For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world

 

 "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

 

"But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

 

- John 6:27–40 

 

Yesterday we read that, when evening came (following Christ's feeding of five thousand in the wilderness), His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

 

  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  It's important that we consider the implications of Christ's words here.  To "work the works of God" implies both doing something, a deliberate act (work), and also those things which God gives us to do (works).  But to understand this properly we need to consider the word "believe" because in the Greek the root here means to "trust" in Christ.  If we trust in Him, we follow His teachings, we do the things He teaches us to do.  It describes a way of life, not simply a purely intellectual assent to His identity.  That He is sent by God implies something far more profound, that God has given us this work, to trust in Christ, to follow Him.

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."  The people demand a sign, a work, and they refer to Moses and the manna given in the desert.  Here Jesus clarifies that He is the gift of God the Father.  He is the bread of God, the true bread from heaven which gives life to the world.  

 

"But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  My study Bible comments on Christ's purpose stated here:  "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."   It notes that, as Christ has two natures, He has two wills, one divine and one human -- although He is one Person, fully human and fully divine.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople (AD 680-681), it was proclaimed that the two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  

 

When Jesus tells us, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me," He is in fact stating a profound kind of attitude regarding grace and the gifts of God.  He has not been sent into the world to abuse human beings with selfish behavior, or even to do His own will, but in fact in order to grant eternal life, He must live His worldly life in accordance with the will of the One who sent Him.  We should keep in mind once again (as mentioned in yesterday's commentary) the words of St. James' Epistle, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).  For Jesus Himself is part of that tremendous concept named by St. James as "every good gift and every perfect gift."  We must understand what a true gift is in order to appreciate it, to approach it properly, and with the respect and honor due to both the gift and the giver.  This Jesus shows Himself in His own graciousness and honor to God His Father who has sent Him into the world as incarnate human being.  In Christ, as He's just said here in these verses, we receive the ultimate gift of eternal life; this is an infinite, inexhaustible, unending gift to us from an infinite almighty God, and it is given of love (John 3:16).  This is a cosmic salvation, meant for all of creation, all that exists, and for all time.  Jesus treats this grace, even the gift of Himself to the world, with the proper reverence due to the ultimate Giver, the Father by honoring the Father's will in all He does, and fulfilling the purpose of the gift.  So how should we approach this gift?  Do we look at it as something merely to exploit, or to use for our own purposes, as did these people when they wished to forcefully make Christ king?  Now they demand a sign.  What is the purpose of that sign?  Must Christ who fed them in the wilderness also prove to them who He is before they will also honor His purpose and His mission, and His identity as the gift of God that gives life to the world?  In every way, Jesus' words invite us all to think about gifts and the giver (or in this case, the Giver).  For if we are to receive extraordinary blessings, does not our own honor and homage also belong to the Giver?  Perhaps to understand this concept more clearly, we need to understand the love with which a gift is given, and, in this case, the goodness that goes with it.  In the Old Testament, we find such relationship between God and God's people, beginning with Abraham.  In Genesis 12:3, God tells Abram (later Abraham) to leave his home and his kin and travel to another country to establish God's people.  God says to Abram, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  In what is called the Prayer Behind the Ambon (Pulpit), said in every Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, we pray, following God's words to Abram, "O Lord, Who blesses those who bless You and sanctifies those who put their trust in You, save Your people and bless Your inheritance."  In this mutual respectful relationship of honor, we learn what it is to receive a gift and to live its promises for us, even to honor the Giver as we are cherished in turn by God.  Let us remember the bread of heaven who is sent to give life to the world.

 

 

 

 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

 

Christ Pantocrator ("Almighty"), 6th century, St. Catherine's Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt

 

 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  

 

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  

 

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  

 

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  

 

"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  

 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

- John 3:1–21 

 

On Saturday we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. 

 

 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  My study Bible notes here that Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God, but his faith was still weak, as he was afraid of his peers.  So, he came to Jesus by night.  However, after this conversation his faith will grow to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51), and in the end he will make the bold public expression of faith (together with another member of the ruling Council, St. Joseph of Arimathea) of preparing and entombing the Lord's body (John 19:39-42).  My study Bible also tells us that according to some early sources, Nicodemus was baptized by St. Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to flee Jerusalem. 

