What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?

 

 Now Jesus stood before the governor.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you way."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly. 

 

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.   And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  

 

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!"  

 

- Matthew 27:11-23 

 

Yesterday we read that, when morning came, following Christ's trial by night, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.  And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.  Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."  And they said, "What is that to us?  You see to it!"  Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.  But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood."  And they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.  Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter's field, as the LORD directed me."

 

  Now Jesus stood before the governor.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you way."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.  My study Bible remarks that the chief priests hide their real charge against Jesus -- the claim of equality with God -- because this would not be persuasive to the governor, Pontius Pilate, to sentence Jesus to death.  So instead they present a charge of treason:  they claim that Jesus called Himself the King of the Jews.  such a crime would carry the death penalty, as it was a challenge to Roman rule.  

 

 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.   And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  My study Bible comments that Jesus is the true Son of the Father, and yet the name Barabbas means "son of the father."  Ironically, the crowds must choose between one Son of the Father and the other.  By influencing the crowds to choose Barabbas (see verse 20), the chief priests will indicate to which father they belong -- the devil, as Jesus has indicated (John 8:44).

 

 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!"  My study Bible comments that three times Pilate attempts to release Jesus but the religious leaders incite the people to demand that Jesus be put to death (this is made more explicit in St. Luke's Gospel, see Luke 23:13-25).  In the end, my study Bible says, they incite the crowd to release a rebel like themselves.  (Again, see John 8:44.)  

 

My study Bible explicitly notes for us the choices at stake here, and the ways the religious leaders, in seeking the death of Christ in any way they can, repeatedly choose for the cosmic rebel, the devil who rebelled against God.  It repeatedly cites John 8:44, in which Jesus stated this in particular about those leaders.   The Gospels present these choices to us in stark contrast, and reminding us of the spiritual battle that is continuing within our world and integrated into our choices.  It is something that is most frequently hidden from us, many people dismissing it out of hand as significant -- or even real -- and most, one imagines, not considering it at all.  But again, we're reminded that the Gospels don't tell that story at all.  The reality of spiritual life is not presented as separate from our worldly lives, but in actuality a part and parcel of it, seen or unseen as it most often is.  So we are invited to consider whether or not the people in the crowds understand this, understand what they are doing and choosing. Do they understand the significance of their persuasion and following of the religious leaders to kill Jesus, to put Him to death on the Cross?  He is clearly already famous by this time, well-known as a Teacher.  Even Pilate's wife, who is neither Jewish nor a follower of Christ, has a sense that this Man is innocent, that it is unwise to rule against Him.  In the telling of her dream, we also get a sense of the truth of the spiritual reality that exists concurrently with us in what we perceive as a material world.  This story, told so explicitly this way, invites us to consider what may be happening in our own lives at any given time, the choices we are asked to make.  Noticeably, the people inciting the crowd to call for the crucifixion of Jesus are supposed to be religious leaders, leading the people in the appropriate worship of their God.  So, on the surface, appearances defy the truth and present the world with a lie.  We don't know what the perspective of everyone in the crowd was, but, as my study Bible has remarked in another note, "the crowd follows the crowd."  This is another aspect of our own spiritual battles, where there are times when we will have to take issue with the crowd and turn to our prayers and worship for guidance.  Perhaps, indeed, there is nothing more misleading then "the crowd" at significant times in life, and in observable history.  For, as in today's scene described in the Gospel, crowds are easily manipulated, perhaps especially to zealous persecutions.  We live in an age when this can happen more easily in the past through the use of modern media of all kinds.  This tells us that our vigilance is all the more important, our steadfastness in watchfulness and prayer (Matthew 26:41).  At this time in the story of Christ, the disciples are scattered and in hiding.  Let us remember His commands, even at times of great temptation and fear.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 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 

 

Yesterday 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."   My study Bible comments here 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."   Here my study Bible tells us that Who do you say that I am? is the ultimate question in Scripture and in all theology.  This is because how this question is answered will define the universe.  Christ (Hebrew Messiah) means "Anointed One."   This declaration of Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God reveals that Jesus isn't simply another anointed king or prophet.  It distinguishes Jesus as 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."    My study Bible says that Jesus desires to keep His identity as the Christ hidden in order to avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings, which are rife at His time, as they have been at so many others.  It is only after His Passion and Resurrection that His identity as Messiah can be properly understood.  Isaiah prophesies this secrecy (see Isaiah 42:1-4).  Various reasons for secrecy include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders (and in yesterday's reading -- above -- we read of Herod Antipas' desire to see Jesus); the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  

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.  That burden in this world will be different for each person; each has been chosen, my study Bible says, to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  Second, Our cross is to be taken up daily.  That is, commitment to following Christ is not simply a one-time event.  Instead, it is the continual 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 says that this is a reference to those who will witness the Transfiguration (in our next reading, Luke 9:28-36), as well as to those in each generation who experience the presence of God's Kingdom.  

