Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

Christ the Good Shepherd, mosaic, c. 425.  Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

- Matthew 23:13-26

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples in the temple at Jerusalem, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."   My study bible tells us that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who don't love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  Therefore, it says, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).   Here Jesus begins an eightfold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees.  As my study bible lists these charges, Jesus accuses them of inverting God's values and being mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and blindly self-righteous.  Let us note that each of these charges are punctuated by accusations of hypocrisy, and each of these acts constitute part of that hypocrisy.  My study bible adds that while these charges are directed by Jesus to the leadership of His time, every word applies equally to those in the Church who behave this way.  This would be true of our own time, or of any other time.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study bible (which is The Orthodox Study Bible) calls these warnings especially important to Orthodox Christians.  Indeed, they apply to all normal practices of faith in every denomination.   Specifically for the Orthodox, the Church has maintained the ancient practices of tithing (These you ought to have done), sacred vessels, holy rites (verse 27, which will be part of tomorrow's reading), and following the patristic tradition handed down from the earliest Church.  These practices, and indeed the practices in each denomination, in the words of my study bible, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart, and lead to condemnation.  Regarding Jesus' words that they strain out a gnat and swallow a camel, this refers to the practice of the Pharisees to attach strainers to the mouths of decanters, in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance.  To cleanse the inside of the cup and dish is once again turning our attention to the inner life of the heart and soul,  doing the work of seeking true self-knowledge and taking decisive action necessary to correct abusive behavior (18:8-9), away from hypocrisy.

Jesus condemns the leadership in their hypocrisy, and in the practices used that express that hypocrisy.  If we take a closer look at it, we see that Jesus' grand summary really begins with the overall accusation:  they "shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."  In other words, their own practices hinder the members of their flock, the ones in their care, from finding God.  Let us take a look at  today and we'll find  that practices in our own time can have the same effect.  When people are harmed or abused within the Church, what does this do to the individual believer -- especially if that believer is helpless or powerless like a child -- but to seriously harm and put obstacles in the way of their own path to God?  Abuse within His Church is something that Christ addressed early on with the disciples, in chapter 18, soon after the disciples are told about Jesus' forthcoming journey to Jerusalem, and they begin to ask Him who will be the greatest in the kingdom that they imagine will be imminent.  His first act is to prepare them for real leadership by speaking on no uncertain terms about their jobs and responsibilities as those who will presume to any kind of "greatness" in His Church.  His first word is humility, and setting down in front of them the example of a little child as requirement for entering the Kingdom.  But His second warning is the starkest one:  "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!"  In other words, the highest job of a religious leader is the care of the souls of all the little ones, and that those souls reach toward God, each one having that precious weight in the sight of God.  Let us consider, then, Jesus' words regarding the leadership.  He specifically names the practices in which they engage and how they are so harmful.  They cover up their harmful greed with long prayers.  They seek out proselytes only to corrupt them even more than they are corrupt themselves.  They fail to recognize the power of God beyond the structures, gifts, and wealth of the temple.  They will tithe even herbs, but neglect the very substances of God's righteousness:  justice and mercy and faith.   They make such ritual of fastidiousness, and yet they overlook gross and overwhelming affronts to God's desire for clean hearts.  They will care so much about ritual purity, but extortion and self-indulgence lie within, and until that is cleaned, nothing of what remains matters.  In some sense, the last verse in today's reading is a re-statement of another teaching of Jesus, that "not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth" . . . for "those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" and "these are the things which defile" (see Matthew 15:1-20).   We might pay all the attention we can to the externals, put on all the right show to others and make conspicuous actions of faith or purity, but for Christ there is just one real test that matters, and that is the effort to know our hearts and work the real work of faith, to seek to follow the will of God.  In this way, He tells us, we will be family (see 12:49-50).  So in Jesus' words and teachings, we take yet another important step toward understanding real leadership.  It's not simply that we must do our best to lead all toward God, but moreover the way to take on that responsibility is to do our best to live the righteousness He teaches.  That absolutely includes the effort to be aware of and change or discard from ourselves anything that stands in the way doing so.   In this we will not only be good examples, but we will also help others to retain their own faith, and particularly seek -- in the humility required to be really honest with ourselves and before God -- to treat the littlest and meekest with proper care for their own essential journey toward God.  Here, finally, is the true image of the fullness of a human being, what it means to assume the capacities and choices we're given.  It is the requirement for leadership, but also, leadership exists on all levels.  There will be those little ones who suffer from abuse, even in the  Church, even in our families, and our institutions of all kinds, even when we have faith that all of these building blocks of our social fabric are nominally "good."  Let us be the ones who can help to lead all toward God, especially those who are most vulnerable to straying, and even in the times when leadership lets us down.  Like Christ, we are called to the truth He teaches, even in times when we are required to have courage to do so.  In yesterday's reading, we posted an icon of Christ the Good Shepherd.   Here in today's reading we are reminded of the fullness of His care for each of these, and that many are called, but few chosen.

