And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just

 

Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

 

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  

 

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

 

- Luke 14:12–24 

 

On Saturday, we read that as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  On Saturday, we discussed the first part of this parable, found in the verses prior to today's reading, in which Jesus gave instruction to guests regarding humility.  Here He instructs hosts, of whom boundless charity is asked -- again in imitation of Christ.  According to the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), this instruction is based on the manner in which God treats us, although none of us could possibly repay God (see Luke 6:30-36).  Here, Jesus says that "you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  This teaching is similar to that illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, see Luke 10:25-37; especially verses 34-35.

 

 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  This man speaks in response to Christ's reference to the resurrection of the just.  The OSB remarks that this man unwittingly declares the ultimate beatitude.  It says that the truth behind his words can come only through understanding the bread to be eternal communion with God.  

 

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"  According to the OSB, this parable operates on two levels.  It illustrates both the first and second coming of Christ, who is the servant sent to gather many.  Supper, it notes, indicates evening, the end of the age.  The people invited are first the Jews, then all humankind.  In patristic commentary, the three excuses given here are seen as having both a literal meaning -- that many people are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God (see Luke14:26; 18:29) -- as well as spiritual meanings.  The OSB reports that, according to St. Ambrose, these three excuses of I cannot come represent the Gentile, the Jew, and the heretic.  The Gentile's devotion to earthly wealth is represented by the piece of ground, the Jews' enslavement to the five books of the Law by the five yoke of oxen, and the heretic's espousal of error by the man who refuses on account of his wife.  Additionally, Theophylact more generally associates the excuses with people devoted to earthly matters, to things pertaining to the five senses, and to all pleasures of the flesh.  Finally, the OSB states that those in the streets and lanes indicate first, the Gentiles who accepted Christ after the faithless Jews rejected Him, and second, those outside the Church who replace those within who have rejected their own baptism.  

 

 Gratitude seems to be at the heart of so much of what it means to be gracious in the sight of God.  For how can we accept gifts from God, even our lives, without gratitude?  And yet, in everyday life, we take all kinds of things for granted.  The invitation to the great supper is akin to the wedding feast mentioned by Jesus in Saturday's reading (above), and also in the parable of the Wedding Feast found in St. Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14).  We must keep in mind that it's an honor to receive an invitation, to be extended hospitality, and equally, it is gracious behavior to conduct oneself with humility as a guest, as Jesus also taught in the reading from Saturday.  So here, in today's parable of the supper, we observe the people making excuses.  Each one has his own concern, his own interest.  But the invitation is disregarded as if it were of no value whatsoever.  Only the particular concerns of their individual lives and interests matter to them.  For what is an invitation?  In this case, it is a voluntary offering of a banquet, and one that asks for nothing in return but participation alone.  "Come, and eat my supper," the invitation asks.  But note that the host does not stop with the refusals of those who have matters to attend to that serve their interests.  This host has his servant go to the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind, all those not in a position to repay, to bring them into his home.  Such a grand home it must be that there is still room left.  And so out the servant goes again, to bring in all those on the peripheries, the real outsiders, who are on the highways and in the hedges, and they are compelled to come in.  For all these who surely cannot repay will now come first in the home of the One who extends the invitations and offers the supper.  Jesus seems to be teaching us about hospitality in a profoundly metaphorical way in order to say something about the spiritual life, and what it is we refuse when we refuse God.  For the gracious host's hospitality isn't simply about throwing a supper, but it is about making the house full and extending his grace to as many people as possible, with preference finally given to the "least of these," the outsiders, the ones not in a position to repay but who simply can accept with thanks.  When we refuse the grace of God, we also refuse the hospitality that offers respect for those who can't repay, the wisdom of the kingdom of God. 

 

 

 

I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat

 

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 

 

 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala. 

 

- Matthew 15:29–39 

 

 Yesterday we read that, following a dispute with Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."    And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

  Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.   Christ's healing of the multitudes, according to my study Bible, shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman in our reading from yesterday (see above).  According to commentary of St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed that woman's daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delayed with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."

