Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

 

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

- Matthew 22:1-14 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He is teaching daily in the temple, and has begun His sparring with the criticisms and questions of the religious leaders.  He has entered into the Holy City in His Triumphal Entry, and cleansed the temple.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the religious leaders, "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 

 

  And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come."  Jesus builds upon His preceding parables of the coming of the Kingdom, and the transfer of its stewardship from the faithless leaders who will seek to put Him to death, and to another people made up of faithful Jews and Gentiles.  This parable is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see Matthew 25:1-13), for, my study Bible says, Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29).  St. Paul uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom as well (Ephesians 5:21-33).  In this parable,  my study Bible explains, the repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom.  This first group is interpreted to be Moses and those with him.  These groups call those initially invited -- the Jews.  The third group represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles; that is, those who were not initially invited, but are now called.  

 

"Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them."  My study Bible tells us that the oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant.  The word "fatted" in the Greek is better translated "wheat-fed," or even more literally meant as "formed of wheat").  So, both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.  This second group of servants is meant to be understood as the prophets who came after Moses.  These first two groups call those who were initially invited to the wedding feast of God and God's people -- the Jews.  

 

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible notes, here Christ is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and is thereby attributing this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.  Nonetheless, God showed God's patience and mercy by waiting some forty years from the time of Christ, which gave the entire generation a chance to repent.  

 

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "  My study Bible informs us that the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and so therefore this man had no excuse for not wearing one; therefore he is speechless.  His refusal to wear the garment that was provided illustrates those who refuse God's hospitality -- or who want God's Kingdom on their own terms.  My study Bible says that specifically, the garment refers to the baptismal garment, and by extension, a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.

 

"For many are called, but few are chosen."  Once again, we recall that for many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."  Jesus has used their same expression at Matthew 20:16, in the ending to His parable of the workers in the vineyard (see Matthew 20:1-16).  

 

 In today's parable of the wedding feast, it becomes all too easy to perhaps recognize things that are very common to us today.  We're always absorbed in our own business, in the business of life, the pursuits of ambition of one sort or another, our own self-interest and what we think we need to do.  We can recognize such reality in the actions of those in the parable Jesus specifies:  they made light of the great plans of the king of a wedding feast for his son, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. This sort of complacency might be something we're all familiar with.  Who cares about the things that haven't happened yet, or the things we might hear about that the King, Christ, teaches us about in a sense of a place and reality that is far away from us?  We're all busy with our own plans, and it can't be all that important if it doesn't seem to be something that touches our lives and what we're concerned with.  Moreover, those nagging messengers, calling us toward something we don't want to think about, and don't want to have to acknowledge or prepare for, are just the problem themselves.  Their message is, in some sense, annoying.  Or perhaps like the religious leaders described in our present Gospel, there are other things they care about which are being threatened by the message of the messengers.  A very brutal and simple solution is just to get rid of the messengers.  Then they won't bother us with their calling us back to other responsibilities we don't want to hear about.  This is also a common way to brush off what is inconvenient, or somehow threatening to our way of life, to who we think we are.  For, how do we prepare for this wedding feast after all?  Does it require of us some kind of sacrifice, or change of our own behavior on some terms?  If we were to put ourselves in the shoes of the king in this parable, would we not tire of those who do not love nor care for us, nor respect us, and go out and call others -- to find others more worthy of this wedding feast being offered?  The parable serves as a kind of warning in tandem to St. John the Baptist's warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees who began coming to his baptism after the multitudes of the people, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones" (see Matthew 3:7-12).  That God is able to raise up children to Abraham from the stones tells us a great deal of wisdom, that our complacency or lack of attention to the real value of our faith ignores God's infinite creative power.  We are loved by God, so much so that God sent His Son to die on the Cross in order to offer us salvation and welcome to God's Kingdom -- but to take that love for granted invites a different kind of outcome.  To disrespect and abuse it is something that has consequences; the same is true of our abuse of God's messengers, those who are willing to bear God's word.  So the call can always go out to others, even "to all," as is the generous word of Christ who died for all, and offered salvation to all.  But we still need that wedding garment; the respect for true value, for what we're offered in love and total mercy, still counts for something, for abuse of the reality of God is not worthy of that Kingdom.  To treat God with abuse is another way of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, spurning the message of the prophets, the Spirit sent as our Helper.  It is, effectively, a way to show we do not value the life we're offered.  If it was worth it to Christ, to God's salvation plan, to die of love for us all, then how can we prize that love and sacrifice cheaply?  Let us turn to the gift we're offered with gratitude.  In the end, Jesus says that "many are called, but few are chosen."  Let us endeavor to be among the chosen, and receive such a gift we're offered with proper gratitude, and cherish the wedding garment He offers us.