 

 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  In the Greek of the Gospel, the word "again" in the expression born again can also mean "from above."  Both meanings are essential (as often happens in the Gospels), as it is a reference to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13).  My study Bible comments that this heavenly birth is baptism and our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).  This new birth is only the beginning of our spiritual life, and its goal is the entrance into the kingdom of God.   In Nicodemus' response, we see that he misunderstands, and asks how a second physical birth is possible.  This is a frequent occurrence in St. John's Gospel, my study Bible points out, and Christ uses such opportunities in order to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning (see John 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  

 

 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."   Jesus refers here to Christian baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit given at chrismation (born of water and the Spirit).  That which is born of the Spirit describes a spiritual birth by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit; this is adoption as a child of God.  The wind blows where it wishes is a play on words in the Greek.  The word πνευμα/pneuma means both wind and Spirit.  My study Bible comments that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  In the same manner, the Spirit moves where He wills and He cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas. 

 

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"   My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to human beings.  These are earthly in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creatures, not that they are "unspiritual."  But the heavenly things referred to here involve those ungraspable mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father; they relate to Christ's eternal existence before all time, and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world.  A person first must understand the ways in which God works among humankind before one can even begin to understand those things that pertain to God Himself. 

 

 "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  My study Bible explains that Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).  It says that this miracle-working image prefigured Christ being lifted up on the Cross.  As believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  It says that just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself. 

 

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  In this frequently quoted verse, we're shown the reason why the Son must be "lifted up"; that is, crucified.  Here Jesus declares God's great love which is not only for Israel but for the world.  This single verse, my study Bible says, expresses the whole of the message of St. John's Gospel, and even of salvation history. 

 

 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  My study Bible notes here that while Christ came to save and not to condemn, human beings have free will.  So, therefore, we can reject this gift, and to become condemned by our own rejection.  

 

If we take a look at a specific words in today's reading, we may explore ideas that give us hidden glimmers of meaning.   We perhaps attain another kind of insight from Jesus' words.  Jesus explains, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  The root of the word translated as "condemned" is κρίνω/krino.  This word can mean condemned, but its more common meaning is to "judge."   It's the same word used in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Matthew 7:1-2).  So, perhaps one important meaning we can also take from Christ's words in today's reading is that the one who rejects Christ is in fact rejecting Christ's judgment (and guidance) in favor of his or her own instead.  This can work in so many ways; how often do we judge ourselves more harshly than the merciful Christ would?  Or perhaps the reverse is true, we excuse our own actions when in fact we should be finding and making the changes that Christ would ask of us.  In either case, it's the judgment of Christ that is rejected, and so a person is in fact judged by his or her own judgment, rejecting God.  It's an important aspect of meaning in this word to consider, for when we reject Christ's judgment, then whose in fact are we preferring?  And how does that judgment we make in so doing reflect upon us?  In fact, it is a rejection of the reality of existence, and of creation, for we create our own fantasy otherwise.  Whether too harsh or too comfortable, we miss the mark and we fail to come to Christ.  This is another sense in which we might "love darkness rather than light," for without Christ our understanding is darkened, partial, ignorant of the truth He would offer.  In all things, we are directed to Him.   Such a teaching is contained as well in the image of Christ being raised on the Cross, and its similarity to the bronze serpent on a stick raised by Moses in order to heal the Israelites from the poison of the serpents that bit their ankles.  So long as they kept their eyes on that raised sign, they were saved from the poison.  It is, in some sense, similar to the story of St. Peter walking on the water, requesting of Jesus that he be able to walk to Him.  So long as St. Peter stayed focused on Jesus, he was able to do so, but when he looked away at the wind, he became afraid and started to sink.  Jesus said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" See Matthew 14:22-33.  So our faith in Christ is a matter of focus and attention, but that includes following ("Follow Me"), acting in accordance with that faith.  This means for us that we seek Christ's judgment (for this is discernment) in all that we do; we seek His guidance.   In that oft-quoted verse from today's reading, Jesus teaches, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  But we don't often examine what it really means to believe, to have faith.  Both "belief" and "faith" in the Gospels are translated from the same word.  It more closely means to trust.  To believe, then, in this famous quotation of John 3:16, is not simply to agree with an idea, and nor is it an intellectual calculation.  It means to live in accordance with what Christ teaches, to follow Him, to live by His code and become part of His body, His family by adoption.  In the common understanding of the ancient world, to be a part of a nation, a group, an "ethnos" in the language of the Bible, was to follow a common code; it was not about heredity in the modern sense in which we understand DNA and lineage in this sense.  If we put all of these concepts together into one body of teaching, we come to understand a bigger picture of what belief actually is.  It is following Him. our full attention on Him at all times, His light and teachings and commands guiding us -- and moreover it means to put our trust in Him to the extent that we trust in His judgment before our own.  Perhaps Jesus Himself sets the greatest example to us all when He teaches, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).  For so we are to trust in Him.  So much so, that we live a new birth in the Spirit so we may be adopted as children and grow to be more like Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day

