If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

- Matthew 9:18–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed on, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  My study Bible comments on today's passage that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).   As He is of one essence with the Father, Christ has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the flow of blood demonstrates His power to cleanse and to heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, we must understand, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement.  This imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This suffering woman counts herself unclean, my study Bible says, but she nevertheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith.  He also corrects her thinking, because she could neither hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, Christ even exhibits her faith as an example to all, that they might imitate her.  

 

One interesting thing about today's passage is that the healing of this woman with the flow of blood is always placed "in between" the story of the healing of Jairus' daughter (the ruler of the synagogue is identified as Jairus in the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke).  It's interesting to juxtapose the stories of the woman and the girl.  Here we're told that the woman's flow of blood had lasted for twelve years.  Again, in the other Synoptic Gospels, we're told that the girl is twelve years old.  So there are some interesting contrasts and comparisons in this story.  The woman, an outcast because of her illness, comes to Jesus in secret and yet with great faith.  Contrast her actions with the ruler of the synagogue, who boldly comes to Jesus himself and tells Him that his daughter has just died, and asks for Christ's touch to heal her.  The woman with the blood flow has such great faith that her healing is effected through the touching of Christ's hem.  In the ruler's household, Jesus is ridiculed for saying that the child is not dead, but sleeping.  (The flute players and the noisy crowd wailing are mourning her.)  But of course, we notice that Christ's healing happens in both circumstances by touch:  in the first, she touched the hem of His garment; in the second He took her by the hand.  Perhaps the pattern in this story is suggesting to us that there is no "right" way that Christ can heal, no right person Christ can heal.  In some sense, we can say that everything in one story is inversed in the other, for Christ inhabits all dimensions. There is nothing and no place where He is not.  There is nothing in creation that is separate from His rule (John 3:31-36).  And His rule is supreme:  He is the Giver of the Law, and His mercy declares healing and love and responds to faith.  This reminds us of the righteousness of Abraham, accounted to him by his faith (Genesis 15:6,Romans 4:1-22, Galatians 3:6-9, Hebrews 11:8-10, Hebrews 11:17-19).   This woman comes to Christ in great faith.  In the other stories of the Synoptic Gospels, Jairus must be encouraged by Christ to have faith, and we see in today's reading that Jesus must put the people out of the house who ridicule.  In the Jewish culture of the time, public relations between men and women could make touch scandalous, but here in both cases, touch is the means by which God's healing comes.  

 

 

 

 

Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat

 

 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  

 

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written much still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."

 

- Luke 22:31–38 

 

Yesterday we read that there was also a dispute among the disciples, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves.  "But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

 

  And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."   My study Bible tells us that when Jesus says, "Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat," the form of you in Greek is plural, indicating that Satan has asks for all the disciples.  But when He says, "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren," the form of you used in this verse is singular, meaning that Jesus prays especially for Simon Peter.  My study Bible explains that because Peter's faith was the strongest, he would be tested the most.  Regarding Christ's words to St. Peter, "When you have returned to Me," see John 21:15-17.  "Strengthen your brethren" refers not only to the other disciples, but even to all the faithful until Christ returns.  

 

 And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written much still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."  My study Bible comments here that the sword is not to be understood literally (compare to verses 49-51), but refers to the living word of God in the battle against sin (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).  There is an additional meaning added by St. Ambrose of Milan, who says that giving up one's garment and buying a sword represents surrendering the body to the sword of martyrdom.  Because the disciples were thinking literally of swords, Jesus ends the discussion abruptly, with the words, "It is enough," or better translated, "Enough of this!" (see Deuteronomy 3:26; Mark 14:41).  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 53:12.

