Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid

 

 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  So He said, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"  And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

 

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick,  and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

 

- Matthew 14:22-36 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that Herod now feared that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.  When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late.  Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."  But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  He said, "Bring them here to Me."  Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass.  And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.  Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. 

 

  Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."   My study Bible points out that only God has dominion over nature.  Therefore, this miracle confirms the divinity of Christ.  It notes that this is the second time Christ permits the disciples to be caught in a storm (see also this reading).  The first time He was with them; here He had left them alone.  In this way, Jesus strengthens their faith that He will always be with them in the midst of the storms of life.  It is I is literally translated "I Am," which is the divine Name of God (John 8:58; Exodus 3:14).  Thus He reminds the fearful disciples that He has absolute and divine authority over their lives.  

 

And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  So He said, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"   My study Bible says that St. Peter's faith allows him to walk on the water.  It asks us to note that St. Peter does not  ask to walk on water per se, but rather to come to Jesus.  That is, his desire is not to perform miracles but to be with Christ.  St. Peter can participate in this divine miracle so long as he keeps his focus on Christ.  As soon as he's distracted he begin to sink.  

 

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  According to my study Bible, the Greek term for doubt here means "wavering" or "hesitation."  In other words a kind of vacillating between one position and another.  The cause of St. Peter's sinking, it says, was not the storm but the doubt; therefore Christ doesn't rebuke the storm, but He rebukes St. Peter.  

 

Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."  This is the first time the disciples confess that Jesus is the Son of God.  Knowing that only God can be worshiped, my study Bible says, they confess Christ's divinity by worshiping Him.  The boat, as in the previous reading in which the disciples encountered a storm, is symbolic of the Church.  

 

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick,  and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.  My study Bible comments that Christ permits miracles through touch to show that His very body is life; contact with His flesh is life-creating (see Matthew 9:20-22).   

 

St. John Chrysostom has an interesting take on the story in today's reading.  He notes that the text first tells us that when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea, they cried out for fear, thinking they saw a ghost.  They were already struggling with the storm, the wind being contrary and the waves shaking the boat.  Christ's appearance, bringing another fear, works in a particular way.  He comments that Jesus "does not hesitate to bring on worse things, even more alarming than those before.  They were troubled here not only by the storm but also by the distance from the land. Note that he did not too easily remove the darkness. He did not come quickly to their rescue. He was training them, as I said, by the continuance of these fears and instructing them to be ready to endure."  Additionally, Jesus did not come to them until the fourth watch of the night (three o'clock in the morning).  According to St. Chrysostom, in this way also "He was instructing them not too hastily to seek for deliverance from their pressing dangers but to bear all challenges courageously.   In any case, just when they looked to be delivered, their fear was again heightened" [by what they presumed was a ghost].  It seems that this mirrors patterns that I, for one, have observed in my life.  Something stressful, frightful, and difficult comes along out of the blue, and as a surprise; cope with the first hurdle and it's not over.  Then there is a second one, another challenge, calling you toward greater courage and greater faith at the same time.  Often there will be yet another to meet in succession.  In fact, in this way, one finds greater and greater strength through reliance upon Christ, upon faith and prayer.  In this case in today's reading, there is first of all the stormy wind, there is the darkness, and then there is the ghost-like appearance of Christ.  All of these compound and add to the fears of the disciples.  But it is Christ who in the end is there, even with them on the water, and Christ to whom St. Peter is drawn -- and when his faith wavers, he begins to sink.  It seems to be an astute assessment by St. Chrysostom of this situation, and one that echoes and measures the challenges we will go through in life, be they frightening, threatening, or all of the above.  But St. Chrysostom has the right idea when he comments that Jesus teaches us to bear all challenges courageously.  Indeed, we look to the examples of the saints who did the same, and in particular, to Christ Himself.  Our faith teaches us strength, and a way to uphold life even in the worst and most exigent of circumstances.  But Christ gives us this strength, and grace works through prayer to help us to find the strength we didn't think we could have.  In the Book of Nehemiah we read, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).  Most indeed, today's full reading, and the assurance of the apostles at Jesus' word, could be summed up in that phrase.  Let us remember this in times when we grieve, when we fear, when we face challenges we're not sure we know how to cope and to deal with.  For He is with us always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who do you say that I am?

 

 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  

 

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."  

