Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy

 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 

"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

- Luke 11:53-12:12

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."  Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You  reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  The conflict between Jesus and the authorities is quite open now.  In yesterday's reading Jesus openly confronted them, calling them hypocrites, and warning them of the worst of possibilities because of what they do.  Now they wait to accuse Him.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. Again, here is Jesus' emphasis on the kind of purity (unmixed with the "leaven of the Pharisees") that makes consistent who we are from the inside to the outside, making the "inside of the cup" clean as the outside, as we read in yesterday's reading.   It is His greatest warning to all of us!  His words emphasizing that what is covered...will... be revealed, that what is spoken in the dark will heard in the light, and that what has been spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops, gives us a further idea of what kind of truth Jesus is all about; it's a truth about the consistency of a person, the revelation of the heart.  There is nothing that will not be known, nothing that is truly hidden.

"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  My study bible says that whom you should fear refers to God (Proverbs 9:10).  "The body will die eventually, one way or another.  St. Ambrose even states that the death of the body is not itself a punishment, but rather it marks the end of earthly punishments.  The soul continues for all eternity; since God is the judge of the soul, our efforts in this world are to please Him alone."  Again there is an emphasis here on what is known, the awareness of God for whom even the very hairs on our head are all numbered, and with whom not even a single sparrow is forgotten.  We who are meant to bear the kingdom of heaven into the world are therefore extraordinarily precious.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven."  A note here tells us, "To say a word against the Son of Man is to reject Jesus as the Messiah.  Jesus seemed to be a mere man to many people before their conversion.  The scandal caused by the Incarnation and Crucifixion of the Son of God (1 Corinthians 1:23) makes this sin more easily forgiven.  The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is without bodily form and invisibly works divine goodness.  According to St. John Chrysostom and many other Fathers, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus never calls the sin itself 'unforgivable.'  Jesus makes this declaration knowing that those who blaspheme the Spirit are calling pure, divine goodness 'evil,' and are beyond repentance by their own choice." 

"Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."  Again, the Holy Spirit is revealed by Jesus to be the One who bears witness to the reality of God and the Kingdom in the world, and reliance on the Spirit is our key to witnessing truly.  That means that the power of truth is at work via the Spirit.  Essentially it becomes a part of Judgment. How will the witness of the Holy Spirit be responded to and judged in this world?

Jesus teaches today on many interrelated things; the subject grows more serious as He comes closer to the events of the Passion.  Now the conflict is an open one with the Pharisees, and it comes over the issue of hypocrisy, which Jesus has condemned on no uncertain terms.  (In yesterday's reading, He repeatedly told the Pharisees and lawyers, "Woe to you!")  And the great subject of the Holy Spirit is given to us, revealed for us.  As Jesus warns about a mere external show of goodness by complying with rules, He gives us the power of a trusting and truthful heart:  the Holy Spirit which will be given.  God is aware of everything about us, and there is nothing that will not be revealed.  But it is the Spirit that will be the voice of spiritual truth in the world; and really, our response to this Spirit is what will create an ultimate judgment.  Even people who condemn Jesus in the flesh may be forgiven, but the "word" of the Spirit will be that which really tests us; and will be that upon which His followers must rely in order to truly witness appropriately.  It is the Spirit which will be working through the apostles to create the early Church see Acts of the Apostles, also written by the Evangelist Luke).  It is the Spirit who helps the faithful to negotiate the difficult terrain of the world's hostility and still spread the gospel.  So the question becomes, how is the Spirit at work in your life?  Do you rely on and ask for guidance from God, in the person of the Holy Spirit?  Do you realize the Spirit's omnipresence?  What happens when you are in worship, in the middle of a liturgy or service?  When you partake of the Eucharist?  Powerful questions.   In John 16:13, Jesus says, "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."  How do we hear?  How do our lives reflect this teaching?