 

In today's reading, Jesus gives the disciples a sort of preview of the life to come as we await His return, even the life that we live today until the end of the age when He will judge in the fullness of the Resurrection.   For we do have still Satan at work in the world, seeking to sift as wheat those who love God.  This is why Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for the persecutions and difficulties and tribulations to come.  It is why we still need to be aware of spiritual battle, and to put on, in the words of St. Paul, "the whole armor of God" (see Ephesians 6:10-18 for St. Paul's full description of what that is).  We may wonder why, if Satan is indeed defeated, as Jesus has indicated (Luke 10:18), believers continue to do battle "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  It is St. Peter himself who writes of this time that we await Christ's return and Judgment, "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:8-9; see also Psalm 90:4).  But certainly throughout this age in which we await Christ's return, our own participation in this spiritual battle as faithful is important in the sight of God, for otherwise it would not have been so to start with.  What we can conclude is that God's love for us is so strong that, although of course God needs nothing from us, we are invited in to this "good fight" as St. Paul calls it in 2 Timothy 4:7.  Just as God works through God's holy angels, so God also invites us, those faithful who struggle in this way, to be a part of God's "forces" and works in the world.  For we human beings, God's creatures as are the angels, are those whom God would also like to work through and share His power and authority with, as indicated in so many places in the Gospels, and throughout the Scriptures.  Repeatedly we are told that we, also, may become "sons of God" by adoption, a phrase which indeed is also used for the spiritual beings, the angels of all ranks, who serve God.  In John 10:34, Jesus replies to the religious leaders, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?"  He quotes from Psalm 82:6.  These "gods" also refer to angelic beings, God speaking to human beings and our own capacity to become like angels as Christ tells the Sadducees in describing the Resurrection (see Luke 20:35-36).  It is this process, playing out in this world and in this age as we await His return, into which we are all born with Christ's words in today's reading to His disciples.  Ultimately, as Jesus indicates to Peter, this is a battle for faith.  So let us be prepared, and take up His charge and commission to follow Him in the way we are taught, and knowing the spiritual landscape into which we go forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the things concerning Me have an end

 

 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."

 

- Luke 22:31–38 

 

Yesterday we read that, when the hour had come, Jesus sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.  Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And He said to them, "The king of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves.  But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

 

 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  In the first verse in today's reading, when Jesus says, "Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat," this you is plural, an indication that Satan has asked for all the disciples.  But in the next verse ("But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren"), the you is singular here, which indicates that Jesus prayed particularly for Simon Peter.  My study Bible comments that because Peter's faith was the strongest, he would be tested the most.   Regarding Jesus' word to Peter, "When you have returned to Me,"  See John 21:15-17.  My study Bible says that Jesus' command "strengthen your brethren" refers not simply to the other disciples, but to all the faithful until He returns.  

 

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."  My study Bible comments that the word sword (in "he who has no sword") is not to be understood literally (compare to verses 49-51, which will be in this Monday's reading).  Here "sword" refers to the living word of God in the battle against sin (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).  Also, my study Bible cites the commentary of St. Ambrose, who adds an additional meaning.  He says that giving up one's garment and buying a sword is a reference to surrendering the body to the sword of martyrdom.  Because the disciples were thinking of swords literally, Jesus abruptly ends the discussion with the words, "It is enough."  My study Bible comments that this phrase is better translated, "Enough of this!" (see Deuteronomy 3:26; Mark 14:41). 