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here  who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:18-27 

 

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

 

  And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  so they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."   My study Bible comments that, as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  My study Bible indicates that Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?" is the ultimate question in Scripture and in all theology.  It notes that how this question is answered will define the universe.  Christ (from a Greek word equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah) means "Anointed One."  This declaration by Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God reveals that Jesus is not simply another anointed king of prophet.  He is the long-awaited Savior.   

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised on the third day."    My study Bible tells us that Jesus desires to keep His identity as the Christ hidden in order to avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings.  It's only after His Passion and Resurrection that His identity as Messiah can be understood.  Other factors involved include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, and our Lord's desire to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on miraculous works or signs.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah, emphasizing that Christ is the fulfillment of that Servant of whom Isaiah speaks (see Matthew 12:16-21).  My study Bible comments that this Servant first of all refers to Christ, and by extension to all who follow Him (as expressed in Jesus' words in the following verses).

 

 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and In His Father's, and of the holy angels."  My study Bible asks us to note two things.  First, that each person must take up one's own cross.  The burden in this world, it says, is different for every person, for each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for our own salvation and for the salvation of those around us.  Second, we note that our cross is to be taken up daily.  So, a commitment to follow Christ isn't merely a one-time event.  To follow Christ asks a continuing practice of faith and obedience -- even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world.  

But I tell you truly, there are some standing here  who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."  My study Bible indicates that Christ is here referencing those who will witness the Transfiguration (Matthew 9:28-36).

 

 Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  The disciples give the answers from the crowds:  "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  All of these answers are mistaken, of course.  The crowds don't know who Jesus is, and collectively they can't come up with the answers.  My study Bible remarks upon this that, as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  Perhaps in our modern day and age a similar problem has been magnified and is ever-present with us in the form of social media, the internet, and other popular media such as television, various news media, and film production.  As usual, the crowds so often get it wrong.  Today there are also new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), that aggregate whatever information is available, and make computerized "guesses" to draw new conclusions, often extraordinarily wrong.  A friend is a distinguished academic, well known in his profession.  He told me that using AI in an internet search on his own name has become a strange adventure, as AI will generate all kinds of information that is made up out of whole cloth, in addition to whatever might be true -- even books he's never written, and awards that don't exist.  I'm told that in AI technology circles, this phenomenon is referred to as "hallucinations."  So what passes for the crowds in our modern, connected world is just as unreliable as in the time of Christ.  But what we need to focus on here is not necessarily "the facts" about Jesus reported by the crowds, because -- in whatever age we might choose -- even the facts available to us are not necessarily the reality presented by God.  For God will always surprise us and work outside of the box that is our daily, worldly reality.  God is not limited by what we consider to be worldly.  Christ's miracles and signs point to the presence of a reality beyond ours and not limited by our understanding.  So when we speak of Jesus, or when we today encounter God in the myraid ways that are possible for us (such as through worship, prayer, icons of the Church, saints, and so many other ways in which grace might express itself), we need to hold the door open, so to speak, for things we can't expect, for things we don't know, and facts we can't know which are beyond our grasp and in the mysterious working of grace and the Holy Spirit.  The truth about Jesus, that He is the Christ, is beyond the capacity of the crowds to grasp even as their own expectations of what the Messiah will be are false and skewed by their own desires.  Again, we live in a world in which every desire (and its fulfillment) is magnified and indulged through modern technologies, from the food we consume, to how we dress, to what we interact with online, and to things that are harmful such as certain drugs, and internet pornography.  In the ancient practice of the Church, our desires and passions are things we're taught to regulate, and to learn to master, in order to perceive spiritual reality more clearly, and not to be misled by our own fantasies.  Heresies are things that are defined by that which looks like the truth, and even resembles it, but they're not the truth.  One detail might be missing that skews the whole truth picture (for example, those who would say Christ wasn't really human, or that He wasn't divine).  This is why we turn to tradition to understand, why we practice traditional disciplines like fasting, we keep a guard on our hearts, we take note of how easily we can be misled by our own desires and fantasies.  Let us note here Christ's emphasis on His own suffering, on taking up His Cross, and how His disciples must do the same with their own unique crosses each day.  For our faith is not one based on fantasy or self-indulgence, but on the truth of God, and evading our own traps  and desires to find what Christ wants of us.  Jesus has come as Servant, not conventional or worldly king, to usher in a spiritual Kingdom that lives within us and among us.  In a world filled with crowds and pitfalls that grow ever more powerful, let us remember the tools we're given to stay grounded in spiritual truth, and the revelation of God that defies the world's predictions and expectations.  As my study Bible says, "Who do you say that I am?" remains the most important question we can ask, for the answer defines our universe and the way we live in it.