This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?" And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" ' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us." So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me." And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I? And another said, "Is it I?" He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born." And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat, this is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

- Mark 14:12-26

It is now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus and the disciples are in Jerusalem. In yesterday's reading, Jesus was in Bethany, and a woman came to Him and broke an alabaster jar of expensive perfumed oil. She anointed Him with the oil. Some of the apostles criticized her: the oil could have been sold and the money distributed to the poor. But Jesus told them to leave her alone. What she had done was done from love, for the day of His burial, and she has done what she could. The poor would always be with them to do good things for, but He will not be with them always. He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." After that, we are told, Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests to plot to betray Jesus.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?" And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" ' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us." So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. Just as when Jesus entered into Jerusalem (and told His disciples about the colt He would ride), Jesus again shows His deity and awareness of details for the provision of these momentous dates. He is aware of what will happen, even how the man with the pitcher of water will respond. On this day (14 Nisan in the Hebrew calendar system), the Passover lambs were slaughtered at noon. After sunset -- when the date is officially 15 Nisan, as sunset is the start of the next day -- Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread begin. The disciples need a place to commemorate, and Jesus' awareness extends to this upper room. My study bible says, "As with the colt, so with the upper room. Jesus is not presumptuous in the use of the room. It was a gift to the man to have the Son of God use it and thus forever set it apart as holy. Whatever gifts God asks of us today are similarly sanctified."

In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me." And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I? And another said, "Is it I?" He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born." Jesus again displays His divinity in His knowledge and understanding of what is happening. As the day of His death comes closer, He reveals Himself more deeply to His disciples, even in His omniscience. This would include His teachings about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the time of the end of the age (see the readings from Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday). But here we receive even more detail. My study bible has an important note about the betrayal: "Jesus says this not in deprecation of this man, His own creation, but in deprecation of that man's choice and rashness. For it was the rashness of Judas's own will that made the Creator's gift of goodness useless to him. Divine foreknowledge of the betrayal takes away neither Judas's moral freedom nor his accountability. For God all things are a present reality; He foresees all human actions, but does not cause them." We must also remember, I believe, Jesus' words about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In a sense, Judas's betrayal of Jesus is a denial of the Holy at work in Him and in the signs He has made; it is a denial and betrayal of the work of God in the world.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat, this is My body." Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. But even in the midst of the time of Jesus' betrayal, He forges a new covenant with all of us. His sacrifice, His death, will serve to create a new bond between Creator and creature. Nothing, in the holy and divine economy of God, is ever wasted -- even every moment of betrayal and death. Jesus' great sacrifice, their tremendous loss, will serve as the blood of a new covenant for each of us. This sacramental view of life will serve every person who follows Christ, and it is the power of God that creates life even from death. My study bible says, "This Passover meal is the first Eucharist, the heart of Christian worship, which celebrates the New Covenant and sacramental union with Christ."

So, Jesus leaves them and us with this powerful "sacramental union." His willing submission to the evil in this world, the great betrayal by one of His own, becomes the launch, if you will, of a New Covenant for all of us. Betrayal becomes the step by which God will use His life in the world in order to bring about a closer union with us. How is this possible? The power of God at work makes it so, even as He blesses the sacrament Himself. It is a great and tremendous act of love, assuring us that when we take that sacrament so we also share in His body and blood, becoming closer, in greater union, with Him. His betrayal becomes an occasion of deeper relatedness to us, a New Covenant. How can we reciprocate that love but by giving ourselves and our whole lives to Him? In this sacrament, He lives in us and we live in Him. In the great mystery of His sacrifice, let us remember His great love, and that while we don't always understand the ways of God, so we must trust that love and its power at work in us. Have you suffered betrayals and unjust sacrifices in your life? Let Him teach us how to bear them together, in this covenant, as sacrament -- and go forward together, in deeper and deeper relationship. Forgiveness, we remember, is an act of letting go to God, as Jesus did. So we can do the same with the trials -- betrayals, suffering, and unjust sacrifice -- that we bear in life. In the depth of this way, in His New Covenant, Jesus invites us to bear our crosses together with Him and to share in the new life He makes possible for us.