Truly this was the Son of God!

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  

 

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

- Matthew 27:45-54 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the soldiers of the garrison came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of the Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, / And for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one of the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

  Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  See the prophecies of Zechariah 14:5-7 and Amos 8:9.

 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."   It's important to know that Jesus is praying on the Cross.  These are the words that begin Psalm 22, a psalm which gives even the details of the Crucifixion.   As my study Bible notes, if this beginning of the psalm is taken alone without the rest of it, this cry of "Why have You forsaken Me?" could be misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  Because Jesus took on our nature, my study Bible explains, He experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress, yet He does not despair.  He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father.  

 

 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study Bible comments that Christ's death was voluntary until the very end, for even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but in order to enter death as the divine Son of God, thus enabling Him to destroy this last enemy, which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  

 

 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, . . .  The veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and humanity.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all, which is God Himself, my study Bible says.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize this communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, but is now available to all who approach in faith.  Additionally, Fr. Stephen De Young has said (in accordance with St. Chrysostom) that this tearing of the veil was in fact symbolic of judgment, revealing the Most Holy Place (where only the high priest could go and only on the Day of Atonement) to be empty.  In this Second Temple, it is now devoid of the presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant, no longer containing the glory of God under the high priest who in fact has condemned Jesus and agitated for His Crucifixion.  

 

 . . . and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  My study Bible comments that the completeness of the salvation won by Christ is signified in the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  This guarantees the promise which was given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all humankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).

 

 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  The centurion is a Gentile; according to my study Bible, he realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In Church Tradition, he is known as St. Longinus. 

 

 In today's reading, we read of the "powers of heaven" being "shaken."  When Jesus gives His prophecy concerning "end times" (Matthew 24), He says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Matthew 24:29).  In addition to the prophecies of Zechariah and Amos cited above, we can look at these events reported at the time of Jesus' death and understand that there is a tremendous "shaking up" indeed happening here.  There is darkness at noon until approximately 3:00 in the afternoon (the sixth hour until the ninth hour).  When Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many."  All of these actions echo the apocalyptic nature of the end times prophecy given by Jesus; they make it clear that there are layers to the reality that we know, and Christ Himself is somehow active and evident in all of them.  So much so, that all is shaken up (quite literally in terms of the earthquake).  This can be understood in various ways, all of which we must take into account, as all may be true at once.  That the veil in the temple was torn in two is the subject of discussion among many Church Fathers, but again, all may be understood as possible at once.  That Christ opened up mysteries in faith to His followers is something He Himself has testified to (Matthew 13:31).  St. Ephraim the Syrian, in addition to agreement with other opinions noted above, also gives an additional poetic understanding of the tearing of the veil, in that it is similar to a person tearing their clothes, and in that sense an expression of grief.  Clearly we might see it as the temple itself expressing grief that its glory had gone, its joy in the form of Christ the Lord, and indicating a change from the old covenant to the new. That the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised" seems to tell us about Christ's entering into the place of the dead and bringing life.  Most interestingly St. Matthew writes of their coming out of the graves after His resurrection, and entering the holy city (Jerusalem) and appearing to many, thus giving us a picture of the resurrection as manifest to many in the city.  We see many layers of reality being manifest at once here:  that Christ is both Lord and Judge (including of the temple), that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), even that His body is the true temple (John 2:19).  What we should understand is that in all of these dimensions, Christ spans the reality of existence.  That is, as human He is within time, but as divine He is not limited by time; the same is true of space.  The reality of the Kingdom of heaven, as He has said spans all of these varied dimensions of existence, of reality, and yet it, too, is within us (Luke 17:21).   What that boils down to is simply that each of these things can be true at once, because we are speaking of Jesus Christ, and all of these things can be taken together, even as signs of "end times," yet belonging to things to come, and manifest as echoes and repetitions of one another at that time, and even in our own time, if we look carefully.  For, since His death, we are living in the time of the end as we await His return.  He remains for us the way, the truth, and the life -- and the way to the Father (John 14:6).  We must understand the salvific power of His Person and His identity as both fully God and fully human, bringing divinity to all things He experienced as a human being, even death, and transfiguring and healing all for us, so that we may follow Him.  