Jesus asks the disciples, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the thing concerning Me have an end."  In His question, we can see that Jesus is preparing the disciples for the time to come, as He is about to be betrayed and given over to the Romans.  He has said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5).  But this Light is not going to be with the disciples as the human Jesus for very much longer.  Now they will need to care for themselves in a different way, He's saying to them. They will need to prepare for a different time in the world when He is no longer with them and guiding them as His disciples in the same way.  Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah 53:12, and so indicating what end will be fulfilled in Him.  He has also taught them, "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also" (John 15:20).  What is coming for Jesus will be the beginning of persecutions for those who follow Him.  Therefore Jesus is now preparing the ones who follow Him, His disciples, for the time that is at hand, and how they will have to live in the world without Him in the flesh.  There is a great component revealed earlier, when Jesus addressed St. Peter, saying, "Simon, Simon!  Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat."  As indicated above, this "you" is plural, meaning that although Jesus addresses Simon (and with a double exclamation of his name, so truly grabbing his attention), He does so as Simon Peter so often represents and speaks for all of the disciples.  With the coming of the Cross, the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah, Satan seeks to sift them all as wheat.  But it is Simon whom Jesus also calls upon -- despite his coming denial of Christ -- to return and to strengthen the brethren in this new period of difficulties and persecution that is coming. Many have noted that the Old Testament verse which is most frequently quoted in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1, "The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."  Jesus quotes this verse when He poses a kind of riddle to the religious leaders in the temple (see last Friday's reading).  This verse is important because it leads to the inevitable conclusion that the Messiah is both human (a son of David) and God (the only One whom King David would call "My Lord").  Yet we must go to the verse that follows to understand something important about the time for which Jesus is preparing the disciples as He is about to go to betrayal and the Cross.  "The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!" (Psalm 110:2).  To rule in the midst of one's enemies is a strange condition indeed.  How does a King do this?  Well, if the "LORD" (God the Father) is addressing King David's "Lord," the Son and Messiah, then what is being said is that Christ will rule by His rod of strength out of Zion, even in the midst of His enemies in this world.  We know who Christ is, and that He came into the world to depose the devil, Satan, the "prince of this world."  But clearly, Christ rules in the midst of His enemies, for the time in which we live now is the same era for which Christ is preparing the disciples.  It remains a period in which we know the Kingdom, and the King, and we also know that the Spirit of God is at work in the world.  But at the same time, we are aware that this is a time of spiritual battle, even of persecutions and hatred.  St. John writes in his first Epistle, "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world" (1 John 4:2-3).  The spirit of the Antichrist remains in the world, and so Christ "rules in the midst of His enemies."  And this is the state in which we find ourselves in the Church.  Just as Christ warns the disciples, this is the period in which we live, and so we should not be surprised to find adversities of any and various kinds, even frightful news about horrific militias, betrayals, and those who would seek even to call themselves Christian even as they support such fearsome forces at work against Christian communities.  Let us consider, at this time, that Christ nonetheless continues to rule in the midst of His enemies, and that He has commanded us simply to endure as the faithful.  Like St. Peter, we must be prepared to be called on to strengthen our brothers and sisters who are persecuted, even as there are Christ's disciples whom Satan still desires to sift as wheat.  It is our faith that is our greatest weapon of strength, and for this Christ has prayed.  Let us remember to follow Him as He said, and endure in that faith as our true weapon given by God, the living word by which we live (Hebrews 4:12). 

But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid"

 

Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.  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 of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.

 

- Mark 6:47–56 

 

Yesterday we read that the apostles gathered to Jesus, having returned from their first apostolic mission, and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.  Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.

 

Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.  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.  My study Bible comments that only God has dominion over nature; therefore this miraculous even confirms the divinity of Christ.  We recall the previous time the disciples were allowed to be caught in a storm (see this reading).  On that occasion Christ was with them, but here He had left them alone.  In this way, my study Bible notes, Christ strengthens their faith that He will always be with them in the midst of the storms of life.  It is I can be literally translated from the Greek "I Am," which is the divine Name of God (see John 8:58).  My study Bible says that in this way, Christ reminds the fearful disciples of His absolute and divine authority over their lives.  

 

And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.  My study Bible teaches here that to know Christ is a matter of the heart, and not simply the intellect.  When our hearts are illumined by faith in God, it says, they are open to receive God's presence and grace.  In the ascetic writings of the Church, the heart is understood as "the seat of knowledge."

 

 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 of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.   Christ permits miracles through touch; we understand from this -- and also the healing of the woman with the blood flow in this reading --  that Christ's very body is life-giving.  

 