 

 

 

 

 

For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 

 

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9–17 

 

Yesterday we read that, following the encounter and exorcism of the Gergesene demoniacs, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came back to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.   My study Bible tells us that Matthew is also called Levi (Mark 2:14).  It explains that Roman overlords would assign specific areas to Jewish tax collectors.  These Jewish tax collectors were then free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, using the power of the Roman state.  Because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, other Jews hated them and considered them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Here Jesus is dining with them and has accepted a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), and so the Pharisees are offended.  But Jesus' defense is quite simple:  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6.  This is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible explains, but it teaches that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  The Jews would typically fast twice a week, my study Bible explains (Luke 18:12), on Monday and on Thursday.  In addition, public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But the Jews saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Here, Jesus is proclaiming that day, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible notes, fasting is not gloomy but desirable; it's a "bright sadness."  This is because, by fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit who dwells in renewed people; who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

 

 Jesus makes a seemingly radical choice in today's reading: He calls a tax collector to become His disciple.  We're told that He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  This might seem almost like a random event in terms of the way that you or I might read these words, but with Jesus, nothing is random.  He knows the hearts of people and He knows the ones He calls.  Matthew's response is an indication of how ready He was to follow and to become a disciple.  But Jesus' calling of the disciple Matthew (the author of our Gospel) is indeed a radical act, because Matthew is a kind of outlier.  He is, moreover, scorned and shunned by the community because he's a tax collector.  The next thing we read is that Jesus is sitting at table with a whole houseful of tax collectors and sinners, no doubt St. Matthew's friends.  This is yet another radical step, for He's openly among a community known widely as sinners, and unclean in the eyes of others.  In a sense, it's Jesus openly declaring His gospel by this physical act of attending a dinner.  He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Note that, yet again, everything is not quite what it might seem to us as we read this Scripture.  For Jesus is not sitting at dinner to simply approve of and enjoy this company.  Matthew has become a disciple, has decided to follow Jesus, and Jesus is calling this table to repentance as well.  The fact that He is eating with them is yet another radical act, for He has no concern that in so doing, He is sharing whatever sinful or imperfect behavior tax collectors and sinners might practice.  Just as He touched a leper when it was forbidden to touch the "unclean" (in this reading) in order to heal him, so Christ's sitting among these people is also an act of healing.  Christ has nothing to fear from closeness to those who are either physically or spiritually unwell in any sense.  This is because He is the divine Physician; He has come to heal, to set us on the right path and give us the right medicine we need for our ailments.  This invites us to understand ourselves as those who might also sit at that table, and the particular perspective that engenders in us.  Jesus doesn't come to Matthew's table to celebrate and laud Matthew or the other tax collectors and sinners, He comes as honored teacher, while Matthew is pleased to tell the world that he has become a disciple, and to share this with his friends.  So even if one is not a notorious sinner, nor hated as unclean or despised in community for some reason, we think of ourselves at this table as one of those who are imperfect, and who need Christ's guidance and healing prescriptions for our lives.  It invites us to think of ourselves as part of a community, in which there may be all kinds of sins and their effects present, and so therefore whoever we are, we are a part of a community that needs Christ and what Christ has to offer.  He, Jesus, has come into the world to be part of this community, to do His healing and preach His gospel within this community, and to call us out of that community to be His followers and practice His gospel as He teaches.  St. Matthew will go on to become an apostle, and author of this first Gospel that appears in our New Testament, and so he continues to call people to Christ from the midst of our communities all over the world.  Let us understand ourselves also as those who need Christ in our lives and our communities, and be grateful as Matthew who invites all to sit at His table with joy and thanks for His Teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always

 

 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him. 

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 

- John 11:55—12:8 

 

On Saturday we read that many of people from Jerusalem who had come to Mary when mourning Lazarus, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him (see this reading for the raising of Lazarus).  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

 

  And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.   My study Bible tells us that, because Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the connection between the Passover, when lambs were slaughtered to save the Jews from death (Exodus 12:1-13), and the death of Jesus, which saves humankind from sin and death, is continually emphasized.  This is the third Passover of Christ's earthly ministry, and it is the final year of His earthly life. 