 

  Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.   This second feeding of a multitude is not to be confused with the first (see Friday's reading), for they are two distinct miracles, my study Bible comments.  In the following chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, it is reported that Jesus chastised the disciples, with reference to the two miracles (Matthew 16:8-10).  My study Bible says that the variance is the number of loaves is significant.  In the first feeding of five thousand, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament Scriptures, or Torah).  In today's reading there are seven.  Seven is symbolic of completeness or fullness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle, Jesus reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law; here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible also asks us to note that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, which is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  Participation in Christ's perfect, it notes, can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

 Jesus now meets another circumstance with a miraculous feeding in the wilderness.  Clearly these are understood as two separate events, as my study Bible has pointed out.  But we might ask ourselves why:  why the two distinct miracles?  My study has already cited commentary regarding the differences in the numbers, particularly the seven loaves in this story as opposed to the five in the first feeding miracle.  Seven, it notes, is a number of completeness, of fullness.  In the symbolism of the Bible, it helps to understand the Greek word τελος/telos, usually defined as meaning "end."  But this word means much more than that; it signifies fullness of purpose, something fully played out and manifest.  Therefore it doesn't describe an end so much as it describes the fullness of a plan and its complete fruition.  This is how we should think of the "fullness" of number seven in the seven loaves, and the spiritual perfection my study Bible describes.  There will be no further Messiah, no greater Savior, for the One is here, and it is He who multiplies the loaves and the fishes to feed a multitude.  Not once, but twice, for now something else has happened in between, and that something is found in yesterday's reading, when a Gentile woman, justified by her faith, becomes the recipient of the grace of Christ to heal her severely demon-possessed daughter.  We could also take a look at the number four thousand, and associate it with historical liturgical services of prayer for the world, which bless the four corners of the earth, the four directions, indicating the fullness of the world and all it contains.  (See this example from the Armenian Apostolic Church.)  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, such a liturgical service takes place to commemorate the Elevation of the Holy Cross; it includes a blessing of the four directions of the earth with Cross, affirming the universal nature of Christ's salvation, belonging not just to the world but to the entire created order, the cosmos (κοσμος).  In feeding the four thousand, then, we see the number four symbolically multiplied to indicate the fullness of all that is, and all creatures in existence, all people for all time.  This is the reality of the spiritual perfection offered by Christ, for it is offered for all, even to those souls in Hades who awaited the good news of His gospel.  Four thousand, in light of this symbolic understanding, becomes uncountable, containing all and for all.  Today we live in a world connected through networks to all corners of the world through telecommunications of all kinds.  We have universal organizations which seek to bridge the entire world, and popular concerns, cares, and institutional drives that address problems that face the whole world, such as concerns over pollution, for example.  But let us consider that we have been given a Savior, who came into the world to give His flesh "for the life of the world" and that this universal meaning of the Cross with its four corners is our very symbol for the world He seeks to save; that is, indeed, for the life of the world.   As in the previous feeding in the wilderness, this feeding of the four thousand once again affirms and prefigures the Eucharist to come, with His flesh, the Cross, and Christ's identity as Savior all tied in together, all these elements in His saving mission for all of us.  When we consider the problems of the world, let us pray also to the One who came to save us all, to help us find our way to Him, and for the life of the world once and for all.  For that is a gift that will always be repeating and multiplying, as only God can do.

 

 

 

 

 

And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  

 

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  

 

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

 

- Luke 14:12-24 

 

On Saturday, we read that it happened, as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  My study Bible comments that this instruction is based on the manner in which God treats us, although not one of us could possibly repay God (see Luke 6:30-36).  Regarding Christ's words, "you shall be repaid," see Luke 10:34-35.

 

 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  My study Bible comments that this man unwittingly declares the ultimate beatitude.  The truth in his words can come only through an understanding of the bread to be eternal communion with God.  

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'"  Here Jesus begins a parable which operates on two levels.  My study Bible says that these two levels illustrate both the fist and second coming of Christ.  He is the servant who's sent to gather many.  Supper is an indication that it is evening; in other words, the end of the age.  The people who are first invited are the Jews, then all humankind. 

 

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'"  My study Bible explains that in patristic commentary these three excuses are seen as having both a literal and spiritual meaning.  The literal meaning is that many are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God (Luke 8:14, 14:26, 18:29).  St. Ambrose, it says, sees the three excuses of I cannot come as representing Gentiles, Jews, and heretics.  The Gentile is devoted to earthly wealth represented by the piece of ground, the Jew's enslavement to the five books of the Law by the five yoke of oxen, and the heretic's espousal of error by the man refusing on account of his wife.  Theophylact, however, more generally associates these excuses with people devoted to earthly concerns, to things which pertain to the five sense, and to all the pleasures of the flesh.  

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"   Here my study Bible comments that those in the streets and lanes indicate first, the Gentiles who accepted Christ after the faithless Jews rejected Him, and second, those outside the Church replacing those within who have rejected their own baptism.  The apostles would be sent out into the streets and lanes and highways and hedges of all the world, to preach the gospel. and their successors continue.