I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.' "  But not even then did their testimony agree.  And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.

- Mark 14:53-65

On Saturday we read that immediately, while Jesus was still speaking to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they forsook Him and fled.  Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.' "  But not even then did their testimony agree.  The Gospels collectively give us a picture of things gone awry, the behavior of the leaders antithetical to the norms then established for justice.  This is a night trial, not appropriate according to the law, and held in the home of the high priest.  We also read of the many who bear false witness that are gathered against Him -- obviously deliberately brought for this purpose.   But their testimony does not agree nor make sense, owing to their misunderstanding of His words (see John 2:18-22).  These circumstances, together with the Roman soldiers and others brought together to seize Him in Gethsemane (see Saturday's reading, above), uniformly describe what would have then been considered unseemly low behavior and conditions, conforming to no standard.

 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Jesus uses the words "I am" to reply to the high priest.  In Greek it is ego eimi, and it is the divine Name of God (Exodus 3:14).  My study bible says that its use indicates a theophany, a revelation of God.   The use of this Name by a human being was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16; see John 8:58).   Because Christ is fully human and fully God, His use of the Name is not blasphemy; rather He is revealing His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  My study bible notes that it is only in Mark that we find such a direct answer by Jesus.  To sit at the right hand of the Power means to share authority with the Father.  By his response, we know that it is clearly understood by the high priest to be a claim of equality by God.

Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.  Again, the Gospel gives us the picture of abusive, unjust, and corrupt treatment.

The picture of injustice in the Gospels is clear.  The men who try Jesus do so with the collaboration of the Romans, bringing mercenaries to seize Jesus.  Christ is given a trial that does not conform to standards of the Mosaic Law (and apparently neither does the particular behavior of the high priest; see Leviticus 21:10).  What we are given is a picture of men given over to frustration and rage at Christ, so that they violate the Law they are meant to uphold by their positions of responsibility.  So troublesome is His criticism and the fact that He has many followers among the people that He must simply be stopped, crushed.  He has challenged the authority of those in power on too many occasions.  But overall it is important that we understand themes of human injustice and corruption.  Christ has preached throughout His ministry about judging with good or righteous judgment (John 7:24).  He preached that we should love our enemies, even to "bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (see Matthew 5:43-48).  The Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount describe the aspects that make our inner condition blessed; they are all attributes of peace as part and parcel of righteousness.  They describe a way to live and to be in this world that creates right relatedness.  They constitute the pathway to live a life that honors what He calls the two greatest commandments in the Law, and He describes as containing all the Law and the Prophets:  to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as oneself  (Matthew 22:36-40).   Issues of true justice -- that is, righteousness and the fullness of peace as integrity of heart, are pertinent to Christianity, to what it means to be followers of Christ.  All of these teachings that Jesus gives us to remind us that real injustice begins in the heart teach us about a fullness of justice that comes from the depths of who we are.  Jesus says, when challenged by the Pharisees because His disciples do not practice a ceremonial hand-washing, that it is not what goes into the mouth that defile a person.  Rather, it is "those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matthew 15:18-19).  He teaches us that issues that are driven from covetousness begin in the heart, such as adultery (Matthew 5:28).  Murder also begins in the heart with unchecked rage that wants to destroy others, embodied in the language that demeans the entirety of a person  (Matthew 5:21-22).  Jesus tells His disciples that He has not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them, and that "unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20).  So essential are matters of true depth of justice and righteousness that Jesus gives us, in fact, a way that describes how to fully live such a life.  It is a recipe that begins with the heart, and leaved no part of us unchanged.  We read here in today's reading of the tremendous injustice done to Christ; everything we read about was a violation of standards already established -- particularly under the Mosaic Law for the Jews.   The leaders fail to uphold their duties and are given instead to corruption, jealousy of position.  They do not act in a way that is strange to the world, but rather in a way all too common; they give us the ills of the human race.  St. John writes in his First Epistle:  "For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world" (1 John 2:16).  Above all, Christ gives us a recipe for true righteousness (that is, the fullness of justice) even when times are bad, things to awry, and all around us is lost to rage, lust, greed, the drive for power, and the passions that demolish justice.  Most importantly, He does not merely give us Law, but also a Helper, a Comforter -- and where One is, there is the fullness of God the Trinity.  It is with the help of grace that we are given the tools not simply to avoid suffering or injustice, but rather to transfigure it.  We are taught to carry our cross, with Him, and to participate in His life, even through crucifixion but to Resurrection, as we shall see.   For with God, all things are possible.  All too often, we hear cries for justice, but without His teaching about where it starts and how it starts -- and without the responsibility for the righteous life He asks us to live.  Let us recall whose disciples we are.  Jesus tells the high priest, "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."   It is a reminder that this is a promise for all of us.

