The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here

 

 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  

 

"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.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.   For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

 

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 

- Matthew 12:33-42 

 

Yesterday we read that one was brought to Jesus who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.  And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"  Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against  himself.  How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.  Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.   Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age of in the age to come."

 

  "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."  Here Jesus rephrases His teaching from the Sermon on the Mount:  "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:18-20).  In the continuity of the Scriptures and of the mission of God for salvation, we find this same phrase used by St. John the Baptist for the Pharisees and Sadducees, religious leaders of the temple, "Brood of vipers!"  Here Jesus replies to the Pharisees who have accused Him of casting out demons by the power of the ruler of the demons, the devil (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible explains that the Pharisees formed a lay religious movement which was centered on the study of the Law and on strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead, and cherished a messianic hope, but they taught that righteousness is attained on the strength of one's works according to the Law, and that the Messiah would be merely a glorious man.  This isn't the last time Jesus will use this title for them ("Brood of vipers"; see also Matthew 23:33).  My study Bible explains that it indicates their deception and malice, and their being under the influence of Satan.  Brood means offspring.

 

 "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.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.   For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  My study Bible teaches us that the heart in Scripture refers to the center of consciousness, the seat of the intellect and the will, and the place from which spiritual life proceeds.  It says that when God's grace permeates the heart, it masters the body and guides all actions and thoughts.  And, on the other hand, when malice and evil capture the heart, a person becomes full of darkness and spiritual confusion (see also Matthew 6:22-23).  

 

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  My study Bible comments that, after so many signs, the Pharisees show their wickedness by demanding yet another.  Jesus does not cater to those who demand a sign out of wicked intent.  The only sign to them, my study Bible notes, will be Christ's Passion and Resurrection -- "the sign of the prophet Jonah" to which Jesus refers in His response.   

 

 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."  Adulterous generation is another echo of the prophets.  This was the illustration they used when Israel was unfaithful to God (Jeremiah 3; Hosea 2:2-13).  

 

In a perhaps inadvertent way, Jesus teaches us through His response to the Pharisees that human beings participate in setting certain standards for the world when it comes to the judgment of which He speaks.  Those who fail to heed to work of God in the world -- that is, the work of the Holy Spirit that spoke through the prophets or that casts out demons (see yesterday's reading, above) -- will be judged by the standards of those who did.  Jesus compares the Pharisees to even those who came from outside of the Jewish tradition, and heeded the wisdom of the God of Israel spoken to them.  He uses the example of the Gentile people of Nineveh who repented at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3), and the queen of the South (1 Kings 10:1-13), also a Gentile, who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  These outsiders heeded the God of Israel, and yet the Pharisees fail to recognize who is standing among them, despite the great works He's done in their midst -- "and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."  It gives us a kind of clue about the spiritual possibilities of human beings, and indeed our capacity for understanding and receiving the wisdom of God.  Since this includes even these examples of Gentiles like the Queen of Sheba (the queen of the South) who came from outside of Israel, or the Ninevites to whom Jonah was sent, it teaches us a universal lesson that is inclusive of all.  These men to whom Jesus speaks, the Pharisees who spend their days immersed in Scripture and its interpretations, scrupulously following all the commands they can find, nonetheless remain blind to the things those outsiders perceived.  But their condition is even worse than blindness; it's a deliberate blindness.  Jesus calls them "Brood of vipers," indicating that they not only are not heeding the God of Israel, but following a different "father," and that they are the offspring of that father, the devil (see John 8:39-47).  In yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus told these men, "He who is not with me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."  This teaches us about the absence of neutral; that when it comes to matters that are spiritual, we make choices, and either we seek to be children of God, or we turn the other direction.  Moreover, we're on an equal playing field in the sense that even these learned men, rulers in the Council, with their knowledge of the Scriptures, are rendered in Christ's sight, a "brood of vipers," while the Gentiles He names are examples that will serve as comparison to them in the judgment to come, over which Christ will preside.  Again, we're given a sort of illustration of God who lifts up the lowly and pulls down the mighty (Luke 1:46-55), and this applies even in spiritual or religious terms.  The Pharisees who represent the learned and most observant are blind in their hypocrisy, and their hearts are far from God.  They demand a sign, proofs for what they do not desire to see.  It teaches us about the importance of a heart open in humility, one pure enough to see that which is not defined by the purely worldly.  

 

 

 

I see men like trees, walking

 

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it that you do not understand?"

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

 

- Mark 8:11-26 

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.   

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."   Over the course of the past couple of readings, Jesus has been avoiding His ministry's "home" territory in Galilee.  After having disputed with the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem (see this reading), Jesus withdrew to the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon, where He had His encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman, and then came through the Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee, again avoiding His ministry's home ground.  True to His apparent aim of avoiding the Pharisees for a while (and that they will now be after Him), we see that when He returns to the west side of the Sea of Galilee (as yesterday's reading told us), the Pharisees came out once again and began to dispute with Him.  This time they demand a sign from heaven, testing Him.  This means that what they want to see from Him is some spectacular display of power, in order to prove who He is.  My study bible says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs.  But they fail to recognize the signs that are already being performed by Christ, as their hearts are hardened.  They apparently are ignoring the works which are happening all around them, and of which they no doubt have heard.  When Jesus says that no sign shall be given to this generation, He affirms that His ministry must unfold in a particular way in accordance with God the Father, and not according to the demands of those who seek to test God (see Luke 4:12).

