their successors in the journey of the Church on earth (Matthew 16:19; John 20:23).  

 

 In this initiation of the Eucharist in Luke's Gospel, we read:  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."   Let us begin to consider what this means, that Christ repeats twice this notion of a voluntary sacrifice:   My body which is given for you; My blood, which is shed for you.  In reading about the notion of sacrifice in the ancient world, we discover that sacrifice did not have the kind of connotation that it has for us today.  A sacrifice was a meal which was shared, it created community through that sharing.  Part of the sacrifice, in the Jewish tradition, was burned, and this was the part "for God" at that communal table.  But the point was the sharing, the institution of community, and especially through communal meal.  To share or give a gift for another is also a way of creating community, relatedness in a particular way.  Christ effectively gives Himself -- His Body and Blood -- as a sacrifice once and for all, in order to create community with us.  This is made explicitly clear in His words that His body is given for us, and His blood is given for us (for you is plural).  We become this community through the affirmation of the New Covenant in His blood, again through sacrifice creating a bond.  We are to continue to participate in this sharing, this creation of community (His kingdom) in remembrance of Him, affirming that community and that bond and our participation in His sacrifice.  This community which bears His name, created and affirmed through His sacrifice in which we continually participate, has hallmarks to it that make it distinct from other kingdoms of the world (and indeed, the rule of other kings).  Jesus says, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves."  Our ongoing participation in His sacrifice commits us to the conditions of this community and its way of life that is to be different from the world; it is marked by service, another emphasis on giving, of which His sacrifice for us is our great example.  Service also is in keeping with voluntary sacrifice and giving, not as payment nor penalty, but as a gift to create, nurture, build, and extend community.  This is the Kingdom we inherit and in which we participate as adopted sons and heirs.  Its great bedrock is love, for God is love (1 John 4:8).  This is how Jesus characterizes His sacrifice Himself, for He tells us, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (1 John 15:13).  When we partake of the Eucharist, let us remember its significance as Christ's sacrifice for us, making community, teaching us to participate in it, and laying the foundation of love for His Kingdom in which we are invited to share and to become more "like" Him.  He taught us that "a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" (Matthew 10:24).  A gift, a sacrifice, a service is an act of love meant to create and harbor community, relationships.  Let us think about how and why we, too, will make that investment in our faith, following Him, with careful consideration for where we cast our pearls in so doing.  For betrayal of such sacrifice, even if prophesied, is not without its penalty as well.

 

 

 

Take, eat; this is My body

 

 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.  But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

'I will strike the Shepherd, 

 And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.

 

- Matthew 26:26-35 

 

Yesterday we read that on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.  When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."

 

  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."  Jesus here institutes the Eucharist, which my study Bible names the long-awaited messianic banquet, to which He admits even Judas at this meal, as Christ is seeking by all means to save him.   Because of his wicked heart, my study Bible says, Judas' participation leads to his condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).  My study Bible comments that Christ's words are repeated in the Divine Liturgy, when the faithful are invited to receive His body and blood.  In Holy Communion, we are truly united to Christ.  Jesus gave thanks (the root of this verb in Greek is eucharist) to teach us first of all, how we are to celebrate this sacrament.   He is also teaching that He comes willingly to His Passion, and that we also can accept sufferings with thankfulness -- as we know that God can use sufferings for ultimate good.  Moreover, my study Bible adds that the Old Covenant was sealed with the blood of bulls and goats, while the New is sealed by the gift of Christ Himself -- who shed His own blood to conquer sin and death and to reconcile us with God.  Christ calls it the blood of the new covenant, which is God's promise and the fulfillment of the Law.  In using the word "new" Christ means that this covenant brings immortality and incorruptible life; it will always have the quality of newness.  See Revelation 21:5.  For many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."

"But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  My study Bible comments that according to patristic consensus Jesus also drinks the cup of His own Blood.  This He does to lead all believers into participation in His heavenly mysteries.  My study Bible says that in My Father's kingdom relates to the time after Christ's Resurrection, when Christ will eat and drink to show the reality of His victory over death (see Luke 24:41-43).  Moreover, it points to the eternal banquet of the Kingdom in the age to come.  

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And so said all the disciples.  Jesus gives another prophesy that will be fulfilled, quoting from Zechariah 13:7.   Note how not only Peter, as frequent spokesman for the disciples, vehemently denies that he will stumble, but also so said all the disciples.  