 

On Saturday, we read the first part of Christ's teaching to the people who sat at table with Him in the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees.  In it, He taught about humility, and the need for a guest to display humility.  In the first part of today's reading, He continues by addressing His teaching to hosts:  "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  This parable also teaches us about humility, but in a different sense.  He asks those who are in a position to host others to consider condescension -- not in the colloquial way we have of speaking that renders condescension an act of smug superiority, but in the sense that to be gracious is the highest and best prerogative of those in a position to host others.  That is, those with wealth and position enough to do so.  In the West, we are mostly affluent enough so that inviting others to a dinner or supper is common; nor is it required of us to be an ostentatious occasion.  But nevertheless, Christ's teaching applies to all of us.   Just imagine, instead of inviting people we hope to receive something back from, we invite those who have no way to repay us.  Jesus teaches these impressive guests at the dinner in the ruler's house to invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  These are people who don't have much status to offer in return to those who invite them to their table as guests.  These are the people who, in Christ's time. would certainly find it difficult to earn much wealth or status in the society.  But Jesus gives a deeper hint here of an important principle that is more than our conventional understanding of laudable acts of charity.  Jesus is teaching us a principle that hooks us in to even the mysteries of the Cross, and one that plays a role in each of our lives and where we will spend an eternity at the resurrection of the just.  In this teaching, He gives us a mystery of what it is to sacrifice; that is, to give something up for the sake of the kingdom of God, and for love of the Lord.  In essence, He's teaching us that this is a kind of investment, something that is stored in "money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys" (Luke 12:33).  This is what the Cross is all about, it is the deepest mystery of how we can give something for the Kingdom and reap what God gives us in return, and in this sense we will be blessed in the depth of that mystery.  For we are all meant to take up our own crosses in following Him, and each has a harvest of repayment in ways we don't know and cannot foresee.  This is how we put our heart in the place it needs to be:  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34).  St. Chrysostom taught a lot about understanding our wealth as that which also belongs, in God's sight, in the stomachs of the poor, giving thought to more than what we can acquire purely for ourselves.  It's God's logic to find our treasure where God's blessedness is for us, in the places where we follow Christ's word first.  This is how we will eat bread in the kingdom of God. 

 

 

Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

 

 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.  

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!  If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." 

 

- Matthew 18:1-9 

 

Yesterday we read that while Jesus and the disciples 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."

 

  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."  My study Bible comments that this question, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" is an indication of a selfish interest in worldly power.  Jesus points to a little child as the model of true discipleship, and in so doing emphasizes the virtues which are required for entrance into the kingdom of heaven.  These virtues are named by my study Bible as humility, dependence, lowliness, simplicity, obedience, and a willingness to love and be loved.  In Orthodox iconography, it says, St. Ignatius of Antioch is shown as this child.  In certain legends of saints, he is the boy who gave the loaves and fishes (John 6:9).  

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."  Little ones, my study Bible says, include all who have childlike humility and simplicity, all who are poor in spirit.   

 

"Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!  If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire."  See also Matthew 5:29.   Jesus is referring to a type of emergency operation, in which a diseased body part must be removed in order to save the body from spreading infection or disease.  He is using such as an illustration of decisive action to avoid sin, and how dangerous sin -- that which causes offenses -- is to the soul.  My study Bible adds that this also applies to harmful relationships which must be severed for the salvation of all parties (see Luke 14:26; 1 Corinthians 5:5).  