 

 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Jesus comes early toward Jerusalem as pilgrim for the Passover, and arrives in Bethany which is east of Jerusalem, and the home of His friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  (See John 11 for the story of the raising of Lazarus, Christ's seventh and final sign given in John's Gospel.)  As noted above, this is the third Passover mentioned in John's Gospel (see John 2:13; 6:4), and frames the setting for the final week of Christ's earthly life (Holy Week).  The following week will be given to us in careful detail.  My study Bible comments that Jesus had already been glorified through His signs and words; at this stage it remained for Him to be glorified through His death and Resurrection.  Note that Martha served, in keeping with the consistent portrayal of her character in the Gospels.  Lazarus is now a person who is the object of tremendous attention from both the people and the religious authorities (as we will read in tomorrow's lectionary reading); here he sits at table with Christ, clearly alive and well.

 

  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  My study Bible comments that the other disciples said to the same thing Judas said, but with a very different motive (see also Matthew 26:6-13).  Judas spoke from greed, it notes, while the others spoke from the virtue of charity.  That Jesus had put a thief in charge of the money, it says, shows that by every means Jesus attempted to save Judas:  He fulfilled his lust for money; He allowed Judas to exercise apostolic authority (John 6:11; see also Mark 6:7); He washed Judas' feet with the other disciples (John 13:5); and He allowed him to partake at the table of the Mystical Supper (John 13:26).  But Judas could never overcome his greed.

Given our recent readings and commentary, perhaps the first thing we might notice is once again the contrast between these two sisters.  Martha, the one consistently portrayed by the Gospels engaged in active service, serves her guests at the table.  But Mary is silent in today's reading; she's not reported saying a word but takes a pound of very costly oil of spikenard in to the place of this supper.  One might suppose that a pound of such costly ointment would truly be very high in value; however, it is more the quantity that seems quite impressive here.  An entire pound of any type of essential oil is a very large quantity, and there is no doubt of that the fragrance surely filled the house.  Spikenard, according to this article, is made from a type of plant related to honeysuckle.  Mary's astonishing act needs no speech; it is so eloquent that it speaks for itself.  But Jesus does speak up for her, and declares that "she has kept this for the day of My burial."  To save an anointing oil for burial must have been quite an act of love in and of itself, a testimony to the depth of friendship among these people, and to Mary's reverence for Jesus.  For such oils were used to prepare a body for burial, a final loving act.  Indeed, the first ones to receive the good news of Christ's Resurrection will be the women who come to Christ's tomb to anoint His body for burial, and they are known as the Myrrh-bearing women to us in the Church.  But this Mary, perhaps knowing already what is to come (perhaps she is aware the religious leaders already plot against Him), and that it is the result of His raising her brother Lazarus from the dead, anoints His body with this oil she has been saving for the day of His burial.  Wiping His feet with her hair, she enacts the great pose of giving Christ supreme honor, showing that she understands who He is, and perhaps even a sense that He will die for the love of them all.  Theodore of Mopsuestia comments that Mary’s act of love should be seen for what it was, an honor given to our Lord, who would not be long among them, rather than pitted against the idea of caring for the poor, which (according to John's Gospel) was not really Judas’s primary concern.  St. Ambrose comments that Judas valued Mary's act of love at a much higher price than he would be paid for the very life of Christ, writing, "O traitor Judas, you value the ointment of his passion at three hundred pence, and you sell his passion at thirty pence. Rich in valuing, cheap in wickedness!" (On the Holy Spirit).  Clearly Christ Himself pronounces this extravagant act of love on the part of Mary to be quite precious, saying, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  And so it is, and so we understand.  May all our generous acts of love be as precious and, indeed, priceless -- and so very graciously received as by the author of grace Himself. 

 

But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after healing two demon-possessed men who dwelt across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus got into a boat, crossed back over the sea, and returned to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  for which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Matthew is also named Levi (see Mark 2:14).  My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who in turn were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Let us keep in mind that this implied using the power of the Roman state, including its soldiers, to do so and extort their own people.  My study Bible says that because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, among fellow Jews they became objects of hatred and were considered  unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Since Jesus dines with them here, and accepts a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), this is offensive to the Pharisees.  But, returning to themes we have already observed in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus goes back to God's root purpose in terms of divine activity in the world:  healing.  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.   "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)  is not a rejection of sacrifice per se.  It is instead a statement that mercy is the higher priority (see Psalm 51).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."  Here my study Bible points out for us that the Jews would typically fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were fasts that were regularly observed or proclaimed on occasion (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But in contrast to those times of fasting, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast; a time of joy and gladness.  What Jesus is doing here is proclaiming that day, as He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  

 

