Receive your sight; your faith has made you well

 

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

 

- Luke 18:31–43 

 

Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he become very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

 

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.  My study Bible says that the saying was hidden not by God, but because the disciples could not comprehend its meaning until the events of the Passion had taken place.  We might pause to consider the unthinkable quality of the events that are to come, from the perspective of Christ's disciples.

 

 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.  As Jesus comes to pass through Jericho, He is on the road to Jerusalem in earnest.  This blind man greets Jesus as Son of David, a title which my study Bible says was deeply associated with the Messiah.  It notes that although Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  Note the repeated pleas, or prayers, of the blind man, indicating our own persistence in prayer.  My study Bible says that in patristic literature there is also a spiritual interpretation to the similar miracle reported in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 20:29-34), only differing in that two blind men are reported in Matthew.  It says that in this interpretation, the blind men symbolize future generations would will come to faith only by hearing, and without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who call for silence are persecutors and tyrants who, in every generation, try to silence the Church.  Nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

The spiritual interpretation given to this miracle is interesting, because today we might find that there are ways in which faith seems to be suppressed; or rather, we find fairly vocal calls for curbing the influence of faith in public life.  While the relative freedom in the West remains despite the politicizing calls for less influence, we can look to other areas of the world where Christian faith is quite violently suppressed and under threat, even by forcible conversion, and so give thought to this spiritual interpretation reported by my study Bible.  What does it mean for us?  How do we feel this sense of those who call for the faithful to "be quiet" about their faith?  During the previous century, under communist systems, religion also underwent a systematic kind of silence.  In Russia, and other countries of Eastern Europe, many priests were killed or persecuted at different times, put into prisons and what were called gulags, and often under great hardship and even systematic torture in some cases.  A famous Russian writer (and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970), Alexander Solzhenitsyn, wrote novels set within this prison system.  He is famous for an essay titled, "Live Not By Lies."   In it, he argues that violence always dissipates itself.  He writes, "To prop itself up, to appear decent, it will without fail call forth its ally—Lies."  He explains, "For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty."  What he advocates is that, in circumstances where we feel we can do no more, we can at least not participate in lies.  We can agree not to advocate things we can't agree with; in this way one begins to break out of the social prison that locks people within ideas that are truly lies and suppress truth.  In our faith in Christ, we put our trust in the One whom we call Truth, who has said of Himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  Christ came into this world as Savior and Liberator, and part of that liberating, freeing action is to free us from oppression of various kinds, especially that which is spiritual and which oppresses the mind and heart, but which often accompanies, as Solzhenitsyn indicates in his essay for his own time and place, violence and coercion of every kind.  So, in the service of Jesus, the Son of David, who is our Savior and Liberator, we also must always consider these words of this essay, and find and live our truth.  There may be things which we are unable to express in certain settings.  There may be ways in which we are somehow shouted and oppressed into silence.  But we can choose that we will not support lies, we won't participate in them, and we will retain the freedom we're given by God because we remain free in our hearts, our prayers, our mind, our soul.  When we live by His teachings, in whatever way we can, we are participating in Christ's truth.  We are declaring it for ourselves and for those around us, and this is most important, for we must understand Christ's teaching that the kingdom of God is within us and among us.  When He sent out the disciples on their first mission, and repeatedly at other times, Christ declares to the people, "The kingdom of God has come near to you" (Luke 10:9).  Over and over again in Luke's Gospel, Jesus preaches the kingdom of God, and how we may participate in that Kingdom.  There are over thirty times this phrase is used in Luke's reporting of Jesus' ministry.  He clearly did not come preaching a political kingdom, one that works only by violence and rebellion, but one that lives and dwells within us and among us, through our faith and participation in it, through living His commandments, and keeping ourselves alert to the life He teaches and offers, growing in that faith and strengthening it among ourselves and for ourselves.  Whatever our circumstances, this is what we are called to do, to endure in our faith.  For the earliest Christian martyrs, it was a question of not participating in the sacrifices to false gods.  For us today, let us not participate in whatever our modern sacrifices might be that we are called to participate in to false gods.   Christ said that we must make a choice and cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve both God and mammon.  In the world of vast material resources, of great coercive power -- be it violent or simply persuasive through lies and half-truths (which are also lies), political slogans, or just the power of the mob in new forms, let us consider how we may not participate in lies, but rejoice in the truth, and enduring in His truth, as He has asked of us.  We must be persistent in our prayers, like the blind man, and not let the coercive power of the crowd silence our faith, or the voice in the heart that stirs and becomes a flame through the love of Christ.  If we rely on God, God will provide ways for us to live that faith and to express it one way or another, even in a simple gesture of care or love that others don't consider (Matthew 25:40).  Sometimes the simplest action may be a bold way to participate in and declare our faith, even in the midst of coercive lies.  We must live our faith.  Let us pray that we, too, may receive our sight to do so, that He illuminates the way for us.