What are offenses, and what does Jesus mean by this?  Let us begin with the question asked by the disciples:  "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  My study Bible calls it a selfish interest in worldly power.  If we compare the kingdoms of the world (or even the states of today), we understand the pursuit of power -- and therefore position -- to be the primary aims of those involved, the "great ones" or "greatest" who rule.  But greatness for Jesus Christ has another definition, which has hopefully touched our world to some extent, and given us concepts of rule that involve more than simply conquering and exploiting.  Perhaps the disciples understand that the Kingdom to come will be like a worldly kingdom; perhaps they misunderstand what it means that Christ will be raised at the third day following His Passion.  This would coincide with the popular expectations of the Messiah.  But Jesus must make them understand what kind of Kingdom they must serve and how they must serve it.  Most importantly, He gives us the concept of greatness.  But in so doing, He begins, importantly, with what they must do and not do as those who wish to be great.  They must first be "converted and become as little children," for without this there is no entry into this kingdom of heaven!  "Therefore," Jesus says, "whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."   This is an upside down image of the kind of worldly power the disciples know from the empires and kingdoms around them.  How can being humble as a little child make one the greatest?  Then Jesus leads them into an understanding of His version of leadership.  Jesus' first and highest priority is the little ones who in faith will come to them in His Church:  "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!"  Exploitation, false teaching, leading the little ones astray, offenses that cause them to be lost, will meet with the severest punishment.  Jesus proclaims woe to those who cause such offense.  This is an image of leadership in stark contrast to figures we can read about in the Gospels, like Herod Antipas or his father Herod the Great.  And then comes what is perhaps the most powerful teaching of all:  "If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire."  Jesus is using the image of a body part that needs amputation to illustrate the power of our habits which cause offense, harm, abuse to others; and in this case it is in the context of using power over those who are "little ones" in our world.  That is, those who come in humility and faith -- trust -- into the Church and under their care.  A hand or foot can strike one less powerful, either one can stray where it's not wanted, cross boundaries that shouldn't be crossed, reach out to take or steal what doesn't belong to it.  An eye can gaze with envy, with covetousness, with hatred and rage, with the desire to control or to exploit.  What Jesus is speaking about is the internal life of a person, and how essential it is that we know ourselves, our flaws, and be willing to take decisive action to cut from ourselves the habits and impulses that lead to the offenses He condemns.  And this then becomes the definition of leadership -- the capacity to sacrifice the things we might even hold dear, the habits of a lifetime that are  hard to break, and cast them from ourselves in order to make greatness meaningful in terms of serving God.  This in turn is discipleship.  That is, it is the discipline which He asks of His disciples, and in turn of us.  What we should note at this stage is that Jesus is ultimately most concerned with the "little ones" who will be in the care of these future apostles and bishops of the Church.  He is teaching them how greatness is connected to the qualities of God which are most highly associated with grace and mercy, the extension of care and compassion.  In terms of the ways that power -- especially state power -- worked in Jesus' time, this is a powerful antidote to its frequent and even normative abuses.  Caesar's "greatness" was concerned with how many he had conquered, even killed in battle.  Christ offers a different greatness, and one which would come to revolutionize the world, bringing institutions of care and compassion such as hospitals and charitable behavior into social life.  But for now, let us pay close attention to Christ's most powerful admonitions which come in the form of prophesying "woe" for those by whom abuses to the little ones in the Church come.  It is a word we need to pay attention to today, and His teaching about a willingness to sacrifice our own impulses to abusive or manipulative power remains equally necessary as it was then, a reminder about what makes us human beings of truly "great" stature.  In a highly consumerist-oriented society of the modern developed world, we might be easily misled to think that some sort of greatness is measured by how far we can indulge our own desires.  But this is not the greatness described by Jesus.  On the contrary, Christ's greatness depends upon our own discipline and is clearly measured by an internal yardstick of self-mastery in service to something much higher than ourselves.   True greatness in this Kingdom is not measured by our own yardstick but rather taken in the measure that Christ gives us.  Let us endeavor through our lives to take His measure for ourselves, and seek the greatness He gives us.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).   But this word "meek" has taken on characteristics in modern language that mislead our understanding of Christ's greatness, for Jesus' meekness and gentleness is strength under control, in discipleship and obedience to God, and seeking God's way for ourselves.  Let us more fully seek to embody the kind of strength He gives us through faith.

 

 

 

So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel

 

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

 

- Matthew 15:29-39 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus went out from the place where He disputed with the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, and departed too the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

  Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  My study Bible comments that Christ's healing of the multitudes here shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman of yesterday's reading, above.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed the woman "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."  Let us also note that this outpouring of God's grace and power, manifesting in marvelous varieties of healing, is a kind of affirmation of Christ in the face of the scrutiny and criticisms of the religious leaders in Monday's reading.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.  My study Bible comments that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading), for they are two distinct miracles (see Matthew 16:8-10, in which Jesus refers to each).  There are distinctive differences in specific details.  My study Bible first suggests that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the first instance, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law, while here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness, and here indicates spiritual perfection.  So in the first feeding Christ revealed Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here in today's reading He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also, these crowds had been with Jesus for three days.  That is the number of days which He would rest in the tomb.  My study Bible comments that participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

