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

 

 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for 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 Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

 

- Mark 14:1–11 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus finished His discourse on end times (see also the first and second parts of His teaching on this subject).    As He completed His prophecy, He taught:  "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:  When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the door!  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.  It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all:  Watch!" 

 

 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."  My study Bible explains that the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins with the Passover meal on the evening of 15 Nisan (on the Jewish calendar), and lasts seven days (Exodus 12:12-20).  Combined, these feasts commemorate Israel's being freed from slavery in Egypt.  The word "Passover" refers to the angel of death "passing over" Hebrew hones when killing the firstborn of the Egyptians, as the Jews had put lamb's blood on the doorposts (Exodus 12:13).  My study Bible tells us that Unleavened bread is a reminder of the haste with which the Hebrews left Egypt (Exodus 12:39).  This Passover, it teaches, was fulfilled in Christ, whose blood was shed to free humanity from bondage to sin and death.  

 

 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  My study Bible explains that Simon the leper must have been healed by Christ earlier, for lepers were forbidden to live in towns.

 

But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial."  My study Bible comments that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  Specifically, He accepts it as a sign of His coming burial, and an act of mercy and love.  Nonetheless, my study Bible says, St. John Chrysostom says that the disciples weren't wrong in principle:  mercy shown to the poor is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (Matthew 25:40; James 1:27).  But what they did not understand is that once the gift had been given, it was a greater mercy to accept it with love.  St. Chrysostom, writes (as quoted by my study Bible), "If anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anyone providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."

 

"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."   My study Bible says that because of her fervent faith, Jesus promises perpetual public memory of this woman.  It notes that among the patristic writers, there is no consensus as to her identity in relation to accounts of similar events in Matthew 26:6-13; Luke 7:36-38; and John 12:1-8.  Some say that there were three different women in these four accounts, but others that there were only two.  

 

 What is quite appealing in today's reading is Jesus' insight and perspective on the gift of this woman who brings to Him an alabaster flask of what we're told is very costly oil of spikenard, a fragrant oil sometimes said to be similar to lavender in scent.  According to some sources, this spikenard was costly partly because it had to be imported from far away, as it was made from a flower that grew in the Himalayas, a part of the honeysuckle family.  So this is indeed a treasure that she is bringing to Jesus, something considered to be extravagant and a form of luxury.  But let us consider that she does not use it for herself (as St. Chrysostom commented), and neither does she give it as treasure, but uses it to anoint Jesus.  Let us remember also that the title "Christ" means "Anointed One."  So, in a sense, she is declaring her faith that He is indeed the Christ, the Messiah.  But it is Jesus' own perspective on what she has done which is the most impressive here, and the most insightful, for Jesus also gives us clues about how we, also, might more properly form perspective on various occasions or events in our lives.  For Jesus sees this as purely an act of love and care, and even one that is prophetic in and of itself, making it a sign of a true gift of the spirit.  For Jesus sees this -- and explicitly corrects the disciples in saying so -- as an anointing for His burial.  She has brought Him, in effect, a prophetic gift, an act of love and mercy at the death of one who is Beloved.  For this is what people do for their loved ones.  This is the way to give care in death.  This is what the women go to do at the tomb who will be the first to be given the good news of the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12).  This is the way that Jesus teaches us to see this act, the way He teaches the disciples to see with His eyes, for He has the deeper insight into the prophetic, and His perspective renders great praise to this woman.  Let us examine His words:  "For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for 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."  In other words, she understands the time and the preciousness of the life of Christ, so that this is her opportunity to do something good for Him.  In this sense, "she has done what she could."  And His praise is so great that "wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Imagine the honor He declares is due to her that she has a permanent, universal memorial to her "wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world!"  Jesus not only gives praise, He commands a memorial such as this.  In so doing, He also reminds us what it means to "watch and pray" as He has repeatedly taught during the past three Gospel readings concerning the end times.  To watch is the opposite of sleeping; it is to be alert, awake and aware as possible, to be vigilant.  In her own vigilance of this time, she has brought an anointing to prepare for His burial; she has found the spiritual possibility of this moment.  She, walking into this home in Bethany near Jerusalem, in this dinner where no doubt Christ was the guest of honor at the time of the Passover when so many pilgrims had come to Jerusalem -- she among all of the others knows the time and the opportunity to do what she could.  She has found and understood this moment, and expressed her devotion and faith, as Christ is One whom "you do not have always."  She has done a good work for Him in this time in a proper way.  Let us consider the time and moments of our lives in which to do a particular good work is proper and right.  For this is what it means to be truly watchful and prayerful.  Over the previous three readings, we have been following Christ's discussion of end times -- that is, from the time of His Resurrection until His Second Coming, which we now await.  Throughout, Jesus has repeatedly punctuated His teachings with admonitions to "watch," to "pray," and to "take heed."   For it is a time of upheaval, of things being exposed, unveiled, revealed, and the old things passing away.  She has discerned this time in which the leaders plot against Christ, and she has given Him the anointing in preparation for what is to come, where He goes voluntarily, even as Judas plots betrayal.  May we each be so wise and bear the fruit of our awareness and the gift of His praise.

