He is not here; for He is risen, as He said

 

 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  

 

But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.   Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

 

- Matthew 28:1-10 

 

Yesterday we read that many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar at His Crucifixion, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.  Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.  When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.   On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'  Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'  So the last deception will be worse than the first."  Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how."  So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.  

 

 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.   My study Bible comments that the earthquake is a sign of our Lord's great victory over death, and foreshadows the general resurrection of all humanity.   It asks us to note that the angel does not roll back the stone to let the Lord out, for in His glory, Christ could pass through solid rock (see John 20:19).  On the contrary, the open doorway to the tomb allows the witnesses in, so that they may see He has already risen.  

 

 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.   Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."  My study Bible tells us that these women are the first witnesses of the supreme event in all history: the Resurrection of Christ and the destruction of death.  The angel refers to Christ as the One who was crucified, teaching us not to shy away from His death, but to glory in the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 6:14), which is the weapon which Christ used to destroy death and the trophy of His victory.  At the liturgical services of Pascha (Easter), Orthodox Christians sing the following hymn hundreds of times:  "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life."  Here St. Paul is cited, who says, "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17).  

 

  Our first verses in today's reading tell us many things that are quite striking:   Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  First of all, this is the dawn of the first day of the week.  This is the day after the Sabbath, and it's known to us as Sunday, the Lord's Day.  Moreover, it is also thought of as the eighth day, the eternal day begun with the Resurrection of Christ.  It is dawn, the beginning, as Christ, Sun of Righteousness, is Risen.  Suddenly, it seems the powers of heaven are shaken once again, in the sign of the earthquake, as an angel descends from heaven, rolls back the stone, and sits on it.  We're told that his countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow -- similar to Christ's face and clothing at the revelation of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2).  We see the response of the guards, Roman soldiers.  The angel says to these faithful women, who have come to serve Christ even in His death, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  Here is the good news, He is risen, as He said.  And there is a commission here from the angels; these women will become the Apostles to the Apostles, as the Church declares them to be.   The angel is a messenger, as are all holy angels, and this is the greatest message they could hear.  And these women respond in a complex way, as has so often the case with Jesus throughout His ministry, and in the presence of heavenly tings:  they go running with fear and great joy, and in obedience bring the disciples the word.   So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  For this obedience and faith, they are the first to see the risen Christ:  And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.   Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."   This is the great good news, that Jesus has conquered death, and opened the door for all of us to be with Him where He is (John 17:24).  These women are the first to see and hear the good news, and to take it to the disciples.  In Christ's economy of the risen Word, women are the first to obey, playing this essential role in our salvation, and reversing the story of Eve.  In the story of the Resurrection, we all become essential.  What role do you play?  Faith and obedience tell the story of loyalty and love.

 

 

 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD"

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

- John 1:19–28 

 

Yesterday we read what is called the Prologue to John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  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.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. 

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  After the Prologue to John's Gospel (above) which introduced us to the divine nature of Christ and His Incarnation in the world, the Gospel shifts to begin the story of the ministry of Christ in the world.  Here we will be given a sequence of seven days, the first week, in keeping with the parallels to the Genesis creation account which began John's Gospel with the words, "In the beginning . . .."  Here we are given the first day, so to speak, of Jesus' ministry, the witness of John the Baptist.  He bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the Jews (that is, their representatives, the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem).  My study Bible says this is a parallel to the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  It emphasizes that John the Baptist is a prophet but not the Prophet; that is, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3, indicating that he is the fulfillment of this part of Isaiah's prophecy.

 

 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.   John's baptism is one of repentance.  This is a traditional call of the prophets.  His baptism did not grant remission of sins, but John here points to the One who is coming who will do so. 

