You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"

 

 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person.  But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. 

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

 

- Matthew 5:38–48 

 

 We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).   Earlier in this sermon, Jesus taught the disciples, "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  In recent subsequent readings, Jesus has been teaching exactly what this means.  Yesterday we read that He taught, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is ore profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.  Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither  by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

 

  "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person.  But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away."  My study Bible notes that in contrast to the Old Testament (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21), Jesus warns us not to resist violence with more violence.  It says that evil can only be overcome by good, which keeps us free from compromise with the devil and can bring our enemy under the yoke of God's love.  My study Bible includes a story of one of the desert saints.  He once found his hut being looted of its few possessions; he knelt in the corner praying for the bandits.  When they left, this monk realized they had not taken his walking stick.  He pursued them for days until he could give them this stick as well.  When they saw his humility, they returned everything to him and were converted to Jesus Christ. 

 

 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?"  My study Bible explains that if we are freed from hate, sadness, and anger, then we are able to receive the greatest virtue, which is perfect love.  The love of enemies isn't simply an emotion, but it includes decision and action.  As my study Bible puts it, it is to treat our enemies as the closest members of our own family (see 1 John 4:7-21).  

 

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."  According to my study Bible, this is the summary statement of all that has preceded so far in the Sermon on the Mount.  A Christian can grow in the perfection of the Father (Ephesians 4:13; 2 Peter 1:2-9).  This is shown by imitating God's love and mercy (see also Luke 6:36).  

 

 My study Bible sums up the teachings in today's reading in this way:  "An eye for an eye" -- a graphic way of seeing justice from a human perspective -- becomes "turn the other [cheek]" and "love your enemies."  It frames this as teaching that we must not only forsake vengeance, even when it is just retribution, but we must seek to treat others as God treats us, with mercy and grace.  Given this thought, it's very important to understand that in the Old Testament, "an eye for an eye" was in fact meant to be a limiting corrective for overarching, excess violence and cycles of revenge and retribution.  We read in the Old Testament of Lamech, a descendant of Cain.  He bragged to his wives in a song, "For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:23-24).  Noah was the son of Lamech, and the flood came to the earth because of the violence and evil which proliferated among humankind (Genesis 6:1-8).  Therefore what we see and receive through Christ's teachings is the reversal of that previous reality and multiplication of sin, an antidote to it all; Jesus prescribes for us holiness as the response to world beset with problems of evil and multiplying sin and violence.  And in this is our salvation; this is what He brings to us.  The Incarnation of Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully human, brings to us the capacity for holiness in His life lived among us, and our own nature capable of taking on the qualities of the divine, becoming more like God.  For this we have the Incarnation, including Christ's Ascension, in which human flesh becomes a part of heaven, divinized.  Jesus has sent us the Helper, the Holy Spirit, meant to lead us into the fruits that Jesus wants of us (Galatians 5:22-23).  This is our calling from Christ, to become divinized to the extent that we can, through process of faith unfolding in our lives, by rejecting that which we find in ourselves which is incompatible with that calling and internal work of the Holy Spirit in us.  It is in this context Christ teaches, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you . . ." in yesterday's reading (see above).  This process is called theosis among the Orthodox, and we are meant to grow in it, a lifetime process, the working out of our salvation (Philippians 2:12).  It's not something we invent, or devise for ourselves, it's not simply an intellectual process or belief, but it's the living of faith, using all the tools and structures given to us in Church and Tradition (including Scripture), and it's also a mystical process, depending upon the leading we find within our sacraments, that of Holy Baptism which confers the Holy Spirit, the Eucharist, and all others included.  This is a process whereby we become a part of what Christ called His family when He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (see Matthew 12:48-50).  All these tools and practices in the Church, including prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, are meant to help us to seek God's will for us, to find where it is we are called, to first seek the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 6:33).  For this must be our orientation and our salvation.  Lest we be concerned about the conditions Jesus' teachings seem to impose upon us, it should be understood that among the early Christian martyrs there were many soldiers.  They were not burdened by their faith to stop being soldiers in the Roman Empire, but died as martyrs for their faith by a refusal to participate in worship of the Emperor (as example, see the Forty Martyrs of Sepastia).  Jesus' teachings here are against vengeance, and favor mercy, but they don't preclude justice.  Instead, they teach us about a proactive kind of righteousness.  They teach us about the avoidance of unnecessary harm or aggression.  To turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to love an enemy does not mean that we are meant to suffer abuse or be blind to what is just.  But Jesus teaches us instead that we have God to serve first, and love upholds truth and justice as well.  It is not a teaching on submission to evil, but rather one that rejects the cycle of personal vengeance and retribution that produces of itself unnecessary evil.  It is through righteousness that evil is countered; this would include the protection of the innocent and defense against abuse and harm.  Additional evil is what Jesus is preaching against.  Additionally, the teaching in Greek may also closely be translated, "Do not resist the evil one" rather than an "evil person."  Indeed, this is the way the passage was read by St. John Chrysostom.  In some sense, his reading separates sin from sinner.  In that perspective, we are to understand that evil is not defeated through conventional means of retribution, or return of evil, but only through righteous behavior.  Whatever way we understand Christ's teachings, He is telling us that our circumstances don't determine who we need to be, but we need to remember always that our prime job is to be the children of our Father, and loyal to our calling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For God so loved the world