 

 

 

 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 

 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  

 

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

 

- Luke 11:37–52 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus spoke, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!  And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light." 

 

 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you."  Here Jesus begins to give criticisms of the Pharisees similar to those found in Matthew 23.  His repeated message of woe to them is a message about judgment that is to come.  My study Bible explains woe as a term which indicates complete and devastating destruction (Luke 6:24-26; see Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18-19; Revelation 12:12).  Here, addressing the issue of the formal observance of the Law in ceremonial washing, Jesus emphasizes the inward part, making an allusion to the inward part of a human being.  This "inward part" is neglected by the legalism of the Pharisees.

 

 "But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."  To observe formal practices of tithing, while remaining untouched by the love of God or the need for justice is to bypass the spirit of the Law while following its letter.

 

"Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  The emphasis on outward observance causes judgment by appearance, the pleasing of other people rather than God (John 12:43).  Jesus likens this inward state of neglect to death, emptiness, nothingness -- painting a forlorn picture of the unknown graves of the dead.  

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers."  Here the lawyers or scribes, who are closely allied with the Pharisees, complain to Jesus.  Again, Jesus speaks of their hard-heartedness, similar to that of the Pharisees.  These men scrupulously and zealously study and give opinions in the Law; in this context they load men with burdens hard to bear, but never show mercy in so doing, nor the compassion to truly help others. 

"Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation."  Jesus now links the Pharisees and scribes to the same leaders who built the tombs of the prophets and killed them in the past.  He speaks of God's justice, in which all these things are known, and which will require a response.  Regarding Zechariah, my study Bible comments that some patristic teachers say this was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) while others say it's a reference to the father of St. John the Baptist.  According to tradition, Zechariah (or Zacharias), the father of the Baptist, was also murdered in the temple.  

"Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."  My study Bible comments here that, because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  Therefore leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1). 

Today's list of "woes" given by Jesus encapsulate in some sense what it means to be a hypocrite.  Indeed, in Matthew 23, Christ's grand critique of the Pharisees and the scribes, His condemnation is punctuated multiple times with the accusation, "Hypocrites!" Today's reading gives us an idea of exactly what the problem with hypocrisy is:  it hides from ourselves our own interior disposition, and the problems with it that we need to correct.  Jesus says, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness."  Outward observance is possible without ever coming to terms with our own needs and problems and shortcoming we need to correct.  This kind of blindness to oneself also leads to projection, and false judgment of others.  In response to their criticism of His lack of ceremonial washing, Jesus advises them to be charitable with what they have, teaching them the consequences of such:  clean hands:  "But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you."   But then He continues to explain the problem with tithing for outward appearance's sake, and the disconnect with the heart that results:  "But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."  The point of charitable giving is serving God's justice, ameliorating the harsh conditions we know in the world, and so properly done out of the love of God and of justice.  Jesus continues, "Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  Their emphasis on worldly glory (the best seats in the synagogues . . . greetings in the marketplaces) hides their true reality:  emptiness without substance, empty of virtue, to be forgotten and passed over.  In Christ's criticism of the lawyers (scribes) He goes even further; these experts who know the law and render opinions have used it to obstruct the purposes of God.  They cover the fact that they inherit the ways of those who killed and persecuted the prophets before them, in their hypocrisy building their tombs and mourning over them.  They have inherited the ways of their spiritual fathers, doing the same to those prophets and apostles who will come (and to Christ the Son as well).  They not only obstruct the knowledge of God for themselves, but they hindered those who were entering in to such -- thus fully defeating and obstructing the whole purpose of the Law.  Hypocrisy, in short, allows us to hide from ourselves the true state of our souls, our inner part, and what we do -- so that it may cover up even a multitude of the worst kind of sins.  My study Bible has a note on the warnings given to these religious leaders in Matthew 23.  It says that these warnings about hypocritical practice of our faith are especially important to Orthodox Christians.  The Church, it says, has maintained the ancient practices of tithing, sacred vessels, holy rites, and following the tradition handed down from our own fathers (and mothers).  These practices, it continues, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  Let us understand that these words of Jesus Christ are not just for people who would be religious leaders and teachers 2,000 years ago.  They are for us today, especially for all of us who would be disciples of Christ, and seek to follow as He teaches us.  Let us learn from His words and take them all to heart.  For the wisdom of God will send yet more to us, and this wisdom is Christ Himself.  