 If we take the first part of our reading for today, the story begins like a dream unfolding; or, we could say that in some sense it is reminiscent of a dream in the night.  It begins with a setting in which Jesus has stayed behind to go pray upon the mountain, while He has sent the disciples ahead of Him -- across the sea in a boat (see yesterday's reading, above).  Listen to the language of the text:  the disciples are in the boat in the middle of the sea, while Jesus is alone on the land.  Both are images of aloneness in some sense, and of being far away, even unconnected with one another.  We think of all of their activities from the previous day (again, see yesterday's reading, above), and all of the things they do always together, and now they are far apart and isolated from one another.  But Jesus, no matter where He is or how separated from them, sees what is happening with them:  He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  And here is the dream-like quality:  it's three o'clock in the morning.  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.  Isolated, in the deep dark of very early morning, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee with the wind against them.  This isn't a modern power boat, but an ancient which they must row across the sea.  Can we possibly imagine how frightening such a sight would appear to be?    So it is in this context we hear Jesus' words to them:  "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."   The Greek that is translated as "be of good cheer" means to take heart, to be emboldened, take courage, be confident.  It is the right response to the cold feeling of aloneness in the midst of the sea and dark and wind.  The "I Am" has already been remarked upon in the note from my study Bible.  Christ's presence is the presence of the Lord, even the Lord of the Old Testament, and that presence is meant to banish fear.  In Greek the command is a plural imperative addressing them all:  "μὴ φοβεῖσθε," "don't fear," the word for fear the same root that shapes the English word "phobia."  The lesson they (and we) are to take seems to be that Christ is always watching, even when He seems to have abandoned us and is far away, even when we are separated by a great distance and by great differences of environment -- even as Christ is at the right hand of the Father while we here in the world are lost at sea in our own ways and in our own dark nights.  He is watching and His presence is with us nevertheless, just as the Lord was with Israel in the stories of the Old Testament.  We see that the text is careful to emphasize that the disciples really hadn't understood Him yet and His divine nature, for it tells us they were astonished as "their heart was hardened."  They hadn't yet understood the things of the Lord, their faith was such that is would become, and this episode is likely, of course, to have informed their future missions into the world for the Kingdom.  They've just returned from their first missionary journey, but they still have a lot to learn, as do we throughout our lives and in terms of our faith.  We don't know how the Lord is with us, and how our faith works to call the One who comes to our side (the literal meaning of the Greek word Paraclete/Παράκλητος, also translated as Advocate (1 John 2:1).  In this case, they haven't even called Him as far as we know, but His eye is on them and He comes to them to banish their fears, and to still the wind.  It's important that we understand Christ as the God who sees (Genesis 16:13) even when we feel we're alone and isolated, and that we know we must call on the Lord.  Jesus says this also of Himself in His humanity, "I am not alone, because the Father is with Me" (John 16:32).  Even in our own aloneness, let us consider the God who sees, for He is always with us to dispel our fear so we may seek His presence and His way forward for us.  I have recently listened to some statistics that stated that today's generation of younger people seem to be suffering from a greater loneliness than ever before.  Let us consider the importance of Christ's presence as an answer to today's problems for many.

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.

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

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

- Matthew 9:9-17

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

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Matthew, the author of our Gospel, is also called Levi (Mark 2:14).  My study bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors.  These tax collectors were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, backed by the military might of the Roman state.  Their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and corruption caused other Jews not only to hate them but to consider them unclean (11:19).

Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."  Jesus dining with tax collectors and also accepting Matthew as a disciple ("Follow Me") offends the Pharisees.   But Jesus' defense is quite simple.  He goes where the need for the physician is greatest.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is from Hosea 6:6.  My study bible says that this is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, but rather shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."  Typically in Jewish tradition fasting was done twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  In addition to this, public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But the day of the Messiah was viewed as a wedding feast, a time of great joy and gladness.  Here Jesus is proclaiming that this day is present, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/bridegroom.  In the tradition of the Church from its earliest times, fasting was continued as a practice -- but transfigured.  It was not seen as gloomy.   It was viewed as desirable, a "bright sadness," because by fasting people were gaining self-control and preparing themselves for the Wedding Feast, a forward-looking understanding.

"No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  My study bible says that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law.  In the light of Christ these are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  But the new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine, it says, is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