 

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe in condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

- John 3:16-21 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from  God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?   No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  My study Bible comments that to show the reason the Son must be crucified ("lifted up" as in verse 14, in yesterday's reading above), Jesus here declares God's great love -- which is not only for Israel, but for the world.  This single verse is an expression of the whole of the message of the Gospel of St. John -- and of all of salvation history.

 

 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe in condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  My study Bible says that while Christ came to save and not to condemn, human beings have free will.  So, therefore, people can reject this gift, and become condemned by one's own rejection, left out of God's plan of salvation.  Here the Gospel returns to the themes of light and darkness found in its beginning verses (John 1:4-5).  

 

If we turn again to the beginning of this Gospel, we find additional illumination regarding notions of salvation and condemnation.  St. John writes of Christ the Lord:  "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:10-13).  Here we have an understanding of what salvation is and means, and what it means to participate in this life-giving light brought into the world:  to become a child of God; to be born as such "not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God."  That is, through the grace of God received through the Spirit and faith.  To quote a Church Father (this quotation found to the left of the page on my blog):  "The light of God is the grace that passes into creation through the Spirit, by which we are refashioned to God through faith" (St. Cyril of Alexandria, commentary on the Gospel of John 3:5).  His memory, together with St. Athanasius, was celebrated on January 18.  As noted in yesterday's reading and commentary, Holy Baptism is the beginning of this journey, and throughout the Bible, and in the life of the Church (especially through its saints) we understand the working of grace and its gifts to us as we participate in the life of Christ, especially the Eucharist and other sacraments.  All of our faith life, including reading Scripture, our prayers both personal and in worship services, and the whole history of the Church, teaches us about salvation and the ongoing work of the Spirit.  St. Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23:  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."  This transformation we might observe in ourselves and others is called "theosis" in the Orthodox tradition.  St. Athanasius of Alexandria, whose feast day occurs together with St. Cyril, is frequently noted as saying, "God became man so that man could become [a] god," and this transformation in the grace of the Spirit through faith is what this means, that we human beings may take on qualities we associate with the holy, with God, which are divine (see St. Paul's fruit of the Spirit).  But St. John's Gospel also reminds us that we are not compelled -- forced -- by Christ to accept this salvation, and to participate in the life He offers to us.  As human beings, we are free to reject grace, and thereby to reject the life of salvation He offers.  This is what is described as "condemnation," being left to a different reality, outside of God's saving life for us.  We are always faced with this choice, at every moment of our lives.  To practice repentance, therefore, becomes an ongoing offer:  we may turn to Christ at any given moment, and continue on that path, or turn the opposite way and reject Him and the light He offers us.  What will it be?  Jesus says that everything in salvation, "all the law and the prophets," hang on two commands found in the Old Testament Scriptures:  "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5); and "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). Let us note that these commands are positive, and they are all about love.  St. John the Evangelist writes in his first Epistle, "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  This remains true for us as it was for the disciple.  Everything begins with returning the love God has for us, and turning to God to seek the way God desires for us, so that we may learn and grow.  Where is your heart at this time?  What do you love? Whom do you love?

 

 

 

 

He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him

 

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

 

- John 5:19-29 

 

Yesterday we read that there was a feast of the Jews [the Feast of Weeks, the Pentecost of the Old Testament, celebrating the giving of the Law of Moses] and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel."  Here Jesus expresses the unity of will of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This becomes clear when He says that the Son can do nothing of Himself.  Father and Son are united in nature, will, and action, my study Bible notes.  

 

"For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  Here Jesus indicates the shared power between Father and Son over life and death.  That is, both of giving life and of executing judgment.  Jesus says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live."  My study Bible explains that the dead here is a reference both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and also to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  This statement will be affirmed when Christ raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before He goes to His own death.  Note also that Christ's judgment is based both on faith ("he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me") and works ("those who have done good" . . . "and those who have done evil").  