 

 "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

 

- John 6:27-40 

 

On Saturday we read that, when evening came following Christ's feeding of the five thousand, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water of the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

 

  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  We remember that these people have sought to make Christ king by force, because of the miraculous food He gave them (see this reading).  So, He is speaking now in response to them and the things they seek Him for.  Note how Christ frames faith as the work of God, for faith includes not simply belief but faithful living, following the One whom God sent.  But yet again, the people respond with a demand for a sign, a work such as producing bread from heaven (see Exodus 16).  

 

 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."   Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  As has been remarked upon several times during our reading of John's Gospel, Jesus once again turns from "earthly" words and meanings to elevate them to spiritual meanings, to the meaning of His ministry and gifts to the world.  Here, the people must turn their minds from earthly bread, to the manna given during Moses' time, to Christ as the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  

 

 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  My study Bible explains Christ's teaching, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  It notes that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills -- one divine and one human.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, it explains, which was held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), it was proclaimed that the two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."

 

 Christ's closeness to the Father has already been repeatedly emphasized in St. John's Gospel.  In John 1:14, we read, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  Christ's glory is beheld by human beings, as He is the Word in the flesh, inseparable from His identity as only begotten of the Father.  In John 5:30, Jesus teaches, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  At the Last Supper, Jesus will teach, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works" (see John 14:8-10).  Fidelity in the words and actions of Christ is linked to both faith and obedience.  In this sense of faith that Christ teaches, we observe that to work the work of God through belief is to live in accordance with that belief, as He does in this collaboration with the Father.  Even the words He speaks to the disciples and to us are those given Him by the Father.  In our reading for today, Christ teaches that He has come into the world -- as the bread of heaven -- not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him.  As human beings, we may wonder how it is possible to be so closely identified and allied with another being, and yet not lose our own distinct identity.  But this is the nature of the divine, and it is also the relationship to which Christ invites us, the participation in the life of Christ we may also enter, especially through the "bread" He will give us.  This is the very nature of the divine, and in Him it is mingled inextricably with His humanity, precisely so that we human beings may also share in and participate in this life.  Baptism gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit which dwells in us; divinity itself may also lead us through our faith, and thus through our own works and life, as we are able to accept that "grace and truth" given to us.  In this sense, Christ enters into our world as one of us ("in the flesh") so that we might become like Him in all the senses made possible for human beings.  Thus we are capable of receiving grace and truth to the extent that we are able, and as our human wills may embrace that faith.  This is the way Christ models faith and fidelity for us, so that we learn and are made capable of "working the works of God" as faith is taught to us in today's reading.  This is more than an intellectual process, but one that works through grace, as even the faith we're given relies also on God's work in us.  St. Paul writes, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).  And the foundation of all that Christ teaches is love; that is, the love of Father and Son, and that love extended to us.  For here is the first thing He then teaches about the Father's will:  "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day."   That we will not be lost to God, but forever found and kept and raised to life.  Let us enter into His love and live our faith that we're given.  As we will come to read, the "bread of heaven" invites us into that life of participation and belonging, the cup of salvation.