The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  

 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

 

- John 5:19-29 

 

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

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."   If we look at the previous verses (from yesterday's reading, above) we see that the religious authorities have understood Jesus' claim to equality with God.  My study Bible comments that here, Jesus' declaration that the Son can do nothing of Himself proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The discourse here, it says, reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  Therefore, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment.  

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  In these verses, Christ reveals that His judgment is based on both faith ("he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me") and works ("those who have done good, to the resurrection of life").  My study Bible comments on Christ's words, ". . .the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of Son of God."  "The dead," it says, refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and also to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.   It notes that Christ confirms this statement by raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before going to His own death. Verses 24-30 of this chapter are read at the Orthodox funeral service; confirming, my study Bible notes, the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.

As is frequent in John's Gospel, today's reading gives us transcendent realities about Christ.  In the words of Jesus, He reveals His relationship to the Father, and it is this revelation that is the ultimate wedge between Himself and the religious authorities.  Jesus says, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."  This statement of total equality with God will be something that is so blasphemous to the ears of the religious leaders that it will prove to be their given reason for finding a way to put Jesus to death.  But for today's purposes, let us consider the words of Christ that follow, for He speaks of this power of judgment and of the nature of judgment.  He says, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  Jesus promises both a resurrection of life and a resurrection of condemnation.  The resurrection of condemnation we understand as meaning, effectively, the product of rejection of faith.  That is, a life lived without concern for the things that faith would teach or lead us to do.  Note that, as is repeatedly emphasized by my study Bible, faith and "works" are inseparable from one another.  One must accompany the other or betray the absence of faith in the "good."  Also, since we are not the Judge, we are not the Son of Man, none of us can determine what this judgment is for any of us.  That is for the "Heart-knower," Christ, to whom the "authority to execute judgment" has been given alone.  (In Romans 2:1, St. Paul writes, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.")  So when we read these things in language that is framed for our understanding, we have to accept our own limitations in terms of what judgment is and means, for we cannot know the fullness of the heart and the soul.  We don't even know ourselves that well, let alone others, nor can we fathom the fullness of life without the restrictions of time and space, for this is the perspective of God.  But we can, for ourselves, consider what it is to do good and to do evil.  We can understand that the "resurrection of condemnation" is, in effect, for those who reject faith in the good.  From the beginning of John's Gospel, Jesus is spoken of as the Light, the very eternal existence of the good, from before time.  We can also understand from St. Paul's letter to the Romans that faith, and "doing good," applies to all, for, he writes, "when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel" (Romans 2:14-16).  What this means, according to my study Bible, is that because the conscience of human beings is given by God ("the law written in their hearts"), it has the same power to lead a person to God as the law does.  Moreover, according to St. John Chrysostom, those who are able to follow their conscience to God are more virtuous than those with the law, for they do not have the advantage of explicit instructions but still desire to please God.  We note also that "good works" are those done to please God, not to flatter oneself.  So judgment, therefore, is really about a depth of acceptance of the light that is apprehensible to each one; and, on the other hand, rejection of the light -- including that which is given through one's exposure to the life of Christ and His teachings -- is also fundamentally a question of the depth of the heart and Christ's judgment alone.  Certainly we know that there is a quality within our own disposition, our receptivity to hear and know truth, and what the good is.  (Jesus teaches, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him" - Mark 4:24-25.)  The fundamental question of judgment comes down to our own God-given capacities for discernment, or conversely, rejection of the good -- and the actions that follow each.  There is a depth to us, in that "secret place" of the heart where we know and are known.  Let us endeavor to find there "our Father who sees in secret" (Matthew 6:6), past all of the pressures of life and the demands to conform to a different image for ourselves, and hearken to that which opens us to the resurrection of life.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!" 