 

 

 

 

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

 

Deësis (Supplication) mosaic; the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist depicted on Christ's right and left.  13th century, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) Byzantine Cathedral, Constantinople.  Photo by Myrabella, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

- Mark 10:32–45 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."  Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack:  Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were astonished at His words.  But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

  Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  As Jesus and the disciples are on the road, going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus before them, the shadow of the Cross hangs over the present and future readings.  The disciples are accordingly both amazed and afraid.  My study Bible comments that Christ's repeated predictions of His Passion were intended to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events they would face.  It says that they also confirm that Christ was going to His death of His own free will and choosing.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  Besides Peter, James and John Zebedee are the two disciples who are closest to Christ and deepest in faith; perhaps this accounts for their request to be in the greatest places in His Kingdom, at His right and left hand.  In Matthew's Gospel, it's reported that the request comes from their mother ("the mother of Zebedee's sons," in Matthew 20:20), but the sons' own involvement is revealed as Jesus addresses them in the plural form of you in Greek, both here and in Matthew 20:22.  My study Bible comments that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple and shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  Once again, Jesus emphasizes the nature of this Kingdom, that those who would be greatest in it are those who will serve.   The phrase for many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."  That Jesus frames His life as a ransom is to suggest that to give His life will work to liberate all, as a Deliverer and Savior in this sense.  It suggests that "the many" are held captive under the power of a tyrant, also referred to as the "ruler of this world." 

 

 Once again, the actions of even Christ's closest disciples show that they do not understand fully what is happening or is about to happen.  The disciples follow Him on the road toward Jerusalem and are both amazed and afraid.  James and John clearly expect a worldly sort of kingdom, which Jesus frames as a Gentile kingdom in which rulers "lord it over" others -- and to which He contrasts what His Kingdom will be, and what sort of leaders they will be.  My study Bible explains that He calls His crucifixion a "cup" and His death a "baptism."  The Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is baptism, as He was completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  That Jesus predicts the future of John and James as participating in the same cup and baptism shows the life of persecution and martyrdom they will lead after Pentecost; James will be the first disciple to die as martyr, and John will lead a long life of persecution.  My study Bible also explains that Christ declaring that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give doesn't mean He lacks authority.  Rather, it means they aren't His to give arbitrarily.  Instead, they will be given to those for whom God has prepared them.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that nobody can occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor given to human beings, the icons of the Orthodox church universally depict the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women -- Luke 1:28) and John the Baptist (greatest born of women -- Matthew 11:11) in these places at the right and left hand of Christ.  Christ suggests His life is given as a ransom for many, meaning to liberate or to deliver all, as a savior.  Much speculation on the word "ransom" has been made across the centuries, but for the patristic writers and founders of Christian theology the question of payment was not answered in a trivial manner.  To whom was this ransom paid?  I will quote St. Gregory the Theologian (also known as Gregory Nazianzus) for the most complete answer to this question:  "Now we are to examine another fact and dogma, neglected by most people, but in my judgment well worth enquiring into. To Whom was that Blood offered that was shed for us, and why was it shed?  I mean the precious and famous Blood of our God and Highpriest and Sacrifice. We were detained in bondage by the Evil One, sold under sin, and receiving pleasure in exchange for wickedness. Now, since a ransom belongs only to him who holds in bondage, I ask to whom was this offered, and for what cause?  If to the Evil One, fie upon the outrage!  If the robber receives ransom, not only from God, but a ransom which consists of God Himself, and has such an illustrious payment for his tyranny, a payment for whose sake it would have been right for him to have left us alone altogether.  But if to the Father, I ask first, how? For it was not by Him that we were being oppressed; and next, on what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father, Who would not receive even Isaac, when he was being offered by his father, but changed the sacrifice, putting a ram in the place of the human victim?  Is it not evident that the Father accepts Him, but neither asked for Him nor demanded Him; but on account of the Incarnation, and because Humanity must be sanctified by the Humanity of God, that He might deliver us Himself, and overcome the tyrant, and draw us to Himself by the mediation of His Son, Who also arranged this to the honor of the Father, Whom it is manifest that He obeys in all things? So much we have said of Christ; the greater part of what we might say shall be reverenced with silence" (St. Gregory Nazianzen, Second Paschal Oration, with thanks to Fr. Stephen Freeman).  Everything rests upon the foundation of the Incarnation, that God became human, in order to heal every aspect of humanity, including the defeat of death itself, which St. Paul calls "the last enemy" (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).  Christ is the "stronger Man" who defeats the "strong man" of this world (Mark 3:23-30), and there could be no greater power of ransom or liberation than this holy and mysterious reality of Jesus Christ and the Cross toward which He goes on the road to Jerusalem.  For God became human to liberate us all from sin, even from death; His cup and baptism will liberate (ransom) us all.  This is the unique power of His Cross, which defeats every enemy, and is all in all.