 

 

 

 

If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him

 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of the one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in the Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."  

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  

 

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 

- John 10:19–42 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day autumn festival.  It is the final year of His life.  Many of His memorable teachings took place against the images and commemorations during this Festival, which are recorded in John 7:1-10:21.   In our recent readings, Jesus has been disputing withe the religious authorities.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father." 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of the one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Once again, we recall that the term "the Jews" is used in John's Gospel as a political label, to designate the religious rulers, and not the people.  Here that is made evidently clear, as there is a division among these members of the leadership who have been disputing with Jesus in the temple.  Some plot again Him, and say He has a demon and is mad.  But others question, asking, "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"   My study Bible comments that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of His words ("These are not the words of the one who has a demon").

 

 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in the Jerusalem, and it was winter.  The Feast of Dedication took place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles.  It was known as the Festival of Lights (also called Hanukkah).  My study Bible explains that it commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1-4).  We recall from yesterday's reading (above) that, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd.  At the Feast of Dedication, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds.  

And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."  Both what Christ told them and the works He had done already answered their question, my study Bible notes.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind (see this reading, in which Jesus healed a man blind from birth, the sixth sign of seven in John's Gospel) or perform these signs that bear witness to Christ.  Moreover, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ did (John 7:46; 10:21).

"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."  My study Bible remarks that Christ's words, "As I said to you," indicate that these are the same Pharisees whom Christ addressed three months prior (see John 10:1-5, from yesterday's reading, above).

"I and My Father are one."  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus responds to their question by revealing Himself to be fully God.  My study Bible explains that one means one in nature or essence.  He is God before all ages (John 1:1), and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are (in "I and the Father are one") indicates two distinct Persons, while at the same time affirming a continuous unity.  These leaders clearly recognize the claim of divinity, and therefore they accuse Jesus of blasphemy.

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Jesus cites Psalm 82:6 ("I said, 'You are gods'").  My study Bible explains that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and thus can rightly be called gods.  My study Bible quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments that Christ is effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  Additionally, Jesus again refers to the works He does as testimony to that divinity.

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  As Christ goes voluntarily and according to His own will to His Passion, these accusers are not able to arrest Him until He is ready (John 7:30; 8:20; see also Luke 4:28-30).  Let us note the many who believed in Him there.