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it that you do not understand?"  Once again, after yet another hostile encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus departs with the disciples for the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  As they travel across the sea (which is really a very large lake), Jesus has time for this dialogue with the disciples, after they fail to understand His meaning regarding the Pharisees and Herod.  My study bible says that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, leaven is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as Jesus uses it here.  In either case, my study bible tells us, leaven is a symbol of a force that is powerful enough (and often subtle enough) to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  Jesus and the disciples come to Bethsaida, once again on the east side of the Sea of Galilee (north of the Decapolis; see this map).  The precise location of Bethsaida remains disputed (it may have been further south), but nevertheless this location seems likely.  What is probably most significant for our understanding is that it is in a region ruled by Philip as opposed to Herod Antipas.  Philip was the brother of Herod, whom Jesus referenced when He told the disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod," in the verses just prior to this.  My study bible comments that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (Matthew 11:21), and therefore Jesus leads this blind man out of the town to heal him.  This is so that the people would not scoff at the miracle and bring upon themselves greater condemnation.  It explains that the healing of the blind man in stages shows that he had only a small amount of faith, as healing occurs according to one's faith (Mark 6:5-6).  But this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Christ.  Jesus' command that he not return to the town, my study bible explains, symbolizes that we must not return to our sins once we have been forgiven.  Possibly it also suggests to us that we must do everything we can to shore up our faith, even leaving behind those who might tear it down.

Today's reading is all about faith, giving us various aspects of what it means to be faithful and what it is to be faithless.  In some sense, each story illustrates the question of degrees of faith.  Taken together, they tell us something important about how faith works in us -- or not, as the case might be.  First there are the Pharisees, who, despite the fact that they even know that Jesus is on the map, so to speak, because of the signs that have accompanied His ministry, demand a sign of proof that what He does is of God, and that His identity is somehow linked to the divine.  They have already begun to criticize Him and demand that He answer their queries (in this earlier reading), and Jesus tussled with them, so to speak, quite clearly.  When Jesus is questioned, He doesn't mince words; He tells the truth forcefully, even truths that they don't want to hear.  But then, we must note, Jesus has withdrawn for a time, away from the reach of the Pharisees, carrying His ministry elsewhere.  Their demand, presented to Him once more as He returns to the familiar ground in Galilee, is now that He prove Himself to them, which He will not do.  There is a particular and specific way in which His ministry must unfold.  It is dependent upon God, and not the inquisitive demands of the Pharisees, nor their particular brand of hypocrisy and hard-heartedness.  In their demand is couched the refusal to perceive what is already happening before them.  Then we come to the disciples, who themselves also show evidence of hard-heartedness, or failure to comprehend the things of God, even in which they directly participate!  Rather than understanding Jesus' remark to them about the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod -- which clearly refers to the demands for proofs rather than an acceptance of this ministry as it is, the disciples think He's talking about their lack of bread!  Let us note Jesus' very human reply.  He seems to be both baffled and exasperated when He asks how they can possibly have forgotten that He has produced bread in the wilderness for thousands of people on two occasions.  How can they think that He is now complaining that they have forgotten to bring bread with them?  Their own lack of comprehension is a signal to us that even with the best of intentions, there will be things that are "hard to hear" and which we may very well choose not to.  Perhaps their innate fear of conflict with the authorities is on display here, and we surely know their terror at the Cross to come.  Often, we might find in our life of faith, there are hard truths we have to hear and accept, and hard facts of life that come in response, including a separation from those whom we love or changing our perspective on institutions we cherish or value in high regard.  Our faith does not shy us away from these difficulties, but rather teaches us about them.  Forbearance and courage, with a mind in the present time, and acceptance even of the evil things we might see, are part of that journey.  Finally there is the blind man in Bethsaida.  In some way, Bethsaida was a place that remained a great crossroads of civilization.  Although its roots were very ancient, it also seems to have become an important Roman city during the lifetime of Jesus.  Coming after the feeding of the four thousand, and midst Jesus' repeated crossings of the Sea of Galilee, we can, in some sense see this blind man as one drawn out of the world by faith.  The people of Bethsaida are skeptical of Christ, and in order to heal this man's blindness, He must not simply be drawn out of the town, but also is commanded to remain outside of the town and not to return.  Blindness and the restoration of sight have been used so frequently as symbols regarding faith that we are already quite familiar with this metaphor.  Jesus' illumination of his sight is at the same time an illumination of his soul, an opening up of his eyes to the reality of Christ.  Taking in the whole of today's reading, putting together the problems that the Pharisees now present to Jesus, the difficulties with which the disciples themselves come to grips with the realities their faith is asking them to perceive, and the need for this blind man of Bethsaida to take himself out of the town and away from what he knows and calls home, all conspire in a sense, to tell us of an impending grasp of faith on a new basis.  Faith in Christ is no longer simply a matter of tribe or ethnos, of city or state or institution, but a matter that will draw us out of the world and into a place where we can take up our own cross, and follow Him.  This may happen in a plethora of ways too great to number or even to limit.  But it nevertheless makes it clear that we will be called out of complacency, and called to see and hear where we don't want to see and hear.  The virtues of courage, steadfastness, perseverance, and alacrity, as well as patience and forbearance for whatever our circumstances are and how our faith asks us to respond to them, all come into play -- and this in turn tells us about the elevation of human beings.  We are called to an identity that isn't simply one of a group that commands loyalty, to being one who hears Christ and follows.  It goes to the true state of freedom of the heart, the call of God, and the real power of faith to transform and to heal, even as we're drawn out of what is already familiar.  In the midst of the way to restoration of his sight, the blind man says, "I see men like trees, walking."  We ourselves may be like this image of human beings as stick figures, partially-complete persons.  But Christ brings us into the fullness of who we are, and what we are capable of becoming.