 

 

 

 

I am the bread of life

 

 "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  

 

"But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." 

 

- John 6:27–40

 

 The events of yesterday's reading took place after Jesus fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, and He retreated to the mountain alone upon finding that these men wanted to take Him by force and make Him king.  When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks --- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

 

  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."   Today's reading begins with Jesus' final words from yesterday's reading (above).  What does it mean to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life?  The people ask, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  And Jesus answers.  Faith, the work of faith in Jesus, is the work of God.  What does this mean?  Perhaps we should think more precisely of what it means to be faithful.  

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."   As we read these words, let us keep in mind that these are the same men Jesus fed in the wilderness from the few fish and barley loaves (see Monday's reading).  So these words they quote from Scripture ("as it is written") are fulfilled in Him.  They attribute this miraculous sign of the bread from heaven as a work done by Moses, and -- in a refrain heard over and over again in John's Gospel -- they demand a sign from Jesus so that they may see it and believe.    Here Jesus begins to expound on the true salvific nature of His mission and His life as Incarnate Son.  He is the bread of life; He is the bread of God who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  

 

 "But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  Jesus speaks of "My own will."   My study Bible comments that, since Christ has two natures, He has two wills -- the divine will and a human will.  The Sixth Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), proclaims these two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  

The people know who Moses is, and they can believe in him because "it is written."  They assume that the miraculous feeding in the wilderness of the Exodus was a sign that came through him, perhaps as an effective agent.  But the comparison they're making is between Moses and Jesus.  The manna in the desert, they reckon, came from God because of Moses.  Regardless of the fact that Jesus has also provided a miraculous feeding in the wilderness, they demand a sign before they can do what He tells them is the "work of God."  They insist they can't believe in Him without a sign.  Jesus has told them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  It's worth breaking down this verb, to believe, in the Greek of the Gospel.  This verb is πιστεύω/pistevo ("I believe"), deriving from the word πιστης/pistis, meaning "trust."   So to believe, to have faith, is to trust.  Jesus is asking for trust, for their trust and for our trust.  This is not merely an intellectual acquiescence or agreement to a set of truths or beliefs.  This is about trust in a person, in a particular Person; that is, in Jesus Christ.  He Himself is the true bread from heaven, the bread of God is who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.   Questions of authority, of trust, and demanding a sign as proof before belief, will continue to plague Jesus throughout the Gospel.  Such questions began right away, after Jesus' cleansing of the temple, which in John's Gospel takes place very early in His ministry (see John 2:13-22).  These questions will continue throughout the Gospel, regardless of the seven signs He performs.  It will be because of the extraordinary nature of the final sign before Christ's Resurrection, that of raising Lazarus from the dead, that the religious authorities will unequivocally decide they must put Jesus to death.  But perhaps today's emphasis on demanding yet another sign in order to be convinced to put their trust in Him forms the basis for the best discussion in our own present moment, and the culture of the modern world.  For proofs take on a certain meaning in a modern context:  we want something to be proven to us before we can believe in it.  This comes partly from a popular mindset regarding what science does, and a mistaken assumption that we will be based in truth if we put our faith only in what has been proven.  Science works on hypothesis, a constant series of testing assumptions and positing theories, not absolute certainties.  These people who have just been miraculously fed in the wilderness, and can't seem to see the truth of it (although they wanted to make Jesus king because of it), demand signs before they will trust in Him, before they will believe.  But the signs are never enough, and belief (or faith or trust) has to come from somewhere else, from another place within us.  Because of this frame of mind, it really doesn't seem to matter what Jesus does.  Although He is united in will and action with the Father, they don't believe, they will not give their trust.  Faith is based on a different kind of knowing, a different perception.  The assertion of doubt is always possible where there is no desire to recognize the truth in front of oneself, especially spiritual truth.  This is perhaps the perfect example for our time, when every truth or assumption of history can now be turned upside down and questioned because it doesn't suit our own fancy or wishful desire.  Proofs may continually be demanded by those who want to refuse faith, but perhaps we should ask what keeps people from seeing instead.  For what Christ offers ultimately is love, and the refusal of that love is at the heart of the repeated demand for proof.