In today's reading, Jesus asks, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  And then He deliberately contrasts that with the answer of His disciples, "But who do you say that I am?"  St. Peter answers on behalf of all of them:  "The Christ of God."   But how does Peter know this?  Do we stop to think about how we have this kind of faith, or this kind of knowing?  There is a type of certainty that goes beyond all of our training in life, our parental upbringing, our being raised in the Church (or not), or what others around us tell us.  Certainly this contrasting set of questions as posed by Jesus teaches us that on some level, and to some extent.  After all, as my study Bible comments, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually misguided, then as now.  So let us explore where Peter's correct answer comes from.  First of all, what we know about Peter is that he is a core person in Christ's "inner circle" of His key disciples.  That is, Peter forms a trio, together with Sts. John and James Zebedee, of Christ's disciples with the strongest faith.  It is this three that goes into the home of Jairus when all else are put outside in order to help facilitate the healing, and raising, of Jairus' daughter (see Tuesday's reading).  Peter and the others were first disciples of John the Baptist, and John directed his disciples to Christ (see John 1:35-42).   Certainly we know that from the time these men left their nets "and forsook all and followed Him" (see Luke 5:1-11), they have been companions of Christ through His ministry, living with Him and learning from Him.  Now they have already been sent out on their first apostolic mission as well (see yesterday's reading, above).  But what is it -- what is that mysterious component within St. Peter -- that gives him the kind of faith that he has to know who Christ is?  Certainly at the time when Christ told the men (Peter, James, and John) to let down their nets for an extraordinary catch of fish, the result was something that spiritually struck St. Peter like a blinding light, a slap in the face, causing him to fall down at Christ's knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8).  We can understand that such a response tells us only one thing:  that St. Peter's perception of Christ as Lord makes a brilliant visceral contrast to the way he sees himself, as one lacking such perfection and holiness.  This, too, is a mark of a holy person who can see this truth, and recognize the difference between the Lord and ourselves on these spiritual terms.  Perhaps the biggest answer to this question of where Peter's faith is rooted comes from another Gospel.  St. Matthew tells the story in Matthew 16:13-28.  In Matthew's Gospel, when St. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus replies 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" (Matthew 16:17).  How does God the Father work through St. Peter to create this revelation of faith?  That is a mystery that one wonders if anyone knows.  But certainly we can say that St. Peter's heart is open to the promptings of God.  We can see throughout the Gospels, that Peter is a man who speaks from the heart, often with very little filter, it seems from what we know of the Gospels.  He is a man who is able to humbly take a stunning rebuke from his Lord, because we also read this in St. Matthew's account of Peter's confession of faith.  When Jesus follows with His prophecy of His own death and Crucifixion, St. Peter sincerely says, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  Jesus' response is to say to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" (Matthew 16:23).  How is it that Peter's faith is such that he can bear such a rebuke from Christ?  Yet his loyalty is unwavering, and he continues to follow as disciple.  Rebuke or no rebuke, he trusts in his Lord, and he trusts who Jesus is.  Perhaps the greatest and surest victory of the Cross comes in our security in God's love, for Peter's steadfast love of Christ will overcome this obstacle of rebuke, and the temptation and shame of denial at the time of Jesus' arrest and trial at the home of the High Priest (Matthew 26:69-75).   Even Peter's bitter tears of failure do not stop him from returning to Christ and the disciples, and from his final challenge from Christ, which is all about love:  asking him three times, "Do you love Me?" the risen Christ charges Peter to feed His sheep, also teaching him by what death he would die, following his Lord (see John 21:15-19).  In St. Peter's faith, we see the story of the struggle that encompasses all the highs and lows of human experience, for love conquers all of it.  It's Christ's love that defeats and encompasses everything else, and Jesus' words of response in Matthew's Gospel are proven true:  "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" (Matthew 16:18).  From the heights and the depths of Peter's journey all that lasts is Christ and the strength of faith that encompasses everything, for love is the key to it all.  In today's reading, Jesus teaches, "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."  It is the bonds of love to Him that allow us to "lose ourselves," allow St. Peter to overcome all of his own stumbling, and remain unyielding in clinging and returning to Christ.  For, like St. Peter, where we find ourselves in losing, He is there for us.

 

 

 

Then He appointed the twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons

 

 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.   Then He appointed the twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  And they went into a house

 

- Mark 3:7-19 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened that Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.  And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."  Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they kept silent.  And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  My study Bible comments that Jesus withdrew both because the Pharisees were planning to destroy Him (although it was not time for Him to die) and also in order to preach in other places.  Let us note also that Mark's Gospel has covered a lot of ground:  by this time people are following Jesus from all over the territory of Israel, not only do people from Galilee follow Him, but those beyond Galilee:  from Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, even beyond the Jordan to the East, and the Gentile areas of Tyre and Sidon as well.   

