"If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore

Nativity of Christ, Byzantine fresco.  Omorphe Ekklesia ("Beautiful Church"), 1282, Aegina, Greece

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:

'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool" '?

"If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

- Matthew 22:34-46

Yesterday we read that, on same day that Jesus was tested regarding paying taxes to Caesar,  the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."   My study bible tells us that the Pharisees had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures, and that they debated about which one was central.  One gets the impression, indeed, that such debates were central to their understanding of their role in the leadership of the temple.  But Jesus answers their question by setting forth two great commandments, and in the order of the first and then the second, which constitute the grand summary of the Law.  Although this lawyer has come with malice to test Christ, St. Mark tells us that this man is converted by Jesus' answer (Mark 12:28-34).   My study bible also elaborates upon the meaning of the second commandment.  It says that this commandment must be understood as it is written:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself, or more clearly, "as being yourself."  This commandment is often misinterpreted as reading, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself," which damages the force of the statement.  How much we love ourselves isn't the standard of love Christ asks of us.  Instead, we are called to love our neighbor as being of the same nature as we are -- that is, as being created in God's image and likeness, as we are.  The saints testify and the tradition of the Church teaches that we find our true self in loving our neighbor.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool" '?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.  My study bible says that Jesus asks this question in order to lead the Pharisees to the one logical conclusion possible:  that He is God incarnate.  The Pharisees have the expectation that the Messiah will be a mere human being, therefore reply that the Messiah would be a Son of David.  But David, as king of Israel, could not and would not address another as "Lord" -- with one single exception, God.  In Psalm 110:1, David refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  Therefore, the Messiah must be God.  The one possible conclusion is that the Messiah is a descendant of David according to the flesh, but also is truly divine, sharing Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Indeed, the Pharisees dare not answer nor ask further questions because they realize the implications, and they are afraid to confess Jesus to be the Son of God.

It's remarkable how great Jesus is at debating.  One might assume that He quite loves doing so.  We certainly know that the common people heard Him debating the leadership in the temple with delight.  In his report of the very same dialogue we read in today's reading, St. Mark tells us that "the common people heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37).  If we explore the roots of this pleasure in debate, we might be able to uncover something about Christ's nature and our own.  In Greek, the word for "gladly" in the verse from Mark is ἡδέως/edeos.  It's a word that denotes sweetness, or pleasure.  It's the same word that gives us the root for a modern English word hedonist, which means a person who indulges in pleasure as the primary pursuit in life.  It's also the root for anhedonic, which is a negative form, signifying a component of depression, the lack of ability to feel pleasure.  But what gives us delight in debate?  Surely in endless political or personal or other debates, there can be little pleasure involved for listeners.  In the kind of debate that involves pure selfishness and manipulation, one can only find pleasure if one delights in forms of corruption, or in the injustice given to another, even a clever web of lies.  But the delight to hear Jesus is something quite different.  It is directly related to His nature as the Word (or Logos).  Christ refers to Himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).  As the Word, He is the Person who is Truth.  In His divine identity, He is the Lord who gives us meanings and values.  He teaches us what reality is.   In the 8th chapter of John, Jesus is involved in yet another debate with the leadership.  He tells them, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (8:31-32).  In Jesus' debates, the common people listen with delight because, instead of being manipulated, they are being given truth, and truth gives us freedom.  Jesus is the debater par excellence,  one so skilled in His use of language that no one can better Him or trap Him.  But this also comes from the truth that runs so deep that it belongs to Creator, the One who spoke all things into existence in Genesis, the Person who is the very Word or Logos.  This is why we read Scripture, and why the common people hear Him with delight.  If the purpose of debate is not for truth, not to reveal the things that give us freedom -- that is, our very nature as human beings with souls of value to the Creator, of infinite possible worth for the angels who minister to us -- then debate is tiresome and has no meaning but to oppress.  But Christ gives us, and the Pharisees, the truth, in fullness of expression for us all.  There will always be some who wish to deny the truth, and there will always be those others who are, above all else, grateful for it.  Let us delight in the truth, and relish the gifts He has given us, the truth He will die to give us.  Let us remember that it is to give us this gift of His truth that He was born, and live our gratitude -- and our delight -- in appropriate response.  In the icon above there is depicted the Nativity or Birth of Christ.  True to the meanings we find in Christ's debate in the temple, in this icon we see Christ, the Word, born into a world filled with dangers to that Word, to Truth.  If we look closely, on the right side there is a wolf opening its jaws toward a small sheep.  Joseph seems to be pondering what exactly has taken place, while the shepherds watch and hear the announcement of the angels who proclaim the birth of Christ.  The great star, symbolic of the good news and the divine and angelic participation in this event, shines at the top, while the Magi or Wise Men who love truth come bearing their gifts.  All these respond with delight and joy to the truth in the light of that star.  Most striking about this fresco is an addition of folk tradition around Mary who is nursing her Child.  We can see small patterns of eyes in the white cave around her.  These are meant as protection against the "evil eye" -- a malignant form of envy or jealousy.  We may recall, in the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (see this reading), when some workers complain that each is paid the same wage regardless of when they began, the owner of the vineyard replies, "I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?"  This "evil eye" is that which would look upon good and call it evil, something which Jesus condemns when He speaks of the blasphemy of the Spirit (12:31-32).   Such is the world into which we're born, in which the truth and those who bear it will face dangers and hostility, envy which will call good "evil."   This is the world in which Jesus comes into the temple, giving us His truth, which the common people hear gladly, with delight.  So great are the reasons for that delight! Let us remember who it is we worship, as we head toward our celebration of His birth into our world.