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

- John 6:60–71 

 

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

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

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

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

You are not far from the kingdom of God

 

 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:   'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him. 

 

- Mark 12:28-34 

 

Currently, we are reading through the events of what is known to us as Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' earthly life.  Yesterday we read that the ruling Council sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him. Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

 

  Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:   'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.  Here Jesus responds to one of the scribes, who seems to be asking his question in earnest.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which is the greatest Jewish confession of faith, called the shema' (which means "hear," the first word of the confession).  But Jesus doesn't stop there.  To complete His answer, He adds Leviticus 19:18.  In this way, as my study Bible notes, Jesus combines what is already present in the Old Testament to create a new understanding:  love of neighbor is an expression of love of God.  

When Jesus answers this scribe (or lawyer) in Matthew's Gospel, He caps off His giving of these commandments with the statement, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40).  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus turns the question back upon the one who asks, in what we might call a Socratic manner, and asks the lawyer what his reading of the law is.  The lawyer then responds with these two commands.  But not content with that, the lawyer asks, "And who is my neighbor?"  To this question, Jesus responds by giving the parable of the Good Samaritan, an illustration of what it is to be a neighbor. (St. Luke's Gospel is the only place where we find the parable of the Good Samaritan; see Luke 10:25-37).  From these slightly varied versions of this story, we get a full feel for where Jesus is headed in His teaching, for what is important here is the fullness of the Law in the sense of the full communication of its aims.  For at the heart of these two commandments put together is a teaching on love, inseparable from the compassion of the Good Samaritan.  "What does it mean to be a neighbor?" or "Who is my neighbor?" become key questions because at the heart of Christ's teachings is the heart of God who longs to be and to create the very center of our community here in the world.  God, who is love, in this sense defines what it is to be a neighbor, or how we know who is a neighbor, and how to be a neighbor.  For in this sense, we cannot truly participate in community without God -- who is love -- at the center of community and indwelling that community through each of us.  The aim of the Law and the Prophets, therefore, is the establishment of true community, and in this way we know our Lord longs to be with us and among us in the center of that community, and teaching love as we learn also to be a neighbor and to participate in community God's way.  It's quite easy to think that we can have this all worked out in our own sense of what love is, or what compassion is.  It's simple to conjecture that we all know how we'd like others to treat us, so we can just figure this all out by ourselves.  But then comes a day when one finds that indulgence of whatever our particular desire is does not actually constitute love, or perhaps we see that for others who are stuck in the throes of addiction, or other self-destructive behaviors.  Comes the day as well when we learn that to say "no" to something is the only way to preserve our own well-being, and perhaps that of the community at large.  Love becomes not the simple four-letter-word we tend to think of it as being.  Love then becomes something complicated, something requiring wisdom, and a wisdom that can come only from the true Source of love who truly knows what is best for us and for community.  Then we get into a far more complicated area indeed, as love ultimately becomes recognized as a mystery, that can only be learned through experience with God who desires to lead us to great union with that mystery, with God who is love.  So let us ponder Christ's answer, for in it is the secret of what we are doing in the world, and the secret of the wisdom and knowledge God would have us learn through lifetimes of struggle to learn and to grow through our own deficiencies and unknowing, and even wrong-knowing.  Let us consider God's love, for in that love God welcomes us to become truly neighbors, among those who can love with all their heart.  For this is what it means to dwell in the Kingdom, and even to see God (Matthew 5:8).

 

 

Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me

 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

- Mark 8:27-9:1

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it that you do not understand?"  Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  It seems to me to be significant that this region is still one of mixed Gentile and Jewish population, with lots of Greek and Roman history and influence.  Let us note also that this scene takes place on the road, for our journey of faith with Christ is also on a road, as Jesus says He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (the word translated as "way" meaning road in Greek; see John 14:6).  My study bible says that "who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question a person can ever face, as this is the question that in effect defines Christianity.  

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  After Peter's confession, Jesus starts to reveal to the disciples the real nature of His messiahship, the mystery of His Passion.  My study bible says that it was expected that the Messiah would reign forever, so the idea that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter and remained scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Peter unwitting speaks for Satan, it says, since the devil does not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save mankind through suffering and death -- and that mission is ongoing in the world.