So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  Great crowds come to see Jesus; there is such a flux of people that a small boat is kept ready in case in their zeal to come to Him they should crush Him.  It is His healing ability that draws the multitude.  And naturally, in such crowds of people, there are also unclean spirits -- they recognize Jesus and know who He is, but His messianic identity must still be kept a secret for many reasons.   He wants those who come to Him out of true faith and not miraculous signs; the religious authorities are by now hostile to Him, and these crowds no doubt are composed of people who expect a political messiah, such as a king who will crush Israel's enemies, throw out the Roman occupiers, and re-establish Israel's fortunes.  

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.   Then He appointed the twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  And they went into a house.  Those whom He Himself wanted are chosen out of the multitude that follows Him.  Note that Jesus has gone up on the mountain to give this special call through which He appointed the twelve.   A mountain is associated with acts of God, a place where God meets humankind, such as when Jesus goes to a mountain alone to pray (Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46).  In Exodus 19:3 we read that "Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain" to give Moses the word and commands he should teach the people.   The twelve are called both disciples and apostles because of their job or function:  disciple comes from the word in Greek that literally means "learner" -- therefore one purpose stated here for their appointment is that they might be with Him in order to learn from Him.   Apostle comes from a word in Greek that means "one sent out" with a message -- hence they are appointed that He might send them out.  Notice that as disciples and apostles they are also in whom Christ shares His own power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.   My study Bible comments that the names of these twelve men are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  In Matthew's Gospel the names are given in pairs (see Matthew 10:1-4), suggesting who may have traveled together, as Mark 6:7 tells us they were sent out two by two.

At this point in Mark's Gospel we read of huge, crushing crowds and "great multitudes" following Jesus, from all over the regions of Israel.  The fact that many come from Jerusalem and its surroundings informs us that surely the religious leadership in the temple have taken notice, and we have already read of open conflict with the Pharisees (Saturday's reading, above).  So, at this point in Christ's ministry, as His fame and following have increased to such an extent, it is reasonable to assume that a kind of climax along the way has been reached:  Jesus is at once extremely popular and sought out, and it is just this popularity that will increase the scrutiny of the religious leaders.   So it's good to ask ourselves, given these circumstances and context at this time in Jesus' ministry, why it is time for Him to appoint these Twelve, known both as disciples and apostles.  Clearly they will live with Him and spend time with Him (that they might be with Him) so that they will learn to be "like Him," prepared for being sent out to preach His gospel message of the Kingdom, to heal, and to cast out demons.  Clearly Jesus is preparing now for the future, after Crucifixion and Resurrection.  He will need new sowers to sew the seeds He has begun to plant and to spread (see Matthew 13:1-23, the parable of the Sower).  It reminds us that at the time when a chapter is closing, it is always up to us to consider what life we live behind, and how we may consider what we contribute into the world.  Even when things look like they are growing and gaining momentum, Jesus knows the opposition and what will be the outcome, and so, going up on the mountain in a gesture we can read as directed by the Father, it is time to appoint those who will be His disciples and apostles, the ones who will go out to the world and establish a Church, and carry His message.  Today, in times of terrible violence, and the possibilities that entails for our world, let us consider how we may carry His gospel message of the Kingdom into the world.  Let us plant the seeds He wants us to sew, and consider what we leave behind in the world -- for every day is the right day to consider this reality, and the questions He would ask of us.

 

 

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

 

Jeweled Cross mosaic, 4th century.  Santa Pudenziana, Rome.  Photo courtesy personal use digital file license, Andre Durand Digital Gallery

 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."   My study bible comments that, as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  This is consistent throughout the Gospels themselves.

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." My study bible tells us that Who do you say that I am? is the ultimate question in Scripture and in all theology.  This is because how this question is answered defines the universe.  Christ (Messiah in Hebrew) means "Anointed One."  This declaration by Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God reveals Jesus to be something set apart from an anointed king or prophet, but rather a statement that 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 be raised the third day."  Jesus' desire to keep His identity as the Christ hidden is in order to avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings.  My study bible says that only after His Passion and Resurrection can His identity as Messiah be understood.  Christ's ministry must evolve and manifest in a particular way and within time.  Among other reasons my study bible cites for secrecy include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, the people's expectation of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and Christ's desire for genuine faith which is not based only on miraculous signs.

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."  My study bible tells us that we must note two things about what Jesus teaches here.  First, that each person must take up one's own cross.   The worldly burden is different for each person, it says, and each person has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  Second, the cross is to be taken up daily.  The commitment to follow Christ isn't just a one-time event.  It asks of us, instead, the continual practice of faith and obedience -- even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world.  Christ's final remark (But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God) is considered to be a reference to those who will witness the Transfiguration (told in the following verses, Luke 9:28-36), as well as to those in each generation who experience the presence of the kingdom of God.