 

- Matthew 27:45-54 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus and the Roman soldiers they came out of the Praetorium to walk to the place of crucifixion, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear the cross of Jesus.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

 

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.   Much of what comes to pass at the events surrounding the Crucifixion is found in Biblical prophecy.  Regarding this darkness, see Zechariah 14:6-7; Amos 8:9.  

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  Those who hear Christ misunderstand Him.  He is praying Psalm 22, which is a foretelling of the very details of the Crucifixion.  If we do not understand this prayer and the fullness of the psalm, then Christ's cry of "Why have You forsaken me?" can be easily misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  But the whole of the psalm tells a different story.  As Jesus took on our human nature, He experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress.  But Christ does not despair.  My study Bible notes that He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity He is never forsaken by the Father.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study Bible comments here that Christ's death was voluntary to the very end, for even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but so that by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy this last enemy, which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  See also Christ's words reported at Luke 23:46, quoting from Psalm 31 (verse 5). 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split . . .   My study Bible notes that the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all:  God.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize this communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, and is now available to all who approach in faith.

. . . and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  That the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament is reported signifies the completeness of the salvation won by Christ.   My study Bible says that this guarantees the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all humankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10, 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5).  

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  My study Bible says that this Roman centurion, a Gentile, realizes that Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  In the tradition of the Church we know this soldier as St. Longinos.  

I am intrigued with the picture of the saints of the Old Testament walking through the holy city and appearing to many.  Surely it seems to give us a picture of the fullness of reconciliation between heaven and earth through Christ and His transfiguring death upon the Cross.  Just as the veil of the temple is torn in two, so that human beings may now more fully share in communion with God, so these saints appear visibly to human beings, as if heaven and earth are united in the same place.  Indeed, there are many who experience something similar at the death of a loved one, a glimpse or vision of the one recently passed, as if to reassure us that all live to Christ, and that our continuing prayers for those who have passed live also and are heard by God.  In Luke 20:38, Jesus explains to the Sadducees, who do not believe in resurrection, that God "is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."   The veil of the temple torn in two, and the "thinness" of what is often called the veil between heaven and earth, affirm for us in additional ways the transfiguring power of Christ's voluntary death on the Cross, and its effect of reconciling God and humanity, bringing us into closer communion and therefore healing.  If hell is a state of separation of human beings from God, and if the problems of evil in our world are representative of the effects of separation, then Christ enters into death as both fully human and fully divine in order to conquer death and separation from God, for all of us.  This was the understanding of the early Church, and remains our powerful symbol of God's transfiguring love in the Cross.  In the Incarnation, all things are drawn into God's purview, even the gruesome events of the Crucifixion, even Christ's death on the Cross, so that all may be transfigured in the light of Christ, and so that we might have that veil torn in two, the curtain lifted for our own deep experience of God's love for us.  For Christ teaches us that despite the separation from God in our world and the evil that we experience, God is with us and asks us into a communion of love.  The early saints surely understood this, for in their own martyrdom they joined Christ as those who would live His faith in this world and become also those who transfigure death and suffering for the kingdom of God.  If this seems like too great a paradox to you, consider that walking through a hard or evil time with faith simply means that we bring God's love into it, for we seek Christ's way through it, thus gaining a spiritual victory for the kingdom of heaven, for which He instructed us to pray ("Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven").  The Cross of Christ runs more deeply within the realities of this world than anything and everything that will touch our lives; and just so, for this is its power for us.

Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness

 

 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  

 

"But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

 

- Luke 11:37-52 

 

 Yesterday we read that as Jesus preached, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."

 

 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you."   Jesus speaks of the importance of the inner life.  "Cleansing" is therefore related to an inner spiritual reality, and not simply an external focus.  We can see the relationship between His preaching to followers in yesterday's reading (above) and what He is saying to the Pharisees regarding alms and the inner life, which reflects His teachings on treasure of the heart and almsgiving in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:19-21).  St. Paul writes that to those who are clean, nothing is unclean (Romans 14:14). 