 

Jesus' power of life and death will indeed be on display in His seventh and final "sign" in the Gospel of John, the raising of Lazarus, as my study Bible says.  But lest we forget, the greatest sign of all will be "the sign of Jonah."  That is, Christ's death and Resurrection on the third day.   It may be somewhat easy to overlook, but Christ's unity with the Father and the Spirit teaches us something important about what it means when He is rejected.  As He says, "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."    Within this statement lies the great power of judgment, something it seems to me is often overlooked.  It is linked also to something Jesus taught to Nicodemus, which may be hard for many to accept.  Jesus said, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18).  This condemnation is not so much a direct action by Jesus in His capacity to judge as it is a sort of self-exclusion on the part of the one who rejects Him.  For to reject the Father is truly to reject the power of life, the One who grants everlasting life.  It leads us to ponder what it is inside of us that creates faith, if you will.  What is it that leads a person to faith who formerly rejected such faith?  I must confess to having been on that sort of journey in my own life as well.  Personally a faith in God was always present in me, but understanding, on the other hand, has grown as part of a lifetime journey of faith, and one that keeps growing, giving, changing.  What made little sense to me as a child has come to be something illumined and given light.  Surely this is the work of the Holy Spirit, but it seems that there must be some depth of response in us as well, so deep it's impossible to know it.  Perhaps it is only God who can see that deeply into us, and so only God can judge, as Jesus indicates of His power to judge given by God the Father.  But in this context, let us think more deeply about what it means that all that Christ does is connected with the Father.  For it gives us a taste of what it means to consider God's work in the world as God's energies, as Orthodox theology has posited.  It means that when we choose to participate in Christ's word, in His energies, His teachings, by doing the work of faith, then we participate in the energies of God the Father and the Holy Spirit also.  But to reject these isn't just to reject an intellectual concept.  It is a refusal of participation in such energies, and what they will do for us and in us.  For this is really the power of God at work in the world.  And if we reject such, then what do we choose to participate in?  How will we understand what we enter into by choosing other ways?  One can consider, in more extreme cases, cults and how they operate.  Or perhaps one falls into the trap of an addiction, or any other practice that works in an enslaving way and leads to forms of self-destructive and life-diminishing behaviors.  For, in the theological landscape of what is called the unseen spiritual world, there are also energies that are destructive and bad for us.  In the stories of the Gospels, we find demonic behavior as that which is malicious and enslaving toward people, destructive to human beings.  Let us consider the powerful impact of our choices, and where they lead.  Let us choose the kind of participation we need and want.  The early teachings of the Church (as was also known in Judaism) emphasized the way of life and the way of death.  Our choices for Christ lead to everlasting life, for in Him is the power of life. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

 

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

- John 3:16–21 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  My study Bible comments that in order to show the reason the Son must be crucified ("lifted up" -- see yesterday's reading, above), Jesus here declares the great love of God not only for Israel, but for the world.  This single verse, it says, expresses the whole of the message of John's Gospel, and even of salvation history.  

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  While Christ came to save and not to condemn, my study Bible says, human beings have free will.  So, therefore, we can reject this gift, and become condemned by our own rejection. 

 

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  There is a reason why this verse (John 3:16) is perhaps the most frequently encountered verse quoted around us.  But the reason may be much bigger and broader than one thinks.  This is because, quite simply, this verse not only sums up the Gospels, or John's Gospel, or even the story of salvation.  That is because when we think of the word "salvation" that also needs to be broader than what we usually think of when we encounter the word in our religious context.  Mostly we tend, for various reasons, to focus on sin as the reason for the necessity of Christ's Incarnation, so that we are saved through Him from our "fallen" or sinful state.  But the truth about Christ's Incarnation, as early Church Fathers testify, is really much, much bigger than that.  For Christ as the Lord populates the whole of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, in the many encounters with the Lord we can read about -- from the Lord walking in the Garden (where Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking - Genesis 3:8), to Abraham being visited by the Lord (Genesis 18), to Moses encountering the Lord in the Burning Bush (Exodus 3), or on Mount Sinai in Exodus 33 or 36, and the various other encounters with the Lord documented in both Old and New Testaments.  This is partly because, while we are used to thinking of time in terms of the linear way in which you and I experience it, God is not bound by time, and as Christ is the only begotten, He is also God.  Thus these encounters with the Lord are encounters with the Son, the Logos, who not only brought the world into existence as the Word together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but becomes incarnate Himself as Jesus Christ, and also makes these other appearances among God's creation.  Our salvation is so much more than salvation from sin, because God the Son has come among us in the person of Jesus, but also in other encounters we read about in Scripture.  Why?  Each encounter, including the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, is for this purpose:  so that we know that God so loved the world (the κοσμος/cosmos) that He sent His only begotten so so that we creatures should not perish but have eternal life.  This is the reality of the Incarnation; it is an expression of God's love seeking ultimate union with us, with the creation that God loves.  It cannot be minimized to a kind of chance happenstance because human beings have sinned, or even a kind of benign projection because God knew that "would" happen.  Why?  Because Scripture also tells us that Jesus Christ the Lord is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).  His sacrifice of the greatest love (John 15:13) is one already made ("slain" in the Greek describes a state that already exists) from the very creation of the world.  Whatever we are, from the greatest saint to the greatest sinner, and even for the whole of creation, the cosmos, Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of creation.  The Son's sacrifice speaks to us of pure love, and this is indeed the message of the Gospel, the message of the Christ, the one thing necessary we must always know and carry with us -- that He is the Lord who died for us.  Keep this sense with you at all times, and be grateful for it, because this is ultimately the message that saves, in all circumstances.  While Christ indeed calls us to repentance, He does so first and before all else out of love as the foundation for everything else.  He calls us to the light and away from the darkness for this reason.  He gives us His truth and asks us to walk in that truth.  He calls us forward to be with Him for an eternity, He asks us to accept His gift, He defeated death out of love for us, He died for you and for me and for the whole world.  Let us always keep this understanding with us.  