In today's reading, Jesus says to the religious leaders:  "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  In these words, it seems to me that one can hear Jesus doing His best to save even these leaders who oppose Him, right to the last minute.  Here, in this confrontation, He is at the Feast of Dedication, a winter festival (we know it commonly as Hanukkah), which is taking place during the final year of Christ's earthly life.  When the Passover comes, it will be time for His final entry into Jerusalem, on what we know as Palm Sunday.  But here, these words seem to plead for their faith -- not to save His life, for He already knows He will go to the Cross, but to save theirs.  He is offering to all the people, even these most arrayed against Him and who plot against Him, an abundant life, an eternal life, if they can but believe and come into communion with the Father in this way.  He offers them the witness of the works that He does.  These are "signs" with which these religious leaders, experts in Scripture and Jewish spiritual tradition, must be already familiar.  They are signs which they are abundantly capable to recognize in this spiritual and religious context, but they do not, and they will not.  What this suggests is that this is, indeed, Jesus' deepest need, His most fervent desire.  He seeks to save all, to bring all into communion with Him to the Father.  In yesterday's reading, He said to them, "I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd."  He is the door, the gate, to the more abundant and eternal life that is offered, and they have but to heed the signs and take faith from that recognition.  So many have understood the spirit and truth in His words, even among these leaders.  There are those who say, "These are not the words of the one who has a demon."  And they ask about the signs,  "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Three times in yesterday's reading, Jesus reiterates that He will die for the "one flock," for the sheep.  He finally says, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  There can be no doubt, therefore, that He knows He is going to His death, and that as He does, therefore, His greatest desire is to save all those whom He can -- and to offer to these religious leaders the salvation of communion through Him with the Father for the promise of abundant life.  He is not pleading for His own sake, or for His own life, but for theirs.  So let us consider the depth of His love, His fervent wish that all be saved.  For this must be the deepest command of all, the depth of Christ's priorities above all things, and the reason behind all things.  When we go through difficulties, if we survive even our own mistakes and errors, when we are tempted to think of our lives as unneeded, unwanted, discarded, or tainted, we should think about this.  For Christ wants most fervently for each one of His sheep to be one with Him and the Father, for the abundant life He promises, and that trumps every objection and every obstacle.  That fervent love and desire can overcome anything.  Let us never give up on that love, and hold fast to it, above all things.  

 

 

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

 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that 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.

 

- Matthew 26:1-16 

 

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught about the final judgment:  "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for 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.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."   

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that 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."  My study Bible comments that Jesus is delivered up to His Passion by His accusers, yet He goes willingly.  Unless Christ had willed to go, His accusers could never have taken Him (Matthew 26:53).  After His Resurrection, many saints imitated Christ by willingly going to martyrdom. 

 

 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."  We should first understand that Simon the leper is one who must have been healed by Christ earlier, as lepers were forbidden to live in towns.  But the depth of this passage is about the compassion and faith of this woman.  My study Bible notes for us that there is no consensus among patristic commentary concerning the identity of this woman in relation to accounts of events that are similar in Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-38; and John 12:1-8.  Some Fathers say that there were three different women in all these four accounts, other say that there were only two.  

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.  My study Bible comments that Judas on his own initiative seeks to betray Jesus.  His motives have been debated, but patristic understanding and the liturgical hymns declare that greed was Judas' primary motive.  This is given to us in John 12:4-6, where Judas was specifically upset about the "waste" of myrrh in the story of the anointing by the woman just preceding, because he was a thief (see also 1Timothy 6:10).  The phrase one of the twelve is not used so much to identify Judas, my study Bible says, who was already known by Matthew's hearers, but rather to emphasize the depth of this betrayal -- that it was from one of Christ's closest followers.  

In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us both a parable and a prophecy regarding the final judgment, the time when He, as Son of Man, would sit on His throne of glory and separate the "sheep" and the "goats."  (See yesterday's reading, above.)  Essentially, when we take a close look at the examples of the behavior of the "sheep" that Christ gave us, we see acts of compassion that are done not only to "one of the least of these My brethren," but also to Christ (Matthew 25:40).  Each example given by Jesus is a way of living out the two greatest commandments given by Jesus, and especially of loving neighbor as oneself.  In yesterday's commentary, we noted also the very personal nature of these acts; they are acts of community, person-to-person, and they come from the heart, as opposed to rules of politics, social theories, or morality.  It is characterized not by thinking of others as objects toward a goal, but as persons like ourselves.  Now when we look at the story of the woman in today's reading, we see, in fact, a supreme act of the kind that Jesus ascribes to the sheep who will sit on His right hand.  It is an act of great compassion, which He has the depth of insight to understand.  It is an act of personal giving, from the heart.  It is very personally directed to Jesus and His circumstances, as He declares: "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."  Jesus certainly preaches the care of the poor, but in this case He specifically states that her personal action holds great significance beyond our understanding of a general need or "rule" to care for the poor, an understanding and practice which is always with us.  But the specific use of the oil to prepare Him for what is coming tells us a deeply personal story of understanding and sympathy.  It is not sentimental nor maudlin nor simply "emotional."  This is a woman who accepts Christ's ministry, perhaps better than the men do (Matthew 16:22-23), and yet her depth of compassion is with Him, even as He goes willingly and knowingly to the Cross.  So significant is this to Jesus that He tells the disciples, "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."  In some ironic way, although it is He who is going to His sacrificial death, it is she who has done an act of such profound significance to Christ that, in His words, she will be memorialized through it, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world.

