Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  

 

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 

 

- Matthew 8:18-27 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." 

 

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  My study Bible comments that, since the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it is an expression of both His humanity and His divinity.  Here it's a reference to Jesus' human condition; in Matthew 25:31-33 it describes His divine authority.

 

 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  My study Bible says that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but rather teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as our highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.  

 

 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  Similarly to His healing miracles, Christ's mastery over creation on display here is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  Jesus issues commands to the sea and the waves; my study Bible comments that such can only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 66:5-6, 107:29).  It further notes that Jesus was asleep because, as a human being, He needed rest.  In His Incarnation we see that Jesus assumed all the natural actions of human flesh, of which sleep is one.  This image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study Bible concludes that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of this storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.  

 

Who can this be, indeed?  This is the question we are supposed to ask (see Matthew 16:15).   In yesterday's reading and commentary, we discussed the question of authority.  Christ has no earthly sign of authority in the sense that He is not a well-known rabbi, not a Levitical priest, not a member of the Sanhedrin or ruling Council.  He comes from a humble background (the carpenter's son), from a seemingly small and not noteworthy town (Can anything good come out of Nazareth?).  So authority on worldly terms is not something Jesus commands.  And yet, He speaks with authority and astonishes people in so doing (Matthew 7:28-29).  We might call it, from a human perspective, a surprising paradox.  One without authority speaks with authority (even as Judge), heals with authority, and here commands even the wind and the sea.  He acts with authority.  Yesterday we read about the centurion, a clear image of worldly authority, yet who has greater faith than any Christ had found in Israel.  In that reading (see above), it was Jesus' turn to marvel.  And yet, in today's reading, He speaks about the cost of discipleship.  He says, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  He even speaks of leaving family behind -- even family obligations -- when necessary to do so for the Kingdom.  "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead" is a command He gives indicating the first priority of the spiritual life; perhaps indicating this is particularly true if what is left behind is spiritually dead.  But all of this indicates putting the spiritual life first, as first priority, as my study Bible says.  It is this perspective that we need on our worldly lives, and for making our choices in our lives.  Let's note that almost everything Jesus does calls for courage.  This is not only true for Jesus but also for His disciples, those who follow Him.  The story of crossing the stormy Sea of Galilee teaches us this quite vividly.  This is not to say that faithful Christians should take unnecessary risks or avoid thoughtful planning in what they do.  But it does teach us than when our faith calls us to something, then that becomes first priority, and faith must carry us through even the risks we encounter.  Most of all, we call upon Christ in prayer, even when God feels to us to be "sleeping."  Our faith rests upon that guidance, and in the case described in today's reading, it is Jesus who is leading these seasoned fishermen across the sea, even though they fear for their lives.  Perhaps our faith journey will take us through many difficult passages of life, in which we fear loss to ourselves in one way or another.  Jesus Himself has no home; this is something human beings universally have need of and fear to lose.  The man who must leave family obligations behind to follow Jesus will fear the loss of family connections, also a universal need in human beings.  But this "natural" fear of human life in these cases runs contrary to where the spiritual life is calling, and so faith must be the resounding answer, and the risk taken in faith.  Jesus' crossing the Sea of Galilee speaks clearly to this point, when Jesus asks the disciples, ""Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" We are reminded once more in today's reading that authority is practiced appropriately when it is reflective of the qualities of the authority we find in Christ; and above all we know that God is love, God heals on all levels (for this also includes salvation and redemption), and God leads us to become more like God -- to reflect our true nature.  That is, God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).  As we will see in the following reading, this journey across the tempestuous sea is for a reason, heading toward a particular and spectacular healing, and spiritual battle.  Let us follow Him in faith in our own lives.  We will always be challenged by the perspective of the worldly and authoritative without Christ; our faith is to live His priorities first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

 

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 

 

- Luke 9:51-62 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened on the day after the Transfiguration, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Let us note in the context of this story that Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the essential importance of humility to the concept of greatness.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus responded to the disciples' dispute among themselves about which of them would be greatest, presumably in Christ's kingdom which they may believe is both imminent and also a worldly kingdom.  He aimed to correct their thinking regarding what greatness is, bringing a child to His side and teaching them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great" (see above).  Then when John told him they forbade another who was not of their group, but was casting out demons in Christ's name, Jesus taught them, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."  So this rebuke to John and James follows those teachings on humility, and adds another dimension to their understanding:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."   It is yet another distinction of discipleship in Christ's kingdom, for "greatness" on worldly terms meant being like Caesar or other ruthless rulers, all-powerful, and vanquishing those who do not submit.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  My study Bible comments on this passage that there is a cost to discipleship.  When this man declares, "I will follow You wherever You go," Jesus reminds him of three aspects of His own life that a disciples needs to understand in terms of following Him.  First, my study Bible says, a disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security -- if the Lord has nowhere to lay His head, neither will the disciples.  Second, there is nothing, not even the honor due to parents, that can be an obstacle to serving the Lord.  Finally, a disciple cannot delay in accomplishing the good that Christ demands.