 

 

 

 

And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God

 

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

 

- Luke 18:31–43 

 

Yesterday we read that people also brought infants to Jesus that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he hard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he become very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."   

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.   This is the third prediction Jesus has made to the disciples about His Passion, and all the rest of what is going to happen in Jerusalem, as they approach the city.  Let us notice how Jesus frames His warning:  that all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  That is, what He frames here for the disciples is going to happen in the context of the fulfillment of the Scriptures, what has been prophesied about the Messiah.  That is, not because of the prophesies, but rather in fulfillment of what has been foreseen through the Holy Spirit "who spoke through the prophets" (Nicene Creed; Hebrews 1:1).  My study bible comments that the saying was hidden to the disciples because they could not comprehend its meaning until after the events of the Passion had taken place.  

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.  The blind man greets Jesus with a Messianic title, Son of David.  Let us note his persistence, despite all of the attempts of the crowd  to tell him that he should be quiet.  This has the opposite effect on him, he simply cried out all the more.  If we think about our recent readings, this blind man is realistically adopting the position which Jesus taught the disciples about prayer, that it should be persistent.  In the words of the Gospel (in this reading and the teaching of Christ's parable about prayer), that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.  It seems this blind man knows something about the Son of David that the rest of the crowd going before him do not.  In an illustration of the truth of Jesus' parable in that reading from Friday we've just noted, Jesus hears him, stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  Let us note that Jesus tells him, "Your faith has made you well."  Our persistence in prayer, even in not following the crowds and what others would say, is clearly marked out by Jesus as a sign of faith.  My study bible says that although Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely in order to learn of His mercy.  There is also a traditional spiritual interpretation of this miracle; in it, the blind man symbolizes the future generations who will come to faith only by hearing, without having the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  In each generation there will be persecutors and tyrants who try to silence the Church, and shut down the faith of believers.  But nevertheless, under persecution, we all the more confess Jesus Christ.  Let us note the blind man's correct response:  He followed Christ on His journey toward Jerusalem, glorifying God.  All the people note his thanksgiving, and gave praise to God in response.

It's interesting to see in the Gospels the fickleness of the crowds, and in this story in particular, that sends us a deep message.  We noted at first how it was the crowds who tried to silence the plea (or prayer) of the blind man.  It is because he does not follow what the crowds tell him that the man continues to plead for Christ's help, and shows persistence in his prayer and in his faith in appealing to Jesus.  In the end, it is the whole crowd, "all the people," the text tells us, who gave praise to God in response to the blind man's glorious healing by Christ.  If he had not been persistent, this man who refused to listen to all the voices in his hearing, would not have had his sight restored, nor would all the people be praising God.  It tells us something that the crowds in the Gospels are so often simply fickle at best, and at other times are downright wrong.  In the words of my study bible, "the crowds follow the crowds."  It is not to popular belief or superstition, or rumor, or gossip, or whatever other means by which we hear from all those voices in our ears, that we turn to find truth.  We turn to the Person who is the Truth (John 14:6).  We turn to the wisdom built up and understood through that Person who is Truth and those who serve that truth, and we turn to our faith.  We turn, as Christ has taught us, to persistence in our faith -- even when it looks like we are the fools in the eyes of the crowd.  But if there is anything we're taught in today's story, it is that the fool in the crowd by the side of the road is the only one who knows he's blind, and the only one who knows where to turn and how to turn to the One who can restore his sight.  And so, we have the perfect metaphor for what so many faithful feel in a world that thinks so often it is doing just fine without divine help.  If we understand that there are things we are blind to, that there are ways in which we need help and healing, that our lives need something therapeutic that might be missing from "worldly" life -- then we are the ones on our way to sight, even when we might look like we're fools to others.  The first step in any journey of healing is waking up to your own blindness, to the things that aren't perfect about which you might just be in denial, and realizing what it is you need help with.  Your symptoms might go unnoticed without a diagnosis, but who goes to the doctor when they think they are not sick?  Our attention to our prayer, our faith, and that Person who is Truth is the way we find what we need to change, the dangers we could be headed toward, the way forward that is the way of healing and wholeness.  And that is found in persistence in prayer, in worship, in the things we need that are the structures of our faith.  Jericho is often symbolic of sin in Scripture, in both Old and New Testaments.  It is, in that sense, symbolic of the world which may be permeated with dangers and evil even when all the crowd has no idea what this means, and may even confuse evil with good at times.  What we do is build our lives around the Savior and Deliverer, the Son of David, who will always tell us the truth, no matter what we might rather hear -- and it is that good news of His gospel that heals and saves.

They clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

Icon of Christ the Bridegroom

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

- Mark 15:12-21

Yesterday, we read that immediately, in the morning after Jesus' night trial by the Council, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.  Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."  And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.  Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  See how many things they testify against You!"  But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.  Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  My study bible says that Pilate's sin was less than the deliberate "framing" of Christ by the religious leaders who delivered Him to Pilate.  Pilate, after all, did not have the Law and the prophets to instruct him, and knew nothing about Jesus' preaching and teaching and how it linked to the whole heritage of Jewish spiritual tradition.  But Pilate's desire to gratify the crowd means nevertheless that he knowingly sent an innocent man to death.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.   Here's the ironic twist that evil puts on these scenes of Jesus on trial.  He tells the truth, and even His mockers, jesting at a framed up charge, inadvertently reveal the truth.  My study bible says that it's prophetic that Jesus should be crowned and hail as King by soldiers of the governor.  It notes, "This mockery shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by men who bears the iniquity of us all (see Isaiah 53:3-9).   It notes also the prophetic pronouncement inadvertently made by Caiaphas as written in John's Gospel (John 11:49-51).  The royal purple was closer to what we would call a reddish color (red/purple) -- representing both His royalty and the sins of humanity that He's taken upon Himself.  (Here is a photo of a mosaic depicting Empress Theodora dressed in what is called Tyrian puple, 6th century.  Here is another example, an 11th century Byzantine robe.)

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.  My study bible suggests that Mark mentions that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus because they were still living and possibly even known to Mark's contemporary hearers.  It says, "The spiritual message is that we, like Simon (whose name means 'obedience'), are not only called to carry the cross Christ sets on us, but seeing Christ in others, we are called to bear each other's burdens as well (Galatians 6:2)."

So here is the picture of Christ bound, mocked, spat on, ridiculed.  And in the contempt, there is inadvertently truth.  It's a strange way in which evil circumstances still can't really hide truth.  The twisted nature of evil isn't something new to observe at all, but there are so many ironies in all the ways that people try to belittle and hold Jesus in contempt, in all the varied scenes of those who -- one way and another -- seek to take Him down.  Perhaps there's a clue in the element of truth that makes a person genuine, who they really are, an internal reality that can't really be denied.  Oh, we can try and deny and cover up all we want.  But when something is a truly genuine part of an intangible internal reality, then it becomes a different matter.  That can't be taken away.  It's a force that comes from a different place than a worldly crowning or declaration of a king.  It's not something that belongs to Christ because others say it's so or assent to it or recognize it.  It simply is -- as in the name I AM.  Jesus' reality is transcendent of His circumstances and the opinions of others.  There's a lesson there for all of us, particularly in a time when we so value images and publicity or fame, and we're bombarded with its values all the time.  What makes a person genuine?  What gives us the quality of dignity or honor?  Whose praise matters when it comes to declarations of true reality and identity?  What can't really be taken away, no matter how much contempt or mud or spittle is cast at it?  That's what we think about when we look at this icon of Christ as prisoner.  The icon above is called "The Bridegroom."  It's a portrait of Christ in captivity, but more truly, an icon of love.  He's bound to us with His covenant.  As His hands are bound in the scene of imprisonment, so we are bound with Him, and to those whom we love.  All He goes through is for our sake, humiliated as vulnerable human being -- His voluntary sacrifice for love.  All for us.  As Bridegroom He is a picture of what it means when we, too, love enough to sacrifice, to carry the burdens of others as Simon does:  and that becomes another glimmer of the truth that can't be hidden although it's twisted as conscription, compulsion, weakness.  It's the truth that dignifies, even if others mock because of it. Sound familiar?  Simon becomes a believer, and his sons well-known members of the Church, crowned and honored as true soldiers of Christ.  Let us think about Bridegroom, the heavenly Jerusalem and Church as His bride, and truths that can't be hidden although mocked, and twisted, and ridiculed.  Let us remember who we are, in His name and His truth for us, His love.