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."  We should remember that for Jesus' immediate listeners, the cross was a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment.  So the shocking nature of what He has to say should sink down into us, as well as preparing the disciples and all His followers for what is to come.  Through Christ's Passion, the cross becomes a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  My study bible says that we practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  To accept this suffering, it says, is not a punishment, nor an end in itself, but rather it is a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom, and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). 

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."  My study bible says that Christ's question, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?" emphasizes the total foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power, for none of this can redeem a fallen soul, nor benefit someone in the life to come. 

And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."   In the events that follow (verses 2-13), the reference to those who will witness the Transfiguration can be clearly seen in Jesus' words here.  But it equally applies to those in each generation for whom the experience of the presence of God's kingdom is a part of their lives.

In today's reading, Jesus emphasizes sacrifice as part and parcel of the calling to be a Christian.  Taking up one's cross is not advocated, as my study bible says, for the sake of sacrifice alone, in and of itself.  It is a false understanding to assume that any sacrifice in general is nominally "good" -- as we can sacrifice for all the wrong things as well, and convince ourselves that we are somehow virtuous in so doing.  No, this is a sacrifice referenced within a very particular context, and that context is Christ's own Passion which He will undergo, setting the example for all of us.  Christ's sacrifice is for a very particular and important reason, a thread running through everything in His life and ministry.  We read it in John's Gospel:  "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" (John 3:16-17).   And we read it here:  "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  Jesus has a mission, and He gives true form to an understanding of heroism.  Sacrifice is not about patting oneself on the back, or self-aggrandizement, or a virtue in and of itself.  Sacrifice is about the willingness to forgo and forbear for the sake of something grander, bigger, and essentially good for all.  Therefore, the sacrifice Jesus makes comes from love -- not love of false or bad things, not love of power for its own sake, not love of what is bad for others.  But rather, love for what is good for all, and what serves God's loving purposes in the world.  It is for this that we sacrifice.   It is for the sake of life in the terms in which Christ comes to define abundant life.  In Lent we are asked to make sacrifices so that we prepare and hone our skills and abilities for good choices, for forgoing a temporary comfort in order to keep in mind the things that are more important and to focus on those goals for ourselves.  We make choices in order to discipline ourselves for a focus on the Kingdom and the things to which we really need to pay attention.  We focus especially on what love calls us to.  We ask humility so that we may more fully focus on the things that make for active love.  If we look more closely at the things that St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit, we can see how they are linked to the service of love:  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).   Each of these virtues enables us to better serve a Kingdom of active love, and they enforce the understanding of how and why and within what embrace we understand the notion of sacrifice and taking up our cross.    So, for today, let us consider what it means to forego the things of this world in order to more fully develop the things of the Kingdom in this world.  How do we express our love for Christ through an active love of struggle in taking up the cross?  Sometimes everything depends upon our willingness to be at His service, and we will find that when we make this choice, all things are added unto us (Matthew 6:33).  Right now, we are all asked to make sacrifices in order to protect one another from the contagion of virus.  This is yet another way to show love for one another.  Let us consider how we may grow more deeply in our faith, especially at this time, for God gives us opportunities even in times of difficulty.  It is the cross, added to any aspect of life, that magnifies and makes possible new things we hadn't considered, and asks us to come up with ways to live life in His light that reflect that light back into the world.  We do not know how all things may work together for good at this time, but there is one sure way for us to find out.  We might become stronger and better for it.  There is one sure thing that is always worth our sacrifice.

I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it

Saints Peter and Paul with Christ, 1050, Saint Sophia Cathedral, Novgorod

 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

- Matthew 16:13-20

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."   My study bible comments that "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question any person can ever face.  It is, indeed, the very question that defines Christianity.  According to my study bible, Peter's correct answer is one that prevents the Christian faith from being seen as one more philosophical system or path of spirituality, as it names Jesus as the only Son of the living God.  This position, it says, excludes all compromise with other religious systems in terms of its uniqueness, and the being of the Son.  Peter's understanding is not achieved through human reasoning, but rather by divine revelation through faith (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Christ means "Anointed One," and is equivalent to the Hebrew title "Messiah."  My study bible also points out that Christ first draws out erroneous opinions about Himself in this passage.  He does this in order to identify incorrect ideas, as a person is better prepared to avoid false teachings if they are clearly identified.