 

 We should note, as has been indicated above, how each new teaching on the road toward Jerusalem is preparing the disciples for the type of kingdom they will be serving, what manner of discipleship they are learning, and the basic understanding of greatness that turns a worldly understanding upside down.  For the early Christians, the world was a place in which greatness was measured by strength and power.  The greatness of a Caesar was a boast of how many he had conquered or killed.  Julius Caesar wrote a book on the Gallic Wars (waged between 58 and 50 BC), in which he bragged that under himself as general over a million Gauls were killed.  This was propaganda meant to prop up his image, and indeed his resulting reputation helped him to win a civil war and declare himself dictator (in addition to gaining him much wealth).  This was the sort of thing thought of as "greatness" in the world into which Jesus was born, and in which the disciples now walk toward Jerusalem and Christ's Passion.  So, if the disciples expect Jesus to come into His kingdom when He arrives in Jerusalem, and if their expectations are that of a worldly kingdom, we can imagine the training they are undergoing for the things that are to come.  As pointed out above, from the time that He overheard their dispute as to who will be greatest in this kingdom, He has been teaching them about service and humility, about receiving even a little child in His name as if it is He Himself they receive.  He has taught them not to forbid others working in His name even if they do not follow with their group.  In today's reading, Christ is rejected by a Samaritan village as He begins the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, and we can see the question posed by John and James Zebedee, the Sons of Thunder,  "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  (1 Kings 18:20-40).  We might say that it sounds also as if they would like to experience the capacities of their own power that Christ has shared with them.  But Christ rebukes them, teaching them restraint and humility and the nature of His Kingdom and its mission:  "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."    They will need to correct their own understanding of greatness and of power, and of what it is that makes Christ's Kingdom great.  Let us not forget the transformation that takes place in the disciples which we can follow through the Scriptures, for John will become the Evangelist who gives us the Gospel and the Epistles which, more than any others, will emphasize the nature of God and the Kingdom as love (see, for example, 1 John 4:8).  James will become the first of the Twelve to be martyred (Acts 12:2).  Finally, we're given a number of things that are of importance with regard to traditional family structures:  a stable home, duties to parents and family, the expressions of affection or familial ties.  All of these are things most of us understand as good.  But note that what Christ teaches here is that loyalty first comes to God and however we are called to serve the ultimate Source of all good (James 1:17).  This is not to say that all of these ties of affection, family, and stable structure are false or bad -- but it is a powerful teaching that there may be times when we have to put those things second to the ways in which we are called, even when we are powerfully tested in our love for family and community.  Often it seems that we confuse sentimentality with the call of love:  there are times when the responsibilities of love are in conflict with our sentiment and nostalgic feelings of comfort.  We might be called to make hard choices -- such as the ones on display in the Gospel -- to learn to discern where love's powerful call to personal growth and spiritual fruit is calling us to struggle, to put our "hand to the plow" and go forward into what we don't yet know but where God's love is calling.  It has always been a part of many spiritual struggles to seek such discernment amid conflicting loyalties, in the Gospels and in the lives of the saints.   There is a deeper truth that calls to the place in us where God wants to bring us forward to the fullness of identity, the flowering of the potentials our Creator sees, that which brings the hundredfold harvest to the world.   It is a love that reaches down more deeply than all the other loves we know.  Just like tending and nurturing a garden, this is the call we need to know for the beauty of the world, and the new things we're asked to cultivate when we put our hand to the plow.

 

 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

- Luke 9:51-62

On Saturday we read that it happened on the next day (after the Transfiguration), when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great." Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.   The time has come for Jesus to be received up; that is to be received into heaven -- the time has come for His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  Jesus has steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem:  His Person is now totally identified with what is to happen at Jerusalem, His entrance as Messiah and the Passion to come.  It is Jerusalem where the Messiah will be received, and make His departure.  This Samaritan village refuses to receive Him, most likely, according to many commentaries, precisely because He is going to Jerusalem.  Many note the traditional conflict between Jews and Samaritans about the proper location of the temple (see the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4:1-23, especially her question to him in verse 19).