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  For Christians, my study Bible says, fasting is not gloomy, but is instead desirable, a "bright sadness."  This is because, in fasting, we see ourselves as gaining self-control and thereby preparing ourselves for the Wedding Feast toward which we look.  The old garment and old wineskins, it notes, refer to the Old Covenant and the Law, seen as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who can't be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

My study Bible describes Christ's reference to the new wine as the Holy Spirit, which lives within renewed people.  How beautiful is this understanding, which gives us a sense that we are here for a purpose, that Christ came for a purpose, to give us this indwelling new wine, the Holy Spirit, so that we also may look forward to the time of the Bridegroom, Christ's return.  We should notice how in the passage on fasting, my study Bible's notes ask us to focus on how Christ's Incarnation and ministry asks us to turn toward that time of the Bridegroom, always keeping this in mind, so that everything is seen in this light.  If we fast, it is because we look forward to that time, and we prepare for it.  Don't we know already that we're not quite prepared to dwell in that heavenly Kingdom as one capable of dwelling in perfect harmony with God?  So we practice prayer, and we practice fasting, we learn to be a disciple, and hopefully grow in discipleship -- not because we need to sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, but because we look toward Christ and His plans for us.  We hope for that indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we might be transfigured like the wine that through mysterious enzymatic action grows into the good wine.  We worship so that we participate in that communion of saints that is meant to take us somewhere, to transfigure who we are and even who we think we are.  St. Matthew the repentant tax collector, so grateful to be taken on as disciple by Christ, is not presented as immediately perfect, completed, even if our Physician has forgiven him and called him to join Him.  On the contrary, St. Matthew the tax collector is brought into a new place where He has something toward which He now goes forward, a bright light to guide His life and whatever things will be changed in Him.  He has a cherished hope, and an indwelling of light, just as we all do who are on this path toward the place to which He calls us forward, to His light, to the wedding feast.  If Christ is our Bridegroom, we clearly also need always remember that He is our Physician.  He is here to heal us, and that indwelling of the Holy Spirit is meant to take us on the road to healing, where perfect health in this sense is our own capacity to live in the Kingdom, to dwell with God in that heavenly Kingdom Christ has promised.  The Kingdom is here among us and within us (Luke 17:21), but it is working in us to make us more fit for its dwelling and the return of the Bridegroom.  When we struggle with our journey in His light, let us consider the help we have to find the way, to make the changes we need to (as will Matthew), so that we may receive the light in its fullness that shines on us, even when we can't fully see it.  For this new wine must be preserved in the eternal day of the Kingdom which is always at hand, in which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). 

 

 

 

Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little

 

 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

 

- Luke 7:36–50 

 

Yesterday we read that the disciples of John reported to him concerning all the things Jesus was doing in His ministry.   And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'"  And that very hour He cured many infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."

 

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."   Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."   Of today's entire reading, my study Bible comments that this Pharisee was intrigued by Christ, which is made clear through his invitation.  But he clearly does not believe in Christ, as shown by his reaction to the Lord's mercy ("This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner"), and even by a lack of common hospitality ("I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not eased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil").  My study Bible adds that this encounter with the sinful woman is an icon of the grace which is found only in the Church.  It quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who writes that through her, "the Church is justified as being greater than the Law, for the Law does not know the forgiveness of sins, nor the mystery in which secret sins are cleansed; therefore, what is lacking in the law is perfected in the Gospel."

And those who sat at table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."   My study Bible explains that the forgiveness of sins by a man was beyond the bounds of the Law as the Pharisees understood it (see Luke 5:21).  But Christ wasn't a mere man; He is the Lawgiver Himself.  St. Cyril of Alexandria is quoted as asking, "Who could declare things that were above the Law, except the One who ordained the Law?"

 

