You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times

 

 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  

 

 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

 

- Matthew 16:1-12 

 

In yesterday's reading, we read that after healing the daughter of the Canaanite woman, 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 aid 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.

 

  Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."  My study Bible explains that a sign from heaven means a spectacular display of power.  It tells us that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but these men are hypocrites who have not recognized the signs already being performed by Jesus because their hearts were hardened.  Thus they ignore the works happening all around them.  

 

 "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  Adulterous generation is an echo of the prophets, who used this term to indicate the faithlessness of the people in response to God (Jeremiah 2; Hosea 2:2-13).  Jesus refuses to prove Himself in a spectacular way, my study Bible tells us, for a sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God.  See also Matthew 4:5-7.  The sign of the prophet Jonah is a veiled prediction of Christ's death and Resurrection (Matthew 12:40), which will be the ultimate sign that He is the Christ.  

 

  Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  My study Bible explains that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  It notes that the reason the disciples are painfully slow to understand is that they have such little faith; they would not fully realize Christ's teachings until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given.  Jesus here refers to the two separate feedings in the wilderness; found at this reading, and in yesterday's reading (see above).

 

Today's reading shows the disciples in a rather iconic place of incomprehension.  They don't understand what Jesus is talking about when He tells them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  We, the readers, are supposed to understand this, which is quite interesting, because St. Matthew has just reported Christ's interaction with the Pharisees and Sadducees, in which He called them hypocrites.  But the apostles can't understand what He is talking about, and they come to the conclusion (after they reasoned among themselves) that "it is because we have taken no bread."  This answer seems to strike Christ in a way that we haven't quite seen Him react before.  He reminds them of the feedings of thousands of people in the wilderness, which happened not just once but twice, going over the explicit details of each multiplication of bread from a few loaves to thousands.  And He asks, "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Finally, they begin to understand.  Throughout the Bible, leaven functions as an image of adulteration, and almost always in a negative way.  St. Paul writes, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9), speaking about a bad influence within the community, a doctrine that is not true.  Interestingly, in one of His parables of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus uses the image of leaven in a positive way, speaking of the influence of the kingdom which is transformational in its action (Matthew 13:33).  But, in this case, He is clearly indicating, as my study Bible said, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees, made manifest through their legalism.  Jesus also says to the disciples, ""O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?"  Importantly, my study Bible explains that this "little faith" is linked to their lack of understanding, and that a fuller grasp of Christ's teachings would only come after Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps there is a lesson there for us, in that so often we seek by pure reasoning to understanding moral teachings, or to approach Christ's teachings as purely philosophical or intellectual, subject to reduction to ethics.  But this is not the case for us either, inasmuch as it was not the case for the disciples.  For unless we also cultivate, secure, and honor the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and our need to guard our spiritual lives and hearts, so regarding of how we reason, we won't really fully understand Christ either.  For faith is not simply an intellectual process, or assumption of values or beliefs.  Faith is an active participation in Christ's life, death, and Resurrection, in the spiritual life of the kingdom of heaven which Christ preaches.  All of the practices of the Church with her sacraments and traditions (and the Bible is included in the Tradition of the Church) are meant simply to guard our lives within the power of the Holy Spirit, for there is established the Church in the first place.  For without the Holy Spirit, there is no Church, and no people of God.  Let us bear in mind that the disciples -- recorded for all of history here in St. Matthew's Gospel -- show us that even those hand-picked by Christ can fail to understand and miss the mark.  Jesus says to the Pharisees and Sadducees, "You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."  Let us remember that it is the Holy Spirit which gives us discernment and understanding, and the grace of faith.  Let us take heed to keep ourselves on the path of the inner life of the heart Christ teaches us to keep and to know as the way in which we truly expand our faith. 

 

 

 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you

 

 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  

 

"So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  

 

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

 

- Matthew 6:25-34 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and were thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole boy will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the  other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

  "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?"  My study Bible explains that Jesus is warning here against anxiety, not against thoughtful planning.  Our physical well-being is directly dependent upon God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing.  It says that excess anxiety over earthly things demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care.  

 

 "So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"  Jesus demonstrates here the natural beauty with which God has created the world, and clothed even the lilies and grass of the field.  Do we presume that God does not care about these things?  