Jesus' encounter with the Pharisees, and His taking on of Matthew the tax collector as disciple, comes in the context of the recent healing stories in Matthew's Gospel.  Jesus reinforces this understanding when He says, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."  In today's reading, the Gospel gives us glimmers of what is to come in the sense that transfiguration is a repeated hint of the reality that Christ brings into the world.  To be healed is in a sense to be transfigured, brought from one state to another state.  Here the keys are mercy and repentance.  Mercy is the means by which God acts, and also divine action in us.  Repentance is a form of transfiguration, literally meaning "change of mind" in the Greek.  It is what is necessary for the healed state of being.  We also need to read about fasting in this light.  John the Baptist's disciples come and ask about fasting -- and Jesus puts everything into perspective by declaring Himself to be the Bridegroom.  He is the Messiah they await, and the joy of the disciples must be seen in this light.  Jesus also predicts that they will fast "when the bridegroom will be taken away from them."   The early Church would instate the practice of fasting, similarly to the practice that the Jews had on Mondays and Thursdays, but the Church would establish it for Wednesdays and Fridays (commemorating the day of Jesus' betrayal and the day He died on the Cross, the times "when the Bridegroom was taken away" from His friends).  But as hinted at in the repeated understanding in today's reading, this was a transfigured fasting practice, one that looked forward once again to the joy of unification, the wedding feast, and the return of the Bridegroom to the Church, His Bride.  The practice is meant, in a nutshell, for healing and health -- learning to abstain not simply from food but rather from sin, and coming to know our capacity for self-mastery and making choices, such as happens in repentance.  Finally Jesus gives us the great analogy for transfiguration:  the wine.  Its enzymatic action is seen similarly to the work of the Holy Spirit.   New wine -- the "harvest" of His ministry -- must be put into new wineskins, those that will grow and expand with the action of fermentation, the process of the transfiguring internal work that we don't see but yet we come to observe its effects.    This is another mirror of healing -- the mysterious process that takes place internally, but gives us signs externally of its effects.  All of these things are glimmers, facets of the light that will grow through this ministry to bring our understanding of Christ as the One who transforms, transfigures, where ultimately the power of the Cross will even transfigure death.  How we become that wine is something we can't control or name, but rather something that works within us, with which we cooperate through faith and acceptance.  We may not know even how we come to change; but we can observe the fruits of this work in our own transfiguration and capacities for the fruits of the Spirit.  Let us remember who we are as the new wine, and the journey of growth and expansion and repentance we are on, the health of the Physician who is always making all things new.

Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace

 

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. 

But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace." 

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep, she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. 

- Luke 8:40-56

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.  And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a  house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg You, do not torment me!"  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain.  So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them.  And He permitted them.  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.  When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.  And he got into the boat and returned.  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  Jesus returns to Capernaum from their mission across the Sea of Galilee.  Here is His makeshift ministry "headquarters," where Peter has a family home, and He is well-known.

But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."   For the community of the Jews, contact with blood caused defilement and led to social and religious isolation (see Leviticus 15:25-30).  This woman, therefore, has a bold faith in approaching both Christ and a ruler of the synagogue in a crowd.  It means that she is potentially defiling all of them (so that they all would be considered unclean) and subjecting herself to ridicule or worse.  My study bible says that Jesus' question, "Who touched Me?" doesn't simply mean a physical touch.  As He perceived power going out from Himself, Jesus is asking, "Who touched Me in faith?"  It notes that just as "the temple sanctifies the gold" (Matthew 23:17), so also matter is sanctified by Christ's Incarnation, and the power of Christ works through even His garment.  To touch Christ's garment, it says, is to touch Him.  Perhaps our most clear Incarnational "understanding" is in the sacrament of bread and wine.  When done in faith, the power of Christ is received.  But oil, icons, water, and other forms take on the same power in the overall context of the Church.   We may compare Jesus saying to this woman, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace" with His words to the woman who anointed Him with the alabaster flask of fragrant oil, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep, she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.   Both healing stories are about faith.  In this one, Jesus goes so far as to put those who ridicule Him out of the house, and to take along with Him those disciples of His inner circle with the greatest faith.  Everything is done to strengthen Jairus and his wife in faith.  Again, the healing is by touch.  Let us note that He tells them to tell no one what happened.  We can be certain all will be amazed as this has already been quite a public event, but the implication is not only that His messianic secret must be kept for His own reasons, but also that faith is an intimate understanding, a communion between God and those immediately concerned -- and not the business of the unfaithful.