 

 John the Baptist is an extremely important figure in the Gospels and in the life of the Church.  He was widely revered in Israel in his own time, with the people considering him to be a holy man.  The Church has historically viewed John the Baptist as the greatest of all the Old Testament style prophets, and also the last one.  Here he indicates his role in the salvation history of the world, that of the one prophesied by Isaiah, who is the "voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Make straight the way of the LORD.'"  He is the one who comes to proclaim the advent of the Messiah, to prepare the world for the arrival of the King who is coming, as John indicates by describing the Christ as One "preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  John is therefore the herald of the King.  He is titled the "Forerunner" in the Orthodox tradition, just as kings once sent ahead of them those who announce their coming.  John plays this very important and honored role; moreover he does so in the role of a great prophet calling the people back to God.  But if we look upon this event of John's ministry with the perspective of the Church, we have to see what a tremendous role he plays at the center of all spiritual history, for he announces the coming of the One who is the very heart and center of salvation for all time.  In this sense John plays the great role of a most valued servant to the greatest king, someone who serves with devotion and the highest calling.  John is also known to us for his tremendous humility.  He will say of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).  In this sense also of his virtue of humility, John the Baptist serves and has served as inspiration for monastics from the very beginning of the monastic tradition.  For John lived his life in complete devotion to God, to which his poverty gives testimony.  Mark 1:6 tells us, "Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey."  In is service to God, John the Baptist knows is role.  He knows who he is in the salvation story.  And perhaps more importantly, he gives us a sense that we all need to seek whatever that role for ourselves, whatever way God calls us to serve Christ, the heart and center of our faith ("the author and finisher of our faith," St. Paul writes in Hebrews 12:2).  For, as alien as this might sound to modern ears, we are each called to be our own saint, in whatever way we fulfill the role God has for us, whatever way Christ asks us to serve.  For faith is not simply a declaration, it's a way of life, a journey, even an every day adventure.  As we grow in faith, so we also come across new choices to make, and new discernment to learn -- His way.  Each of our lives is unique, just as each saint of the Church we know is unique.  And this is the great adventure, how we are called, how we are asked to live our lives in service to the One at the center of all things.  John the Baptist serves as a great inspiration to all who follow, especially to monastics who dedicate their lives to God in perhaps the most radical ways.  But God calls to each of us who would be disciples.  John heralds the Christ and testifies to Him.  What role does God ask you to play in serving this mission of the Son?  Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about John was his capacity to serve in such a unique way, one who had a mission to serve what no one yet knew.  What that teaches each of us is that no matter where we are, or in what circumstances we find ourselves, God is there leading us also, even in the wilderness.

 

 

 

I am "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the LORD,'" as the prophet Isaiah said

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD," '

as the prophet Isaiah said."

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

 

- John 1:19-28 

 

Yesterday, the lectionary gave us what is known as the Prologue of John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  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.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.  

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  Here the theological Prologue to John's Gospel is finished (see yesterday's reading, above), and the testimony of the Gospel has shifted to the beginnings of Christ's earthly ministry.  Thus begins the witness of John the Baptist in today's reading.  This next part of John's Gospel, extending through chapter 2, verses 1-11, is another type of parallel with the book of Genesis.  Just as John's Prologue began with the words, "In the beginning" in order to give us a picture of the Logos, the Son of God in His divinity, today's reading begins the first of seven days given as the beginning of Christ's ministry in our world, as Incarnate human being.  It begins with John the Baptist, a highly revered figure in his time, whose ministry gave to Christ His first disciples, who had been first followers of John the Baptist.  

"Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD," ' as the prophet Isaiah said."  My study Bible comments that John the Baptist is a prophet, but not the Prophet, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  Here John is quoting from Isaiah 40:3, identifying himself as the one who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness."  He, we understand, is the herald of our Lord's coming, proclaiming to all to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

 

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.   The Pharisees have come to him as part of the ruling Council, and those who wish to scrupulously regulate and examine the faith.  John by now is well-known.  Here John again points to Christ, "One among you whom you do not know."  John's baptism is not Christian baptism, but one of repentance in preparation for the Messiah.  