 

 

If You do these things, show Yourself to the world

 

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

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

 

- John 7:1–13 

 

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

 

  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  Today's reading begins an entire section, spanning approximately three chapters (John 7:1-10:21), which tells of Christ's visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, over a period of eight days.  This festival comes during the final year of Christ's earthly life.  During this time in Jerusalem, He taught in the temple and attracted a great deal of public attention.  My study Bible comments that some thought Him mad (John 7:20); others believed He was the Messiah (verses 31, 40); and still others (such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees) considered Him to be a threat (verses 32, 45-52).  The Jews who sought to kill Him are the religious leaders, and not the people in general.  We recall that the term "the Jews" as used in John's Gospel most often refers to the religious leaders; virtually all the people in the events spoken of in this section are Jews, including Jesus and the author of this Gospel.  The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Sukkot) is an eight-day autumn harvest festival, which commemorates the time when Israel was wandering in the wilderness of Sinai, and the people lived in tents, or "tabernacles."  Together with Passover and the Old Testament Pentecost (or the Feast of Weeks; see this reading), this was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews.  My study Bible explains that it included many sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  In later times, it says, the final day of the feast included drawing water from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar.  This was used both as a purification and in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock struck by Moses (Exodus 17:1-7).  It also included the lighting of the great lamps in the outer court of the temple (see 2 Maccabees 10:5-9).  Each of these events as backdrop for the actions and teachings of Christ at this festival will play an important role in understanding His ministry.

His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.   Christ's brothers are not children of Mary, the mother of Christ.  In Jewish usage (and even today across the Middle East), the term "brother" may be used to indicate a variety of relations.  In the Old Testament Scriptures, Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  The English word "brethren" still retains this sense of belonging to the same family or clan.  My study Bible explains that Christ Himself had no blood brothers; Mary had only one Son, Jesus.  The brothers spoken of here are either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage), or they are cousins.  When Christ commits His mother to the care of the disciple John at the Cross (John 19:25-27), we should understand that such an act would have been unthinkable if Mary had other children to care for her.  

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.  My study Bible explains that not openly means not with a grand, public entrance, such as on Palm Sunday (John 12:12-16).  

John's Gospel begins to show us the disturbing signs of opposition to Christ's ministry.  And it is clearly notable that, while Christ proclaims He is sent from the Father, and that it is the Father who draws people to Him (indicating this is clearly the will of the Father), there is nonetheless a menacing opposition to what He is doing.  So threatening it is that He has declared (in yesterday's reading, above) that one of the twelve whom He has chosen, "is a devil," speaking of Judas Iscariot, who will eventually betray Him.  Jesus has also begun His final year of earthly life, which we understand because John's Gospel names the festivals at which He goes and participates in Jerusalem.  As we begin today's chapter (the beginning of a section spanning the next three chapters and events at the Feast of Tabernacles), we are given to understand that Jesus is already knowingly facing great opposition from the religious leaders in Jerusalem, who now in fact seek to kill Him.  It's an ominous beginning for this new chapter, and this final year of Christ's life.  His own brothers (His kinfolk, or extended family) also oppose Him to some extent; even they don't believe His message nor the claims of His identity.  In fact, they challenge Him to "show Himself," telling Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  This taunting challenge is, effectively a death sentence which sooner or later will manifest, given the hostility He faces in Jerusalem.  While Jesus declines to openly take up their challenge, He will, of course, face what is coming nonetheless, and go to the festival without fanfare.  Of course, nothing Jesus does can possibly go unnoticed, and everything He does only contributes to the controversies surrounding Him.  What He does is too great to be hidden.  Let us, for now, understand the deadly serious challenge He faces from men who, for the sake of their own power, will contrive to get rid of Him whatever way they can, the mocking of His own extended family, and the deep betrayal that is coming from within.  For all of these challenges face the human Jesus, who nonetheless will follow where His divine Father leads.  While He is both fully human and fully divine, we nonetheless must at the very least admire His courage, and be ever grateful for His love.  For He goes, not for Himself, but for us.