Some comment that, as Jesus has gone to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon (for the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter in yesterday's reading), and in today's reading seems to be in a region of mixed populations, the healings and feeding in today's reading suggest the evolving understanding of spiritual perfection as belonging to all people, and that the salvation that is of the Jews (John 4:22) is destined for all the nations through Christ (Isaiah 49:6).  As mentioned above, we can also look at this outpouring of blessings and manifestations of God's power and activity in the world as a kind of affirmation or proof of Christ's ministry:  the flowering of such creativity and miracles -- both in healing and in feeding the people -- is an affirmation which manifests among the faithful.  But it will not be so for the religious leaders, whose blindness Jesus has recently commented on (in Monday's reading, He called them "the blind leaders of the blind").  It is an affirmation to us that the things which move us to our faith, which serve to dig us more deeply into our faith, which go unobserved and unnoticed by others, are nonetheless powerful and important.  So often it seems that the things that guide us to our own deepening faith are things to which others are impervious and imperceptive, and maybe that is just the way it's meant to be, the nature of the things of faith.  That certainly seems to be the story in the Gospels, where it is often only later in hindsight that people realize the value and power in the outcome of faith.  Even the disciples will be slow in understanding, such as the two who traveled on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).  It is in the personal glimmers of insight that faith grows, and enlightenment of the heart that tinges the mind and brings about conviction and deeper understanding, and these things are often nearly impossible to explain.  Certainly to those who do not share the experience, communication of such is seemingly impossible.  So, at this stage of Christ's ministry, the beginnings of the attention and scrutiny of the establishment are beginning to bear down on Him, and to criticize His ministry.  Herod Antipas has begun to be afraid of Him and His powers (that He is, in fact, John the Baptist raised from the dead) -- see this reading.  The scribes and Pharisees have also come from Jerusalem to question and criticize (Monday's reading), and in tomorrow's reading they and those of their fellow ruling party in the Council (the Sadducees) will together begin to demand proofs from Jesus, "a sign from heaven."  But faith does not come from proofs on demand, nor does it entertain to choose to provide them.  Faith comes through quiet revelation, in secluded corners of sudden light, illuminations of the interior heart -- and not with gigantic spectacle.  For that, we await Christ's return which will only signal sudden judgment (Matthew 24:30-31).  But for those of faith, we must be content with what we understand that comes upon us in ways we can't calculate nor knowingly predict, for this is the way that faith works.  We can pray, and participate in worship, study the Scriptures, and strengthen our discipleship and encourage others, but that is all we can do to bring other people to faith, save to live in such a way as to glorify God (Matthew 5:16).    Let us be assured in our journeys of faith, and in the quiet strength we sometimes surprisingly receive (Nehemiah 8:10, also part of today's lectionary reading).

 

 

 

 

 

 

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just

 

 Then He also said to those who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'" 

 

- Luke 14:12-24 

 

On Saturday, we read that, as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  

 

 Then He also said to those who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  My study Bible comments that this instruction given by Christ is based on the manner in which God treats us, although not one of us could possibly repay God (see Luke 6:30-36).  You shall be repaid:  see the words of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34-35.  The teachings here couple with the verses just preceding, from Saturday's reading (see above); in the words of my study Bible, Christ teaches, in imitation of Himself, perfect humility to guests, and boundless charity to hosts.

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"   My study Bible comments that this man unwittingly declares the ultimate beatitude.  The truth behind his words can come only through understanding the bread to be eternal communion with God.

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'"  My study Bible explains that the parable Christ teaches here operates on two levels, which illustrate both the first and second coming of Christ.  He is the servant sent to gather many.  Supper indicates evening, the end of the age, which has been a common theme over the course of recent readings.  The people invited are first the Jews, and then all humankind.  

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'"  According to patristic commentary, these three excuses have both a literal meaning and spiritual meanings.  In the literal sense, that many are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God (see verse 26, Luke 18:29).  St. Ambrose sees the three excuses of I cannot come as representing the Gentile, the Jew, and the heretic.  The Gentile's devotion to earthly wealth is represented by the piece of ground, the Jew's enslavement to the five books of the Law by the five yoke of oxen, and the heretic's espousal of error by the man refusing on account of his wife.  Theophylact more generally associates the excuses with people who are devoted to earthly matters, to things which pertain to the five senses, and to all the pleasures of the flesh.  Taken all together, the excuses remind us of the things which do not nurture the seed of the Sower, do not constitute the good ground in the parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15).  

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"  My study Bible comments that those in the streets and lanes indicate first the Gentiles who accepted Christ after He was rejected by the Jews who did not have faith in Him; and second, those outside the Church who replaced those within who have rejected their own baptism.