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:

'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?

"If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"

And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

- Matthew 22:34-46

In the recent readings we are in Jerusalem -- Jesus has made His Triumphal Entry, cleansed the temple, and been submitted to questioning by various groups of the leadership.  In yesterday's reading, the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

  But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"   Coming from the Pharisees, the question makes great sense.  They were the lay experts on Scripture and the Law.  They had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures, and, according to my study bible, "argued interminably about which one was central."  Therefore, the question focuses on the great commandment.

Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  My study bible explains that Jesus sets forth both the first commandment, and also adds a second.  Taken together they make up "the grand summary of the Law."  He's also aware that they are asking Him maliciously, with particular intent.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  Here, once again, as in the parables told earlier in His confrontations in the temple (see here and here), Jesus goes on the offensive against the Pharisees.  My study bible says He's "further exposing them as pseudo-scholars who do not understand the Bible.  They suppose the Messiah to be a mere man, and therefore reply Son of David to Jesus' question."

He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.  My study bible explains that "David, as king of Israel, would not address anyone as 'my Lord' except God Himself.  Therefore, this psalm verse describes God talking to God -- the Father to the Son -- which contradicts the Pharisees' view of God as one Person, and introduces the doctrine of the Holy Trinity."    See Psalm 110 for the entire context of the quotation.

Jesus goes on the offensive once again in today's reading, and we remark on the spirit of His discussions.  He's not afraid at all to show the leadership where they're wrong.  He knows very well their attitude toward Him, and He knows who He is.  Secure in His authority, He cleanses the temple and engages the leadership in critical dialogue, particularly in the telling of the parables we noted above (see here and here), where He makes allusion to Judgment.  Although He is a suffering Messiah, although He does not have an army, nor wage a military campaign, His mission is not without its assertive, pro-active style and force.  His strength and freedom are in His truth, which He will assert in the right place and the right time, with vigor and authority.  His assertive style in engaging the leadership now that He is in Jerusalem, His open confrontation, is not in contradiction to the suffering He will endure.  This is what He is here for, to declare a Kingdom coming into the midst of the world, for which He will lay down His life to bring it to the rest of us.  His confrontation here is also teaching and ministry.  He is declaring the Gospel.  Moreover, He is teaching about the Judgment.  Our time, which He has initiated, is the time when all grow together side by side.  It's a time in which we await the Judgment, which is not ours to execute.  As He has said, it's a time in which we endure with our faith, we pray, we practice the Gospel and His commandments of love, and we, too, may assert our truths and live them as best we can  -- but we are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  Let us focus on the great commandments He has given us in our wisdom and simplicity, understanding that all good things -- even including our capacity for and understanding of love -- come from the Father, the "Lord our God," and through this first commandment, therefore, we are able to better carry out the second.  How are you called to assert your mission, to better carry out His commandments, to express the truth of the Gospel in your own life?  How does His sacrifice establish His kingdom in you?  What does His freedom teach you?