"But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."   Woe is a term which indicates complete and devastating destruction, my study bible explains (6:24-26; see Isaiah 5:18-24, Amos 5:18-19, Revelation 12:12).  It  comments that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well, and so leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  Therefore to be hypocrites is to fail as religious leaders.  Moreover, my study bible adds, these warnings are especially important to those Christians who come from traditions which have maintained ancient practices such as tithing ("These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone"), sacred vessels, holy rites, and following patristic tradition.  These practices, it says, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart, and lead to condemnation.

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."  On the prophet Zechariah, there are some patristic teachings that this was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), while others say that this refers to the father of St. John the Baptist.  According to tradition, he was also murdered in the temple.

Let us note that Jesus' teachings here of woe to the Pharisees and lawyers are similar to His warnings to those who asked for a sign in yesterday's reading, above.  But there is a difference, in that His words in today's readings are addressed to the religious leaders, and not simply those who ask for a sign or who reject His preaching.  Here, Jesus links the religious leaders' hypocrisy -- and by implication, their eventual conspiracy to kill Him -- to the leaders before themselves who killed and persecuted apostles and prophets sent by God to call people back to God.  But this time, unlike in yesterday's reading, the warning is not about the judgment that is to come at the end of all things.  Here the warning is given to "this generation" and what shall be required of it, especially those who are supposed to lead the people (like the experts in the Mosaic Law), but whose heart is in the externals, and not on drawing closer to God and therefore lack real depth of knowledge of God in that communion of the heart.  Therefore they take away the key of knowledge to their flocks -- they did not enter in themselves, and those who were entering in they hindered.  All of this is to point to the power of God which is at work in the world (which Jesus recently referred to as the "finger of God," the Holy Spirit, in Monday's reading).  We have seen ample demonstrations of the power of God through Jesus' ministry, and that this power is also shared with His followers as it has worked through the apostles (as, for example, when the Seventy returned with joy to report healings and exorcisms in this reading).  Here, Jesus gives a negative warning about the power of God, in the sense that He warns of rejecting that true power within oneself, by neglecting the matters of the heart and real faith which is an internal work.   These religious leaders are not only the heirs of those who killed the prophets and apostles in the generations before them, but they are themselves rejecting, and will work to conspire to murder, a "greater than" Jonah or Solomon who is Christ Himself.  In this sense, the warnings about the rejection and abuse of the Holy Spirit, and the working of God in the world, also teach us what the negative power of rejection can do.  That would specifically include rejection by those who should know better, and do not act out of ignorance.  Let us consider for today our own assumptions about the power of God at work in the world.  Is God extraneous to our lives?  Does God exist (or God's power in the world) in some compartmentalized place we rationalize away, or we don't think about?  Are our services mere reminders, or acts designed to prompt pious thoughts or sentimental understanding of Christ?  Or does this power live in our lives somehow, with our awareness of how we participate in Christ's life or not, how we cooperate with grace at work or not?  Jesus' teachings certainly do not have the flavor of a powerless musing or image we're supposed to take as merely metaphorical for nice sentiments and pious thoughts.  His speech is full of power and made with absolute conviction.  The thing is, do we realize how this power is at work in our lives?  Do we make time for prayer and communion so that we strengthen our lives in Christ?  Are we aware of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways we can experience this and truly find help and wisdom in ways that help us transcend and go through our own problems?  Are we aware of what we're missing when our souls are not refreshed through spiritual communion?  Do we neglect it so that we have no idea what we are missing?  These are choices that still remain up to us, just the way that Jesus indicates through His own strong speech.  We might not have Jesus with us in the flesh, exhorting us to pay attention.  But Christ is at work through us and in us, and we are assured of that, even as He has exhorted us to follow in His light and bear that light into the world -- and even as we read of the woes for those who choose to knowingly reject it. 