 

 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."  My study Bible comments that because the Gentiles served pagan idols, they remained consumed by dependence on earthly things.  

 

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."   The kingdom of God is the central theme of Christ's teaching, and God's righteousness is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount. My study Bible states that, calling us to be free from anxiety about earthly things, Jesus directs us to look to heaven, secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings.  

 

 So much of what we worry about seems to be directed by demands that do not come from within us, but come from what seems to be going on around us.  Do we need to have an updated home?  Do we need to wear clothes  that resemble what's admired or popular?  How much will people think of us when we don't impress them, or gain their approval through the things we have, wear, the car we drive, etc.?  That is a first consideration when we begin to approach the questions which are raised for us in today's reading.  It's important to consider the beauty that Jesus spells out in His teaching.  God does not neglect beauty, nor even admiration.  Jesus points out for us the charm and delight of the birds.  How are they cared for?  Do they store up the grain they find for the next season?  How do they flourish and survive?  And regarding clothing, Jesus speaks of the real splendor of the simplest things we can find in nature, even the lilies and grasses that grow wild.  It seems to me to be a quite literal statement that even Solomon wasn't arrayed in the glory of these flowers and plants that nature produces for us.  Our own ideas of beauty stem from the beauty of the natural world around us, the colors of the sunset, magnificence of mountains, the brilliance we see in flowers or the coloring of birds, the trees that give inspiration, the natural grace and life of the animals we observe.  The world is filled with the creative beauty of God, so why do we consider that God doesn't care about food or drink or clothing?  What Jesus is saying is that when we look around at the creation of God, its beauty should inspire us to consider our Creator, and what it says about God.  Do we think that God doesn't care about us?  Clearly God has provided for the birds and other animals.  Do we think even the beauty of our clothing doesn't matter?  But we see extraordinary natural beauty all around us, so what does that tell us about God?  Jesus is telling us, therefore, to look to our Creator first before all the rest of the cares and anxieties and urgent stressful demands that seem to plague us all the time.  And He also tells us exactly how we should look to our Creator first:  He says we must seek God's kingdom and His righteousness in the very first place in our lives, as our top priority.  In Christ's Incarnation, it is made manifest God's love for us and for God's creation (John 3:16).  The Incarnation is for us, so that we may become like Him and live with Him, even an abundant, eternal life; and this Incarnation is for the whole of the world, all of creation (both seen and unseen).  Christ's ministry presents us with the overwhelming conviction of the value of human beings, even those who will carry His kingdom in this world.  With that astonishing, invincible love, do we think God does not care what we will eat or drink or the clothing we'll wear?  So let us seek God first, trusting in God, and putting into perspective the nature of our relationship to creation and to our world.  For it is in righteouness that we find right relationship to all of it, including our material needs and lives.  Christ's final words in today's reading give us a right attitude to cultivate for our well-being:  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  This last word, trouble, is in the Greek κακία/kakia, meaning evil or bad, wickedness, even depravity.   Whatever troubles and difficulties we have, let us not compound them, for the things on our plate today are enough for us.  Let us put our trust and efforts first in God's kingdom and our pursuit of God's righteousness, and what we need will be added unto that. 

 

 

 

Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times

 

 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed. 

 

 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

 

- Matthew 16:1–12 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus departed from the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, 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. 

 

  Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."  A sign from heaven, according to my study Bible, means a spectacular display of power.  It says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but these hypocrites have not recognized the signs already being performed because their hearts were hardened, and they ignored the works happening all around them.  

 

 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  "Adulterous generation" is an echo of the prophets, who compared an unfaithful Israel to an adulterous spouse (Jeremiah 3; Hosea 2:2-13).  My study Bible comments that Jesus refuses to prove Himself in a spectacular way, for a sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God (see also Matthew 4:5-7).  The sign of the prophet Jonah is a "hidden" prediction of Christ's death and Resurrection (see Matthew 12:40), the ultimate sign that Jesus is truly the Christ.  

 

  Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.   The leaven of the Pharisees, according to my study Bible, is their doctrine and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  It further explains that the reason the disciples are painfully slow to understand is that they have such little faith, as Jesus indicates.  They will not fully grasp Jesus' teachings until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit is given. 