What strange combination of events we get in the Gospels.  It is much like life itself:  together with the greatest gift for mankind, the most exalted moment of Christ's grace to us in the giving of the Eucharist, we are told that this night they will strike the Shepherd, and all will be made to stumble because of Him, and the flock scattered.  It is like the chiaroscuro of the greatest painters, or the film noir of modern times, in which black and white, dark and light, are juxtaposed to give us just this sense of how the dark can be present even while there is the greatest light existent for us at any moment in our lives, even seemingly at times of the greatest exultation.   The story of Christ, no matter how many ways in which we might experience something similar, or a story is told that seemingly holds the same elements, sets a pattern down for us.  It expresses something real about the world that we live in, and it offers us a choice in the midst of this world in which light and dark can coexist so starkly, as we read so clearly in the prologue to John's Gospel, when we are told of Christ that "in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5).  We might experience this black and white quality often in our own lives also.  Seemingly at times when our deepest desires might be realized, so we experience a darkness that seems to blight our happiness even at the same moment.  But the power of this story is in the light that it offers us in the midst of darkness, for it is that light to which we must be drawn and which shows us our way through the world.  It is His light to which we cling and follow even when we can't see very well in the darkness that we experience in life.  For when we lose that light, then we truly lose our way.  So often we might find ourselves lost in darkness because something sounded right or good, and it really wasn't.  Peter displaying his great proclamation of indignance and loyalty to Christ, stating, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble," might be seen as one example of this.  All of the disciples follow his lead in this declaration, but Christ knows better and understands the human weakness and vulnerability upon which darkness can play.   A fine thing -- the kind of loyalty and courage on display in Peter's statement -- may cover a truth we'd rather not see nor know, and will have to discover for ourselves, as Peter will with bitter tears.  But therein, even in that sub-story to this plot, is the Cross, for it is in reconciling to the reality of our lives that we find the light and come to terms with what it asks of us -- hence the great historic stress on truly knowing ourselves and coming to terms with the things we need to be aware of and to act upon (see Matthew 18:8-9).  But here in today's reading, Jesus gives us the very gift that literally means to give thanks, the Eucharist.  He gives us the gift of Himself and His communion with us and among us, the sacrifice of His Body and Blood.  And at this greatest moment which we as humankind can receive, He warns of the Cross and speaks of the danger that awaits the disciples as an enemy will strike the Shepherd.  We shouldn't forget we still live in the same world where that same enemy preys on weakness and vulnerability, where we can fool ourselves with our own bluff, and our vulnerabilities may even be things we're not aware of.  Let us understand that it is in the truth of the Gospel that we find ourselves and we find our way, not in saccharine or sentimental ideas but in coming to terms with truth at the Cross, including the truth of where we stumble.  Neither believe those who say life is all darkness, for that is the way to nothing.   For this is the good news, the road of salvation and spiritual growth in the Kingdom, preparing us for the crowns these disciples will certainly wear.  For we are on a road, Christ's "way" -- which goes together with His truth and His life, and there is no other to be found (John 14:6).

 

 

 

 

Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it

 

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  

 

In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

- Mark 14:12–26 

 

Yesterday we read that after two days (following Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple  and discourse on the end times), 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.   

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"   And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.   These two disciples are Peter and John (Luke 22:8).  My study Bible notes that the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) date the Crucifixion to the first day of Passover, while John puts it on this day, the Preparation Day (the day before Passover), on which they killed the Passover lamb (John 19:14).  Therefore in the synoptic tradition, the Last Supper is the Passover meal, while in John's Gospel, Jesus, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), dies at the exact time the Passover lambs are being slain in the temple.  It's impossible to determine which is historically accurate, but both are theologically accurate.  The Mystical Supper is the fulfillment of the Passover meal (in the synoptic Gospels), and Christ's death is the fulfillment of the Passover lambs being slain (John's Gospel).

In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish."  Jesus emphasizes both that His betrayer is one of the twelve and also that he is one who dips with Me in the dish.  My study Bible remarks that this is not so much to identify the person as an emphasis on the level of betrayal involved here -- that this was one of His closest friends (Psalm 55:13-15).

 

"The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."  My study Bible comments that divine foreknowledge of the betrayal doesn't take away Judas' moral freedom, nor does it take away his accountability.  For God, all things are a present reality:  God foresees all human actions, but does not cause them.  

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  To give thanks has at its root the Greek word eucharist.  This word immediately came to refer to both the Liturgy and the sacrament of Holy Communion.  My study Bible reminds us that the Didache -- written before the end of the first century -- refers to the celebration of the Liturgy as "the Eucharist."  In 150 AD, St. Justin said of Holy Communion, "This food we call 'Eucharist,' of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing [holy baptism] for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ commanded us."  Christ says, "This is My body," which the Orthodox Church has always accepted as true, "that the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from Him is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus" (St. Justin).