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man

Christ Enthroned, attributed to Manuel Panselinos, 1290.  The Protaton, Mount-Athos, Greece.  Scripture Book is open to selection from Matthew 11:29-30:  "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy"

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who set Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

- John 5:19-29

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

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."   Jesus has already declared His equality with the Father, which enrages the leadership.  My study bible comments on the statement that the Son can do nothing of Himself.  It notes that this proves that Christ's every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Christ's discourse in today's reading reveals the united condition of the Father and the Son -- that they are united in nature, will, and action.  Therefore, my study bible says, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment.  Christ's judgment, as we read in today's reading, is based on both faith and works.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who set Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."   My study bible comments that Jesus reference to the dead ("The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God") indicates both the spiritually dead -- who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead -- who will rise in the general resurrection.  It notes that Christ confirms this statement by raising Lazarus from the dead (11:38-44) before He goes to His own death.

Jesus expresses the notion of judgment, and Christ's authority to execute judgment as given by the Father.  Jesus says that He has been given this authority, because He is the Son of Man.  Let us note the unique importance of this statement, as it indicates more about the "condescension" of Christ coming to us and living with us as human being.  It is simply because He has done so -- lived a human life as the Son of Man -- that He has been given authority by the Father for judgment.  We often hear the expression "to walk a mile in someone else's shoes," indicating that we can't really know and understand another person unless we experience life in their place, from their perspective or point of view and life experience.  Well, this is expressed by Christ in speaking of the investment of authority for judgment by God the Father in He who has lived as Son of Man.  Our God has come into the world, lived as one of us, suffered terrible injustice and given great love, sacrificed out of love for us all.  He knows and understands the conditions of this world, the temptations we face, the difficulties and the struggles.  And it is only through such a life of fullness as human being that He is given authority for judgment.   Let us understand that Christ's judgment is not the same as our judgment, for He also knows what is in human beings, He knows the heart in ways we might not even be aware of ourselves and our motivations (2:23-25).  In Acts of the Apostles, when the Apostles must choose one to take the place of Judas, they pray, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all" (Acts 1:23-26).  Thus, those who knew Christ better than anyone else, having lived with Him as disciples for three years, affirm this quality of the One to whom judgment is entrusted.  What this teaches us about is yet another facet of the love of God, that judgment is not left to some cold and exacting measurement standard, but rather to the One who loves us and knows us better than anyone else -- and who understands our lives, our struggles, and all the things that impact us.  There is nothing, even judgment, in which love is left out of the equation.  We can be certain, as well, that no chance, no possibility or potential, is left unexplored for each of us, because all of this is perceived in the understanding of the One who is also the judge, and who has lived as one of us.  It is this just judge to whom we turn in prayer, the One who knows our hearts and sees more deeply into ourselves than we can of ourselves, who listens and who knows, and in whom we can put our trust -- for that is what faith really is.  Let us marvel at this revelation, that even God will not trust judgment except to the Son who has lived as one of us, and through this mission to us as Jesus, for this also tells us about love, and God's nature as love.  In the next chapter, Jesus will say, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (6:37).  He turns no one away who comes to Him.  Let us remember that kind of love.  The icon above is called Christ Enthroned.  It is the place He receives upon completion from His mission as Son of Man, the place from which He judges.  (Sometimes in such icons the Scripture is open to show simply Alpha and Omega - Α Ω in the Greek, after Revelation 1:8, 1:11, 21:6, 22:13.)  But this icon tells us what kind of judge He is:  "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy" (from Matthew 11:29-30).  He always calls us to learn, to grow with Him, to come to Him, and He turns no one away who responds to His call.   He is the God who has walked in our shoes.

Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered

 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of the all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

- Luke 11:37-52

Yesterday, we read that as Jesus was speaking, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"  And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation.  It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.  For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.  But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.  Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light."

And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?"  The Pharisee is thinking about ceremonial washing, an observation of oral tradition (not violation of the law of Moses).  But Jesus speaks to the hypocrisy of strict observance of these built up customs as if they were in fact the fulfillment of the Law in and of themselves - and as if they were the only necessary focus.  To be holy in God's sight one must not neglect the "inside" also created by God.