 

 In the first part of our reading for today, Jesus says, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  Jesus speaks about the ability to read signs.  So, even as the Pharisees and Sadducees are demanding signs from Him, He's chastising them for their inability to read the signs that are already right in front of them.  They demand proofs of His identity, while at the same time His healings and the grace that comes through His ministry is multiplying, even among great numbers of people who witness them.  In the second part of our reading, Jesus warns the disciples about this perspective of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  He tells them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  But, as often happens in the Gospels as the stories of the interactions of Christ and His disciples are reported, neither do the disciples seem capable of discerning the "signs" or symbols Christ is using here.  They don't understand Him, nor what He's telling them.  In one of the lovely comical moments of the Gospels, they hear Him speaking about leaven, and they think He's upset because they haven't brought bread.  This opens the door to an almost incredulous Jesus reminding them that He's fed thousands of people twice from a handful of loaves of bread, asking them to remember in detail all the baskets of leftover fragments of bread they took up afterward.  He asks, finally, "How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."   But Jesus gives us a clue concerning both the lack of comprehension of the Sadducees and Pharisees, as well as the incomprehension of the disciples.  "Little faith" is the cause for both.  But, of course, this prompts us to ask of the difference between the little faith of the disciples and the lack of faith in the Pharisees and Sadducees.  For that discernment, we need also go back to Jesus' words.  He addresses these religious leaders as "Hypocrites!"  and there we can discern the difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the disciples.  For the disciples, for all their own difficulties and slowness of comprehension, are sincere in their faith, even if that faith is still yet "little."  We know that eventually even one of them will betray Jesus, namely Judas, but Judas also we can call a hypocrite for his duplicity and betrayal, emblematic in his betrayal of Jesus with a kiss (Matthew 26:47-56).   We could say that the hypocrites in this story (including Judas) are heading one way -- away from Christ, while the sincere disciples, even though they as yet have only "little faith" are headed more deeply toward a fullness of relationship with Him.  And this is the way that we need to see our lives, for from the perspective of the Gospels, this is the framework of faith.  We are either headed in one direction or the other, toward Christ or away from Him.  This is the summing up of the "two ways" so prevalent in early Christianity, and remains so for us.  As we have reviewed lately in commentary, it is the guarding of the heart that remains so necessary for us today, the understanding that we need to be aware of our inner lives as much as our outer lives, made clear for us in the teaching of Jesus in Monday's reading, to "Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a manmouth, this defiles a man."  He explained, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." Let us endeavor for the purity of heart that guards against hypocrisy, the sincerity of the disciples, and not the mask of virtue that hides the work we need to do in the heart.  For often when we seek to fool others, we are only fooling ourselves.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you

 

 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?  Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?  And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

 

- Luke 12:22-31 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

  

  Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?  Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?"  My study Bible advises here that Jesus is warning against anxiety, not against thoughtful planning.  It notes that our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing.  Anxiety over earthly things, it adds, demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care.

 

"For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things."  Because the Gentiles (the nations of the world) served pagan idols, my study Bible says, they were consumed by dependence upon earthly things.  Those who follow God, it notes, can be freed from this dependence. 

 

 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."  My study Bible comments that the kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus' teaching.  As we are called to be freed from anxiety regarding earthly things, Jesus teaches us to look to heaven, secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings. 

 

 Why are we completely dependent upon God?  What is Jesus' purpose in teaching us to be so?  In the first place, opening up to the reality and presence of this Kingdom is a way of entering into an identity.  In the ancient world, identity was formed not by theories of racial lineage or heritage in that sense, but by the sense of the "code" one belonged to.  The ethos, if you will, of Athens made one an Athenian.  The law of Rome made one a Roman, hence St. Paul, a Jew and a Roman citizen was not crucified, and he was entitled to demand a hearing before Caesar.  Law of Moses made one a Jew, and the Old Testament Scriptures are filled with foreigners who became a part of the people of Israel (the story, for example, of Ruth and Naomi comes to mind).  In St. Matthew's Gospel, these teachings we find in today's reading come just prior to the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus gives us the Nomos, or Law, so to speak of the kingdom of God.  In the context of St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus is addressing His disciples, and will heavily emphasize courage, faith, and confidence in the missions they are about to undertake, preparing them for their future in establishing the Church.  Jesus' gospel is precisely that, a "nomos" or body of law that governs the kingdom of God.  We, as faithful, with the disciples, enter into and bear that Kingdom into the world, just as they are sent out as apostles to bear that Kingdom -- the gospel message -- into the world.  Jesus is telling us to bravely and courageously do so, relying on God in faith, and placing our values, our code we live by, into the proper order.  We seek the kingdom of God first, and then to that all things are added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

 

 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed. 