 

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  My study Bible tells us that this hymn is a psalm from a group of psalms traditionally sung after the Passover meal (Psalms 113-118).

As Christ is surely on His way to His Crucifixion, He extends the final great gift to His flock, and to the Church.  He gives us the gift of the Eucharist.  Surely I am not going to be the most eloquent writer among all those, sainted and not, who have written and taught us about the significance of the Eucharist and all that it gives us -- nor among those to come.  But today it strikes me that this final parting gift (in addition, of course, to His Passion to come) is something we must never underestimate in its lasting impact and gifts to us.  We must understand the Eucharist as much more than simply a memorial or a way of remembering Christ and His Passion.  We must understand it as the first Christians understood it and as instituted right from the beginning in the Church.  It is inseparable from mystery in the fullest theological sense and in the context of the Church itself and its varied Mysteries.  A mystery in this sense is a kind of a door to the mystical Kingdom of Christ.  Here, His literal reference to His Body and Blood is also inseparable, it seems to me, from what it means to be part of the fullness of the Body of Christ, the entire mystical Church, and to be united within that communion, which is also the communion of saints.  To take the Eucharist is a way of affirming that we enter into participation in Christ's Body as fully as possible -- and the fullness of this is an ongoing mystery.  It is something into which we enter as a lifelong process of faith and its work within us.  And let us not forget that through Christ, we are also in the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit, for where One is, there is also the Trinity.  In short, in the Eucharist, Christ is offering us the gift of Himself, even as He goes to His Cross and His physical death as a human being.  In the Eucharist, He makes it explicitly clear this it is the very icon of His Incarnation, and as my study Bible indicates, His words, "This is My body" and "This is My blood" were from the beginning understood as solemnly true.  We may not understand at all how this happens, but it was from the beginning accepted as simply a mystery that could not be explained in worldly terms.  For the Orthodox Church, it has always remained so, and scholastic explanations were never a part of doctrine.   Whatever we understand about the Eucharist and its deep and enduring mystery, we understand that we are invited into Christ's Incarnational life, and that the Eucharist gives us Christ Himself, both fully human and fully God.  In our taking of the Eucharist, one way it is understood is as medicine.  Just as God became human in order to heal our brokenness, so the Eucharist is a kind of medicine for what ails us; we seek a deeper union with God in all ways possible:  through prayer, through worship, through the practices of the Church available to us, and through the Church's Mysteries.  In it, Christ offers His fullness for our own lives and we must consider, in my perspective, the fullness of the varieties of levels -- both known and unknown -- on which this might be at work within us.  What do we need help with?  Do we have a spiritual problem?  Do we have an emotional problem?  Do we have problems with relationships?  Do we need help finding God's way forward for us?  All of these and more questions are addressed and may be answered in the giving of this gift for which we give thanks, identically as we give thanks for the gift of His life, the Incarnation itself.  Let us not underestimate the extent of the gift with which He leaves us -- for the value of the gift is determined by the Giver, Whose sight is infinite and Whose horizon is so inexpressibly far from our own.  These immeasurable measurements also extend to the depths of who we are which only God knows, and to the full trajectory of our lives of which God only knows the fullness.  Let us be truly thankful for the gift whose value is so far beyond our capacity to calculate for ourselves.

This is My body

 

 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

 

- Luke 22:14-23 

 

Yesterday we read that in the daytime, Jesus was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet with the other pilgrims to Jerusalem.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.  Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.  So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.  And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.  So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.  Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.  And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."  So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"  And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.  Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready."  So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

 

 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."   My study Bible tells us that Christ has a fervent desire for this Passover because this meal will impart the mysteries of the new covenant to His followers, and also because this event will inaugurate the great deliverance of humanity from sin through the power of the Cross.  

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  This first cup offered by Christ is a conclusion to the Old Testament Passover meal which Christ eats with His disciples in order to fulfill the Law.  My study Bible explains that until the kingdom of God comes means until Christ's Resurrection.  At that time He will again eat and drink with His disciples (Luke 24:43, Acts 10:41).  

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."   The Greek root for the word translated as gave thanks is eucharist/εὐχαριστέω.  This word immediately came to refer to both the Liturgy and the sacrament of Holy Communion.  Before the end of the century, my study Bible explains, a manuscript called the Didache ("The Teaching") refers to the celebration of the Liturgy as "the Eucharist."  Moreover, in AD 150, St. Justin says of Holy Communion, "This food we call 'Eucharist,' of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing [holy baptism] for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ commanded us."  Jesus says, "This is My body."  For the Orthodox Church, these words have always been accepted as true:  in the words of St. Justin, "that the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from Him is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus."  