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Second to Peter, the characters of James and John Zebedee are pretty clearly marked out in the Gospels.  It is John who has just told Jesus that they forbade another from casting out demons in His name (see Saturday's reading, above).  We know that Jesus has given His own name to these brothers, Boanerges, meaning "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17).  John, who will go on to teach us that God is love in His first Epistle (1 John 4:8), will clearly learn this lesson of discipleship.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."   My study bible comments that there is a cost to discipleship.   Here, Jesus reveals three of them.  First, a disciple relinquishes personal or earthly security.  At this point, Christ has nowhere to lay His head, nowhere He can call His "home" (and keep in mind He is on His way to Jerusalem, where He will be rejected).   If this is true for Him, it is also true for the disciple.  Second, there is nothing that can be an obstacle to serving God, not even (as in the example here) the honor due to parents.  Finally, no disciple can delay in accomplishing the good that has been asked by Christ.

Discipleship is a long road, which is meant to pull on each and every thing we have and are, and teach us what to do with it, how to change, what to discard, and how our lives can serve God even in the details.  We note above the characters of James and John Zebedee, and the name that Jesus gave to them, "Sons of Thunder."  Their characters seem fiery, quick to answer and flash a response or command, as they are revealed through the Gospels (particularly that of John, whom we also know that Jesus loved; see John 13:23-25).  John is so beloved a friend and disciple that he's the one to whom Jesus entrusted the care of His mother (John 19:26-27).  Through the fiery, whiplash-quick temper, Jesus sees and knows a man capable of great love and thereby knowledge of God, who would go on to give us so much in the form of the Scripture that we have.  But what of John's capacity for anger?  Jesus rebukes him by saying, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."   In the lives of the desert saints, the men and women who went to the deserts of Sinai to be the first Christian monastics, we have a strong tradition of what is called in Greek "apatheia," which sounds like the English word "apathy."  But it doesn't have the same meaning.  It means to be dispassionate, not to be ruled or controlled by our passions.  And this is an important and essential part of discipleship.  We must be able to put Christ first, before our anger, or disappointment, or envy, or desires of all kinds.  We must be able to do this to serve God.  And so, apparently, do John and James Zebedee, as we learn from Jesus' correction.  In a book I've previously mentioned in a recent reading (In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers), the author, John Chryssavgis, mentions one "way" of dispassion of the desert monastics, and that is to see each passion as a kind of wound.   It is meant for us to understand that it is our Creator who has endowed us with our passions, but they are meant for particular kinds of uses in our lives, in order to serve the highest good, to be true disciples.  When our passions run away with us and dominate us, our lives are not in order -- they can work to separate us from God.  But under discipleship, our passions may take on beneficial roles meant to serve God.  Anger, which can be used in ways that are harsh and outside the role Christ has for us -- precisely as witnessed in today's Gospel reading in Jesus' rebuke, can instead serve Creator, as when Jesus is grieved at the sight of an injustice or callousness or hypocrisy of the religious leadership.  See, for example, Jesus grieving at the hardness of heart of the Pharisees who would deny someone the healing of a withered hand in Mark 3:1-6.  In this point of view, we understand that our creation is basically "good" -- as it must be by creation of God.  But that we need to understand who we are within a depth of return to love of God, in communion with Christ.   Our own impulses and emotions, and all of our passions and desires, are given over to Christ in discipleship, and we change and are transformed through that discipleship.  This is the image of Transfiguration for all of us, as our true identity may be revealed through the work of our Creator within us (indeed, even the Trinity is at work within us).  What we seek in discipleship is precisely this kind of depth of change from within.  It is not something we call upon with our own desired image of ourselves in mind; that is not Christ's purview.  But we submit ourselves to the "manner of spirit we are of," and we learn within that discipleship.  Witness the examples given above of the people who delay to follow Him when commanded.  None of the impulses that the would-be disciples have are "bad" -- one must consider that he will have no home, another must not go first even to bury his father, and yet another must not even return to say good-bye.  These are not nominally bad things, but they are hindrances to the necessary discipleship for the followers Christ asks for; and discipleship comes through putting the Lord first, and learning what the Lord would ask of us in the moment of choice.  This is our road, how our own passions become transformed, transfigured, put to better use, and serve a world that is hungry for the love of God.  Where are you on that road?  Have you put your hand to the plow?  Are you ready to follow Him?   Christ Himself becomes "home" -- and where He is, there we follow.  And do we not all want our homes to reflect His love?