 

Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'You are gods'?"

 

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods'"?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 

- John 10:31-42 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His encounters with the religious leaders in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, there was a division again among them because of Christ's sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   The religious leadership (those hostile to Jesus among the leaders, designated by the term the Jews in John's Gospel, and not the people) take up stones because of Jesus' statement from yesterday's reading, above, "I and My Father are one."  This is unequivocally a statement of equality with God the Father, which they consider to be blasphemy.   Jesus was responding to their question in verse 24 in yesterday's reading, above,  "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."   My study Bible comments that He reveals Himself to be fully God:  One means one in nature or essence.  It says that He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are indicates two distinct Persons, while confirming a continuous unity.  These religious leaders clearly recognize Christ's claim of divinity ("You, being a Man, make Yourself God"), and therefore they accuse Him of blasphemy.  

 

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods'"?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   Jesus quotes from Psalm 82:6.  My study Bible comments on this quotation by Jesus that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  According to commentary by St. John Chrysostom, Christ is effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"

 

 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  My study Bible notes that because Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (see verses 17-18 from yesterday's reading, above) His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (John 7:30, 8:20; see also Luke 4:28-30).  Note the contrast between the people and the religious leaders; many who followed John  the Baptist, who was an extraordinarily revered figure, also believed in Christ.

 

  "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  In today's reading, Jesus returns to the good works that He has done, as evidence of His tie to the Father.  Those good works testify to His identity, as He says, "they are from My Father."  That is, the seven signs given in John's Gospel (we have read six of them so far) are those which are manifestations of God the Father's will through Jesus; they are testimony to Christ's identity as Son.  In His own defense, He tells these religious leaders to "believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   As He said, in yesterday's reading (above), "The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."  It reminds us of Jesus' teaching in Matthew's Gospel, "By their fruits you shall know them" (see Matthew 17:15-20).   In that teaching, He was warning of false prophets, whom He called "ravenous wolves" in "sheep's clothing."  He makes clear connections between the actual things people do and the reality of their inner disposition, as opposed to their appearance and words.  This passage therefore points to something profound within our faith, and that is the work of grace and the transformation possible through participation in the life of Christ, to which my study Bible points.  For the Eastern Orthodox this process is called theosis or divinization.  This is a sense in which the fruits of a life of faith include an ontological internal change; that is, we bear fruit of the Spirit.  St. Paul named these as "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (see Galatians 5:22-23).   Relevant to the context of today's reading, St. Paul adds, "Against such there is no law."  He is speaking of the power of grace working through us, for which all ascetic practice throughout the ages has emphasized first humility, so that we may be like Christ, and seek to do the Father's will.  Jesus explained it quite explicitly in our recent readings (from Saturday), when He said, " I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges," and "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God."  Earlier in chapter 10, He taught, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  Repeatedly Jesus has emphasized His own humility to the Father, and that it is the Father's glory that He seeks in all that He does.  So, we are encouraged to do the same, to live the same kind of life as does the human Jesus.  As He indicates here, He is the Son, but we are all called to be "gods."  That is, to fulfill the image and likeness in which we were created (Genesis 1:26) through our practices of worship, and the humility it takes to truly bear fruits of repentance and grace.  We become children of God by adoption, and in the sense that Jesus has used the word "father" in recent readings, we come to understand what this means.  When the leaders who oppose Him claimed to have Abraham as their father, He replies, "If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham."  Because murder is in their hearts, He later told them, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do" (see John 8:37-47).  Through our faith practices, through worship and the Eucharist, through prayer and humility, and in particular, through grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, we may also become like our adoptive Father; we may follow Christ and the gifts He offers to us.  He is looking for those who hear His voice (John 10:27), and who can also bear His light into the world (Matthew 5:14-16, John 12:46, 2 Corinthians 4:6).  In this way, we do "the works of our Father," we can be "like Christ."  This is what He teaches them, and what He teaches us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that 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.