There are so many potential misunderstandings of Christ and His mission that Jesus must seek to address in His ministry.  Throughout the Gospels, we're taught about the people's response to Him, just as in the first verses in today's reading.  His disciples tell Him the thoughts of the crowds as to His identity:  "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  On Saturday (see above), we read that Herod Antipas fears that Jesus is John the Baptist returned from the dead.  While we understand the crowds of Jesus' place and time have all kinds of mistaken ideas about Him, so we also must come to see the huge variety of perceptions about Christ throughout the centuries since His time on earth.  The name of Jesus is known around the world, even in countries where there are very few nominal followers of Christ, and opinions about Jesus most likely vary more widely today than they ever did.  In a world where daily events can frequently remind us that we are not in control of everything, and anxiety over such lack of control a seemingly more and more widespread, we might look to Jesus in His mission as a tremendous model for disregarding what the crowds might have to say about us, or how the world will respond to us.  Think of the dangerous enemies He was making.  A powerful tetrarch like Herod Antipas, who ruled for Rome, and had John the Baptist beheaded on a whim (Mark 6:14-29), could do nearly anything He wished to do to Jesus.   The Jewish leaders are now hostile Him as well, as His fame among the people grows and rumors about Him swirl.  He has no "institutional" authority they respect, and He also defies their criticisms.  As the disciples report to Him all the varied responses of the people as to who Jesus really is, we can can only marvel at Jesus' seeming lack of concern for all the things the people get wrong about Him.  That is, Christ's real focus is on His mission, not on correcting every little thing people get wrong about Him, or "fixing" His public image.  The popular expectations regarding the Messiah alone could fill a lifetime of misunderstanding.  But Jesus' mission is focused on a few essential things.  He wants to find those of true faith, those who are capable of perceiving the things He's preaching about.  In the illustration of the "good ground" of the Parable of the Sower, that means those who, having heard His word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.  His ministry has to unfold in a particular way, and above all, in accordance with the will of the Father.  Jesus always takes time out for prayer, to keep His own ministry on track in the way it is meant to unfold.  He follows the Father who is always with Him, and His concern is with those who are and will be His disciples (see John 17:9-21).   In the times that we find ourselves becoming overburdened, overanxious, and overwhelmed with the things we think we have to keep under our control, we should consider Christ, and His extraordinary coolness in the midst of His earth-shaking mission.  There are those particular things which are essential and important, and the rest He must leave in the hands of the Father, and simply fulfill what He must do.  That is enough.  Perhaps we should all take a powerful clue from Christ as to the power of faith and prayer in this light.  Our lives are not meant to be the be-all and end-all of everything in this world, all the powerful images the world seems to offer to us, nor the thousand-and-one shocks and betrayals that might await.  As the text tells us, Jesus says that we each have our own cross to bear daily, just as He had His own.  And this is our mission in this life, and the rest we must let go, because we cannot control it all.  Our Lord Himself did not do so.  In the midst of pandemic, political crises, and a future we can't necessarily foresee, let us remember Christ.  With the world on His shoulders, and salvation in the balance, He still has His Cross and His mission, as do we.  He tells us, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."  With faith and prayer, let us be like Him, and let the crowds follow the crowds.  For what profit is it if we gain the whole world, and lose ourselves?

 

Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them

"Christ the Healer" mosaic

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

- Matthew 4:18-25

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:  The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  My study bible lets us know that these first disciples -- two sets of brothers -- had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and therefore they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  They are not great scholars of religion nor experts in the Scripture, but they are those faithful who will live the discipleship of Christ.  My study bible calls them "people of the land" who are called by Jesus, and who will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all. 

 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  My study bible remarks upon the fact that the crowds do not swarm Jesus when He commands repentance (verse 17, from yesterday's reading, above), but it is when He begins to heal and work miracles that the crowds come.  It shows that the people misunderstand the real nature of His Kingdom.   It also shows, in the words of Theophan, that Christ gives concession "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the multitudes whose fickle attitude will be a hallmark of the Gospels.  Here Matthew compresses the action of Christ's early ministry into a few verses, so that we understand the broad appeal He effects across the territories of the people of Israel, as His fame spreads everywhere from Galilee.