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."    Jesus offers here a play on words:  in both Aramaic and Greek the words for "rock" and "Peter" are the same, only changed by gender (Greek:  petros/petra).  My study bible suggests that this rock refers not simply to Peter per se, but, as John Chrysostom comments, to "the faith of his confession."   It notes that the true Rock is Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 10:4), and the Church is built on the faithful confession of Christ.  The gates of Hades are the powers of death, according to my study bible.  In the Old Testament, gates suggest a fortified city (Genesis 22:17, 24:60; Isaiah 14:31).  By shattering the gates of Hades, Christ opens the stronghold of death, which sets free the souls of the righteous.  Also, the Church will not be stopped in her proclamation of salvation.  My study bible adds that the term church is mentioned only twice in all the gospels, here and in 18:17.  This Church, it says, is the true Israel and the Body of Christ; her citizenship is heavenly. 

"And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.   My study bible explains that the term keys of the kingdom refers to a special authority given to Peter and to the other apostles after the Resurrection (see 18:18; John 20:23).  Peter was not a leader over the others, my study bible explains, but rather a leader among them.  This truth was confirmed at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) where the apostles and presbyters met as equals, and where Peter advised, but James presided.  The New Testament witness regarding Peter is clear, and nothing in later times of the Church should either aggrandize nor diminish Peter's role.  Binding and loosing refers primarily to the authority "to absolve sins" according to St. John Chrysostom (see John 20:23).  But, according to my study bible, this also includes all the teaching, sacramental, and administrative authority of the apostles.  This authority was in turn transmitted to the bishops of the Church and continues in effect to this day.

It's quite remarkable how the confession of Peter renders a momentous effect in the presence of Christ and the disciples.  As explained by my study bible, these statements of Jesus affect an extraordinary future for the Church, its meanings, and what it will become, and remains in the process of becoming.  Here at once Christ pronounces solemn statements about the power and the authority of the Church, about the extraordinary nature of Peter's confession as revelation from the Father, and moreover about the confession as foundation for the future.  It is almost hard to imagine side-by-side the possible scene of this confession as it occurred, together with the effects that Christ names here.  We might imagine a rather intimate conversation between Christ and His disciples.  But suddenly it is the right time for Jesus to ask them this question:  "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  They offer various answers, but Peter gives the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  How does Peter know this?  How does he come to this conclusion?  Is it simply by the signs they've seen?  We look in yesterday's reading (above), with its misunderstanding by the disciples, and realize that Jesus has just reasoned with them, wondering how they could forget about the extraordinary signs He's done of feeding the multitudes, twice!  First of all, this revelation of the Father is meaningful in that it teaches us God's presence fully with us.  How else is it possible for human beings to receive revelation from the Father?  Peter's mind is illumined through a mysterious communication that can only be a great grace.  This is also a gift of faith, for it is through faith that this revelation is possible.  Therefore, just as Christ as emphasized throughout His ministry that signs are made possible through faith, and not given conversely, in order to create faith, here we have yet another instance of what potential faith can unlock.   This revelation of the identity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is also an example to us that faith is capable of "unlocking" or revealing things through us that we ourselves haven't necessarily a conscious idea about.  Jesus Himself testifies that Peter's revelation of Jesus' identity as Son is that "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  It makes it that much more clear that the power of faith working through us may unlock or reveal possibilities, even for wisdom, that have not been considered in the normal run of day to day life, or even our conscious awareness.  In the potentials Jesus names additionally, namely "the keys to the kingdom" and the power to bind and loose sins, including all the teaching and sacramental authority of the Church, we understand that dynamic strength of potential unlocked or made possible through faith.  Moreover, the power of death ("the gates of Hades") -- that which prevails over flesh and blood in our worldly understanding -- has no power over the potentials which grace can reveal through faith.  Even our prayer, we understand, can work to help those who cannot help themselves, and those who longer dwell in the world.  As such, the prayers of the faithful are always made for both the living and dead.  Jesus' word today, in response to Peter's confession made on behalf of all and for all the faithful, teach us more about the extraordinary power and explosive growth and potential of the Kingdom, as is so well illustrated by all the parables He taught in chapter 13.   The real question remains for our faith as one of ourselves as witnesses to this explosive growth.  We understand and behold the history of our Church, past and present.  But we have yet to see what it will bring into the future.  All that we can do is share this faith, and await what it can do -- with God's grace, and even the work of God the Father within us -- for our own lives and for our world.  Let us remember always that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  The icon above, although quite ancient and therefore a little worse for wear, depicts St. Peter and St. Paul, together with Christ the Lord in between.   St. Peter's hand upholds what in other icons of this type is a depiction of a Church (and seems here to be missing simply from age), while St. Paul holds the Gospel of the living Word, and points to Christ.  The icon gives us a sense of the fullness of the Church, resting upon all of the apostles, and fully within Christ.  Let us consider where its future lies, as it is built upon this rock, but eternal in its character as the Body of Christ.