 At first glance the different subjects in today's reading, although ostensibly related in that they concern a supper given for many guests, seem to contradict one another.  On the one hand, Jesus speaks of giving a dinner or a supper, and the gracious way one must treat guests.   His emphasis is on charity, in the sense that He advises the people with Him not to invite those friends, relatives, and rich neighbors who can "pay one back" in kind, but rather those who, for whatever reason, cannot afford to pay back.  In this way, through this kind of almsgiving or compassion, we rather store "treasure in heaven" (Luke 12:33, 18:22), "for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  But the image in the second story of a great supper gives us a less comforting picture about the refusal of hospitality, of graciousness rebuffed.  Clearly it's meant to be a response to the remark, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  But as we have had occasion to remark so frequently in recent readings as Jesus has begun to shift His sight to the Cross, this time the image is one that teaches us what it is to rebuff the graciousness of God, the offer of a place in God's kingdom.  The focus is on all the ways we put off thinking about "the resurrection of the just," and the process of moving toward the fullness of God's kingdom.  The emphasis again seems to be upon us to consider the time, that we do not have an infinite amount of time in our lives to put off the work of our faith, of doing the things God would like us to do.  That is, to consider what it is to practice compassion, to give alms in any way we can through such kindnesses or charitable behaviors we can.   This amounts to a way of thinking in which we take on a mindset that is less focused so much on what we think we need to do or to be in a worldly or earthly sense, and more focused on what it is that pleases God, on heeding that place within us that calls us toward this identity in the Kingdom.  Who are we when we stand before God? Do we seek a communion with Christ in our hearts?  Is there an adjustment we need to make in terms of how much time we think we have for God and God's call in our lives, how much energy we have for projects that call to the heart, how much extra space we can make for giving on even a small level?  This orientation toward gracious behavior can be as simple as a kindness shared with another person in a chance encounter, or something as costly as a smile at the right time, even the smallest supportive gesture to someone who needs it.  The common denominator, if we look for it in each of Jesus' teachings here in today's reading, seems to be humility.  It takes a kind of humility to realize that even those with the least among us are rich in blessings that they can share with others.  There's an old saying I can recall a friend's mother quoting:  "Good manners don't cost anything."  A little extra time or consideration, a charitable action (especially when it is unknown to the public), a hug at the right time or friendly greeting -- even a great, grand gesture of a large contribution to a worthwhile cause -- each of these things done with humility becomes a treasure in God's sight, an image that adds to our luster with God's love, for we are doing what is pleasing to our Lord, we are reflecting the person we're created to be,  God's image.  But it is humility that is the key, because the blessing from God comes from the humility of pleasing God.   There is a prayer written into the St. John Chrysostom liturgy in which we find a plea inspired by God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3.   In the closing prayer, we begin pray to God, "You bless those who bless you."  We should consider that we bless the Lord by being humble to the Lord, welcoming God's gracious will into our lives, sharing the supper to which we're invited, and doing so through charitable acts and kindnesses of our own.  It takes humility to recognize such blessings as we have to share, and how truly rich we are in the things we can share with others through the grace of God.  Let us take Christ's words to heart, remembering that this is, even in humility, part of the glory of God and God's kingdom with which we are blessed and in which we can share and share with others.

 

 

 

 

Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind"

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is He who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

 

- Luke 14:12-24 

 

On Saturday, we read that as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  

 

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  My study bible tells us that this instruction by Jesus is based on the manner in which God treats us -- although not any of us could possibly repay God (see 6:30-36).  On Christ's words that "you shall be repaid," see 10:34-35, in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is He who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"    This is the ultimate beatitude, according to my study bible, unwittingly declared by this man.   The truth in his words comes when we understand that the bread is eternal communion with God.  

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'"   My study bible explains that the parable Jesus begins here operates on two levels, which illustrate both the first and the second coming of Christ.  He is the servant who is sent to gather many.   Supper indicates evening, which is the end of the age.  The people who are invited to this metaphorical great supper are first the Jews, then all mankind.  

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' "  My study bible comments that the patristic Fathers see the three excuses as having both a literal meaning and also spiritual meanings.  First of all, the literal meaning -- that many are too attached to worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God can also be here in verse 26, and also 18:29.   As for spiritual meanings, St. Ambrose sees the three excuses of I cannot come as representing the Gentile, the Jew, and the heretic.  The Gentile's devotion to earthly wealth is represented by the piece of ground, the enslavement of the Jews to the five books of the Law in the five yoke of oxen, and the espousal of error by the heretic through the man refusing on account of his wife. 

"So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"  The people in the streets and lanes can be seen symbolically as first, the Gentiles who accepted Christ after the faithless Jews reject Him, my study bible says.  And second, those outside the Church who will replace those within who reject their own baptism.