In the healings that Christ does of the crowds who bring the ill to Him, we see literally great affliction.   The language of the text tells us of oppression (literally, in the Greek word for affliction).  Their torments could could also be translated as "torture."   Their diseases usually would considered to be incurable.  Let us also note the lack of control over their own lives that is implied in the several afflictions listed:  to be demon-possessed speaks for itself.  But also the word translated as epileptic could be literally translated as "lunatic" as it means to be controlled by or under the influence of the moon.  (It was considered that the disease waxed and waned with the moon.)  To be paralyzed is also a kind of involuntary binding and control, an oppressive affliction.  Each of these could be understood as a type of imprisonment, the torment the pain of torture in a prison.  The language speaks to us of a need for liberation, or more specifically, for a liberator -- a redeemer.  It tells us about the action of Christ, which is to set free.  Let us note that it also does so in the context of spiritual battle, as the "demon-possessed" are among those brought to Christ.  It is how we understand Christ's ministry overall and how we understand the work of the "prince of this world," the devil by whom Christ was tempted in this reading, just before He began His public ministry.  There is the power that truly liberates, and then there is the power that oppresses and enslaves and tortures.  Hidden  behind and within all things seems to be this choice, between one and the other.  Of course, even the elements of those things which are brought for Christ to healing have a kind of spectrum in today's reading.  Once Christ's fame spreads, the more serious afflictions are brought to Him for help.  But all of it tells us something about healing and the actions of Christ.  As we understand that the very Incarnation itself is meant to heal, by bringing all the elements of the world and our worldly lives into union with Creator, so we should see in this text Christ's actions in conjunction with that reality.  What He is becomes expressed through His work and action in the world.  He has come to heal and to liberate, to save.  Even His preaching comes under the context of healing and freeing, for as He is the truth (John 14:6), so also He will teach, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).   For every aspect of Christ's being, so His work in the world also reflects that identity.  This is consistent with an important understanding of theology:  that God's mercy (that is, God's work in the world) reflects God's being.  We cannot know God in God's fullness of being.  We are not divine Persons like the Persons of the Holy Trinity.  But we can know God in what are called God's "energies" -- that is, in God's work in the world.  Christ's ministry exemplifies this perfectly.  So it is the same with love as expressed through ourselves and others in the elements of our world.  We can talk about love all we want, but love is more than simply a feeling or emotion.  Love needs expression through action.  Whether that action is prayer or sympathy or particular actions to alleviate suffering or effect healing in other ways, to work at discipleship and to learn to be "pure in heart" is to live from the inside to the outside.  That is, to live a life that reflects a heart that seeks discipleship and to be transformed in that discipleship to be more "like Christ."  If that all seems to complicated, consider this:  what is the purpose of repentance, Christ's first word of ministry?  A repentance is a turn around, a literal "change of mind" in the Greek but which implies a true change of heart and orientation -- and one which is expected to affect how we engage and interact, our actions in the world.  Christ repeatedly emphasizes the heart, and does so, as He says, because it is the heart that creates the action:  "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things" (Matthew 12:35).  This is what Christ's ministry is for, so that we become the disciples who in turn may become more like Him.   This is what it is to be truly healed, redeemed, liberated, saved.   The fickle crowds seek the healing He offers -- but it is discipleship that brings us the freedom He offers.

If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"   The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?" 

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"

- John 7:14-36

On Saturday we read that Jesus practiced His ministry in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  (The lectionary has skipped over chapter 6 for now, and we have begun reading in chapter 7.)  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; other said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him."  We recall that Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day autumn harvest festival, commemorating the time when Israel wandered in the desert of Sinai, led by Moses.  Here my study bible comments that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  Spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize the authority of God over our lives and our existence in the created cosmos.  My study bible quotes St. John Chrysostom, who paraphrases Christ:  "Rid yourselves of wickedness:  the anger, the envy, and the hatred which have arisen in your hearts, without provocation, against Me.  Then you will have no difficulty in realizing that My words are actually those of god.  As it is, these passions darken your understanding and distort sound judgment.  If you remove these passions, you will no longer be afflicted in this way."

"Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"   The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."   Jesus turns here to the themes which repeat themselves throughout His reported ministry in the Gospels.  What is a violation of the Sabbath?  What constitutes an act against the will of God?  As in other instances, He here states a "blameless" violation of the Sabbath, that of circumcision, as given by law of Moses (or as the text says, from the fathers).    He cites not only the purpose of the Law, but the full aim of the will of God:  to heal.  To judge with righteous judgment is to do what He has said in the verses above:  to desire above all to do the will of God.

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  My study bible notes that these crowds are mistaken, in two ways.  That is, in both an earthly sense and a divine sense.  As human being, they are thinking of Jesus as being from Nazareth of Galilee, but this is not the truth.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem (7:42; Luke 2:1-7).  Moreover, they can't understand that Christ has come from the Father in Heaven, and as the divine Son He is eternally begotten before all ages.  Therefore, this divine "origin" also remains unknown to them.   The crowds, as reported by John, reflect the confusion of the people regarding Jesus.  But Christ's emphasis remains on the desire to love and serve God, and the wisdom this confers.

Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"   Christ's hour is the time of His suffering and death.  He is the Lord over time, which is an authority possessed by God alone, as my study bible notes.  Jesus comes to the Cross of His own free will and in His time, and not according to the plots of human beings.  See also 8:20, 10:39.  John repeatedly gives us instances where Christ is the object of murderous intent, but it is not yet His hour.

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."   Christ refers to His death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  It is a confirmation regarding His total foreknowledge and understanding of the culmination of His mission in the world.

Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"  We are reminded yet again that the term the Jews is a political term in John's Gospel, used to denote the leadership.  (As opposed to the people, and the crowd.)   To go among the Greeks is to go among the Gentiles; that is, the Greek-speaking populations of the world, for at this time Greek was the international common language in the way that English is today.  The Dispersion is the Diaspora of the Jews among the Gentile populations.  My study bible says that this is an unwitting prophecy by the leaders (and not the last one; see 11:50), which points to the time after the Ascension, when His name will be preached among the Gentiles by the Apostles. 