My study Bible explains of John the Baptist that the call to repentance was traditional for prophets.  Thus, his role in baptizing for repentance in preparation for the coming of Christ is one that fulfills the role of prophet, and John himself is traditionally considered in the Christian faith to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament type prophets.  My study Bible notes that John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all (unlike Christian baptism with the Holy Spirit), but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  It also notes that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (or "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin, Christ.  There is another way to understand our text, and that is in keeping with the parallels to Genesis we're given in these first seven days of Christ's ministry, beginning with the call of John the Baptist to repentance in preparation.  My study Bible comments on this aspect of the text that on this first day, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light (see yesterday's reading, above), who is the Christ, in the presence of the Pharisees, those coming from the Council and in this sense representing the Jewish nation.  This parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  This call of the Baptist is extremely important, for it gives us a sense (as my study Bible suggests) of how the Old Testament calls us to the new, and points to Christ.  Clearly this preparation is essential for understanding who Christ is, for preparing the people to know the Christ, to receive the Messiah.  Many factors will be at work in terms of how the people accept or reject Christ and His ministry, not least of which are popular expectations which are false, but in fact John gives the true preparation by quoting Isaiah the prophet, showing how God has prepared the way for the Lord, and even for the Baptist himself.  What we may gather from this is first of all the importance of preparation.  When we journey along the road of faith, we may begin to observe that all that has come before in our lives, when taken in faith, can work together to point us to our salvation and a growing or deepening participation in the life of Christ, a deepening of our faith.  Secondly, the passage shows us unmistakably how John the Baptist is essential to this salvation economy, for each one plays his or her role in God's plan.  Nothing is wasted in the sense that each has a part to play.  It also tells us how greatly John was revered by the early Christians and remains an essential figure to our faith.  John is the Herald, or the Forerunner, the one who -- like the servants of a king, or a modern day diplomat or emissary who prepares the ground for a visit of a President or Prime Minister -- readies the people for the greater man's message.  John in this role is a model of humility, and serves today as such a model, especially for monastics.  The very creation of monasticism would be inspired by John and his role in the wilderness, for he lived his life in complete devotion to God.  Today the Feast of the Transfiguration is commemorated around the world, and it is important to remember, in this context, that the Transfiguration is about the revelation of the divinity of Christ to His disciples.  But perhaps most importantly, the Transfiguration (in Greek, Μεταμορφωσις/Metamorphosis) serves for Christians as the image of the Light which transfigures all things and especially transfigures us.  In the Transfiguration we are given to understand that faith is meant to be a process throughout our lives of transformation in the light of Christ, transfiguring our every day moments into something serving our salvation, a capacity for a growing and deepening faith and participation in Christ's life and kingdom.  In His light, we see light (Psalm 36:9), so that we may become the image He has for us.  So we listen to the Herald, John the Baptist, who played his part in teaching us about repentance and preparation, for the One who always makes all things new, and who continually asks us for, and gives us, repentance and renewal. 

Make straight the way of the LORD

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may given an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said: "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."  

 

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bathabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

- John 1:19-28 

 

Yesterday we read what is called the Prologue to John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  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.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

 

  Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"   He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  The theological Prologue to John's Gospel was in our previous reading (see above), and in today's reading the focus shifts to the beginnings of the ministry of Christ.  Just as the Gospel began with the words "In the beginning," evoking Genesis 1:1, so Genesis is paralleled in this beginning of the story of the ministry of Christ, which covers seven consecutive days.  In today's reading we're given the first day, the witness of John the Baptist.  

And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may given an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  John the Baptist is a prophet (indeed, he is considered to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets), but he is not the Prophet, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3.

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bathabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  On this first day given in John's Gospel, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of authorities sent from the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem.  My study Bible suggests that this parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  John baptizes with water for repentance, a traditional call for prophets.  His baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but was a prefiguration and preparation for the baptism of Christ, which he indicates here to those sent from the Pharisees.  My study Bible comments that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.