"But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.  My study Bible points out that Judas, too, is invited to the table for the mystical supper, and that Jesus is seeking by all means to save him.  His unworthy participation, it says, leads to his utter destruction (see 1 Corinthians 11:27-30; compare to Esther 7).

While my study Bible comes from the Orthodox tradition, it explains that in Christendom there are at least three different interpretations of Christ's words.  It notes that for the first thousand years of Christian history, when the Church was visibly one and undivided, the holy gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ were received as just that:  His Body and Blood.  The Church confessed this was a mystery:  The bread is truly Christ's Body, that which is in the cup is truly His Blood -- but one cannot say how they become so.  In the eleventh and twelfth centuries began the scholastic era, the Age of Reason in the West.  The Roman Church by that time had become separated from the Orthodox Church in 1054, and it was pressed by the rationalists to define precisely how this transformation occurs.  Their answer was the word transubstantiation, which means change of substance.  These elements are therefore no longer bread and wine, but are physically changed into flesh and blood.  So the sacrament, which is comprehensible only by faith, was subjected to a philosophical definition.  This view was unknown in the ancient Church.  This issue of transubstantiation became one of the points of disagreement between Rome and the sixteenth-century reformers.  They were not able to accept this explanation, and so the radical reformers (who were also rationalists) took up the opposing point of view:  that these gifts are simply bread and wine.  They only represent Christ's Body and Blood, and have no spiritual reality.  My study Bible says of this third viewpoint, that these elements are only symbols, helps to explain the infrequency with which some Protestants partake of the Eucharist.  Although, I hasten to add, I know many who commune every week.  I must say that for myself I have considered all of these "options," and I tend to personally fall on the side of the first thousand years of Christianity, as I find it the most reasonable.  That is, these words of Christ remain a mystery, and only and just that -- something we accept, but cannot explain, in the same way that we cannot explain the other mysteries of our faith, such as the birth of Christ.  This is because, in my own understanding, there are things that reach so far beyond our own grasping and reality that we simply have no choice but to accept them on faith.  Either the light of faith reveals this for a person, or it does not.  I hasten to add that I feel that each of us is on a very long faith journey, and that this journey is one that changes us -- and as we in turn change, so does our perspective on our faith, and this indeed happens in so many ways.  Christ has spoken of Himself as a road:  "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me," John 14:6.  The Greek word translated as way (ὁδὸς) means "road," and is still used this way in modern Greek.  Therefore Christ speaks of Himself as the "road" to the Father, including the truth and life of God.  So, in the deepest and most original understanding of our faith, we are on a road somewhere.  The importance and significance of the Eucharist is not simply to remember Christ, but to take on the qualities of Christ, the fruits of the Spirit, to become more "like God," even as we hopefully move toward God in our faith.  This is the fullness of the Incarnation and the understanding of the patristic tradition of the Church:  that in Christ, God became human, so that we human beings could become like God.  So much of the understanding of Christ makes sense only through this lens:  His bodily ascent into heaven at the Ascension, thereby glorifying human flesh; His taking on of all that we experience and transfiguring all of life with meaning; and the other mysteries we celebrate such as Baptism, in which water becomes "illumined" with Spirit so that we, in turn, may be made whole and on our own way on this "road" of faith.  The elements of the world such as water for Baptism, or oil for chrismation, are understood to take on a mystical substance which interacts within and for human beings for illumination.  Thereby we are to understand in this same mysterious working of the energies of God as we partake of this mysterious body and blood of Christ.  It is our "supersubstantial" bread, as the prayer to Our Father literally states, in the special Greek word (epiousion/ἐπιούσιον) that appears nowhere in any literature but the Gospels.  As such Christ is our medicine, the fullness of nourishment for all of our real needs:  body, soul, spirit.  As if to underscore explicitly the difficulty of this teaching, John's Gospel tells us that Jesus taught:  "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," and that for many disciples this was a point of turning away.  (See John 6:53-71.)   The fullness of the faith is understood through mystery.  That is, there is depth and breadth to our faith that none of us is fully-equipped to understand at the levels of its true founding, as only God can understand and fully know God.  But we begin with these words, which lift us into a promise of Christ as Passover, given in entirety for us, and making a new covenant for all.  Christ teaches us, "Do this in remembrance of Me."  In a profound religious sense, and certainly for the Jews of Christ's time, to remember is to bring into the present, to participate in something -- not simply to commemorate in a social sense.  St. Paul clarifies this when He admonishes the Corinthians not to take the Eucharist in an unworthy manner (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-32).  Let us take on the multiple ways in which our faith works in us, and seek to participate in the mystery offered to us.