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell the to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

 

- Matthew 16:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus departed from the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, 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.

 

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times."  A sign from heaven, my study Bible tells us, means a spectacular display of power.  It notes that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but these hypocrites have not recognized the signs already being performed in their midst because their hearts were hardened, and they ignored the works happening all around them.  In yesterday's reading (above), we're told that "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."

A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  An adulterous generation is the term used by many prophets as they urged people -- especially the unfaithful leaders and false prophets of Israel's past -- to turn back to God.  Here Jesus uses it for His own generation, especially in these religious leaders.  My study Bible comments that Jesus refuses to prove Himself in a spectacular way.  A sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God.  See also Matthew 4:5-7, Christ being tempted by the devil to engage in a spectacular act to prove He is the Son of God.  The sign of the prophet Jonah is what my study Bible calls a veiled prediction of Christ's death and Resurrection, the three days in the tomb analogous to Jonah's time in the belly of the great fish (Matthew 12:40); this will be the ultimate sign that Jesus is the Christ. 

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell the to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  My study Bible explains that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  It says the reason the disciples are painfully slow to understand Jesus is that they have such little faith; they would not fully grasp Christ's teachings until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. 

Today's reading is interesting in that it gives us a picture of what it is not to grasp a concept that is seemingly obvious to all.  Even Christ expresses a sort of astonishment that the disciples don't understand what He is talking about.  Here the analogy of "leaven" (in the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees) is their doctrine and their hypocritical way of living.  Jesus uses the word leaven in an important way -- and one not absent from the Bible as a whole -- to indicate something that can taint a whole culture, a whole people or group of people, a wrong perspective and wrong way of thinking, and one that is harmful and destructive or evil.  Why do they fail to understand what He is talking about?  He explains it Himself when He calls the disciples you of little faith.  It is the "little faith" that is at work here, preventing them from understanding Him and His words.  The result is a kind of quizzing by Christ that marks one of those rather humorous (in my way of thinking) episodes of the Bible, as He urges them to recall the miraculous multiplication of bread on two extraordinary occasions, so that they understand He was not chiding then for not taking bread!  Much of the language of the Bible is couched or veiled in similar metaphors, especially in the example of Christ's parables, so that without faith we are also not going to have understanding.  One wonders if it is the case that even our explanations, our writings (such as in this blog), our commonly available commentaries and preaching, also make up the slack, in some sense, for "little faith."  On the other hand, spiritual deafness and blindness is not limited to one generation, but we also may find that all around us, wherein if even the most exalted mysteries were laid bare or made plain, so many would not grasp their significance and reality anyway.  There's a well-known saying that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  In a sense, it conveys a similar meaning.  How can we see the beauty in what Christ is offering unless we first have faith that opens our eyes to it?  There is an important "subjective" component to our understanding that roots itself in us, and opens our eyes to Christ's teachings and gifts for us.  For Christ, that important component is faith, trust in Him.  This opens our hearts to the realities that God brings to us, but it has this unmistakable need for an interior component to be realized, that of faith.  We may wonder how does one create faith, then, through preaching or exhortation, if so much depends on the interior state of a person.  But that mysterious reality of faith begins so deeply within us and from a source we can't name that it eludes any sort of intellectual reasoning alone -- and so much depends upon grace, for we are not alone, even in what we consider this interior dialogue wherein we find our faith.  All of this is a mysterious and subtle process; so often we find our faith is happening despite our reasoning, intention, or even experience.  In some way, our hearts have to be open to these teachings, even if we are unaware of it.  There is a different way to perceive that modern life does not offer as part of its understanding of the mind, but the Church has always known.  It is in this fullness of who we are as created by God to be "like" our Creator that Christ invests His preaching, teaching, and the entirety of the Incarnation as a gift to us all.  In our wholeness let us find the truth of the beauty He offers us, and our spiritual eyes and ears to grasp and know.

 

 

 

 

Truly You are the Son of God

 

 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.  Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  So He said, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"  And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

 

 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched it were made perfectly well. 