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life

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

- John 6:60-71

We are currently reading John chapter 6, which began with the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness.   Yesterday we read that those among the religious leadership (or perhaps their followers) quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  My study bible remarks on the fact that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and that many walked with Him no more.  It notes that to this day, there are many who continue to struggle with this teaching regarding eating His Body and drinking His Blood, and so do not walk in His teaching.  So difficult is this mystery -- but to attempt to give a rational definition of its nature or to explain away Christ's words purely as metaphor is incorrect, and not in keeping with the explicit words of the text in the teaching of Christ.  My study bible says that to reject this sacramental teaching is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and also the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we remarked upon the mystical nature of this reality given to us by Christ.  Here, Christ affirms the mystical, spiritual nature of the Eucharist, when He says that the Spirit gives life -- it is how we are to understand the mystical presence in the sacrament, and that He is not speaking of something on purely worldly terms.  And there is a kind of theophany in today's passage, because Christ also links the working of the Father within us to our capacity to grasp the mystery of the Eucharist.

Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  So difficult is the teaching regarding His Body and Blood that Jesus turns to the twelve.   Here is John's version of Peter's confession, and the faith of Peter which assents and affirms Christ's teaching about the life present in His words:  "You have the words of eternal life."  But immediately the note of betrayal is interjected at this point, something we don't like to hear but must accept as part of the reality of this ministry and Christ's work in the world.  Christ doesn't mince words when He says that "one of you is a devil."

Betrayal is a part of life in the world.  Even Jesus remarks explicitly about His own choosing of the twelve, and yet one of them "is a devil."   Wouldn't we truly expect that Christ, who knows all things, would have chosen only loyal disciples?  And yet there is this mystery that somehow links to the mysterious hiddenness of God the Father:  that "no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."   There is something mysterious in us -- in the depths of the place where we connect even to God the Father -- that works in faith, or not.  This depth of connection that we don't see and don't know on clearly conscious terms works in a mysterious way to draw us to Christ, or not.  As we remarked in yesterday's reading and commentary, we "have ears to hear" -- or not.  Christ wishes to draw those with a capacity for mystical engagement, for a kind of love in the heart that responds to God, to the life in His words conferred by the Spirit.  There is an interesting connection in His teaching, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."   All throughout chapter 6, Jesus has been teaching us about the Eucharist, that He is the bread that came down from heaven, and that those who consume His body and blood and abide in Him -- and He in them -- will be raised up with Him to eternal life.  The connection here is the work of the Spirit, and Jesus' words affirming that the Spirit gives life.  In other words, our capacity for the full gift of eternal life with Christ is also linked to our ability to perceive the Spirit and therefore the life in Christ's words.  There is a seamless circle of life in all of these things, a presence of God that is present to those who may grasp it, who "have ears to hear."  John's Gospel, right from the beginning, when Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about the work of the Spirit in chapter 3, gives us the viewpoint of the early Church in its experience of the work of the Spirit among them.  It was the last Gospel to be written, and the theology present gives us the mindset of the Church in the first century.  We experience already the fullness of the theology, particularly of the Eucharist and the presence and work of the Spirit.  Jesus has also made clear several times that it is the Father that draws to Himself what is truly Christ's -- so we have the Trinity at work among us already powerfully present in the understanding of the Church at the time of the writing of the Gospel and its witness.  What we ourselves draw from the Gospel is its realistic depiction of the work of God, and also its rejection by human beings.  The betrayal of Judas -- even one hand-picked by Christ as part of the twelve -- is also something that tells us about depth.  That is, that deep inside of ourselves we are also capable of blindness, deafness, darkness, betrayal and rejection of God.  When we experience betrayal and abandonment in our own lives, a rejection of the good, we must see that we stand in the same place of the Cross that Christ will go to.  Our Gospel is not a fairy tale of a utopian possibility for this world.  It is, rather, quite the opposite:  it offers us a choice.  It speaks of the darkness and of the Light (John 1:1-18), and its protagonist Jesus Christ is the light that shines for us in the darkness.  It gives us the clear picture of our reality:  that God is present with us, and that we may abide in Christ and He in us.  But it also teaches us that we have a choice, and that there are many who will reject that choice -- the life in His words, the Spirit that works among us -- and be blind and deaf to the light and His teachings.  In the early Church, which at the time of John's writing was under the strain of persecution, their experience was one of tribulation -- but faith through it all.  This is what the Gospel offers to us, not a false picture of perfection on worldly terms, but a faith that grapples even with the worst the world can offer us, even the betrayal of those whom we consider brothers or sisters, those to whom we have offered the grace and mercy He teaches.  Let us remember He went first to the Cross so that we take up our own in faith -- and that the Spirit remains with us at work in His words of life, if we have the ears to hear for ourselves.   There are those who claim as well that the devil doesn't exist, but I would beg to differ.  Beware of those who offer utopian abstraction; life is not abstract.   We need to remember that "we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6).  The world is now as it was, but the light is also still with us -- and we yet may abide in Him and He in us, even in the midst of betrayal.

