And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you

 

 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful.  

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"  He said, "Yes."  And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"   Peter said to Him, "From strangers."  Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."

 

- Matthew 17:22–27 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus, together with James, John, and Peter, had returned from the Mount of Transfiguration, they came to the multitude, and a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him here to Me."  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

 

  Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up."  And they were exceedingly sorrowful.  This is the second time that Jesus has predicted His death and Resurrection to the disciples.  (See this reading for the first, which immediately followed Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is Christ the Son.)  My study Bible says that Christ's repeated predictions of what is to come show that He is going to His Passion freely and is not being taken against His will.  

 

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"  He said, "Yes."  And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"  Peter said to Him, "From strangers."  Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."  My study Bible explains here that the temple tax was an annual head tax (meaning on individuals) for all male Jews over twelve years of age for the maintenance of the temple; only the priests were exempt from this tax.  See Numbers 3:43-51.  Since Jesus is the Son of God, it noes, He is both High Priest and "proprietor" of the temple, and is therefore exempt from the tax.  Nonetheless Jesus pays it anyway -- both to avoid unnecessary offense, and also to show that He has totally identified Himself with mankind.  

Several patristic commentaries on the passage regarding the temple tax comment on the coin as a symbol.  Roman coins bore the image of Caesar on them, together with an inscription naming Caesar as divine.  The tax itself is a kind of redemption, paid for individual salvation.  These commentaries note that Christ, having established to Peter that He is exempt from such a tax, does not take the coin from His own treasury of His ministry, nor from His own spending money.  Rather, we have this mysterious, seemingly "magical" story of the fish taken by the fisherman Peter.  In this miracle Christ tells Peter to go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first; in it he will find the money for the temple tax.  We look first at the specific direction here from Jesus; each detail makes us assured that this indeed is a powerful miracle which we must not overlook.  As Jesus has already shown that He is master over the sea (symbolic of the world) on two occasions when the disciples were struggling with storm and waves (see Matthew 8:23-27; 14:22-33), here He demonstrates the same again.  But in so doing, Peter takes from the sea an element of the world through the power of the Lord in order to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:14-16).  We may also remember Christ's words to the fishermen Simon Peter and Andrew, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:18-20).  Christ will work through His apostles to redeem human beings who will exchange a worldly image for the image of Christ, a true identity as a "son" or adopted child and heir of God.  Christ is the first, but there will be many more to follow (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  Out of this world, the Lord will redeem human beings made in the image and likeness of God, through those who will become the fishers of men.  We remember also that the fish would become a symbol for Christology.  The ancient Greek word, which is the one used in the Gospels to mean fish, is ιχθυς (ixthys).  Used as an acronym, taking each letter as the beginning of a word, this came to stand for Ιησους Χριστος, θεου Υιος, Σωτηρ (Iesous Christos, Theou Yios, Sotir) meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."  In His Incarnation, and through His Passion which He predicts for the second time in today's reading, He brings us salvation, the true manifestation of what it is to be "redeemed."  In His Passion, He pays the price for all of us, as He pays the temple tax today for Peter.  All of it through the power of the Lord, which turns the things which belong to our world into the things that work for God (Romans 8:28), allowing us all to become "sons of God."

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder

 

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours."  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, 'Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:

'The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone'?

"Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

 

- Luke 20:9-18 

 

Yesterday we read that on one of the days when Jesus taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from haven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."   

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours."  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, 'Certainly not!"   My study Bible explains that in this parable, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God's people.  The vinedressers are the leaders of the Jews who are entrusted to care for the people.  Each servant who is sent by the owner stands for an Old Testament prophet, who comes to call people back to God, as did the prophets.  But the beloved son refers to Christ Himself.  When the Son is cast out of the vineyard to be killed, my study Bible explains that this is understood on two levels:  First, that Jesus was killed outside Jerusalem; and second, that Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers -- not those of His own "vineyard."  The others who later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles who are brought into the Church.   

Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  That stone, my study Bible explains, is Christ.  It notes that this saying illustrates the two ways of destruction, according to St. John Chrysostom.  St. Chrysostom comments that those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the effects of their own sins while yet in this life, while those on whom the stone falls are unrepentant people who become powder in the final judgment.  Jesus' quotation is from Psalm 118:22.

Chrysostom's teaching on the lesson of the stone which the builders rejected, but which has become the chief cornerstone is a very interesting thing to ponder.  We don't like to think about judgment, and especially harsh judgment.  But we can't ignore Christ's words here, and we also must remember at the same time that this sort of judgment is reserved for what is not repented.  That is to say, nothing is unforgivable save that which is not repented.  So, in some sense, this is good news, because we have election in things.  That is to say, there is a level at which our actions, or we might say our "assent" to something counts for something.  In keeping with this vein of thought, we might consider St. John Chrysostom's understanding of the action of this Stone that is Christ in terms also of our participation.  Certainly we might all accept that there are times in life when we experience the consequences of our decisions, our choices.  Sometimes, like Christ, we will suffer for good decisions, and for important choices in obedience to what God wants of us.  It is easily possible for us to suffer for doing good, just as did Jesus.  If we offend powerful persons, or malicious persons who wish to make us miserable, this might be understood as a wrong choice.  But Christ teaches us differently; it is only God we are to fear in this sense, and God to whom we owe our ultimate loyalty.  Jesus taught, "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:4-5).  And, as we explored in yesterday's reading and commentary, God is the ultimate authority.  But there are also times in life when we might suffer for a choice we make that is not in keeping with the authority of God, or where Christ wants us to go.  In the context of this understanding of the parable and the quotation from Psalm 118, we ought to understand this as a good and preserving thing.  It means there is an opportunity in life to reconsider and to repent, to grow in love and dependency upon God.   It means that during our lifetimes, we have a chance to "change our minds" (the meaning of repentance in Greek, μετανοια/metanoia).  In truth, there are times in which I did something I believe is good in the sight of God, and for which others made me suffer, but God has the power to turn those into times of learning and growing dependency upon God as well.  But when the stone falls and grinds to powder there is no coming back.  This is an analogy for the obliteration of identity, of being, for the full oblivion that characterizes ontological non-being.  That is, when we are no longer remembered by God, in the theological language that teaches us that all that has being is sustained in the mind of God.  Of course, judgment puts us in mind of Christ's parable of judgment found in Matthew, that of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46).  It is important to consider that it is acts of compassion that make the difference in that parable, and in that light, perhaps we should consider that what these men lack to whom Christ tells this parable is compassion themselves.  As such, compassion becomes a saving grace -- not in recompense for an earlier act (as if we are in a system of merits and demerits), but rather as that which sparks repentance and reconsideration, a genuine change of mind and heart which opens the heart to God.  Ironically, it is their own stoniness, their hardness of heart, which is the obstacle in the way for those whom Christ addresses -- and which will contribute the most to the possibility of that Stone falling upon them.  This is something, therefore, that we all need to consider.  This parable tells a story of Israel and the prophets sent to Israel, and the Son sent to Israel, but it remains an important parable for all of us, each one of us.  For we also have the prophets, and we have Christ the Son, and we have the Church with her many saints who have shown compassion in the world, and warned us about our own hardness of heart.  See the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in which we hear, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."   We are all, in some sense, in the same shoes as the men to whom today's parable is told, those who are warned of the Stone that may fall upon them.  Whatever it is we think we know or want in life, this Stone remains and will remain, and one way or another we must come to terms with its authority in our own lives.  Let us be grateful He is the Stone of love, who has come to save and not to condemn (John 3:16-17).

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder

 

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:

'The stone which the builders rejected 

Has become the chief cornerstone'?