 

 

 

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

 

 Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  

 

Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

- John 8:21–32 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, and it is the final year of His earthly life.  The religious leaders have tried and failed to have Him arrested, and He teaches the people and disputes in the temple with the religious leaders.  Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.  I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."  Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?"  Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.  

 

  Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.   My study Bible comments here that going away refers to Christ's death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  

Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.   My study Bible says that lift up has the double meaning of being nailed to the Cross and also Christ being exalted by the Father upon the completion of His work.  

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."  Here my study Bible concludes that Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples.  That is, "learners" as the Greek word is directly translated.  To abide in His word is the responsibility of all faithful believers, not simply of the clergy or an elite class of zealots.  

 

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  My study Bible says that the truth refers both to the virtue of truth, and even more importantly, to Christ Himself (John 14:6).  To be free is a reference to the freedom from darkness, confusion, and lies, as well as the freedom from the bondage of sin and death.  

Today's reading almost begs us to ask the question, "What is truth?"  It is a precise question which will be asked by Pilate at Christ's trial before him (John 18:38).  It's a question that many theologians, philosophers, and others have asked since the Gospels were written, and likely before even in pre-Christian societies such as the ancient Greek and Roman.  It's a modern question, too, with all kinds of answers from psychologists and philosophers to scientists and scholars of language and so many other focuses.  And it remains a question intensely scrutinized today.  There is a famous film by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, titled "Rashomon," which focuses very much on this question.  It's the story of a violent incident, as told in three different perspectives by the characters who participated in the original act, each with their own version of what exactly happened.  Today, as battles rage around the world, the question also plagues us, especially when we ask -- if we do -- how peace is possible.  But in this conflagration of worldly problems, let us go back to Christ and His answer.  Why does He say to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  First of all, we know that the term "the Jews" is most often used in John's Gospel to denote the religious leaders.  As Jesus is disputing and teaching in the temple in Jerusalem, this seems quite possible that it refers to those among the leadership who believe in the words of Christ.   So, if this assumption is correct, Christ is directly addressing those who will be conflicted in their loyalties to the chief priests and Pharisees who by now seek to have Him arrested and plot to kill Him.  What He is telling them is to take confidence in His word, and His teaching.  For to abide in His word is to come to know the truth.  That is, the truth of who He is, the truth of what He teaches, the truth of what we find in communion with God.  He explains the integrity of His word this way:  ". . . He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him. . . I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  This is the spiritual reality of the Kingdom, the salvation which Christ seeks to open for each one of us, and for His own community as Savior.  The truth that makes free, then, is the truth from this communion that sets us apart from all else so that we have one highest and deepest and most profound priority, and that comes from the grace of God which works through faith.  This truth will set Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both members of the Sanhedrin, free enough to participate in Christ's burial, and to follow Him after the Resurrection.  It will set free the centurion who will preside over His Crucifixion, and who will come to know that He is truly the Son of God (Matthew 27:54).  It will free one of the soldiers with Him, whom we know in the Church as St. Longinus, who pierced Christ's side with a spear (John 19:38).  It will set free the feared persecutor of the Church, Saul, the one who was "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord," to become the great apostle we know as St. Paul (Acts 9).  St. Paul will write of Christ's word in which we are to abide, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).  Jesus Himself will say of His word and His truth, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. . . . He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:34-39).  To find and abide in Christ's word, then, is to find something to take root in at the deepest sense of ourselves; it is to find a truth that sets us free from every other tie, settling our lives into a loyalty and love that gives us a depth within which to ground ourselves, a plumb line to His truth which marks out for us where we belong and don't belong.  Christ's word and truth give us something we can trust in, a light for ourselves and which we can share with others, so that we all might find our way through a confusing world, and one in which truth is deliberately obscured for all kinds of reasons.  Let us find the depth of what we need, in Him. 