Jesus' parable assures us of two things, and seems to do so absolutely.  First, that regardless of how many fail to accept the invitation to the feast of communion in the kingdom of God, there will be more invitations sent out to yet more who were not previously reached with invitations in the past.  In addition, none among the "preferred" or elect group who originally received invitation will be admitted to this feast.   Moreover, those in the streets and lanes of the city, who are the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind, are those who are outsiders.  They are all those who are in some sense "less than."   Furthermore, the room available at this great feast or banquet can always accommodate more.  So  those in the highways and hedges, who may be compelled to come in, are even more on the outskirts of what has been understood as the acceptable limits of the Kingdom, those eligible by reason of closeness and previous or past association or kinship of any kind.  The highways in Christ's time connected the whole of the Roman Empire and beyond.  There is a sense to the parable of an ongoing outreach, a search, in which action is continually happening in both directions:  those who refuse the invitation will be barred, while invitations will continually go to outsiders, the "less than," even those who know nothing of the Kingdom beforehand and so are not previously familiar with the One who issues the invitations.  I am particularly intrigued by the naming of "the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind," because it indicates that those invited in are all those who are in need of healing in one way and another.  It might even suggest to us Christ's specific words regarding Himself as Physician:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke 5:31).  He said these words when criticized for being at a dinner in the home of a tax collector, with other tax collectors and sinners present.  And he added another image:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  This image of the necessarily expanding new wineskins give us a parallel understanding of all those outsiders, including those in need of a Physician, who will be admitted into the Kingdom, for whom there is always "more room."  When things look bleak and impossible, let us keep in mind Jesus' saying about those poor, maimed, lame, and blind -- and all those who are way on the outskirts of what we think of as the insiders and the connected.  For they are all the children of God invited to this banquet by Christ.  It is those among them who accept this invitation as they are called into the Kingdom, and who will meet at the resurrection of the just.

Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled

 Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

- Luke 14:12-24

On Saturday, we read that as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."   My study bible tells us that this instruction is based on the manner in which God treats us, although there is not one of us who could possibly repay God (see 6:30-36, 10:34-35).  It is another incident in which Jesus gives us a sense of exchange that is a matter of belonging to and participation in the Kingdom; what we sow in a earthly sense we reap in exchange in the life of the Kingdom.   Here the promise is fulfilled at the resurrection of the just.  But other readings invite us to consider a sense in which the life of the Kingdom lives with us even as we live our worldly lives, an unpredictable and mysterious intersection or parallel existence of both, as the Kingdom lives in us and among us (17:20-21).

Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  My study bible says that this man unwittingly declares the ultimate beatitude.  The truth behind his words comes through the understanding that this bread in the kingdom is the eternal communion with God. 

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'"  There are two levels to this parable.  Christ is the servant who is sent to gather many.  But supper indicates evening, the end of the age.  The people who are invited are first the Jews through Christ's earthly ministry, and then all mankind.  

"But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master."  Regarding these three excuses, a traditional patristic interpretation sees them as having both a literal meaning -- that many are too attached to their worldly cares to accept the Kingdom of God (verse 26; 18:29).  My study bible cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who sees the three excuses of I cannot come as representing the Gentile, the Jew, and the heretic.  The Gentile's devotion to earthly wealth (see 12:29-31) is represented by the piece of ground, the Jew's enslavement to the five books of the Law by the five yoke of oxen, and the heretic's devotion to error by the man who refuses on account of his wife.  Theophylact, however, associates the excuses more generally with people who are devoted to earthly matters, to things pertaining to the five sense, and all pleasures of the flesh. 

"Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"   My study bible notes here that those in the streets and lanes indicate (1) the Gentiles who accepted Christ after the faithless Jews rejected Him, and (2) those outside the Church who replace those within who have rejected their own baptism.