"But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you."  How does one build up the inside?  Giving alms, the practice of charity, is one way of building up an internal cleanliness, so that then everything is clean.   We can see this in the practice of Christ's mercy, when He touches a leper to heal.  (See Titus 1:15.) 

"But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."   All of these things are an indication of emphasis on the external, on only things done to be seen.  To tithe herbs but to bypass the justice and love of God is to do what is tiny and to bypass what is of the essence and truly great.  To love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces is to crave the admiration of others as one's focus.  But they neglect the love of God which defines and centers everything else.  In this way they are like unseen graves; their inner death and emptiness is unseen and unknown, the worth of the soul forgotten.  Jesus does not condemn religious practice designed to shore up faith and center us on the love of God and neighbor.  What He condemns is the use of built-up traditions in such a way that obscures the focus on the heart and the love of God and allows for its neglect.  Woe is a term that indicates complete and devastating destruction, says my study bible (6:24-26; see Isaiah 5:18-24; Amos 5:18-19; Revelation 12:12).

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of the all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."   It is possible to be zealous for the law and to neglect the weightier matters of love of God and true justice.  My study bible says that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding Him as well.  Thus leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1). 

 Christ calls hypocrites those whose emphasis is so fully on the outside that they neglect the "inside" -- the inner part of a person.  This inner part is also understood as the heart of a person.  That is, that which unites all that we are:  mind and spirit and soul.  Jesus says that to clean this inside renders all clean; the body is not left out of this understanding.  Jesus addressed this in yesterday's reading, when He said, "The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light."  This lamp of the body is the spiritual eye; that is, the mind, that with which we perceive and view life.  In effect, He's telling these men that they don't allow the light to come into that eye and to make all things clean.  True purity or cleanliness of the heart leads to an understanding of what is truly clean or pure.  A wholly external emphasis on rules compiled via oral tradition renders these men hypocrites.  They neglect the weightier matters of justice and mercy in favor of how they are reflected back to themselves in the eyes of others, their peers and contemporaries.  This is what Jesus means when He tells them that they "love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces."   What is really important here is not a separation between external and internal.  In fact, this is what Jesus is condemning as hypocritical.  (The word hypocrite in the Greek originally means "actor."  In the ancient plays such as those contemporary with Jesus' time, actors wore masks to denote their characters.  Hypocrite literally means "under the mask.")   What Jesus is offering is the authenticity of a heart devoted to loving God and neighbor, and in the fullness of life this means that externally acts are also clean.  This is a true salvation of all of life, not a separation of interior and exterior.  Hence, St. Paul writes in a letter to Titus:  "All things are clean to the clean" (Titus 1:15).  My study bible emphasizes the danger to Christians as well in that when we have beautiful ritual and practices, all those traditions designed to shore up the love of God and neighbor, we also run the risk of putting all the emphasis on the external and neglecting the very thing the practices are meant to help.  Prayer must be the place we go to find God and the love of God in our hearts, which leads us to true purity and righteousness.  That is, to right-relatedness to the world and all beings and things in it.  It is not about being seen by others.  Alms-giving, charity, the practice of mercy becomes treasure in heaven when it comes from a pure heart.  Hence, Jesus will teach that we go into our inner chamber -- alone with God our Father "who is in the secret place" and "who sees in secret," and He will reward openly.  That word for inner chamber indicates an inner room in a house for the storage of valuables, and it truly works through all meanings implied, including to teach us that we need to pray undisturbed whatever else we do -- and emphasizes Jesus' teachings about the treasures of the heart as well (see Matthew 6:6, 21).   All emphasis here goes back to the love of God, the true love of God in the heart that enlightens everything else.  What He implies in today's reading is that these men are like those who killed the prophets sent by God (their "fathers").  That is, the prophets were sent to remind the people of the love and this commitment to God they lack -- and were killed for doing so.  It starts with the heart, and none of us are immune from the temptation to external emphasis, to hypocrisy.  Those in leadership, especially, deprive others when they fail to be true to this kind of purity and integrity.  Let us remember God's love.