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent

 

 "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God he Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

 

- John 6:27-40 

 

On Saturday we read that, after Christ fed the five thousand in the wilderness, when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, or His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

 

 "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endues to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God he Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."   Jesus says, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  My study Bible comments here that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills:  the divine will and a human will.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which was held in Constantinople in AD 680-681, it was proclaimed that these two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another.  Instead, my study Bible quotes the Council, "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  

In today's reading, we once again see at work a common motif in John's Gospel:  misunderstandings of Christ's words that lead to deeper explanations of the mystical reality He brings into the world.  The people first respond to Christ's command to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life.  They ask Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  It's always very intriguing to understand that Christ speaks of faith itself as the work of God.   In today's lectionary reading is also included a passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, in which St. Paul speaks of faith.  He writes, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  As another way to understand St. Paul's language and meaning, it's suggested that we may read this as saying that faith is the realization of things hoped for, the confidence of things not seen.  This sense of faith emphasizes our capacity to live our faith, to act upon it and live in accordance with it.  When it comes to the words of Jesus, then, we understand the trust, hope, and confidence He asks us to put into Him, the way He will lead us to live. This is "the work of God" Christ advocates to us.  But the people, who have just been miraculously fed by Him (see Friday's reading), respond by asking Him for proofs before they will believe in Him, and they bring up the manna given as Moses led the Israelites.   Jesus again takes this language, and turns it into the spiritual meaning He brings with Him, saying that the true bread from heaven comes from the Father, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."   When the people, still not understanding, ask to be given this bread always, Jesus responds clearly:  "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."   But faith, as St. Paul's words teach us, is about perception, the capacity for eyes that see and ears that hear that which is hoped for, and and take confidence in what is not seen.  These people see Christ, even His works, and yet do not perceive, do not believe.  But it is Christ who responds with His own declaration of faith, in displaying His faithfulness in doing God's will.  With confidence, He replies, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  In so doing, He responds to the unbelievers, who demand (more) proofs from Him, by setting for us the ultimate example of faithful living, and declaring His absolute confidence in the Father.  So much so, that there is a unity of will in Him, so that even His human will is subject to the divine.   Christ's confidence is clearly in the Father, as He expresses here, for although these people do not believe, the Father will give Jesus others.  And in the Father Jesus puts His full trust.  In this vein, He assures all that of everything He is given by the Father, He will lose nothing -- and that everyone who similarly places trust and faith in Him will be raised up at the last day.  So, taking together the words of the Sixth Ecumenical Council quoted by my study Bible, the words of St. Paul, and the words of Christ, we ask ourselves, what is the substance of our faith?  What does that look like in our lives?  In particular, what kind of shape does that "work" take in our lives?  If we place our confidence and trust in Christ, if faith feeds and substantiates our convictions, then how does that build our choices and movement in life?  Both Christ and St. Paul speak of faith as something substantial within us, tangible, a kind of measurement of how we respond to Christ which in turn creates a similar unity of will within us.  Let us think about what it means if faith is more than belief, when it is instead a building block of hope and evidence of what is not seen.  

Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe

 

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 

- John 4:43–54 

 

 Yesterday we read that, while Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.  In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

 

  Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  The region of Galilee is Jesus' own country.  This powerful statement, that a prophet has no honor in his own country, appears in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24).  There were Galileans present at Jerusalem during the first Passover given in John's Gospel which Jesus has attended during His public ministry (John 2:13-25), during which Jesus performed many signs.  My study Bible comments that while the Galileans received Christ, having seen His signs, St. John Chrysostom gives greater credit to the Samaritans (about whom we've read in our past two readings) for accepting Christ based on words alone without the accompanying signs (see John 20:29).  

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  Again, the emphasis here is on belief or faith that comes only through seeing signs and wonders.  The "you" here is plural both times, so this is an admonition by Jesus to the people in general, not just to the nobleman.  My study Bible comments that faith based on miraculous works alone is insufficient for salvation -- this kind of incomplete faith quickly turns to scorn if the miracles cease (John 19:15).  For the sign of turning water to wine at the wedding at Cana (the first sign given in the Gospel), see this reading.