 The question of sinfulness is central to the Bible.  In the beginning of Genesis, we have the problem of growing violence that stems from the first sin -- a kind of lawlessness that continues to expand and grow throughout the generations, until we reach the declaration of Lamech and his multiplication of vengeance:  "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:24).  Vengeance remains a problem.  When we read in the Law "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21) in the context of what has come before, we should understand it as actually limiting vengeance.  But then Jesus comes along with a depth of mercy that calls into question what justice and forgiveness mean to us as His disciples.  In both the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain (which we've just read in Luke 6:20-49), Jesus preaches against vengeance, and teaches us to do good ("But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you"; see Luke 6:27-36).  We might pause to wonder what the world would look like if this were built into a justice system, rather than teachings for those who would be Christ's disciples.  But, on the other hand, Jesus gives careful admonition about our own behaviors; we will reap what we sow.  Within the context of our lives and our communion with God, what we give we will realize for ourselves ("For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you"; see Luke 6:37-38).  In today's reading, we are given a taste of God's mercy in action, and we can see how it works hand in hand with our own capacity for love.  Jesus points out to the Pharisee how this woman has treated Him with more grace than the Pharisee has.  He teaches the Pharisee the parable of forgiveness, telling him, "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Finally, He tells the Pharisee, "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Jesus seems to be placing the greatest of emphasis on this communion between God and those who love God, and our sins and the mercy that we may realize for ourselves come within this context.  He speaks of the love that is within that communion, and challenges us to consider its depth.  Think about the many sins forgiven this woman for she loved much.  As happens in other similar incidents reported in the Gospels, Jesus is defending to the Pharisee her exorbitant expression of love, and He is not ashamed of this, for it is justified in the sight of God whose very character is love, whose currency is mercy.  If we do not understand that our communion with God is the language of love, our communication must be lacking. In a world beset by violence, we still deeply need this union of love with our Creator, and our own sins must be struggled with and acknowledged in this context -- for it is there that the repairs begin.  It is there we are told to take responsibility for our own behaviors and the states of our own hearts.   It is there we learn responsibility and loyalty to the One upon whom rests all things, and especially our way in life, the path we need to true well-being.  This woman has clearly understood that about her life.  Do we believe that she will continue on in her old sinful path, or that her love for God will turn her life in a new direction?  That's the question we should ask ourselves, and come to understand and know as well.  For it is her faith that has saved her, and brought her peace.

 

 

 

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

 

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their own ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

- Matthew 22:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to the religious authorities in the temple in Jerusalem:   "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:   'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come."  In today's reading, Jesus gives yet another parable to the religious authorities.  My study Bible notes that this parable also (like the preceding one in yesterday's reading, above) also proclaims the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless Jews to the Gentiles (note that operative word "faithless" -- we should remember that all of Christ's followers and disciples are also Jews, as is Jesus).  It is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see Matthew 25:1-13), as Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29).  St. Paul also uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  The repeated sending out of servants, my study Bible says, shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom.  This first group invited here in these verses is interpreted to be Moses and those with him. 

"Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their own ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them."    This second group of other servants is interpreted to be the prophets.  They also call those initially invited, the Jews.  The oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represents the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant, my study Bible says.  The word for "fatted" is better translated as "wheat-fed" or more literally "formed from wheat."   In the tradition of the sacrifice, male calves were raised on wheat in preparation for religious offering, but here we understand the symbolism alluding to the sacrifice of Christ.   Therefore we understand that both the Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.  

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is here prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and therefore attributes this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.   Jesus will do the same more specifically when He mentions the "righteous blood shed on the earth," particularly the prophets killed before Him, and attributes the same murderous spirit to these religious leaders in chapter 23, especially verse 35.  See also Christ's lament over Jerusalem at the end of that chapter.  Nonetheless, my study Bible notes, God showed His patience by waiting some forty years from the time of Christ, giving the entire generation a chance to repent.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests."  This third group of servants who go out into the highways to invite all they find to the wedding, gathering together both bad and good, represents the apostles sent out to the Gentiles.  That is, those who were not initially invited, but now are called.

"And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"  My study Bible explains that the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and therefore there was no excuse for this man for not wearing one.  Therefore the man is speechless.  His refusal to wear the garment that was provided is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, or who want God's Kingdom on their own terms.  Specifically, my study Bible notes, the garment refers to our baptismal garment, and by extension, a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.  

"For many are called, but few are chosen."  For many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."