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

 

- Luke 20:9–18 

 

Yesterday we read that, on one of those days of Holy Week, when Jesus taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel,  the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  "The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  My study bible explains that in this parable, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard is a reference to God's people.  The vinedressers are the leaders of the Jews, those to whom it has been entrusted to care for God's people.  It is they to whom Christ speaks, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders who have just questioned Jesus about His authority to teach, preach, and perform the works He has performed (see yesterday's reading, above).  Each servant who is sent by the owner represents an Old Testament prophet, who comes to call people back to God.  But the beloved son, finally, refers to Christ Himself.  When the Son is cast out of the vineyard in order to be killed, it is traditionally understood on two levels.  First, that Jesus was killed outside of Jerusalem (that is, on Golgotha, which was outside of the city walls at that time.  And second, that Christ was crucified by foreign soldiers, and not those of His own vineyard (the Roman soldiers).  The others who later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles who are brought into the Church, and by adoption are enabled also to become God's people, no longer an exclusive possibility.  

Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22.  The stone referred to is Christ Himself.  My study bible explains, through the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, that this saying is an illustration of the two ways of destruction.  Those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the effects of their sins while yet in this life, thus leaving an opportunity and possibility for repentance.  But those upon whom the stone falls are the unrepentant, who become powder in the final judgment.  

It's interesting to think about all the "stones" that have been mentioned in various recent readings rather close together in the Gospel.  Jesus spoke about the stones that would cry out if the people were silenced in their reception of Him as He rode into the holy city, Jerusalem, at the Triumphal Entry (see this reading).  In prophesying what would come in Jerusalem within a generation, we were told in Jesus' lament that "days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation" (my italics; see this reading).  Jesus' prophecy quite literally came true, as Roman soldiers believed there was gold between the stones of the temple, and all that remained afterward was what still remains, one retaining wall of the temple now frequently called the Western Wall, but for many centuries referred to as the Wailing Wall.  And here in today's reading, we again hear of stones, this time the stone which the builders rejected but which has become the chief cornerstone.  Amidst all this talk of stones, we should also keep in mind St. Peter's allusion to the living stones who will build up Christ's church in the world.  He writes, "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:4-5).  All of these allusions to stones are tied together:  the destruction of the temple, the rejection of the stone which will become the chief cornerstone, and the living stones which not only would shout out praise should Christ's joyful followers be silenced, but which will go on to build Christ's Church, with Him as the chief cornerstone.  St. Peter himself, in his confession on behalf of all of the disciples, becomes the rock upon which the church would be built, "and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (see Matthew 16:16-18, John 1:42).   That is, to be explicit, the rock of faith.  But apart from the living stones who form the holy priesthood which builds up a spiritual house, the greatest metaphor regarding a stone is the one that Jesus offers today, that head cornerstone about which Jesus says, "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  For this is Christ's teaching about power and judgment, and it is in fact a response to the questions regarding His authority for His ministry which the religious leaders posed to Him in yesterday's reading.  Ultimately, a failure to recognize the true authority here will result in a judgment.  As St. Chrysostom's commentary elucidates meaning for us in this statement, we understand that one either falls on that stone during one's lifetime in this world, and thus are afforded an opportunity for personal change, or beyond that, the one upon whom it falls it turns to powder, an allusion to oblivion, the loss of all existence and memory of existence.  Then, questions of authority, quibbling over what "right" one has to ministry or healing or preaching become moot, because real authority is not one conferred only by human beings, regardless of what the world may say or think or believe.  A real authority is the same one by which John the Baptist preached and baptized a repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.  A true authority is one that works because God the Father, Son, and Spirit interact in our world, dwell among us and within us, effectively working with and through our faith to make us living stones, a holy priesthood, a Church that lives even where it isn't seen, a Kingdom that comes without observation (Luke 17:20-21).  It is this kind of authority we seek and we know, this authority that works in the human heart, in human affairs, seen and especially unseen.  And as we await now the celebration of our Lord's birth, our thoughts should turn to this Kingdom and the faith that dwells within us, for we need to be aware of it more than ever, or so it seems at least to me.