Which is the first commandment of all?

 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is not other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.

- Mark 12:28-34

In yesterday's reading,  Jesus was questioned again in the temple in Jerusalem, after telling the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers.  They sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.  Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died, nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."   Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

  Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"   My study bible tells us:  "The scribes are a professional class of experts in the Mosaic Law.  While most of them were hostile to Jesus, this scribe seems to be a sincere inquirer."  Repeatedly in the Gospels, we'll note that there are no groups of individuals who are entirely monolithic; that is, there will always be exceptions.  The Gospels teach us that Jesus had sincere followers among all classes of people, including Pharisees and others in the leadership.  His betrayal would come at the hands of His own handpicked apostle, one of the Twelve.

Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."   My study bible says here:  "In response, Jesus quotes Deut. 6:4-5, the greatest Jewish confession of faith, called the shemá (meaning 'hear,' the first word of the confession).  In verse 31, He quotes Lev. 19:18, combining what is already in the Old Testament to create a new understanding:  love of neighbor is an expression of love of God." 

So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is not other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."   A note here tells us:  "This scribe's insight has penetrated beyond the Pharisees' obsession with outward forms.  He understands that the condition of the heart is central to righteousness." 

Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.  My study bible tells us:  "This scribe's wisdom and honesty bring him not far from the kingdom of God.  Only God can say who is, and who is not, far from His Kingdom."

Today's reading focuses us on matters of the the heart.  Throughout the time of His questioning, Jesus focuses on hypocrisy, one of the chief criticisms He will ever raise about the leadership.  In Matthew's Gospel, He elaborates quite a bit about hypocrisy, and teaches His followers not to be like hypocrites.  In yesterday's reading, Mark's Gospel told us that Jesus "knew the hypocrisy" of His questioners.  But here, something different happens.  Jesus praises the scribe, saying he's not far from the kingdom of heaven, and we go directly here into the matters of the heart, the place where we live our lives most truly, in terms of the way Jesus views us as human beings.  To love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength is to love God in a way that defines our whole being, the inner self.  Of course there's an obvious assumption that the truth of the inner self is expressed outwardly.  The condemnation here in the Gospel context of hypocrisy is of the outward show masking a different internal order of the heart, and that's where we come to the real crux of things here in today's passage.  Love of God comes first with all that we are and can be, and from there the second commandment teaches us about love of neighbor.  In the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the language of this second commandment gets down to specifics, by forbidding vengeance and the nursing of a hostile anger.  But here in our context Jesus teaches us something more when He praises the scribe.  Because the scribe takes the commandment further than what it seems to say on its face and we recall where we are and exactly Who is being questioned.  The scribe tells us (and more specifically, tells Jesus) that to love God with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.  And that's where we come down to the contrast with the hypocrites.  To love with all the heart, understanding, soul and strength is more than all the outward show of devotion we can muster, because really and truly we are dealing here with God, as my study bible points out when it notes that "only God can say who is, and who is not, far from the kingdom."  God deals in matters of the heart and soul; God is the "knower of hearts."  That place where we really and truly live is within us, as is the kingdom of God.  Over and over again, Jesus will go preaching through the Gospels and asking us about what we really love, what we really treasure.  Because that's where the crux is.  It's all about what's in our hearts, what we nurture and nurse, and what we seek to let go of.  It all comes down to what we are really about, and what we truly devote ourselves to.  And those are the kinds of followers He wants, the ones who really love, and who are willing to ally themselves that deeply in the heart that such love becomes a full life, a ministry, a way to share in God's care and love with others.  We can't say what this will look like in every person, and that cements even more deeply for us the need to take care of the heart, and quit focusing on the externals.  We can't judge what every action or gesture means, but Christ knows what the heart is about, and where we put our trust.  Ritual and worship and devotion are all very important expressions not only of where we are, but of our intentions to love, our sincere desire for a heart that is cleansed and pure, and can follow these commandments truly.  But they can also be used as masks, and that's where today's teaching comes down.  Jesus will warn us about wolves in sheep's clothing, and warn us of betrayals even among those closest to us.  But all of these things come down to love, and what is in the heart, what we nurse and what we choose and what we treasure.  This is why the first commandment Jesus names is so important, because all things flow from there, especially a love of neighbor, and even "the least of these."