The confusion of the crowds speaks volumes.  It tells us about our own places in the world, and how confusing it is to find truth.  Even the leadership are confused as well, and perhaps led even more astray than the crowds are by their own envy and resentment and outrage that Jesus seems to be violating and upstaging their authority.  But Jesus Himself gives us all the key here to understanding Him, His aim, His works, and our own places in the universe.  He gives us one great key to seemingly all things, and in particular to wisdom:  "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."  This is the key not only to doing as He teaches:  "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  But it is also given as the key to His own knowledge, when the leaders ask themselves, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  What Jesus offers us, then, in today's reading, is the key to discernment, to wisdom, and to good judgment.  That is, a sincere desire to do the will of God, to put our own wills second, and to find and to serve God's will.  This is no easy thing.  It's not simply about following rules written down and interpreted for us somewhere, as the passage clearly illustrates since so much evolves here around Jesus healing on a Sabbath.  The real key to seeking to know and do the will of God is in prayer, in dialogue.  And what is that dialogue like?  So much depends upon silence, upon our own capacity for silence and stillness in prayer.  The Psalmist tells us, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).  Christ teaches us about intimate prayer with our Father who sees in secret -- even about the importance of "secretness" (if we may call it that).  "Secret" is another word for mystery in the Greek, we must remind ourselves.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us that when we pray, we are to "go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place" to "your Father who sees in secret" (see Matthew 6:5-6).  Let us consider the practices of monastic prayer designed to take us to this secret place with our Father who sees in secret, such as the Jesus Prayer, and remember that there is in our depth a kind of sacred silence into which we pray.  (Here is a rather thorough article on the practice of the Jesus Prayer, or Prayer of the Heart.)  It is said that God prays in us in silence, with language we're not keen enough to understand as anything but silence.  But this is also a great mystery.  Nevertheless, what remains with us is Christ's great teaching, this great key to all things:  that it is the will to do the will of God that really gets us someplace in life, that gains us the benefit of wisdom and understanding, discernment and good judgment.  This involves great humility, and its cultivation in ourselves, as Jesus says:  "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him."  Let us understand Him.  This is the way of the Cross (see Matthew 16:23-27).  Today is the day on which many branches of the Church commemorate the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary the Mother of God.  How could Mary have heard Gabriel speaking to her?  How could she have given her assent to the will of God?  Let us consider her as the model, even as His mother, for each of us.  Consider her life and what was of most central importance to her, how she remained with Him through all things and even at the Cross.  In humility we listen and accept and seek God's will for our own, even through all the times of our lives. 

The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; other said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

- John 7:1-13

In yesterday's reading, Jesus witnessed about Himself to the religious authorities, and gave other witnesses to His identity:   "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom he sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  The lectionary skips over chapter 6, to which it will return later on in Lent.  In chapter 6, Christ speaks of Himself as the bread of life.  Once again, we remember that the phrase the Jews is used as a political term denoting the religious leaders, and not the people.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Sukkot) is an eight-day harvest festival in autumn.  It commemorates the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, and the people lived in tents, or tabernacles.  It is also the feast of the coming Kingdom.  This Festival was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews (together with Passover and Pentecost.  It included many sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  In later times, my study bible explains, this feast had particular special events on its final, eighth day.  These included drawing water from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, both as purification and in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock struck by Moses (Exodus 17:1-7).  It also included the lighting of the great lamps in the outer court of the temple.  These events should be understood as backdrop for Jesus' teachings at this festival.

His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  The term brothers is used in the Near and Middle East even today to denote extended family.  These brothers are either stepbrothers of Jesus (children of Joseph by an earlier wife prior to his marriage to Mary, the mother of Christ), or they are cousins.  But the Gospel is careful to illustrate the nature of faith in Christ, and the people's response to Him.  Even His brothers -- His own people -- do not believe in Him.  Jesus' words echo His teaching to Nicodemus, but also the references to rejection, light, and darkness throughout the Gospel:   that the world hates Him because He testifies of it that its work are evil.  (See also 1:4-5; 10:11.)

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; other said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.  My study bible explains that not openly means not with a grand, public entrance, as on Palm Sunday (12:12-16).  Again, the Gospel illustrates Jesus' place among the people, in the world, so to speak.  There are those who think well of Him, and others who do not.  But above all, people fear the leadership, and speak only in private about Christ to one another. 