The two women, of both this reading from Monday, and the woman with the blood flow in today's reading, are interesting to think about in tandem.  Both, in some sense, have made spectacles of themselves for the sake of their faith in Christ.  Each has been called out from a place identified with sin or uncleanness.  But each, through her faith, has been rewarded with praise from Christ.  Maybe a key element to all of this is the inclusion that Christ brings to them.  Both are cast out of society by their violations of the Law, one through sin and the other because of her blood flow.  But Jesus sees both as clean, both are allowed to touch Him, something questionable within the society under even normal circumstances and without the other issues of violation of the Law.  But the great good news is clearly augmented by the communion that Christ brings to them, their inclusion in His community.  He resets all relationships, and perhaps these women are illustrations that are most dramatic of how that happens in His presence and through His ministry, even through touch directly.  We think of touch as part of communion:  we shake hands, in the Middle East there is the formal kiss that shows good will to right relationship.  But Christ's touch brings so much more:  part of His healing is communion.  In the case of Jairus' daughter, let us not forget also that this is a girl who is just on the verge of womanhood as she is about twelve years of age.  She is still living under the protection of her father's house, and far from being like the other women, religious and social outcasts, she is the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue who has come to plead with Jesus for her life.  And yet, there is still this intimate element of touch, perhaps made more clearly intimate by the fact that Jesus puts all the servants and mourners out who ridicule, making it a private moment indeed.  And He also teaches them that they must tell no one what had happened, giving another private and intimate aspect to this healing.  But all of them center on faith, and it is faith that makes not only the connection with Christ, but which somehow engages the power of Christ.  What that power is and does we can't fully define nor contain, as that's not ours to do.  But we do see its evidence, and we have His word about what it means for us.  He tells both women that in some sense their faith has delivered them from their afflictions, and gives a kind of command, "Go in peace," which also signifies relationship and communion.  In today's lectionary reading, we may take note also of St. Paul's words from Romans 14.  Verse 17 reads, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."  We may assume that the faith of these women (and the young girl, via the faith of her parents) is accounted to them as righteousness by Christ; included in His kingdom, they are given peace and joy. 

No one puts new wine into old wineskins

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.

Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

- Mark 2:13-22

Yesterday, we read that again Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
 
 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  My study bible explains that this Levi is also Matthew (whose name will be on the first book of the Gospels).  It says that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider the unclean.  Jesus dining with them and accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me") offends the Pharisees, yet Christ's defense is simple:  he goes where the need of a physician is greatest.  In Matthew's gospel itself there is added the quotation from Hosea 6:6:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  Jesus gives the emphasis on mercy as the high priority.

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  My study bible explains that, typically, the Jews fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  In addition, public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But the day of the Messiah was seen, by contrast, as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Jesus is proclaiming that day here and declaring Himself to be the Messiah or Bridegroom.  My study bible says that for Christians, fasting is not a gloomy but desirable or "bright" sadness, because by fasting one gains self-control and makes preparation for this Wedding Feast.  Regarding the old garment and old wineskins, they stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which from this standpoint is seen as imperfect and temporary, while the new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  This new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

It must have been extremely shocking for the scribes and Pharisees to observe Jesus with His new disciples.  The tax collectors were seen as among the lowest of the low, contemptible Jews who would accept to "lord it over" other Jews and work collecting taxes for the Romans -- seen as something onerous to the people.  Moreover they would usually also be empowered to take extra for themselves, so we have to understand this profession as seen imbued with corruption and thuggery to the people as a whole.  It's in this context that we have to see this dinner.  Strange disciples indeed for this holy man!  But Jesus comes with something so new that it is shocking, and in order to understand Him, we have to understand ideas of transformation, and of transcendence.  Like wine, these people are not finished products as they are.  Jesus uses metaphors of fermentation for the mysterious spiritual work of the kingdom, such as in comparing the kingdom of God to the leaven measured into flour for dough.  Here, the "new wine" is that new covenant at work:  there has to be room for it to expand in this process -- thus the new wineskins that are different from the old and require an entirely new container, one that will stretch and grow with the action of the enzymes at work in the process.  (And, by the way, the Greek word for leaven gives us the word "enzyme.")  It's quite an exciting thing to think about new wine, a process that begins with a new harvest.  It's a sign of anticipation; what will the new wine be like?  In some way, we're still in the process of finding that out, still in the process of this mysterious fermentation of the new wine.  We remember that our Bridegroom has come to us once, and we await His return for the outcome of the vintage.  But it's well for all of us to remember that we are in a process, part of something that is at work in us, and in which we need room to grow.  Sometimes the things we learn in prayer will take us to a place where we need room to be completely new, where we may break off from the old and need a new container for our lives.  The Spirit at work will call us in one way or another, to cast off old things that leave us too limited, and to take up things that will expand us.  Let us remember this vintage process, that the work of the kingdom is one of surprising growth, something like the fermentation of the wine, that is at work deep within us.  Jesus' spirit of transformation moves us where the Spirit will, and it's not up to us to determine what that looks like in advance, or where we'll go with it.  Let us prepare for the surprises, and the startling news that will always be good, no matter what its form, even if it would burst the old wineskins.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one, otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