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David." He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool" ' ?

"If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

- Matthew 22:34-46

In yesterday's reading, Jesus was asked a question by a group of Sadducees. "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother." They posed a question of seven brothers having married the same woman, each without offspring. They asked, "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? " Jesus told them they were mistaken -- they neither understood the Scriptures nor the power of God. He said, "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Behind the scenes, at work to test Jesus, is the party of the Pharisees. They have already sent their disciples to test Him. Here, they speak for themselves. The Pharisees were lay experts in Scripture and the Law. They reckoned 613 commandments from the Scriptures. My study bible says they "argued interminably about which one was central." So, the question is an important one within their own tradition and discipline. Jesus' response is a combination of passages from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Jesus gives us the great central formula of faith here: God, as mediator of all things and reconciler of all things, teaches us right-relatedness to one another through faith and love. With the love of God central in our hearts, we expand that love, God's peace, to our neighbor. In fact, not only can the Law and the Prophets be framed around these commandments as Jesus teaches, but certainly we can read their centrality into all of Jesus' teachings as well -- throughout the gospel of Matthew. Most certainly they are embodied in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, and so much of Jesus' teaching in this gospel.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David." As with His previous questioners -- first the group consisting of the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians, and next with the Sadducees -- Jesus turns the tables and asks a question of His own. The Christ is the Anointed One, the Messiah. The "Son of David" implies an earthly understanding of lineage, of kingship. He is testing their understanding of Scripture, as they consider themselves experts in its interpretation and knowledge.

He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool" ' ? If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore. As with the Sadducees in yesterday's reading, Jesus exposes, in fact, their lack of understanding and even knowledge of the Scriptures. In the context of the meticulous scholarship that should mark their tradition, they fail to discern the intent of Scripture here. Once again, we turn to questions of authority. In this, we can see the central struggle of the whole spiritual history of Israel -- and the crux of faith at Jesus' time under Roman rule. Who will save the nation and the people and the faith? All of these questions are bound in this example Jesus gives from Scripture. Moreover, my study bible explains the passage as follow: "David, as king of Israel, would not address anyone as 'my Lord' except God Himself. Therefore, this psalm verse describes God talking to God -- the Father to the Son -- which contradicts the Pharisees' view of God as one Person, and introduces the doctrine of the Holy Trinity." Two questions are implied here: How can "my Lord" be David's son? If not David's, then Whose Son? Little wonder no one dared question Him again. The quotation is from Psalm 110:1. Let us make note of Jesus words; He is careful to express the inspired nature of the Psalm: this is the work of David "in the Spirit."

So, we are invited once more into mystery, as Jesus reads for us something into Scripture that was there all along, and perhaps unseen -- at least by this particular group of Pharisees. And thus we can be invited in by Jesus, who expresses the spiritual history of Israel in Himself, and unpacks meaning after meaning, fulfilling, broadening, opening up new understanding, and completing for us the concepts that are central to His ministry. Among them, the greatest of the commandments: love of God and love of neighbor, the two go hand in hand. A love of God teaches us right-relatedness to neighbor. This is the formula for Jesus' Way of faith. And in Him the Scriptures are expanded and manifest, because His authority comes from the same source as the Scripture. Let us consider what Jesus is offering to us here. It's not just "all the answers," but rather like His parables. He opens up for us (and the Pharisees) mysteries that we're not a part of, so that we are invited in, and may encounter them more deeply in faith. Jesus invites us in, to life in the Spirit, in a depth of love and relatedness to God "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" -- and that invites us in to true relatedness with neighbor. This invitation is not an automatic, one-time-only formula, but rather the invitation to follow in His Way, to grow in faith and its experience. He is the Good Shepherd, and invites us in through the narrow gate, to grow in this life of faith. "Follow Me" is the way He calls us. And He will give us a new commandment to add to the first two: "Love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