In today's reading, the Gospel illustrates the nature of the crowds.  While we may understand questions of belief as those of individuals, the Gospel makes a clear note of the impact that "the world" has on individual decisions.  The people are eager to speak to one another about Christ, as He is by now a public figure.  The leadership despise Him and wish to put Him to death, for all kinds of reasons.   Out of fear, the people don't speak openly in front of the leaders who have decided to put Christ to death.   John's Gospel is the one that repeatedly speaks of the hearts of people (see, for example, 2:24-25).    Indeed, it is John's Gospel that tells us that Judas criticized the anointing of Christ by a woman (Mary of Bethany) not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief (see 12:1-8).  Darkness and light do not mix; we're told that the light shines in the darkness, but that the darkness does not understand it -- neither can it successfully suppress that light (1:5).  We have already been told of Jesus' saying that a prophet has no honor in his own country, referring to his hometown (4:44).  In today's reading, He speaks to His brothers about "the world" -- the phenomenon of crowds, the effects of fame, and how that is related directly to His truth.  So the Gospel makes it clear that faith, and where we place our faith, is not a simple matter.  Neither is it necessarily easy.  It requires discernment, and we need to separate out our faith in God and in Christ from following the crowds.  There is nowhere in the Gospels where the crowds necessarily have it right.  Frequently, crowds are all-too-easily stirred to an evil consequence through manipulation; for example, at the crucifixion.  There are the crowds who desperately seek Christ (and wish to make Him king) because He's fed them (6:26-27).  The Gospels do not take the point of view that all of this is clear or easy or simple.  Rather they tell us that the key to faith is discernment, a kind of response from the depth of ourselves.  Most essentially, real faith and discernment deeply depend upon an attitude of humility.  When Nathanael asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" and Jesus, meeting him, declares, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit" (see 1:43-51), Christ is praising Nathanael's lack of pretense, his directness, and his willingness to "come and see" for himself.  Most of all, no deceit implies simplicity and humility.  This is a man who is not double-minded, but sincere, one without pretense.  In today's reading, even Jesus' own relations do not believe in Him, and the crowds speak all things about Him, even as they fear the leaders.  It is a time of confusion, and we live in a world that confuses, in which all things can be said about anyone.  This is the nature of the world, as presented in the Gospels.  It is the nature of the darkness to despise the light.  Therefore, our best bet is the simplicity and directness of Nathanael, our own willingness to come and see,  and  perhaps most all, the humility to open our own darkness to the light so that we grow in that light.  This is the path of discernment, and Lent is the time where we focus on what we really need to be clear on that path.  We focus on humility, get down to the essentials, strip away the pretense, and focus on what we need and need to do.   Let us consider all the opinions of the crowds, and where we get when we simply follow them.  Openness to Christ requires of us a different discipline, an unpretentiousness, and a willingness to let the light shine on what we don't really want to see.  It is the gate to repentance, a willingness to change, to reconsider, to change our minds.   This is humility.  It puts God first, before everything else, and lets in that light even when it hurts to do so.

And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God." But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known

 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the same Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 

- Mark 3:7-19a

On Saturday, we read that it happened that Jesus and the disciples went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.  And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"  But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:  how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"  And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.  So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.  And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."  Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they kept silent.  And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.  And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.  So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.  For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."  But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.  The Gospel makes it clear how famous Jesus now is.  Although He is Galilean, and we've read that His ministry so far has been focused within Galilee, people are now coming from everywhere in Jewish territory -- not just Galilee, but also south in Judea and Jerusalem, from east beyond the Jordan, from far north beyond Galilee in Tyre and Sidon.  Everybody comes to Him.  He's so pressed by the crowds He's in danger of being crushed.  All want to touch Him because of the healings He's done; there is a sense of the power that comes from Him.  They have to keep a boat ready in case they need to flee the crowd.  And there are some among these great crowds who know exactly who He is:  the unclean spirits.  They understand His power even more directly than do the people.  But it's not time for this revelation; He commands them to be quiet.  At this point, He's preaching far and wide -- and staying far away from the authorities who plot against Him.

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out demons:  Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the same Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.   "On the mountain" is an important landmark experience in the ministry of Jesus.  This time it is the appointment of the Twelve.  They are called alternatively disciples or apostles:  a disciple is a "learner," an apostle is "one who is sent out."  They are with Him to learn, He will send them out to preach.   As part of their purpose He's given them power to heal sickness and to cast out demons, thus spreading His ministry.  In all the lists of the Twelve, Judas Iscariot is noted as the one who also betrayed Him.