John points to the Light, as my study Bible explains, and he indicates that he baptizes to prepare people for the coming of the Light, the Christ.  This is the work of a prophet, to prepare people for the Lord.  The traditional call of the prophets, as my study Bible explains, is to repentance.  If we consider carefully what this means, it's a reminder to all of us of what we need to do throughout our lives, to orient ourselves toward God, even a sense of a meeting with God.  Repentance is, in a sense, a declaration that, as the Psalmist declares, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Psalm 51:4).  In other words, it is the Lord to whom we turn to set our steps straight, even when our errors concern others.  We look to God to find the ways we need to lead our lives, and to come to terms with whatever we need to do to set things right.  John echoes the word of Isaiah when he declares that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD."  The call to repentance, the call to make straight the way of the LORD, is a call to communion in some sense; both are figuratively calls to turn to face the Lord, in communion and relationship -- and to the righteousness necessary to do so.  It is a call to us that, no matter where we are in our lives, whatever it is that we are in the midst of doing or whatever concerns us, to turn toward the Lord and to consider this our primary need that sets all else in place, in righteous order.  This is because righteousness means "right relatedness."  So the sense in which the prophets call to repentance, in which John the Baptist calls on the people to make the paths of the Lord straight, is a call to righteous order, to set ourselves in right relatedness to God, and by extension to neighbor, for as Christ said, the two are inseparable (Matthew 22:34-40).  While John the Baptist's call is given to us as the "first day" of Christ's ministry, let us note that it should be a reminder to us that we need to do this all the time:  when we pause for prayer, we take time to "make His paths straight" and orient ourselves toward God so that we set our own lives in order.  John reminds us of Christ's words given to us at the end of Matthew's Gospel (Saturday's reading):  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."   We should know that the Lord is with us always, so that we turn to Him and make straight His way in our hearts.

 

 

He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me

 

 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.  When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."

 

- Matthew 26:17-25 

 

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus had finished His entire discourse on the end times (covered in our readings over the past week, beginning with last Thursday), He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."  And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

 

 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.   My study Bible comments that the Passover commemorates God's deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Land of Promise.  It prefigures the Passion of Christ, which is the new Passover (in Greek, Pascha), which is God's redemption of all humanity from sin and death, and entrance into the promised Kingdom.  Whether the first day of the Feast was Passover, or the day before Passover, is debated in patristic literature (the synoptic gospels date the Crucifixion on the first day of Passover, while John dates it on the Preparation Day, the day before Passover).   But what is certain is that Jesus regarded this meal with the disciples to be the Passover meal.

When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.  Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"  He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."  Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?"  He said to him, "You have said it."  My study Bible notes that the phrase "it is written of Him" does not cancel Judas' responsibility.  It says that God foresees but does not cause the evil actions of humans, who always have free will.  Luke 22:3 tells us that "Satan entered Judas," but my study Bible comments there that this would not have been possible had there not been a place for Satan in his heart, as opposed to the other disciples.  Jesus allows Judas to accuse himself, yet even upon hearing that Christ knows of his deception, Judas does not repent.