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

Over the course of the past few days, Jesus has been speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple built by Herod the Great, and the times of the end of the age. In yesterday's reading, He gave us the byword, to "Watch!" We are to be vigilant, and to understand that we don't know the time of the Master's return. We watch for the signs He's given us (and indeed, the Church at Jerusalem was prepared for its siege in A.D. 70 because of His warnings of what was to come). But mostly, in yesterday's reading, He counseled that we were not to know beforehand the time of His return. We simply must be prepared, and watch and pray. We must be about His business, as He has taught. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

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." The Passover meal starts the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and lasts seven days. "Both feasts," says my study bible, "commemorate Israel's liberation from Egypt." The word Passover indicates the "passing over" the homes of the Hebrews by the angel of death, when killing the firstborn children in Egypt (see Ex. 12:12-20). The Unleavened Bread is a reminder of the haste with which the Hebrews left Egypt -- my study bible says it also symbolized holiness unmixed with evil. Jesus will often refer to "leaven" as something mixed with dough in negative terms. The haste of the Israelites to leave Egypt gives us a reminder of Jesus' warnings in yesterday's reading about the times in which we live now, that we are to be vigilant and to watch, to know what we are about and to remember the time. My study bible also adds, "Passover prefigures the new deliverance of humanity by Christ from the power of 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. 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. What is love and what does it look like? How must it be represented in our actions? Can we put limits on it? Here, Christ is anointed by a woman who in this case is anonymous. The ones who are indignant are the apostles -- as reported in John's gospel, it was Judas Iscariot. My study bible writes, "Knowledge of religious things is good, but devotion to Christ is more important. Here a woman who knows less about religion than her critics expresses her deep love and devotion to Christ, devotion He accepts with gratitude."

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." Indeed, Jesus' word is true, and so we do read of her in this gospel. My study bible points out that often we may not fully understand the implications of what we do for Christ. "This woman was expressing her love for Jesus; she may or may not have known that she was anointing the body of Jesus for burial." This reminds us of the first great commandment, to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength -- and even of the second, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus also taught a new commandment, to love one another as He has loved us. This woman, in my opinion, is fulfilling all of these: Christ in His divinity as Lord, in His humanity as Jesus, the Teacher, and as the One who shows them His Way. She reciprocates that great love centered in all three of these commandments, and rooted in the Lord our God whose great love for us gave us Christ in the flesh. We have the "poor" with us in many forms, and we have need in many forms. Who is to say which act of love is "better" than another -- which one follows the right rules and which one doesn't, what real charity must always look like? There is room for all, and more. But it begins with the great commandments.

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. Perhaps the rebuke from Jesus concerning this woman was too much for him. If we note, somehow it is all about money -- how her wealth should have been used, in distribution in the purse (in which Judas had some control). Let us think also about what it is to be rebuked by our Lord and also learn a lesson about love: everything He does is from love for us. All of His teachings, including His rebukes, are made from love for those who would be His disciples. This is a failing, all around, of Judas' understanding and perception of love.

Today's reading invites us in to ponder love -- and its twin, charity -- more deeply than we usually do. What does a "good work" look like? From what is it motivated? We start with the love of God, and take that where it leads us to go. Charity and love can't really be separated if we are to understand them in a spiritual sense. There are acts of charity that beckon us all around. But if we are to use discernment, they begin with the love of God -- not dry rules that would demand what a good work looks like and command us only to certain practices, no matter where our heart leads us or what need faces us at the moment. Does someone need a smile or an encouraging word? How about just a handshake, an act of respect or courtesy? A visit to the hospital, a personal touch -- how can we discount these things as valuable? What about the ever-present gift of prayer for others? When we focus purely on money and competition, on the material, we can get lost in our "good works" and turn them into grim criticism of someone whose act is truly loving. And let us remember that a rebuke from love, centered in the love of Christ and His loving discernment, is also an act of love! What does love look like? How is it defined? How can you practice charity that is truly from the heart? Let us remember this incident in the reading today, and also remember Judas' response. Let us remember His words, and keep them alive in our own practice and understanding of our faith: "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." Do we have the eyes and heart of love to perceive as He did? Or are we too focused elsewhere? What would life be like if we could truly see with the eyes of love, and understand the love in others' hearts? We remember the poor widow, another woman whom Jesus understood with His own vision, and invited us to see His way, in contrast to the focus on the money. Can we learn to share His perception of love? Could there be any lesson more important than this?