But who do you say that I am?

 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."  Then he said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.   But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

- Luke 9:18-27

On Saturday we read that Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  My study bible says that as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  There is a clear contrast here between those who are disciples and have faith in Jesus, and those who do not and do not know Him.  The question, "Who do you say that I am?" is the ultimate question in Scripture and all theology.  How this question is answered defines the universe, my study bible tells us.  But Scripture (as well as other aspects of the Church, such as its tradition and the ongoing work of God in the world) also defines the answer to this question, and leaves open so much more to be answered.  Christ (Hebrew Messiah) means "Anointed One."  This declaration by Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God reveals that Jesus is not just another anointed king of prophet, but rather the long-awaited Savior.

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."  Given the different ideas of the crowds, as well as the growing awareness of the rulers in power, Jesus desires to keep His identity as the Christ hidden.  This way He will avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings about His mission and His identity.  Only after His Passion and Resurrection can his identity as Messiah be understood, and all must come in light of the full completion of His ministry and saving mission.

 Then he said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels."   My study bible suggests that we note two things.  First, each person must take up his or her own cross.  Every person's burden in this world is different, each to his or her own.  Each person has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  We note also that the cross is to be taken up daily.  Commitment to following Christ isn't a one-time event, it's a full-time reality.  It is the continual practice, says my study bible, of faith and obedience, even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world. 

 “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."    In the verses immediately following, the story of the Transfiguration takes place (9:28-36).   This reference is to those who will witness the Transfiguration among them, as well as those in every generation who experience the presence of God’s Kingdom.

 There is an emphasis in today’s text about the essential need for Jesus’ ministry to evolve in a particular way, and that need has to do with why, from the beginning, the emphasis on right understanding was essential to the Church.  There is nothing missing or haphazard or done mistakenly or by accident in this ministry.  Everything has to unfold in a particular way so that Jesus is revealed to us in a particular way.  At the time, there were so many expectations of what the Messiah would bring, what the Messsiah would do.  But Jesus introduces something so extraordinary that no one could really have predicted what this event would bring.  The Incarnation is the greatest story ever told precisely because of what all the meanings of this Christ, or Messiah, bring to each one of us.  Its impact on the early Church set a course for struggles of meaning and understanding that would be fulfilled in the early Councils of the Church.  Jesus’ question to Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” becomes the most central question of all.  What does it man that God becomes a human being?  The multiplicity and infinitude of meanings and impact on us in this conception of Christ’s identity have the fullness of teaching us who we can be.  As Christ comes into the world to re-unite a separated God and humankind, He himself is God and human.  He makes it possible for us to understand that human beings are made for communion with God.  Not only that, but through Him we know that we are capable of becoming like God.  The true direction of all the practices of the Church is this unification, this road of becoming like Him.  We may manifest the fruits of the Spirit.  We may grow in this likeness.  The whole purpose of a devoted prayer practice is simply this.  And this is the way that you build the Kingdom in the world, for “the kingdom of heaven is within you" (17:21).  Without our understanding of who Christ is, then we wouldn’t have any idea what we’re capable of becoming, nor the great grace and honor that are given to human beings.  His words are simple and true; all we have to do is “Follow Him,” take up our crosses daily, and move into the direction He gives us, learning from Him, for “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).  Everything depends on who we say He is, because how we find the deepest meanings in our own lives come from that understanding.