- Matthew 26:1-16

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave His final summation in the discourse on the end times, and the time of His Second Coming:  "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for 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.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuh as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that 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."   My study bible comments that Jesus is delivered up to His Passion by His accusers, but He goes willingly.  Unless He had willed to go, His accusers could never have taken Him.  After His Resurrection, many saints imitated Christ by willingly going to martyrdom.

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."  My study bible says that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  He particularly accepts it as a sign of His coming burial.  St. John Chrysostom comments that the disciples were not mistaken in principle:  a mercy shown to the poor is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (25:40; James 1:27).   But they did not understand that once the gift had been given, it was a greater mercy to accept it with love.  He writes, "IF anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anything providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."  Simon the leper must have been healed by Jesus earlier, as lepers were forbidden to live in towns.  Because of her faith, Jesus promises perpetual public memory of this woman.  My study bible notes that there is no consensus as to her identity in relation to accounts of similar events in Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-38; and John 12:1-8.  Some patristic commentators say that there were three different women in these four accounts, others that there were only two.

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.  On his own initiative, Judas seeks to betray Jesus.  While his motives have been historically debated, both patristic writers and the liturgical hymns in the Eastern Church declare that greed was his primary motive, following John 12:4-6, in which John states that Judas was particularly upset about the "waste" of myrrh in the preceding story because he was a thief (see also 1 Timothy 6:10).   The phrase used here, one of the twelve, is not used in order to identify Judas (already known to Matthew's hearers) but rather to emphasize the depth of betrayal  -- that it was one of Christ's closest followers.

The extravagance of this anointing of Christ perhaps tells us a deeper story than meets the eye.  The suggestion that the money should have gone to the poor ignores the fact that Christ Himself is poor -- poor not only in the immediate sense in which we think about a lack of wealth or goods, but poor also in the sense that He is about to endure a terrible suffering and death, and that He will undergo misery and anguish.  As such this act of gratitude on the part of the woman can also be seen as an act of compassion.  Just as Jesus says, she has done a good work for Him, she has anointed His body for burial.  When we use our compassion, when we follow the heart of gratitude and love, our acts may work in ways that are even mysterious to us.  We could even consider the idea that this anointing by the woman is a kind of healing balm for Jesus, one that is in full acceptance of the Cross, and yet anointing with a kind of honor in preparation for His burial.  At least, this seems to be the way that Christ sees it.  Compassionate behavior works in this strange way, in that it stands out from the norm, the accepted way of understanding charity.  St. John Chrysostom says that the objection in favor of donation to the poor is not wrong in principle, but John's Gospel tells us it is made by Judas as he kept the money and stole from the treasury.  But what is noticeable in this story is not the objection, but Jesus' rebuke in front of the rest of the disciples.  Here that rebuke is general, but if the objection came specifically from Judas, the rebuke would be perceived in response to him personally.  As such, the failure to take Jesus' correction in a humble way is another sign of pride and lack of real discipleship.  This woman understands fully Jesus' love, but Judas fails to grasp it or understand it for himself.  Discipleship is more than following a Teacher, it is understanding the love of Christ and sharing in it.  Jesus will give a final command to the disciples at the Last Supper, to "love one another as I have loved you" (Jesus repeats this command three times in John's Gospel).  St. Paul writes of the fruits of the Spirit, which include love, "against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).  This woman's act of compassion and gratitude is born of love, and therefore not subject to the usual ways by which we judge.  It is not efficient and not nominally given to the "right people" we define as poor.  But it is an act of love and true faith, and therefore challenges us to broaden our understanding of what our faith is and does.  Moreover, it is deeply personal, as are all the stories we read of Christ when He is "moved with compassion."  Compassion calls us out of ourselves and into a complete understanding of what it is to love another as ourselves.  Let us seek to love as He commands, with the extravagance of gratitude.