 

Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him

 

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

 

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  

 

Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you  want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!" 

 

 - Matthew 27:11-23 

 

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

 

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

 

 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  My study Bible comments that Jesus is the true Son of the Father, yet the name Barabbas means "son of the father."  Ironically, these crowds have to choose between one Son of the Father and the other.   My study Bible says that as they influence the crowds to choose Barabbas, these chief priests indicate to which father they belong -- the devil (John 8:44).  

Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you  want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"   Here Pilate tries three times to release Jesus, but the chief priests and elders persuade the people that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus, thus refuting Pilate's three attempts.  In the end, my study Bible says, they are demanding the release of a rebel like themselves.

 

 Pilate tries three times to save Jesus, because it's the time of the Passover Feast, and so the occasion when the Romans would give amnesty to one of the prisoners of the Empire, giving them back to the community, so to speak.  Pilate, being an outsider to the politics of the temple, hasn't really any problem with Jesus.  Jesus is not like Barabbas, who was likely what may be called a brigand, one involved in insurrection against the Romans.  Barabbas is a kind of known quantity to Pilate, the type of man seen as a criminal because he was involved in some sort of violence against the state.  State power and order were the greatest priorities for the Romans, and so certainly for this Roman governor keeping those like Barabbas under control would have been an obvious concern.  But Jesus is another matter altogether.  Well-spoken, and meek (or gentle), Jesus is someone that a Roman official could possibly regard as possessing some kind of virtue.  Barabbas, by contrast, is here called a notorious prisoner.  Moreover, Pilate's own wife confesses to him that he'd best beware of how he treats Jesus, even sending Pilate a message:  "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."   Among the peoples and cultures of the Mediterranean still today, and certainly then, portents and omens such as dreams have some mysterious significance.  One could possibly ignore them and regret it.  In a world such as Pilate lived, confidence and trust would be in short supply; perhaps only a wife could be trusted to confide such a message honestly (her fate, after all, rested with him as well).  But the Gospels tell us that Pilate honestly has found nothing wrong or criminal in Jesus ("Why, what evil has He done?").  Moreover, he knows that these religious leaders who want Jesus executed seem, apparently to Pilate, to want to do so out of envy.  Perhaps Jesus is a type of leader in the society that might be easier to deal with than those who favor brigands like Barabbas.  At any rate, whatever Pilate is thinking, it's his job to maintain the peace and order such as it was, or his own career would certainly be on the line.  So for all these various reasons, Pilate tries to free Jesus.  But the religious leaders are experts in coercion and manipulation, and they have determined that they are to be rid of Jesus, who seems to challenge their authority and has favor with the people.   He wants to change things, and especially He challenges the ways that they do things.  He's a threat to them in this sense.  Pilate fails to persuade the crowds, and perhaps he sees there is no sense arguing with the religious leaders; he's not going to change their minds.  But instead of asserting his authority -- which he could do as the power rests with him in these circumstances -- he won't challenge them anymore.  Perhaps he thinks he's got enough trouble on his hands with insurrections as it is; perhaps he thinks it's canny to do some horse trading and give in to the religious leadership here to stay on good terms as their cooperation is necessary to Rome.   At any rate, it is here where our reading cuts off for today, and so we must wait until Monday's reading to see the decision we know will happen, and Pilate's manner of delivering it.  But let us consider Pilate's judicial decision here as one that weighs on a scale of balance:  on one side is the Jewish nation as represented by the religious leaders and the crowd's demand for Barabbas, and on the other side is Jesus in whom Pilate can find no evil.  How would we see the balance on this scale if we were Pilate?  We know it's heavily tipped in favor of Christ, for we know His substance and who He is.  But Pilate has things he knows about these leaders such as their envy, he knows of his wife's troubling dream, he knows that rationally he has found no evil that Christ has done.  We each might find ourselves at some time in Pilate's seat, needing to make a decision between forces that are highly coercive -- people whose cooperation we might need, and the truth that seems to present itself before us.  Think about Pilate the next time such a circumstance presents itself; for we don't know who might be standing before us.  It might be one of "the least of these," a brother of Jesus.

Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go

 

 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

 

- Luke 23:13–25 

 

Yesterday we read that the whole multitude of them arose and Jesus Him to Pilate.  And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King."  Then Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered him and said, "It is as you say."  So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man."  But they were the more fierce, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place."  When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean.  And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.  Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.  Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing.  And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.  Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.  That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.

 

  Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.  On today's passage, my study Bible remarks that three times Pilate attempts to release Jesus ("I will therefore chastise Him and release Him"; Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them; Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go" -- verses 16, 20, 22).   Three times the chief priest and the rulers incite the people to demand that Jesus be put to death.  In the end, my study Bible says, they demand the release of a rebel like themselves.  Barabbas means "son of the father" and indicates to which father these rulers belong -- the devil (John 8:44).  

In the perspective of my study Bible, we observe the juxtaposition between the Man of God, Jesus, and the man of warfare and rebellion, Barabbas.  The religious leaders and the crowd they've stirred up want a "rebel like themselves" in the words of my study Bible.  Even though Pilate, whose main concern is simply quelling rebellion and strife and keeping the Roman peace, sees that Jesus is innocent, and seeks to have Him given a lesser punishment and released, the crowd prefers Jesus to be crucified.  Let us note that throughout these verses we're given today Jesus does not say a word.  He is silent, in the hands of the crowd and the Roman state and against the machinations of the religious leaders who seek to put Him to death, even through lies and false accusations.  Pilate can see what is happening.  Matthew's Gospel tells us that he knew they had handed Him over because of envy (Matthew 27:18).  Pilate no doubt would have been a rather shrewd political man, a part of the elite bureaucracy of the Roman Empire.  His time in this position lasted rather longer than most of his counterparts.  According to the Gospels, he was married to a woman of enough insight also to have a sense of Christ's innocence.  Matthew's Gospel tells us that "while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, 'Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him'" (Matthew 27:19).  Even among the pagan Romans, there is a sense of innocence wronged, and what kind of moral implications -- and perhaps spiritual results -- would be involved in harming a "just Man."  In some Orthodox traditions, it is held that Pilate's wife, Claudia, later became a Christian, and possibly even Pilate himself.  What we do know of Pilate through direct historical sources is that he was eager to quell rebellions, and acted harshly upon the Samaritans in connection with an event at Mt. Gerizim, for which he was reported to Rome and summoned to answer charges.  But the emperor who appointed him died before he reached Rome.  He seems also to have on various occasions offended the religious sensibilities of the Jews, such as by hanging banners to the emperor which caused yet a different uprising.  At another time he was ordered by the emperor to take down gilt shields he had publicly displayed in Jerusalem, for he had done so despite the fact that they were considered extremely offensive among the Jews.   So when we look at this history, we see violence of all kinds surrounding the Person of Jesus.  There is the empire of Rome seeking to quell those whom it rules, we see the religious leaders seeking to protect their own positions and manipulate the emperor, rebellious and outraged Jewish subjects seeking a political deliverer, and a governor whose job it is to secure what is called peace by any means necessary.  Perhaps "expedience" is the word that defines Pilate's position, for despite his efforts to save Jesus, he gives in to the unruly crowd, possibly to avoid yet another upheaval and thus another stain on his record.  Pilate is also surrounded by forces of violence and power, while his own power seems at times ineffective.  Ironically he lived at Caesarea, but had also come to Jerusalem at the time of the feast, along with thousands of  Roman troops due to the increased danger of disturbances as so many strangers filled the city.  But Christ's silence speaks more loudly than all of these.  Pilate apparently wielded more power than most in his position, as he also had supreme judicial power in addition to the ordinary duty of financial administration.  Perhaps Pilate is a type of worldly man even for us today, as we live in a world in which the expediency of the state and its bureaucracies is sometimes posited over and against religion.  In a modern perspective, religion and its demands may be viewed by administrators as one more competing interest among those of others.  Pilate's highest duty in his appointed position was unquestionably to the emperor, and the emperor was also the object of worship.  We might even say that today for many in positions of power, the highest duty is to position, to institution and party or employer, and to one's own status.  In a modern world, we may easily view Pilate as image of authority or rank in a secular world, but with all kinds of technology and material power to use, and faced with the challenge of Christ midst a sea of competing interests, ideologies, and values.  In an environment of competing demands, noisy competition, great bureaucracies, and ever-growing networks within which we must engage with the world, where does our loyalty come down?  Our small sense of family or friends?  Our group of colleagues?  Our employer or state?  Our fear of frightening and disturbing violence?  Or maybe some new ideology clamoring for our allegiance?  All the loud voices around us seem to be filled with demands for our time, energy, and attention.  Which will prevail?  We might consider the idea that the great call of Christ requires us to stand up to crowds, expediency, and everything else.  After all, it is Jesus who asked, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).  It's all too easy for Christ's voice to be drowned and silent, or possibly even not to enter into consideration at all.  This remains most poignantly true where there is none who will listen.  And yet He is there, a part of design by God, for even His silence tells us something about ourselves and our world we should know.