In our recent readings and commentary, we have noted that the positive actions which will be favored in Christ's judgment (see the readings of Wednesday and also the gesture of the anointing of Christ in yesterday's reading, above) are those acts of compassion which are distinguished in part by their personal nature.  It is a place in the heart that prompts the "sheep" (in Christ's parable of judgment) and gives them this characteristic He distinguishes from the goats.  It seems to go back to that which my study Bible comments upon regarding the state of the heart of Judas; there was "room" there for the influence of Satan.  As opposed to the compassionate nature of the gestures Jesus mentions at the judgment that characterize the sheep ("I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me"), Judas' actions -- including in the light of his conversation here with Jesus -- imply a coldness, a hardness of heart.  There is no empathy here.  This is emphasized in the nature of the communal action that takes place during the reading.  It is noteworthy that they eat the Passover meal together, which is not simply a meal that Jesus eats with His disciples, but also a communal meal of the people of Israel, a commemoration of perhaps the most significant event in defining a people.  In all forms of worship, from ancient pagans to today's traditions, there are communal meals that distinguish a people together with the object of worship.  In the Christian tradition, we eat the communal meal with Christ in the Eucharist as the central act of worship, our bond in communion with Christ, which will be instituted at this final meal with the disciples.  So the fact that Jesus specifically states, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me" is a profound statement about betrayal.  It indicates the depth of communal inclusion that Judas has with Him, and so the depth of betrayal as well.  In Scripture, to eat with others is to commune with them, to engage in community.  Of course, with Christ and His disciples this indicates a level of communion that includes the most profound spiritual realities, and this we should consider.  It is again indicative of the mindset of Judas.  There is no longer that depth of communion that indicates the personal, a person-to-person communion with Christ and the others as well (for he will also betray them in betraying Christ).  Rather, Christ has somehow become an object, a means to some sort of end.  As my study Bible indicated in the commentary on yesterday's reading, Judas' motives have been debated, with John indicating his love of money as motivation.  But even with other suggested theoretical motives (for example, that he believed Jesus would institute a rebellion against the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom, or that the seizure of Christ would be an instigation toward this end), Jesus is still an object to Judas; he seeks to use Jesus for his own ends.  Hence it remains betrayal, especially of the Lord who has made clear that He goes willingly to the Cross, having warned the disciples three times already.   We might also sense a possible link between Judas' failure to understand the communion of the Kingdom, this reality of the kingdom of heaven he was once sent out to preach (see Matthew 10, especially verse 7), and what is lacking in his heart.  It is also possible that Judas is responding to Christ's rebuke regarding the woman's gesture of anointing, which John's Gospel seems to indicate was directed at Judas, for he is named specifically as the one who criticized the woman named as Mary the sister of Lazarus (see John 12:1-8).  In any case, it might be instructive to understand Judas acting from resentment or anger or pride -- so that we understand that in ourselves these are feelings that can hold danger, cutting us off from communion and compassion; hence the historic cultivation of dispassion in the Church.  Any way that we look at this betrayal, it holds for us powerful instruction for ourselves and our own weaknesses and vulnerability.  Judas does not return to the disciples or Christ in repentance after this act, although Jesus seems to try to save him at every possible encounter and remind him of their bond, including here in today's reading with these words (He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me) and also His grave warning about the consequences of such an act (woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born).  Ultimately, it is a lack of love that is at work here, just as in the failure of compassion in the judgment parable of the sheep and the goats.   So, for today, let us consider what constitutes community and communion.  With what or whom do we keep company?  With what or whom do we commune?  Remember that in worship, we engage in the deepest possible communion with Christ in the Eucharist, and it is from this that we take our cue that we wish to become more "like Him."  With whom shall we partake?  Who offers us His body and blood?  Who teaches us to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34)?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are you?

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

 

- John 1:19-28 

 

 Yesterday we read what is called the Prologue to John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  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.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"   Here the theological Prologue of John's Gospel ends, the focus of the Gospel shifts to the beginnings of Christ's worldly ministry, the testimony of John.  That is, the witness of John the Baptist.  We are given, beginning with today's reading, seven consecutive days, paralleling the creation story in Genesis, just as John's Gospel itself began similarly to the opening of Genesis, with "In the beginning" (see yesterday's reading, above).  The next several readings with continue to parallel Genesis by describing seven consecutive days in the beginning of Christ's ministry.

 

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."   John the Baptist is a prophet, but not the Prophet, meaning the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3.  He is the herald of the coming Messiah, and he understands himself and his position in the history of Judaism, and the story of salvation.

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.   Here we are given the events of the first day of John's Gospel and Christ's ministry.  In a parallel to Genesis, on this first day, John the Baptist bears witness to he Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the Jews (that is, the witnesses sent from Jerusalem, these Pharisees).  This parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  