- Luke 5:27-39

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus first healed a leper.  The man had come to Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  He told the man to say nothing but to go to the priest for the lawful certificate to rejoin the synagogue and the community.  But word spread anyway, despite Jesus' words.  Many came to Him to heal them after that.  So Jesus withdrew often to the wilderness and prayed.  Another day there were Pharisees and teachers of the law from everywhere in Israel:  from all over Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem.  So full was the house with people that a paralytic was hoisted down through the roof by his friends.  Jesus saw their faith and said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  The scribes and Pharisees reasoned, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus received their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

  After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Levi is also Matthew, who will become an Evangelist.  My study bible points out that he leaves his occupation to become a disciple.  It notes, "From the beginning of His ministry Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him.  Levi may also have been one of those tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist."  This begins to open up a new kind of phase in the telling of Jesus' ministry, an extension of what we understand as "healing."

Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Levi celebrates, appropriate to the good news he's found, the Bridegroom who is with him.  My study bible says, "The guest register is a stirring demonstration of Jesus' love and forgiveness."  But this is something new and startling:  the Teacher is eating with tax collectors and sinners.  It should be noted here that one presumes these are people, like Matthew (Levi) who are on a new road in their lives.  Jesus teaches appropriately:  Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  My study bible says:  "Christ has come to call only those who know they need Him.  Sinners know it, but the scribes and Pharisees do not."  To be called to repentance, to "change of mind" here in Jesus' words, is to be saved, to be healed.

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."   The central saving figure in this Gospel is clear:  it is Christ.  He is the Bridegroom.  The One around whom all else celebrate.  He's the Good come into their midst, and more importantly for today's reading, He is the Healer who can heal what ails them.  Later, fasting will of course become part of the Church and its practices of remembrance.  For now, for this moment in the setting of the Gospel, Christ is with them, in person, sitting at table -- a time for joy and celebration.  My study bible puts it, "Jesus' earthly life is a time of joyous blessings."

Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one, otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old."  This saying seems to indicate that Jesus' "new" ministry among those who need His healing is an avoidance of a greater disruption.  He's not preaching to those who don't feel they need Him, and don't want to listen, but goes where He's needed, wanted, desired -- among those who respond to His saving and healing call.

 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  Continuing the metaphor to His ministry, Jesus isn't going immediately to Jerusalem and the centers of religious authority with His preaching, but in the places where the new wine can begin to ferment and develop.  In this parable, it's as if He's developing a theme of parallel ministries:  the new and the old.  In this way, both can be preserved; these are the words of a Peacemaker, one who has come to heal and to save, not to condemn.

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  My study bible notes that this is a difficult verse, appearing only in Luke.  It says, "Either it means that Jewish traditionalists are not ready to receive the new wine of Jesus' teaching, or this is a warning not to reject the Jewish heritage altogether."  It seems to imply both.  That there are those not ready to receive His teachings, who will automatically desire the old; this is human nature.  But there are those who have been left out of the banquet; they are those who drink the new with Him.

Jesus' ministry enters into themes of healing, saving, opening up for the "new" vintage that will be its fruit.  What does it mean to save?  To heal?  Let us think of Christ as the ultimate Good.  Working through the salvation history of the Old Testament Scripture, Christ's presence tells us about His work in the various "types" of the Old Testament works of God.  As Son of Man, He is here to inaugurate a "new" phase, one in which His direct saving and healing action involves all those called to repentance and to relationship.  He's healed many in His ministry already, but here a new note of healing is involved.  It's bringing those left out in the "old wine" or the mold of the "old wineskins" or "old garment" so that they, too, are included.  Being touched by Him has its saving and healing effect, an encounter with grace, in which we are invited in to say "yes" to this banquet, to turn around and be healed, to change our minds.  Healing and mercy are intertwined, and so, the old and the new live side by side, each bringing in those who would be His in the grand, overarching scheme of salvation history.  He begins His work among the "new" who may accept.  "Mercy" in the Greek is eleos, a word that sounds alike to "olive oil" -- the base for every healing balm in the ancient world.  To be anointed with this oil is to be touched with grace, healed.  But we must also turn around, and accept, on our part.  Christ is continually making new wine, and discarding none of the old.  We can all come to the table.  We can all say, "Yes"  to His invitation.