You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased

 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." 

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

- Luke 3:15-22

In yesterday's reading, we were given the introduction of Luke, and then started upon the third chapter:   Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. * * * Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." 

Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."   My study bible explains here that fire in this context has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This is given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).   It moreover declares the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8).  We note that this fire, seemingly with cross-purposes, is one.  It is the same Power and the same Spirit that both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless. 

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.  Herod had divorced his own wife, and then married his brother Philip's wife Herodias, while Philip was still living.  This John the Baptist says is against the Mosaic law.  We note that the text says Herod was also rebuked by John for all the evils which Herod had done.  The crowning evil is to shut John up in prison.

 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."  My study bible notes that Jesus does not need baptism.  But in being baptized, Christ accomplishes several things:  He affirms John's ministry; He is revealed by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, God's beloved Son; He identifies with His people by descending into the waters with them; HE prefigures His won death, giving baptism its ultimate meaning; He enters the waters, sanctifying the water itself; He fulfills the many "types" which are given in the Old Testament, such as when Moses led the people from bondage through the Red Sea (Exodus 14) and when the ark of the covenant was carried into the Jordan so that the people could enter the Promised Land (Joshua 3; 4); and finally, Christ opens heaven to a world that is separated from God through sin.  In the Eastern Church, this Baptism is celebrated on January 6th, and it is commonly known as Epiphany, or Theophany, which means "God revealed."  The Son is revealed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father.  Therefore this is the greatest and clearest manifestation of God as Trinity in the history of human beings.  My study bible adds that the words which are spoken by the Father apply to everyone who is baptized and lives faithful, as sonship is bestowed by adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  The Holy Spirit appearing as dove is not a type of incarnation, but is rather a visible sign for the people.  It is furthermore a fulfillment of the type prefigured at the Flood.  Theophylact comments, "Just as a dove announced to Noah that God's wrath had ceased, so too the Holy Spirit announces here that Christ has reconciled us to God by sweeping sin away in the flood waters of baptism."

In the commentary on Christ's Baptism, we can read how the Church has historically viewed the life of Christ.  His life and ministry reflect moments already known in Jewish spiritual history, given to us in the Scriptures of the Old Testament.  The New is therefore a reflection and fulfillment of the Old.  In other words, the God who spoke to the Hebrews and guided the people is manifest in Christ.  Indeed, Christ is called Lord as He is the Lord of the Old Testament.  John's Gospel reveals this to us when Jesus makes the statement, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (see John 8:58).   The Lord is the commonly used term for the name God reveals to Moses when God declares God's name to be "I AM" (Exodus 3:14).  But the Baptism gives us more understanding of this God.  It gives us God the Trinity:  Christ is revealed as Son via the voice of the Father declaring Him so, and the Holy Spirit appears as a dove, also giving us a sense of God speaking to us or giving messages, just as the dove was a sign of the end of the Flood (Genesis 8:6-12).  It is an announcement of God's reconciliation with human beings.  It is important that we understand this historical way in which the Bible has been read from the earliest times of the Church.  Indeed, the New Testament did not exist at the time the Church was born, but is a "Book of the Church."  It was compiled by the Church, its books selected as canonical, and taking on the form in which we know it in the late 4th century.  The Gospels were written in the 1st century.  Therefore what we understand in the development of the Church is that the Scriptures which the earliest faithful had were the Old Testament Scriptures, read in worship services from the beginning.   It is most important that we look at the stories of Christ's life not simply as histories or anthropological, historical sources for information about Jesus, but in the ways that the Church understood them:  God manifest among us, the God of the Scriptures that existed before Christ was born.  These reflections and echoes of events of the Old Testament are called "types".  They teach us that Christ is the fullness of something, the manifestation of prophesy, that which was glimpse and foreshadowed.  He brings us the fullness of truths that had been grasped at, prefigured, understood, and now more fully revealed (see Matthew 13:16-17).  It is in this way that we need to see the Trinity manifest in the Baptism, of the purpose of Christ's ministry in the world as that which will flesh out truths reached for, cloaked in the worship of the temple and awaiting further revelation.   Christ is found in the light of the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the darkness (Exodus 13:21-22) and in the "living water" flowing from the rock struck by Moses (Numbers 20:2-11).  The Scripture gives us the truth of the presence of God and God's reaching toward us.  It opens us to the communion we need, the understanding of God at work in the world reaching to us and seeking a place in our lives and our love.  There is no other way to read Scripture but one which must include all the meanings which may be present for us here.  Let us gather what God has given us in beauty and poetry, reflection and wisdom, because it has all been given from God's love and desire for us.