John calls the people to "Make straight the way of the LORD," quoting Isaiah.  This is a call to repentance, and it was a traditional call for prophets.  My study Bible explains that John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come.  It notes that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, John denounced sin but could not remit (or literally "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.  John says, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."   He is aware that in the coming baptism of Christ, there is more than only the element of water, and his comparison of Himself to Christ is apt.  He speaks of himself as a slave unworthy even to unloose or carry another's sandals; this is John's humble comparison of himself as prophet to Christ who is the Messiah.  And it is John's humility that stands through the centuries as the image for imitation of all who follow and would be disciples and faithful to Christ, especially for those who have gone into monastic vocations.  Humility is, first of all, considered to be the gateway to all of the spiritual virtues.  St. Paul names many of such virtues when he writes of the fruit of the Spirit:  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).  It is through humility that the development of such virtue, and receipt of the teachings and leading of the Spirit itself, becomes possible; and pride, the opposite of humility, blocks the way to repentance, change, transformation through grace.  But there is a deeper teaching here in the actions and character of John the Baptist, this last and greatest of the prophets in the Old Testament lineage.  John teaches us that it is in our relationship to Christ that we truly find ourselves and our identities.  Much is concerned in modern popular culture with the finding of the "true self," and the questions we might have about who we are.  But the world cannot really give us the answer to that, for the answer is that we are not simply material nor even social beings, but that we are material and spiritual; we have a mind and a heart, a body and a spirit and a soul.  We have a consciousness capable of asking such questions.  The answer to such questions about who we are is found in our deepening relationship to Christ, our deepening dependence upon our faith.  This is because even notions of who we are cannot be answered except through a deeper and broader being, something (or Someone) greater than we are, a leading into an awareness of true self which also runs much deeper than consciousness and is -- like God, in whose image and likeness we're created -- a mystery of depth whose limits we don't know.  At heart, we have depths we don't know about; and so, the answers to who we are can only be found in the depth of relatedness and journey of faith of knowledge and growth toward the infinite God.  If that sounds a bit high-minded, simply consider that it is in the trusting humility of John that John knows himself and who he is in the fullness of salvation history -- and it is there in which we will also be able to find ourselves, and to grow in that knowledge of who it is God calls us to be and to become, through grace and through faith.  Let us consider our place before the Light.

 

 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD," as the prophet Isaiah said

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."  

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

- John 1:19–28 

 

Yesterday we read the Prologue of John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.   There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  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.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"    John's Prologue was essentially a theological statement about who Jesus Christ is, an understanding of the Word or Logos.  Here we begin to get the story of Christ's ministry.  

 

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am  'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."   Just as the Prologue began quoting the words of the creation story in Genesis, "In the beginning" (see yesterday's reading, above), here we start with the "first day" of Christ's ministry.   We are given the witness of John the Baptist.  Just as Genesis gives seven days of creation, so John's Gospel now begins by giving us the first seven days of Jesus' ministry.  Here on this first day, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ--in the presence of the Jews.  My study bible tells us that this parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  My study bible comments here that John the Baptist is a prophet, but not the Prophet.  That is, He is not the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.   John's baptism is part of his call for repentance in preparation for the Messiah, the Christ.  He is preparing people for the baptism of Christ which is to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   Thus, when he is asked about his practice of baptism by the Pharisees, He responds that the One who comes after him is "preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  Christ is the one whose baptism will remit or "put away" sin, which the Law cannot do in and of itself.