As Jesus' ministry has "exploded" into a kind of wild popularity, we see various elements competing for our attention.  It's not just a one-sided story, so to speak.  The crowds seek Him out to such an extent that He cannot even preach by the sea, away from the cities, without being thronged by the mob -- so much so, that a boat has to be kept ready in case He's in danger of being crushed by the people.  This is due to His healing ministry; so many want to touch Him that they crowd around Him.  At the same time, there are other factors that are seemingly out of His control.  The unclean spirits know who He is, and they openly call Him the Son of God.  The religious authorities have decided He's problematic to Him; they would like to put an end to His ministry and they plot against Him as a result of their confrontations with Him.  An open understanding that He is Messiah would really set things into motion with them, and it's not time for that.  It's not time for His "exodus" -- His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  Jesus' advent into the world isn't a simple mission; it's very complex.  Our world is complex.  There are so many influences in it, so many things can "go wrong."  And this the great thing that we have to recognize, that it's not a simple story; it's a very complex and kind of messy story.  Our freedom guarantees that we have the capacity to make all kinds of choices; even the unclean spirits, who must obey His commands, still are "acting out," so to speak.  There is a kind of chaos involved here, and perhaps chaos characterizes what it is to be "without God" better than anything else.  It's a kind of disorder that we encounter without the principle of Logos to set it straight, to put things in order.  The unclean spirits play havoc with people's health, mental and physical.  The leadership, in their own desire to enforce their own kind of order, see Jesus' healing as something that disrupts their system, their places.  And all the expectations for Messiah in all the people, the envy of the leadership, the nature of worldly power, all make for chaos indeed; all this means it is not time for His identity to be revealed.  But God Incarnate does not simply order and command everything and everyone to be exactly as He wants them to be; He doesn't compel life into order.  Jesus' currency is love; it is faith.  This is the way His ministry works.  He's not here to turn us into slaves, nor to command and impel like an emperor would.  This is a mission of love.  It's an invitation to a wedding feast, and it's up to us how we are going to respond.  This is the world in which we live and in which we find ourselves, a world created by a God who loves us, who offers us freedom, choice, and the capacity to love.  What do we do with it?  How are we "rational sheep," the ones who will choose for Him?  Today Jesus chooses His twelve, and even one of them will betray Him.  Into this very confusing, messy world comes the Savior:  but it's up to us how we respond to Him, learn from Him, and participate in His mission.  Jesus was not born into a perfect world as God Incarnate.   Instead, He offers us a choice while in this world, to be like Him, to share in His mission, to follow Him.   The world remains imperfect, complicated, with betrayals and misunderstandings, envies and rivalries, problems we don't control, inconvenient stumbling blocks, and difficult choices to make -- but through it all, we have Him.  We have everything He's given and all that He offers.  He is the light of the world, the Son of God, the Way.

By what authority are You doing these things?

Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered an said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

- Luke 20:1-8

In Saturday's reading, we read that as Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you dd not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house in a house of prayer, but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  My study bible tells us that the chief priests, scribes and elders are confronting Jesus about these things He's done:  coming into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry as Messiah, cleansing the temple, and also preaching in the temple (see Saturday's reading above).    It's their duty they think they are doing:  the priestly descendants of Levi manage the temple.  My study bible says, "While Christ was descended from Judah (3:33), yet He is the High Priest 'according to the order of Melchizedek' (Psalm 110:4), a priestly line far greater than that of Levi, for His authority is from the Father."

But He answered an said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."    In Saturday's reading, we were told that the leaders of the people sought to destroy Jesus, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.  Their fear of the crowds is very much known and stated here; it's an important factor in all that happens.  But the gospels don't view this as a positive thing; for Christ it is the opinion of God that counts.  Crowds are fickle and can be stirred even to encourage the reprehensible via manipulation. 

For us moderns, it may seem strange that the opinion of the crowd doesn't count for much in the point of view of the books of the Gospel.  We live in a time in which not only is democracy valued very highly, but we click onto the internet and we find instant polls of every kind:  "Click this button to vote no, and this button to vote yes."  It's almost as if we are constantly being asked and monitored to give our opinions on some issue of the day, or even more telling, our own judgment about some person and what we think they did.   Instant celebrity means instant opinion polls, and instant publicity, wanted or unwanted.  Most of the time, the things we "click" instantly to give an opinion have a reason beyond just gauging public opinion or allowing us to voice what we think.  They're meant to give information that helps in terms of advertising; data is collected in order to find what appeals to people and what does not.  It doesn't really matter what our opinions are or whether or not they are correct.  These polls are not scientifically based using statistical methods anyway.  Anybody who can make a "click" or even thousands of clicks in an instant via some sort of manipulation can get their opinion counted.  It all depends on who shows up.  And in the Gospels, it's a similar story.  There are followers of Christ welcoming Him as Messiah into Jerusalem, there are those who are against Him, and there are also many who simply don't know.  The opinions of the people throughout the four gospels run through them like a Greek chorus.  And they also change.  And it is this fickle, impulsive, easily-manipulated crowd (especially those who will shout to crucify Him) that the leadership in the temple fear.  Christ is the opposite model.  He is here on a mission, led by the Father to give His great good news, the Gospel itself.  He will face the leadership, the crowds, the world -- and to this day His Gospel continues to do the same.  He has stated for us, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body."   John's gospel disparagingly treats those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God.  Christ remains the hero who comes to save -- and His mission is offering salvation even to those who will reject Him.  It is a mission of fearlessness:  or rather a mission dedicated to God, and there is nothing that gets in His way, no other opinion is as powerful or as true.  He gives us the truth, not the whims of crowds.  This is what He values.  There are plenty of images from recent history to draw His same lesson from, whether it is the huge crowds who were swayed by Hitler's speeches, or a lynch mob that tortures and hangs an innocent human being.  And we mustn't forget that it is also John who gives us the story of the woman taken in adultery, and that it is Jesus who steps up with the truth to keep her from being stoned by the crowd.  The first martyr, St. Stephen, was also stoned by a crowd, among whom was Saul of Tarsus, who then became a vicious persecutor of the Church, and later would be called St. Paul, its great apostle.  Let us not rely on the crowds.  Let us follow Christ in His heroic mission, which we are invited always to become a part of.  We can be His disciples, and fix our faith on spiritual truth, rooted in the love of God and the faith that God loves us.