 

- Matthew 14:22-36 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus heard that King Herod Antipas now feared Him (Herod believed that Jesus was John the Baptist, raised from the dead), He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.  When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late.  Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."  But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  He said, "Bring them here to Me."  Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass.  And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.  Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.   

 

 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Let us consider that Christ has just instituted a new change in His ministry, the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness -- a "new" mighty work, and one with Eucharistic indications.  He withdraws at this point, up on the mountain by Himself to pray.   He has sent the disciples in a boat by themselves, to travel across the Sea of Galilee.

 

Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.  Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  My  study Bible comments that this is the second time Christ permits His disciples to be caught in a storm (see this reading).  The first time, He was with them; this time He has sent them across the sea alone.  In this way, my study Bible explains, Christ strengthens their faith that He will always be with them midst the storms of life.  It is I is literally translated "I Am," which is the divine Name of God (see John 8:58; Exodus 3:14).  This is a reminder to the fearful disciples of the Lord's absolute and divine authority over their lives.  The fourth watch of the night is approximately 3:00 in the morning.

And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  So He said, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"   My study Bible says that it is Peter's faith that allows Him to walk on the water.  It asks us to note that Peter does not ask to walk on water per se, but to come to Jesus; Peter's desire is not to perform miracles but rather to be with the Lord.  Let us see that Peter is able to participate in this divine miracle as long as he keeps his focus on Christ.  As soon as he is distracted, my study Bible says, he begins to sink.

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"   My study Bible explains that the Greek term for doubt used here means to waver, vacillate, or hesitate, indicating an uncertainty between two things.  The cause of Peter's sinking, it says, wasn't the storm, but rather his doubt.  So therefore Christ does not rebuke the wind, but Peter.  

 

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."   This is the first time that the disciples confess that Jesus is the Son of God.   My study Bible says that knowing only God can be worshiped, they confess Christ's divinity by worshiping Him (the word translated as worshiped indicates a bow of prostration).   The boat is symbolic of the Church 

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.  They have crossed over to another area of Galilee south of His ministry headquarters of Capernaum, and so the people there have recognized Jesus.  We can see Jesus' fame by now, they've sent out into all that surrounding region, so that all who were sick were brought to Him.  My study Bible comments that Christ permits miracles through touch to show that His very body is life, and that that contact with His flesh is life-creating (see Matthew 9:20-22).

Perhaps the image of Christ walking on the water is the most iconic one we have of Christ's identity as divine being.  My study Bible comments that only God has dominion over nature; so, therefore, this miracle confirms the divinity of Christ.  Walking on water is the perfect image of the impossible -- the defiance of all known laws of physical life in this world.  But let us also note that Christ not only comes walking on the water to join the disciples (I mean, He could clearly have crossed over at another time by boat), but in order to assure them that -- no matter what -- He is there for them.  And, we might say, it tells them that He will do that even if He has to walk on water to do so.  This is a miracle that is specifically for them, for they are the only ones present.  Let us consider it in the context of yesterday's reading, that Christ has just fed five thousand people in the wilderness from a couple of fish and five loaves of bread.  Now that is an extraordinary miracle, and meant for several thousand people (five thousand men, and yet more women and children).  And yet, we know the time will come when the disciples will reveal that they haven't quite grasped that miracle in their minds (see Matthew 16:5-12).  But this miracle in today's reading -- this walking on the water -- this is something which makes its extraordinary impact.  We can possibly attempt to read St. Peter's mind and what he was thinking when he asked to walk on the water.  The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost (for how can a human being walk on water?), and so Peter demands some kind of proof that it really is the Lord.  Peter asks to be commanded to walk on the water too.  Let us first consider here that Peter by trade was a fisherman, working on the water for his livelihood, so this is quite a thing to ask.  But if it is really a command from the Lord -- the Lord who can walk on the water -- well, then that is a possibility after all, that by the Lord's command Peter could even walk on the water.  And he does, until he apparently takes his eye off of Jesus, focuses on the boisterous wind, and becomes afraid.  And then, Jesus saves him again.  After all of this, and the dying down of the wind, there is nothing more to say.  All the disciples can do -- to the last man of them (those who were in the boat) -- is to bow down before him in the pose of worship.  They tell Him, "Truly You are the Son of God."  Interestingly, these words will be nearly echoed by the centurion at the Cross (Matthew 27:54), after witnessing the earthquake and other things that happened at His human death.  This isn't the first time we've observed Jesus make extraordinary effort to get to those who need Him; in this reading we read of Jesus and disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee to reach men possessed by demons, although the people of the place simply wanted Jesus to leave them.  Here, in what we might think of as the dreams and fears of a rough and stormy windy night, at 3:00 in the morning, Jesus walks as if in a dream to the disciples.  It's a memorable image one can't forget, but it should serve for us to know He will come to us in ways we can't expect.  Let us not lose sight of Him in our fears.   We, too, may find our faith in the same way, and come to know that truly He is the Son of God.

Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

 

 Then another if His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

 

- Matthew 8:18-27 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I am also a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."  

 

  And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   My study Bible says here that since the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it expresses both His humanity and His divinity.  Here, it is a reference to Christ's human condition; but in Matthew 25:31-33 it describes His divine authority. 

 

Then another if His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."   My study Bible says that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but is teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as the highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are in effect spiritually dead.   

 

 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  My study Bible explains that the Lord's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  It says that commands to the sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 66:5-6, 107:29).  Additionally, we should consider that Jesus was asleep because, as fully human, He needed rest.  In His Incarnation, my study Bible points out, Jesus assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, of which sleep is one.  The image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is a traditional one used to illustrate the Church itself.  My study Bible tells us that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.  

I personally have had occasion to consider recently various incidents in which I have struggled with difficulty, and especially in feeling alone or abandoned.  These experiences echo aspects of my childhood, and revisit old emotions that can be troubling.  But in today's reading, we see an illustration of Christ's experience of human life, and that is together with the disciples, and also those who would seek Him out to find discipleship.  In the first verses of today's reading, Jesus first sets up the later experience of the storm by giving the command to cross the Sea of Galilee.  He is approached by one who declares he will follow Christ anywhere.  But Christ points out that even the animals have homes and dens, but He, as Son of Man, has nowhere to lay His head.  It is a kind of declarative warning, that discipleship will involve hardships and possibly even a sense of abandonment, and the struggle for faith takes place amidst a world beset with such experiences.  He goes through such experiences as Lord, in His Incarnation, to offer us healing.  But we also will struggle, but together with Him through our faith.  In the second incident, another disciple says he needs to go home first and bury his father.  So we begin with an experience of abandonment, a kind of state of exile, and then we are confronted with death - even the death of a loved one.  But in the midst of that incident, Christ sets the priorities straight.  It is the kingdom of heaven He offers that we need, He is the One who sees us through -- and even family, without Him, cannot sustain us for what we need.  This is setting in order, giving priority; for there are others who will bury the dead, even as discipleship calls us forward.  Finally there is the scene in which wind and sea seek to conspire to frighten these seasoned fishermen on the sea which is part of their homeland.  But Jesus sleeps.  Again, we have a sense of abandonment intentionally given by Christ's command to follow the sea into this storm.  They fear death ("Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"), but Jesus asks, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Here we need to remember this word faith, and that in the Greek its root means to trust.  So He's asking them to trust Him.  This is another aspect -- possibly the fullest aspect -- of discipleship.  It is the whole root of faith.  In whom do we trust?  Where do we put our trust in life?  Whose light will guide us?  When we go through difficult, frightening experiences, and we feel alone or abandoned, let us consider His words. For it is then that He -- the One who will go through the same, and endure even the Cross abandoned and seemingly alone -- will ask us for our trust, to help us to heal even as we dwell in a world beset with storms and fears.

 

 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you

 

 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  

 

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  

 

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

 

- Matthew 6:25-34 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 - 7 in St. Matthew's Gospel).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon." 

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"  Here Jesus warns against anxiety -- not against thoughtful planning.  My study Bible asks us to note that our physical well-being is directly dependent upon God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing.  

"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'"   For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."   My study Bible explains that because the Gentiles served pagan idols, they remained consumed by dependence on earthly things.  Those who follow God can be freed from this excessive sense of dependence.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  Here, we note the central theme of Christ's teaching:  the kingdom of God; and God's righteousness, which is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount.   My study Bible expands on this, saying that Christ calls us to be free from anxiety about earthly things, and in so doing He directs us to look instead to heaven -- secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings.