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

- Luke 5:27-39 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened when He was in a certain city, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"   

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Levi is also known as Matthew.  He answers Christ's call, "Follow Me," leaving his occupation as tax collector to become a disciple.  It's important that we understand the Jewish attitude toward tax collectors; they were appointed to work among their own people by the Romans.  Frequently they used the power and might of the Roman state to levy extra taxes for their own gain.  My study bible notes that from the beginning of Christ's ministry, He was a friend to tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him.  Levi might also have been one of the tax collectors who were prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (3:12-13).  

Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   This feast is an expression of Matthew's joy and gratitude.   Jesus gathers into community those who have been excluded, as we can read from the response of the scribes and Pharisees.  My study bible says that this guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness.  

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."   My study bible comments that Jesus' earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  He is the Bridegroom, the Christ, who has come to be with His people.  There will come a time when His followers will practice the fast, after He is taken away from them.  In Jewish practice, fasting was typically done twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  In addition public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed, especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning.  But the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast, a time of joy and gladness; this is the day that Jesus proclaims in this passage.  In Christian tradition, as we await our Bridegroom's return, fasting is not gloomy but rather a desirable "bright sadness" -- for fasting is a practice to gain self-control in preparation for our Wedding Feast.

Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  Jesus speaks of a New Covenant, and people made new through God's forgiveness and redemption, a spiritual inclusion by adoption.  There must be room for this new dynamic thing that is happening through His ministry, and the expansion it will create.  My study bible notes the final verse here ("And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'")  This saying appears only in Luke's Gospel, and it illustrates several things.  First it gives us a sense of the difficulty with which the Jews would accept this new covenant.  It also expresses the inner resistance a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life, as well as giving us a picture of the general stubbornness of the human heart.

So what is the New Covenant and what is it for?  Jesus gives us a great hint when He teaches that new wine must be put into new wineskins.  It is teaching us first of all that the nature of this new covenant is to expand, to open up, to include those who haven't been included before.  Just as Jesus sits with tax collectors and others who are excluded from community within the "old wineskin," so through a process of repentance they may be saved and included.  This is of necessity an expansion.  Moreover we know that this New Covenant and the message of the gospel will go out to all the nations, and there will be more people included in this new way of community with Christ.  The "people of God" will be expanded.   Under the old system, through sacrifice and other religious practice, atonement was possible and prescribed for specific sins, and an entire system of commands formed the Law.  But Jesus gives us a very important perspective on the New when He explains that "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Essentially, salvation is a process of healing.  Redemption becomes a means of setting right and setting free; it is also a way to inclusion and community.   Under the New Covenant, the people of God will be expanded.  Christ will open up a new way to be included, giving us a spiritual, mystical covenant, a reconciliation to God for all people.  But here in this stage of Luke's Gospel, we are given a start to an understanding of His orientation, a beginning of what it is to be "saved."  We witness the forgiveness of sin, and the entry into discipleship, as a form of healing.  Levi the tax collector becomes the one we know as Matthew the disciple, and author of the first Gospel of the New Testament.  Christ is our Physician, and He is here to heal.  His covenant continues to expand as we delve more deeply into what it is to be truly healed and reconciled to Christ, to grow in our faith and in our discipleship.  The problems we see and experience in our world, whatever their nature, are to be included in that healing and reconciliation.  We will always have "groups" we are told are inside and outside; this is our social human nature.  In the worldly way we human beings look at things -- and especially at other people -- there are those whom we include in our group and those whom we do not.  But Christ's reconciliation is one of love and care and healing.  He is the Bridegroom for all of us.  And this story in Luke gives us our first hint about how we think of the people of God, those who might belong and those who do not:  in Christ the way of discipleship is open to those who want to share this meal with the Bridegroom.  It is through His own sacrifice that we are invited in; His cup we are asked to drink with Him.  It is His judgment which tells us who may be in and who may be out -- and the one who is a tax collector one day may write our first Gospel the next.  Let us remember what it means to be healed, and that we all need this Physician.  It is important to know that even for we who believe, the Physician's ways may be something new to us on this journey of discipleship, that where we go and how we are changed may be something we resist, seems strange to us, or hard to accept.  The road of repentance is ongoing.  But this is also to be understood, for as Christ tells us Himself, and uniquely in today's reading, that "no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"