I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter

 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known.  And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  Others said, "It is Elijah."  And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets."  But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded, he has been raised from the dead!"  For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.  Because John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."  Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him.  And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.  And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."  He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom."  So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?"  And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"  Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."  And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.  Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought.  And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

- Mark 6:13-29

Yesterday, we read that Jesus came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.  And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands?  Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."  Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He marveled because of their unbelief.   Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.  And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on more than two tunics.  Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"  So they went out and preached that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.  Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known.  While Jesus' disciples now are sent out, with power to heal and cast out demons, King Herod comes to hear of Him.  Herod is Herod Antipas, who is the son of Herod the Great (he who commanded the slaughter of innocents in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth).  Herod Antipas is the governor of Galilee, called a king in popular language. 

And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  Others said, "It is Elijah."  And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets."  But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded, he has been raised from the dead!"  For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.  Because John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."  Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him.  And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.    Here we are given a flashback regarding the death of John the Baptist.  My study bible says that "early Christians regarded John the Baptist with utmost esteem.  Here, Mark shows John's fearlessness in telling the truth."  We note Herod's fear of the Baptist, a testimony to John's righteousness, that he was a just and holy man.  My study bible says, "The royally clad Herod was frightened of a man clothed in camel's hair, a servant of God who lived out in the desert."  But even this man who lived material power, raised in a ruthless environment of his father Herod the Great, has a kind of respect or fear of John's holiness, another kind of power.

Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.  And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."  He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom."  So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?"  And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"  Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."  And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.  Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought.  And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.  Here is a contrast of material power and its corruption, a place where any indulgence becomes an occasion for the use of that power -- and its incompatibility with holiness, with the power that is of God, of righteousness.  The corruption of Herodias, upon whom there are no real restrictions in terms of using power to shore up position, runs right through this family, her husband and her daughter.  Herod makes a lavish promise at his birthday, and wife and daughter take advantage.  The king cannot go back on a promise made with an oath and before the guests of the royal court.

The Gospels contrast for us state or material power with the power of holiness, with (in this case) John's righteousness.  John's fearlessness in speaking out has landed him in Herod's prison.  And yet the king has a kind of fascination, a fear of John.  He hears him gladly, we're told.  He protects John, although John is his prisoner, despite the fact that John's in prison for criticizing Herod's marriage to Herodias.  But it's John's righteousness that acts as a kind of power here -- and later on, when Jesus is seized and then sent by Pilate to Herod, we will see the same fascination in the king, who wishes to view Jesus' power for signs or miracles.  What we have is a very extreme contrast between material power and the power of holiness.  Holiness and righteousness seem to come in "packages" of humility:  in poverty, in those, like the apostles in yesterday's reading, who are told to "take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on more than two tunics."  The Apostles are told to stay wherever they are welcomed first, as opposed to kings who will only stay in the grandest lodgings, with the most high ranking individuals.  But Herod's corruption in this story goes in some sense much deeper than the material circumstances we witness, and the material rank and power and wealth that a king possesses.  This story today is about a kind of corruption that extends to the most basic unit of the society, through and in the family, and even into the relationship of mother to daughter.  The corruption of this family is violent and extraordinary, a mother teaching her daughter -- and using her daughter -- for the most bloodthirsty act we can imagine:  the beheading of a captive holy man.  That she would use a beautiful dance for this vicious outcome of a holy man's head on a platter gives us a visible picture of the corruption of an internal life so extreme as to be unforgettable in its violence.  Couched in the revelry of a birthday party, of a father pleased with a stepdaughter, making lavish promises of largess in gifts, what we find is the heart of the violence that plagues the world.  And it's at this depth that we have to think about corruption, because while all of us may not live in a king's palace, nor have a king's retinue or court or wealth or power on hand, all of us possess something of tremendous value, and that is the soul or the inner life.  This is where the Gospel takes us, not to the court of a king or a corrupt queen, but to the place where each of us decides what we love the most, where each of us lives with the choices we make.  And the difference between the real holiness of John and the corruption of this court and this family is just there:  in the heart.  That's where we really choose what we love best, what comes first.  And there, we all stand on equal ground.  Let us remember where our choices begin, and nurture the heart and the soul in ways that honor who we are and what we are capable of being.  Jesus emphasizes over and over again the inner life that makes the outer clean.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.