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  My study Bible comments that the nobleman's concern is clearly for his child, although his faith in Christ is weak.  It says that he does not understand that Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance, nor does he grasp that Jesus would have the power to heal even if the child were to die.  Finally, he inquires about the timing of the healing, as he still does not completely trust Christ's authority.  It is only after the healing was confirmed that he and his whole household believed.  Therefore, my study Bible says, in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not just the body of the child, but also the soul of the nobleman.

 

 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.  In today's reading we're given the second of seven signs in John's Gospel.  Christ has already revealed (to the disciples) that He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (John 1:45-48).  Here He demonstrates that He can heal from a distance, which shows that His divine power has no earthly limits.  My study Bible also comments that while there are certain similarities between this sign and the miracle recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, there are also many crucial differences, and that these are clearly two different encounters.

 

 It's interesting to observe that the first two signs or miracles in John's Gospel involve a kind of knowing on Jesus' part that is not part of the capacity for human beings.  He "knew" about wine in the waterpots, somehow having the capacity to turn this pure water into wine.  He "knew" about the boy and how to heal from a distance.  Jesus displays both omniscience and omnipotence:  a universal awareness and a power that seemingly has no limits.  He can turn what is lacking into fullness (water into the best wine at the wedding); He can transform what ails into wholeness (the healing of the nobleman's son).  In both of these signs or miracles, Jesus restores to rightful completeness that which threatens to diminish human life -- running out of the important element of wine at the wedding; the nobleman and his household are threatened with the loss of this important life of his son.  We might remark upon the fact that when we pray, it is so frequently in response to what seems to be lacking in our lives, or what is threatened to be taken from us, the things that make for our sense of wholeness, completeness, fullness.  But we can read Christ's disparaging of a faith that relies solely on signs, and think about what it is we pray for, and how we determine what that is.  In a modern age with robust modern economies there are choices and "must haves" that no one in Christ's time could possibly have imagined for themselves.  We have a proliferation of choices to make and things to consume -- and also demand to keep up with -- that has never before occurred in history.  In the cases of the two miracles or signs so far in John's Gospel, the things we read about are considered to be necessary:  wine was a traditional symbol and accompanying to union or covenant (such as in a marriage); and we can consider for ourselves the significance of this nobleman's son and his importance to the household.  But in a modern world we might find ourselves praying for things we don't always truly need, as demand is so often generated through market forces, advertising, and other pressures to which we (and especially our children as well) are vulnerable.  In the modern context, faith becomes all the more important, if only so that we can discern what is truly needful and good for us, and what is truly important for our wholeness, and what we lack that harms human life.  For we might imagine that we need all kinds of things; we might find we worship all kinds of things, like the social status that some goods would confer, or the image of ourselves in the eyes of others whose values or care for us may be questionable in the first place.  We might be putting our faith in things that are improper for us, and so sometimes when those prayers go unanswered, the loss of what we hoped to gain puts us in a better place to reconsider our values, and what it is we are "worshiping" with our requests.  Even though the loss of the nobleman's son would be a deep loss and tragedy, Christ still pauses to make a general comment about the people's reliance upon signs and wonders for faith.  But what if our faith and its object in the first place was the only guarantor of true richness and value?  If we place our faith in Christ to begin with, would that not help us to know what it is we really need in life, what restores and blesses human life, and what deep needs we might be lacking, such as love and beauty and truth?  We place emphasis on faith in the first place -- and the correct object of that faith -- so that we know what we need and what we pray for, so that our own thinking is in the right place to begin with.  It's too easy to rely on lies about what we need, or what would make our lives "perfect" -- and to overlook the things that are of the essence for restoration of family, relationship, a sense of balance and peace.  So, for today, let us consider what we pray for and what we think we need.  Most of all, let us open up to the need for faith in the first place -- and faith that is based in the right place, focused on the right object, the Person of Christ.  For this basic trust makes all the difference in what it is we think we need, the things we believe will make our lives whole and good.  Do we need love?  Do we need to live with a sense of love, of compassion, of kindness?  Is our wholeness based on acquiring this for ourselves as part of the blessings and gifts of the Holy Spirit -- the greatest gift of all?  Let us consider how essential to us is our faith, and Whom we trust with that faith to begin with. 