What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many thins, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." 

- Mark 8:27-9:1

Yesterday, we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation?"  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?  They said to Him, "Twelve."  Also when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"  Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  Here is the central question:  "Who do you say that I am?"  What we believe about Christ will fix our understanding of our relationship to God and to our faith.  My study bible suggests that Jesus draws out other opinions ("Who do men say that I am?") in order to expose and identify incorrect ideas, and false teachings that my arise from them.  To say that "You are the Christ" (Messiah, or Anointed One) is possible only through faith (see 1 Corinthians 12:3).  We note that Peter speaks not just for himself, but for all of the disciples.   The Messianic secret is so huge, and so open to misunderstanding and false expectations, that the disciples are strictly warned that they should tell no one.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many thins, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."   Here is the revelation of the shocking true nature of Jesus' messiahship.  In complete contradistinction to expectations of the time, Jesus gives an account of the Passion to come.  My study bible tells us that it was expected that the Messiah would reign forever.  The idea that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter, and would remain scandalous to the Jews after the Resurrection, as we know from St Paul (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan in the sense that the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission, salvation and liberation of mankind through suffering and death.

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." Jesus does not just present the disciples with the image of Messiah as One who will suffer and die, and rise from the dead.  He also gives them the instruction that they are to "follow Him."  Jesus transformed the cross -- dreaded Roman instrument of death and punishment -- into a symbol of transformation, hope, and Resurrection.  We imitate Christ by also taking up our individual crosses.  For each of us who are faithful, He transforms our own suffering and self-denial for the sake of God and love of the Gospel into that which also transcends and gives hope and resurrection.  These are not punishment, but rather means to overcome a fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom, love of God, a fuller and expanded sense of life itself, and the power of love.  Everything else falls into this context and is changed and redeemed and transformed for each one of us and our own moments of challenge and acceptance.  In these verses, Jesus offers us an extraordinary choice, and demands that we weigh the importance of one side or the other.  Those who will see the kingdom of God present with power are thought to be the disciples who will will witness the Transfiguration (our next reading), as well as those in each generation who experience for themselves the presence of God's Kingdom.

Jesus asks us to weigh our priorities, our options.  "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  Tied to this central question, He speaks of shame.  "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."  What is shame?  Shame is a public form of humiliation, assigned to us by the group, the society.  It's different from guilt, in which one may feel appropriately remorseful for an act one has committed.  There is also inappropriate and morbid guilt, which is frequently connected to feelings of shame we may or may not be aware of.  The kind of shame Jesus tells us to bear is one that is a result of scandal, the same kind of scandal that the Cross is.  There may be times in our lives when we are asked to choose between a kind of social shame for standing up for faith in the gospel of the Kingdom, making a choice, that is not compatible with the views of our "group" or society or social environment.  For this we may become "scandal," and bear shame.  Jesus asks us to weigh the importance when facing such questions and decisions between the precious measure of our own souls, and saving a kind of reputation that may have us "fitting in" but denying where our soul may need to go.  This isn't an easy question, and it's not given in an easy or simple context.  Jesus knows very well how frightening it is, what scandal is and means.  No one will sacrifice more than He, nor His disciples in losing their Master in the flesh.  It's not an easy statement, and it's not given to us as another way of shaming us when we weigh the choices for ourselves.  It is a teaching, something we need to think about, to consider.  Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross enters us into a new world of choices, where shame and scandal may become something to endure for the sake of the Gospel, and for the sake of saving our own souls.  This is a hard paradox, a completely different reality than one can understand by simply following the rules and the social proprieties.  Shame, in Jesus' context, becomes a part of the journey, something we have to weigh on the other side of the shame we may find in the presence of Christ in the "glory of his Father with the holy angels."    The word for shame in the Greek has roots that imply a disgrace for siding with the wrong element, wrongly aligning with something, following a lie.  Let us consider what Jesus is asking of us, the choices He makes and will encourage us to make in following Him.  He asks us to be capable of complicated decisions, He pulls us out of our environments -- even that we may choose what is right when those all around will tell us or treat us as if we are wrong.