Truly this was the Son of God!

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

- Matthew 27:45-54

Yesterday, we read that as the soldiers came out of the Praetorium leading Jesus away to the sight of crucifixion, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come o a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Hm sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who  passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  My study bible refers us to the prophecies of Zechariah and Amos.  Amos quotes the declaration of the LORD:  "I will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the earth in broad daylight."  The sixth hour to the ninth hour correspond to the hours between noon and three o'clock in the afternoon.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  My study bible says here that Jesus is praying Psalm 22, which "foretold the very details of the Crucifixion.  Taken without the rest of the psalm, His cry of 'Why have You forsaken Me?' could be misinterpreted as a cry of despair.  Since He took on our nature, Jesus experiences our alienation from God in His humanity, knowing our suffering and distress, yet He does not despair.  He speaks these words in the name of humanity, completely identifying with us in our condition, for in His divinity, He is never forsaken by the Father."

Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  My study bible comments on the phrase yielded up His spirit that Christ's death was voluntary to the end.  Even on the Cross, His life could not be taken from Him against His will.  The note reads, "Christ accepts death on the Cross neither to receive the Father's punishment on our behalf, nor to satisfy the Father's need for blood-justice (as if God would demand such things), but so that by entering death as the divine Son of God, He can destroy this last enemy, which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)."

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, . . .  My study bible notes that the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple "was a symbol of the separation between God and man.  Christ's death opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is the most holy of all:  God Himself."  It notes that in most Christian churches of Eastern Christianity, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during the liturgical services in order to emphasize that communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, is now available to all who approach in faith.  Some denominations use the curtain either drawn or open in order to emphasize these differences at different seasons of the liturgical year, or during parts of the liturgy itself.

. . .  and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.   Here, a note reads:  "The completeness of the salvation won by Christ is signified in the resurrection of the saints from the Old Testament.  This guarantees the promise given to Ezekiel that God can and will one day open the graves of all mankind (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10; 12:22-23; Revelation 21:2-22:5)."  Let us note this sign of resurrection of those who had not heard the name of Jesus of Nazareth; in this is "the completeness of salvation" as my study bible phrases it.

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"  Another note says, "The centurion, a Gentile, realizes Jesus has dominion over nature, and therefore acknowledges Him as the Son of God.  Tradition knows this soldier as St. Longinos."

Immediately upon Jesus' death on the Cross, two significant events take place, giving us already the power of the Resurrection and its unlimited capacity:  (aside from the tearing of the temple curtain, the darkened sun, the split rocks and earthquakes) we are given the resurrection of the Old Testament saints, and the conversion of the centurion standing guard at the crucifixion itself.  He will also come to be known as a saint in the early Church.  Neither the earlier faithful of the Jews nor this Gentile (Roman) soldier were beneficiaries of Jesus' direct ministry, but here at this giving up, or "yielding up" of His spirit, immediately the effects of Resurrection begin -- even in those who might have been considered outside of His "followers."  Not so, according to God's mystery, God's judgment.  And the really "good news" hasn't been given yet to His disciples, who are scattered.  That will come soon.  After this "darkness at noon" we await the coming of the Light, dawning of the Resurrection.  But God's mysteries of resurrection are already at work.  Jesus' resurrection isn't just about Jesus, and it's not just about what happened to Him. It's also about where He takes us with Him, what He shares with us, and offers to us all of the time.  The Resurrection is unlimited as is God's mercy, something immeasurable by any of our standards, something that remains a mystery we can't predict, we can't call nor judge, and is not ours to decide for.  It is ours to accept as a gift, it is ours to pray for, its effects in our lives are those we share with others.  It's something we invite others into, and we pray might be shared by everyone.  The statement, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6) manifests immediately following Jesus' giving up of His spirit (in Luke Jesus says He "commits His spirit" -- again an active choice).  At this moment of what seems to be the greatest limitation possible at the hands of others, let us remember the power of His Resurrection, the true reality behind what we see.  It will always defy our expectations.