Jesus' teaching today focus us on worry, on anxiety.  If we look up this word in the Greek (μεριμνάω/merimnao) it means, essentially, to be distracted.  Jesus uses this same word in St. Luke's Gospel, when Martha complains to Him that her sister is not helping her serve the guests, but spending time listening to Jesus teach.   Jesus tells her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42).   "Worried" is translated from the same word, while "troubled" is translated from a word that means to be fearful.  If we look more closely then at what Jesus is teaching here, the text implies that we can be overly focused on the wrong things through worry and anxiety.  Merimnao can also imply a mind that is split in some sense -- we become off-kilter, distracted, by things that take up our focus when Christ calls us (particularly in recent readings) to be "single-minded" and stick to our focus on God's kingdom.  This word can even be used in a positive sense, such as when we care for something, or pay attention, or take care.  But if we read these meanings in the text, and follow Christ's teaching as He's given to us so far, we come to see that what He says is that anxiety and worry tend to distract us from where our focus should be, on the kingdom of God.  They give us a "split mind," so to speak, and we are fragmented in different directions.  It's consistent with the teaching in yesterday's reading, in which Jesus says that our "eye" (the lamp of the mind) should be full of light.  Over-distraction with worry is a kind of darkness, that keeps us from focusing on Christ's light.  He suggests to us the remedy:  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  He's teaching us that God knows what we need, and a life of faith means living in God's care.  But then He teaches us something equally important to remember: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  He's letting us know that He understands that worries are a part of life in the world, but each day will bring its own things to be concerned about -- and that is enough for the day.   Let us note, as is always so striking in this passage, the simple but stunning images Jesus gives us from nature:  the birds of the air whom God cares for, our stature which worry can do nothing to alter, and the lilies of the field, which even Solomon in all his glory could not match for raiment.  Jesus' poetic speech is nowhere finer than here, illustrating the precious things of life that can't be bought for money.

Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

 

 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?  -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

 

- Matthew 16:1–12 

 

 Yesterday we read that Jesus departed from the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, 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.

 

  Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times".  My study Bible comments that a sign from heaven means a spectacular display of power.  The time of the Messiah, it notes, was expected among the Jews to be accompanied by signs.  However, these hypocrites have not recognized (and do not recognize) the signs which Christ has already performed.  This is because their hearts were hardened, and they ignored the works happening all around them.  

"A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  An adulterous generation is one that is not loyal to their God.  This term echoes the illustration used for Israel by the prophets when Israel was unfaithful to God (Jeremiah 2; Hosea 2:2-13).  We note Jesus' clear refusal to prove Himself in a spectacular way.  My study Bible comments that a sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God.  See also Matthew 4:5-7, and the devil's temptations to Christ to prove Himself.  The sign of the prophet Jonah, on the other hand, is a veiled prediction of Christ's death and Resurrection (Matthew 12:40), which my study Bible calls the ultimate sign that Jesus is the Christ.  

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?  -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  My study Bible says that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  The reason, it explains, that the disciples are painfully slow to understand is that they have such little faith that they would not completely grasp the teachings of Christ until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given.