What does it mean to "make straight the way of the Lord," as Isaiah said?  John is quoting from Isaiah 40:3.  This chapter of Isaiah begins with the words, "'Comfort, yes, comfort my people!' says God" (Isaiah 40:1).  The prophecy of Isaiah spans a time when the Assyrian Empire grew in power and expanded in conquest, which had included the northern kingdom of Israel.  Isaiah speaks to the southern kingdom of Judah, even as Jews from Israel have been taken captive, telling them to trust in God alone.  John the Baptist is using the words of Isaiah to communicate a message to the people under Roman occupation, and gives us an immense clue to the ways that Christians would come to see all of Old Testament Scripture.  The words and teachings in Isaiah, and especially in this section of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 40-55), heavily parallel the images of Christ as Shepherd and the people of God as lambs, the "good news" or "good tidings" of the gospel of Christ, and the timelessness and endurance of the word of God, as opposed to the years of human beings and history's flow.  Isaiah says, "The nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the balance of a scale . . . All nations are as nothing and are counted as nothing" (Isaiah 40:15,17).  John is signalling the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in the ministry of Christ, and Christ as the comfort of God's people.  It is especially poignant for the people of Christ's time, who so longingly were awaiting a deliverer.  In the shadow of what was to come in the destruction of Jerusalem, it becomes a haunting statement reminding us to take care what we put our faith into, and throws the stark contrast of light and dark in the beginning of John's Gospel into even greater definition.  John the Baptist's timeless call of the prophecy of Isaiah echoes to us the truth of Isaiah's words of comfort.  There remains one place in which we can find a transcendent comfort amid the vicissitudes of history.   Even as there are presently voices which would seek to remove this comfort from our midst, we remain committed not just to our faith but also to our own experiences of comfort in our faith.   The same comfort calls back to us in the words of Isaiah, and the truth of the gospel message of "good tidings" which Isaiah prophesied amid the frightening and tumultuous history of the time in which he lived.  John the Evangelist reminds us, in yesterday's reading, that from "the beginning" there were those who preferred the darkness to the light of the gospel message in the Person of Jesus Christ.  So, for today, let us consider the words of John the Baptist, as he quotes from Isaiah, intervening in time, amidst empires and powers that seek to shake the will of human beings, what it is to be comforted with truth that has nothing to do with declarations of the rich and powerful.  Let us turn to the good news and know that our Comforter is here, our Shepherd remains even as everything else will pass (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33).

 

 

 

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Mileseva Monastery, Serbia

Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

- Luke 23:56-24:11

In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' death on the cross, the darkness at noon, the tearing of the veil in the temple. Jesus cried out, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'" The centurion declared, "Certainly this was a righteous man!" The people beat their breasts and returned, while Jesus' acquaintances and the women who'd followed Him from Galilee watched all from a distance. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council who was not opposed to Jesus, a good and just man, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. He laid it in an unused tomb, hewn out of rock.

Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. This verse ended yesterday's reading, and it begins today's. The Sabbath gives us a pause. It's as if all the world is silent and rests for a pace, a breath, a day. This Sabbath pause is a moment between worlds, in a sense. It's like a moment between darkness and dawn -- a new day and perhaps even a new world is born here, in this one day of rest.

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. This first day of the week is, indeed, a new day. It is the Lord's Day in Christian tradition; the day after the Sabbath, a Sunday. Sometimes called the eighth day, it begins!

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. The light begins early on this new first day, from these shining garments. Where is the body of the Lord? Who are these men? We recall Jesus and the Mount of Transfiguration, His glistening robe and the appearance in glory of His two companions Moses and Elijah.

Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" And they remembered His words. And the good news really begins! The messengers in the shining garments are angels, messengers with a message for them. Indeed, such a message is this! "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Forever we remember these words, and the angels begin the task that starts this day: the words of Jesus are recalled and illumined for them. And my study bible adds, "He is risen! The news of great joy, heralding the new dispensation, resounds throughout the whole world, transforming the creation and the lives of millions of men and women."

Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. Somewhere the followers of Jesus are gathered -- clearly this group is larger than the eleven alone. But the women -- again we return to the women, as Luke always does. These faithful are the first ones to bear this great news of abundant joy. They bear witness to the words of the angels. But how like this story in these Gospels of our human nature amidst the great tidings: "their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them." Perhaps the news is too good for them to take it in.

The women, always the women. Luke returns to them again and again. Here they are, doing the work that must be done, preparing the anointing for the One whom they love. And they are greeted with the great tidings of He who lives! "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" What powerful words these are, and they are given not to the apostles, but to these women faithful from Galilee. Idle tales! It is in such that the kingdom of God, and the new world transfigured, is born - in the loving and the faithful, the ones who become messengers of the good news from the love born in their hearts to begin with. These women, who will be titled "Equal to the Apostles" and "Myrrhbearers"-- 0ur Lord has honored them to be the first to know! And the angels have delivered to them the great tidings, the glad words. Can we hear the message? Can we read the love and joy in their hearts? Can we see and hear them in one another today? "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Let us remember that He lives - in us, in them, and is present to us all today.