The talk here at this supper with lawyers and Pharisees clearly turns to eschatology.  The discussion begins with Jesus pressing home and reviving an already-existing point of contention:  "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  (see Saturday's reading, quoted above).  Jesus has already given an illustration of the importance of humility before delving into the parable we read in today's lectionary passage from the Gospel.  And in that teaching on humility were clothed hints about those with whom one may be sitting, an unawareness of the rank in glory between invited guests and those with whom one is dining.  The suggestion is even reminiscent of the story of the hospitality of Abraham, who entertained angels unaware, and gained so much from his own humility (Genesis 18:1-15).  By this time in His ministry, Jesus has set His sights on Jerusalem, and has repeatedly warned His disciples about the Passion and death that await Him there.  So today's parable given to these Pharisees and lawyers comes as a kind of warning about judgment, or the time of the resurrection of the just.  These are the spiritually learned men of the time, those who are the experts on Scripture and the Law of Moses.  They full well know what He is talking about; they are schooled in the Scripture and its meanings.  They are the guardians of the faith in this sense.  As happens elsewhere with such men who belong to the ruling bodies of the Jews, there is unwitting prophesy that happens in response, showing us a connection between what they know and the Person of Christ (see also John 11:49-52).  There is a hint that these knowledgeable and learned men should be able to grasp who Christ is; they live and breathe the Scriptures that speak of Him (John 5:39-40).  But Jesus' parable is one of scathing vehemence, a profound response to the rejection of His teaching and ministry.  He seems to imply quite clearly that as those invited first to the wedding feast, they must not over-presume the exclusivity and superiority of their status as God's people.  There is one responsibility that goes with such an exalted people, chosen of God, and that is to respond to their God when He calls.  The failure to do so, Christ suggests, will be met with the certainty that there are millions of other children of God to be found, even "out of the way" in the streets and lanes of the city, and among the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.  Indeed, so many places are available at this wedding feast of the Kingdom that even more simply must be found, and the command goes out to find those in the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that God's house may be filled.  The response to rejection, however, goes even further, as Christ declares, "For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper."  This is about absolute and final loss, and it is a dire warning, as strong as it can get.  Jesus is not mincing words about the importance with which we take our faith.  That is, a faith that is living and alert, not complacent, and not self-satisfied.  It is a faith that calls us to an awareness for the things of God, a living spiritual reality which may be hidden from us, which we will always be tempted to take as material possession or substitute with the cares and concerns of the world.  If even these men, who surely take their positions and their knowledge seriously, may overlook the ministry of Christ and turn in hostility toward it, so the warning is clear to each of us.  Humility is the only way we can truly know our God, and be listening for God's call to us.  Let us consider what that means to us, especially when we pray, and that we are all on a long learning curve in the life of this Kingdom.

I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

- Matthew 15:29-39

Yesterday we read that, after a confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  My study bible says that the healing of the multitudes here shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman (in yesterday's reading, above).  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed the woman's daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.  This second feeding of the multitude is quite distinct from the first (see this reading).  They are two separate miracles (see 16:8-10, in which Jesus specifically mentions them as such).  My study bible says that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the first such miracle of feeding in the wilderness, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (the first five books of Scripture, the Pentateuch or Torah).  But here, there are seven.  Seven is a number that symbolizes completeness or fullness.  Here it indicates spiritual perfection.  Therefore, in the first feeding in the wilderness, Christ reveals Himself as the fulfillment of the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  We must also note that these crowds had been with Christ for three days.  This is significant, as it is the number of days He would rest in the tomb.  Participation in His perfect, my study bible reminds us, can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).

This is twice that Jesus has fulfilled the "type" of the Israelites being fed in the wilderness by God (see Exodus 16).  In the earlier verses in today's reading, we're told, "So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made while, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel."  These words also indicate a fulfillment of the Old Testament, in the words of the prophesy of Isaiah (Isaiah 35:5-6).  These are all a kind of "code" of references to Scripture.  Matthew's Jewish readers will certainly understand.  Even that we are told at the top of today's reading that Jesus went up on the mountain and sat there is a kind of code that refers us not only to Moses but also the sitting position of rabbi or teacher.  These passages affirm to us Christ's mission to Israel, and His fulfillment of prophesies of the Messiah, immediately after the revelation of faith in the Canaanite woman.  But the second feeding miracle also gives us hints of what the fulfillment of this ministry is going to mean -- the New Covenant that will go out not only to Israel but to all the world, and which is given through Him.  The number seven as completion indicates fullness.  That is, it is indicative of eschatological fulfillment, of the telos (meaning "end," as in the fullest point of something, perfection).  In Christ, these "types" have their fulfillment, the whole of Old Testament Scripture and history have their fulfillment.  The second feeding in the wilderness, and the healings that fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, come after the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter.  They are indicative of the fullness of God's mercy, spreading into all the world.  Jesus tells us, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  St. Paul writes that Christ is our "wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).  St. Maximus the Confessor writes that "the essence of all the virtues is our Lord, Jesus Christ."  Those words apply in the broadest and most absolute sense; they are statements of a cosmic nature.  His is the fullness of truth regardless of where we come from or what tradition we already know.  Whatever is true, our early Greek fathers understood, serves the Person Who is Truth.  The One who is the Truth becomes the center for all of us, the compass, the measure of all things -- and it is the Truth to whom we turn, regardless of circumstances, to find our way toward Him.  Let us contemplate this message for today, even (and maybe most especially) when we find ourselves in the midst of confusion.