What are the signs of the times?  I wonder how often this phrase has been used, and I imagine has been used by quite a lot of people lately.  For some in the world, the signs of the times denote something quite different today from that which our faith preaches.  If we're worried about war and violence, we have only to turn to Christ's words about the whole of the age in which we live, which began at His coming into the world the first time, and will end with His return.  In the language of the Church, the whole of this age is considered "end times."  Jesus said, among many other prophesies, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet" (Matthew 24:6).  Certainly wars and rumors of wars are things with which this age is familiar, even if technologically and through telecommunications the full experience of such has changed and morphed to include some elements that are very old, and others that are very new.  But the signs of the times that Christ speaks about here are not signs of violence and earthly tribulation.  The signs of the times of which Jesus speaks are those miraculous signs which accompany His ministry, to which the Pharisees and Sadducees have made themselves blind.  There was much to read in prophesy about the signs that would accompany the time of the Messiah, and Jesus' miraculous healings echo those prophesies.  Today there are many who dismiss out of hand any possibility of the miraculous, considering that science has now banished such a concept from our conception of reality.   But if we're going to begin with an assumption that some "factual" elements of the Bible cannot be literally true, and take that to mean that none of it can be true (including the existence of the God the Bible guides us to), then that is a kind of willful blindness that can preemptively gainsay anything.  And this is akin to the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.   It is a way of rendering oneself blind in order to erect and preserve a  comfortable conclusion.   The Sadducees and Pharisees have a foregone conclusion, that the Messiah is going to be One of whom they must approve as ruling authorities, and this simply does not fit Jesus.  It is clearly a lesson to us of how blind we can be when we choose our own blindness, and we are desperate to continue in that bubble of our own comfortable restrictions (even when that includes an ignorance of how to read Scripture in the first place).  In a recent reading, Jesus said of the Pharisees (to His disciples),  "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them alone.  They are blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  We should consider, then, what kinds of blindness we might find as our own potential stumbling blocks.  If our blindness is meant to keep out the deeper, wider, greater truths that God wants us to embrace, then we also will not be true to the One who planted us.  And this is the meaning of the Cross, that we must follow where it leads, and give up our own willful restrictions upon the growth God calls us to embrace, the uncomfortable things which God's light might shine upon.  We are here to follow our faith, to follow God, not to impose our own walls and restrictions upon the work of God, the activities of the Holy Spirit.  It is to this end we pray, we practice the historical teachings and disciplines of the Church, we participate in worship and sacraments, we study Scripture, the teachings of the saints and all that tradition might hold in its treasure for us.  For new light and illumination can come even from old treasure.  As we prepare to enter into Advent, let us think about that light, and how we make ourselves open to receive it, to live it, to let it illumine our lives, and shine in us for the glory of God. 

 

 

 

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 

 

- Matthew 8:18–27 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had come down from the mountain after preaching the Sermon on the Mount, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and sad, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."    My study Bible comments that since the term Son of Man is a reference to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it's an expression of both His humanity and His divinity.  Here this refers to Christ's human condition.  In Matthew 25:31-33 it is used to describe Christ's divine authority.  Regarding the commend to "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead," my study Bible says that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but rather is teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as our highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.  Let us note that these verses follow upon the last in yesterday's reading, in which Jesus spoke of His human condition, despite His miraculous ability to heal illness.  Quoting from Isaiah 53:4 (see also 1 Peter 2:24), the text tells us that Jesus' use of the term Son of Man fulfills the prophecy of the suffering Messiah.  As Christ suffers with humanity, we who follow Him must be prepared for our own at to,es difficult choices made for the sake of serving God.

 

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"   My study Bible comments that the Lord's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  Commands to the sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 66:5-6, 107:29).  Jesus was asleep because, as a human being, He needed rest.  In Christ's Incarnation, as has been the theme throughout this reading, Christ assumed all the natural actions and needs of the flesh, of which sleep is one.   Additionally, this image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is one traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study Bible comments that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.

 

 How does Christ calm our tempests?  There is first of all the understanding of the trust which we put in Christ.  This is not the kind of trust in which we confide our deepest desires to Christ and expect Him to answer every prayer as we hope He will.  It is, effectively, the kind of trust in which we accept that whatever our circumstances there is something we can gain from them by trusting in Him even to guide us through what seems perilous, or horrific.  If we think back to the early Christians, we know of the terrible persecutions they endured for their faith, submitting to martyrdom as did He.  When we have times to make difficult choices, such as the man who had to choose between discipleship to Christ and going back to bury his father, we also begin to understand what it is to bring the Kingdom into this world and carry our own crosses.  We will come across the heartbreaking and difficult understanding that there are those who will hinder our capacity to do that, with demands which we cannot meet.  This seems harsh, but we need to consider that the world we live in imposes harsh circumstances on everyone at times, whether or not we can trace them to the struggle to serve God in a direct or obvious sense.  Indeed, we cannot be surprised at the difficulties that come in opposition to Christ and to Christ working in us and among us.  What we turn to Christ for is the kind of peace that is meant to teach us where our true roots are, where we find ourselves in the security of love, and how we can follow His love.  The Cross is the symbol of what is possible through God's work in our lives and in our world, turning grim prospects into a victory of spiritual truth and meaning, of Resurrection.  On the other side of the tempest, we don't know what awaits. We live in a world which in many ways reminds us of opposition to Christ, and yet we hold to His love for us.  He has lived as one of us, experienced what we do, and loves us.  In this we must trust.