In this parable of the wedding feast, Jesus teaches that the third group of servants who called people to the wedding went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.   This is a kind of parallel to Christ's parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30).  In both we're given an image of a world in which all are called toward God's salvation, the light of the word of Christ.  There are those who will accept it, and those who will not.  In Christ's beginning parable, that of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), He symbolizes Himself as one who sows seed, and then depending on the kind of ground the seed falls on (within human beings), spiritual fruits are either produced or not.  So this sense, of all being called and gathered together, "both bad and good," is an image of the world during this period which began with the Incarnation of Christ and His ministry.  All are called through the word of God, which continues today through every means of communication available.  Christian ministries proliferate across the globe through mass media and all other forms of reaching out to people and places on all the "highways" of the world, include virtual ones.  Regardless of denomination, we should see this parable as one that continues to unfold its truths and its reality in the world.  There are many who speak of a "post-Christian" reality, but it seems that all of this -- both evangelization and rejection of Christ's gospel -- is foreseen in the parables of Christ.  This is the condition of the world in which we presently live both from the perspective of the Church (note the capital C) and the Gospels:  the invitation continually goes out to call all to the wedding feast.  The outcome (the judgment of who wears the proper wedding garment and who does not) is not known to us, and we are neither the Judge nor the king in the parable.  But we should not be dismayed by whatever we think we see, for it's all included here (including the heresies symbolized in the Tares, as one traditional interpretation teaches).  Christ's Incarnation began the present period in which we live, and all of it is considered to be the period of "the End" -- the time in which we live in preparation for Resurrection and Judgment.  This is the time in which we are all called, and we will all be seen at the wedding feast either as having accepted and worn our wedding garment or not.  Do not be dismayed by rejection and hatred of Christ or the Gospel, but know that we live in this period of both the bad and the good.  We are not the judges, but we're each given a calling and a command to endure in our faith and the duties to which we're called to love God and neighbor, to be faithful servants of Christ, and to love one another as Christ loved us.

Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much

 

 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed then with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."   And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

 

- Luke 7:36-50 

 

On Saturday we read that the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things being done in Jesus' ministry.  And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'"  And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children." 

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed then with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."   And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."    My study bible comments on today's passage that this Pharisee was intrigued by Christ, as is evidenced by his invitation, but He clearly does not believe in Him, as is shown in his reaction to Christ's mercy, and also in his lack of what would have been common hospitality ("I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.").  Moreover, my study bible cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who calls this encounter with the sinful woman an icon of the grace which is found only in the Church.  Through her, writes St. Ambrose, "the Church is justified as being greater than the Law, for the Law does not know the forgiveness of sins, nor the mystery in which secret sins are cleansed; therefore, what is lacking in the Law is perfected in the Gospel."  

And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."   As far as the Pharisees understood it, my study bible tells us, that a man could forgive sins was beyond the bounds of the Law (see 5:21).   But we are to understand Christ as not a mere man, but the very Lawgiver Himself.  St. Cyril of Alexandria writes, "Who could declare things that were above the Law, except the One who ordained the Law?"

There are two things that are striking in today's reading.  Christ says that those who are forgiven much, love much.  At the same time, we observe the great love expressed by this woman, for whom much was forgiven by Christ.  He says, "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much."  What we can understand about this extravagant expression of the woman is that it is a great outpouring of love.  Jesus seems to say, in both the English and the Greek, that her sins are forgiven "for she loved much."  And there we also come to a kind of conundrum:  Did she love much because she was forgiven much, or was she forgiven much because she loved much?  I think that on some level we are meant to understand that these things form a circle.  Because those who cannot feel or appreciate forgiveness have little capacity for love to begin with.  The tremendous outpouring of love and gratitude on the part of this woman is linked not only to the forgiveness of Christ, but to the power of love which also links them.  Christ, as God, is love -- but that love is also reciprocated and called out in the creature.  She is responding out of faith.  This woman expresses a deeply extravagant and "expensive" love for Christ, for she has found through faith in her Creator a well of love, which can only be expressed through the power of grace at work.  The extravagance of her response to Christ is the only thing that can express the tremendous love we receive from God, the power of grace that knows no bounds and flows without measure.  What we find in this capacity for love and its outpouring symbolized in the flow of the expensive oil is the power of Christ's healing through love.  The forgiveness He gives from God's boundless love taps into the power of a soul healed to the depths of this outpouring, and her gift is a measure of her love.  We don't know what she did, nor what she was like, nor what gave her a rather notorious reputation.  But we can see her real character expressed through this love for Christ, and that is what we are meant to know.  Christ's love challenges us on levels which we can't know fully and can't see, and like this woman, we never know what depths of love might be brought out in us through Christ's forgiveness.  An unconditional power in God's love can bring out strengths and potentials for which we have no inkling, but nevertheless He calls from us through this great love and grace at work.  On the other hand, those for whom a coldness remains, despite salvation and love on offer perhaps express no such thing themselves, as they trust only in themselves to start with.  Jesus tells her that it is her faith that saved her.  Let us remember that in her expression she reveals that she is healed:  something has transformed her life to one of preoccupation with what is selfish to one of this overflowing love she expresses this night.  How are we open to that kind of healing?  What can give us this grace, in which we see how much the love of Christ is worthy of our love and trust, and a dedicated life?  Let us consider the power in God's love, for it is there we go to become "like Him."