 

 

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

 

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.    And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

 

- Mark 9:14–29 

 

Yesterday we read that, after six days following Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.   Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."   

 

  And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Let us remember that Jesus has just come down from the high mountain to which He had taken Peter, James, and John, and where they experienced the Transfiguration (see yesterday's reading, above).  Jesus' first impulse is to intervene on behalf of His disciples, who are being questioned by the scribes in some sort of dispute which has drawn a crowd.  Jesus intervenes by asking the scribes directly, "What are you discussing with them?"

 

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.    And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."  There seem to be several things going on in this reading, and several elements we should notice.  First of all, Christ has just returned from the Mount of Transfiguration.  So when He encounters the man and the crowd, He remains some ways away -- thus they brought him [the man's son] to Him.  Again, as in so many recent readings, the real substance of today's passage is about faith.  Jesus stays somewhat separate from the crowd for this reason, we may assume, as has been a pattern established in other readings.  This is a way of shoring up the faith of those seeking healing, and protecting it.  Note that Christ's command rebuking the spirit to "come out of him and enter him no more!" comes just as the people came running together.  But the substance of the story is all about faith.  When Jesus says, ""O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?" He is essentially rebuking this father for blaming the disciples, when, according to my study Bible, it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  But, in effect, Jesus also teaches the disciples to build up their faith as well, through prayer and fasting.  In effect, my study Bible notes, Jesus defends His disciples in front of the multitudes but later rebukes them privately, "teaching us that we ought first to correct people in private" (see Matthew 18:15-17). 

 

 It's interesting to think about faith in the context of Jesus' teaching to the disciples.  Jesus has indicated many times the central importance of faith, and particularly so in the context of various healings.  See, for example, the experience of Jairus and his family in this reading.  In today's passage, it is noteworthy that Jesus gives instructions to the disciples regarding building up their own faith, when He teaches them that "this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."  It would seem from this important teaching that we are to understand that faith is something like a muscle:  we can strengthen it by exercising it.  We can help to make it grow by exercising it.  Clearly these practices, "prayer and fasting," have always been important tools for the practice and shoring up of faith, for the living of our faith, for exercising our faith.  Let us consider, then, in what powerful ways we can work when we are willing to use the historic disciplines and expressions of faith we find in the Church.  It seems that we might strengthen our faith most importantly through this kind of discipline, and calling upon God.  Prayer is a way of affirming the relationship that we have with God.  Fasting is a form of showing discipline in remembering God, and enforcing our capacity for choice, especially to say "no" to what doesn't help our faith.  We might intentionally fast from certain foods for a season or a day, and for a particular purpose, but the effort of fasting is to help us to say "no" to what harms faith, like committing certain sins and abstaining from practices that harm us spiritually.  In a recent reading, Jesus taught something about the real nature of fasting, when He said, "Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."   The historical Christian practice of fasting really has to do with abstention from the things Christ says "defile a man," and that asks us for a discipline of faith, an exercise of our faith.  We need our faith to be strengthened in order to meet the challenges of life, and to secure ourselves in a good place -- that spiritual house built on a rock Jesus spoke of when He taught, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock" (see Matthew 7:24-27).  In the sense of exercising our faith, it would seem that simply "hearing these words of Mine" and doing them is another way to exercise our faith, and thereby make it stronger.  For we should remember that He also told us in John's Gospel, "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).   Therefore, in keeping His word, we keep close to us both spirit and life, also abiding in us to help our faith.  It would seem that, going by this Gospel and our recent string of readings, magnifying our faith, making it stronger, is the best thing we can do.  It is what He repeatedly asks of the people in the Gospel, and by inference what He asks of us.  For we should all be thinking like this father, when He tells Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  As we move toward the beginning of Lent, let us keep in mind that it is a traditional time of deepening our faith, and the practices that help our "unbelief."