 

 

This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men

 

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

'This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

And in vain they worship Me, 

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

"For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."  He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), "then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many other such things you do."

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

 

- Mark 7:1-23 

 

Yesterday we read that when evening came, the boat of the disciples was in the middle of the sea; and Christ was alone on the land, where He had remained to pray on the mountain.  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.  When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.   

 

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips,

but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."  He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), "then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many other such things you do."   My study Bible comments that the issue here is not the observation of Jewish customs or traditions, which Christ certainly does not prohibit (Matthew 5:17-19; 23:23).  What is, in fact, at issue here is setting human tradition contrary to the tradition of God, as Christ says.  The tradition of the elders, my study Bible explains, is a body of interpretations of the Law, which for the Pharisees and the scribes was as authoritative as the Law, and frequently superseded it.   In this tradition, offerings (called Corban) could be promised to God in a way that property or earnings could still be used for oneself, but not for anyone else -- including parents.  My study Bible says that secondary traditions such as this obscure the primary tradition of the Law, which is contained in God's commandments.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13.

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."  My study Bible comments that food cannot defile a person because it is created by God and is therefore pure.  Evil things, such as are named here by Christ, are not from God -- and these are what defile a person.  

If we consider the topic of healing, as we did in yesterday's commentary, we might observe that once again, Jesus is giving us aspects of Himself as Physician, and what it means for us to heal and find salvation.  This is made explicitly clear when He distinguishes the difference between the traditions around washing and food consumption, and what truly defiles a person in spiritual terms.  Overall, He makes the distinction in today's reading between the commandments of God and the traditions of human beings.  Whatever good we derive from human traditions, it does not supersede the things that come from God, the divine action of grace, the Holy Spirit and God's action in the world.  Jesus makes a perfect example out of the tradition of Corban, and the treatment of parents -- who, at Christ's time, had no sort of social payment system to rely on but had primarily to rely on children and extended family if they were dependent.  (As an aside, we might note how Christ, in this strong criticism, is defending His disciples against the criticism of the Pharisees and scribes.)  We can watch our diet, we can be proud of the discipline we have, for example, in fasting, or in ways in which we follow social custom.  But there is nothing that supersedes the word of God and the commandments of God, especially in terms of our salvation and that which heals us and gives good spiritual health in God's sight.  For, as we repeatedly are given to understand, God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).  We note that Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah in which God declaims, "But their heart is far from Me."  As Jesus will do several times in the Gospels (most notably in Matthew 23), Jesus condemns hypocrisy.  Yet even this condemnation we must see through the lens of Christ as the great Physician, our Savior who heals us.  We must come to know hypocrisy as a true corrupter and poisoner of our souls, and something that provides a deep interference to salvation.  For without honesty about where our hearts truly are -- and how far or near they are to God and the love of God -- without this deepening of faith, we will not heal.  We will not be healed in the spiritual sense that Christ's salvation provides.  How can we, without being truly honest with ourselves, deepen our faith, and come to Christ in all humility?  This is vehemently stated in today's reading, as Christ gives His scathing criticism to the religious leaders.  But in effect it is teaching us about what we need for healing, what truly "defiles" and corrupts -- and we must see this in the nature of salvation and Christ's efforts to save.  We cannot deepen our faith without understanding this, and everything -- especially our healing and salvation -- depends on that movement toward Christ, our hearts drawing close to God.  Let us take it all "to heart" and understand more comprehensively Christ's healing mission in all its dimensions for us.

 

If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go

 

 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."  And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crowed, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.  

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.  Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God." 

 

- Luke 22:54-69 

 

Yesterday we read that, coming out from the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him.  When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done."  Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.  Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.  Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep?  Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."  And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"  When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?"  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this."  And He touched his ear and healed him.  Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

 

 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  My study Bible comments here that a girl being the first to test Peter is an icon of the temptation of Adam by Eve (Genesis 3:6).  It notes that our fallen state is overcome in Christ when women are the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-10).

But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."  And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crowed, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.  My study Bible remarks that Peter is so overcome with fear that neither Christ's prediction at the Last Supper ('I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me" - Luke 22:34), nor the crowing of the rooster, calls him to repentance.  Only the Lord's gaze causes him to weep bitterly.   My study Bible quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments that nonetheless, "through tears, what cannot be defended can be purged, for tears wash away the offense which is shameful to confess out loud."

Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.   St. Cyril of Alexandria remarks upon the patience of Christ, on display in these verses in Luke.  To be mocked and beaten means the One who is above all endures the worst of the corruption of the world, showing that "human things fall as far below the divine excellencies as our nature is inferior to His."  Christ's patience and endurance shows a marked difference between His nature (and is one of the fruits of the Spirit) and our own, which so easily responds savagely to anything that disturbs us.  St. Cyril writes, "He who tries hearts and minds and is the giver of all prophecy, how could He not know who hit him? As Christ said, 'Darkness has blinded their eyes, and their minds are blinded.'"  See Isaiah 6:8-10, John 12:40. 

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  My study Bible comments that Jesus asked many questions of the Jewish leaders which they refused to answer because doing so would have meant confessing Him as the Christ (Luke 20:4-7; Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 3:4). 

 

"Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  By this claim, my study Bible tells us, Jesus declares Himself to be equal with God.

The leaders of the Jews, assembled in the official council, demand of Jesus to know:  "If You are the Christ, tell us."  Jesus responds in the following way:  "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.  Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."   It's interesting to consider His response, for He tells us, in so many words, of the silence and forbearance He expressed during the time He was beaten and mocked in such crude ways by those with no understanding or spiritual insight.   This is the manifestation of the truth of what He said when He was seized: "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness" (see yesterday's reading, above).  His forbearance, His lack of speaking out or even answering their demand to know if He is the Christ (which He has already indicated many times and in many ways during His ministry) is an expression of the fact that darkness prevails not simply in this circumstance, but rather in the minds and hearts of these men.  They have all kinds of witnesses they could call. They know of His many signs He has done during His ministry.  They understand the response of the people to Christ.  And they have heard His doctrine and He has answered their questions openly, before the whole public at the feasts, the whole of the nation not only in His travels but at the feasts for all of Jerusalem and the pilgrims from everywhere in the Jewish diaspora who come to attend the festivals.  John's Gospel gives us three Passovers in which Jesus returns to Jerusalem, and other festivals as well.  But here and now what we observe is what St. Cyril comments, as we noted above, that "darkness has blinded their eyes, and their minds are blinded."  This is taken from the prophesy of Isaiah about the response to the Messiah, which Jesus quoted in the Gospels, and which was also quoted by St. Paul preaching in Rome (see Isaiah 6:9-10; Matt 13:14; Mark 4:12; John 12:40, Acts 28:26).  We have often heard Jesus say, for example after preaching the parable of the Sower, "He who has ears, let him hear!"  (Matthew 13:9, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8), and this we also understand as part of the allusions to the prophesy of Isaiah as noted.  When we have entered into a kind of darkness that is deliberate blindness, that refuses to listen and to understand, to see and to know, then we embark on a path that leads to a place where we may render ourselves incapable of repentance.  We can come to be incapable of changing our minds, of understanding, of growth.  And that is where these men are, and that is why we witness the silence and forbearance of Christ, because there is no longer any point in speaking to them.  They are beyond His salvation by virtue of their own closed minds.  He issues one more warning that judgment will come for their failures:  "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."   There is no turning back from this place for them.  And so, we enter into the subject of the power of darkness.  Earlier in Luke's Gospel, Jesus taught, "The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness" (Luke 11:34).  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23).  The Gospels, and the teachings of Christ therein, are consistent on this subject of spiritual darkness.  It is the power of evil, and darkness is synonymous with the evil one.  It is the absence of light, meaning the kind of illumination that Christ's truth brings, for Christ Himself is the light (John 1:4-5).  When we read this scene, we witness that the power of darkness is at work, for Jesus no longer attempts to persuade and to save, He forbears His mocking and beating, and displays the tremendous patience of One who has accepted that speech will do no good, for understanding is not possible in people who have chosen to remain in darkness, when so much light is part of their heritage and is present in the One who stands before them, the "Light of Light, and true God of true God" (Creed).  When we experience times of great evil, when comprehension is obliterated, when people refuse to see what is before them, when darkness becomes embraced and deepened, then we understand this place, this force that is against Jesus and hates the light.  It is important that we understand that all evils feed and are symptomatic of this darkness, especially lies, and those forms of depravity and senseless violence and destruction we may see around us every day, particularly in those who, like these corrupt leaders in today's reading, cynically use violence simply for their personal ends, and cultivate lies to justify it.  Let us consider what it means to enter into the hour and power of darkness, and how many times we might experience that or witness it in our lives and in our world.  For it remains in opposition to the Light.  As our response, we can choose to bring our faith further into the world, to live His teachings more diligently, to grow in the light He gives us.  For this is our work, the job He gives us, as He teaches:  "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  As we now approach the celebration of the coming of that Light into the world, let us remember how important, how crucial it is, that our lives are found in His light.  Let us not deny that light, but work to help bring it into a world which so deeply and truly needs it.