Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 

- John 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read that, on the sixth day given of Christ's newly-beginning public ministry, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. 

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."   Here in today's reading is another distinctive element of St. John's Gospel.  In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) this cleansing of the temple occurs at the end of Christ's ministry.  But John places it here right at the beginning.  There are certain patristic commentaries which teach that Christ performed this act twice.  This is the first of three Passover feasts included in St. John's Gospel; it's one way that we know His public ministry lasted three years.  In this incident, those who sold oxen and sheep and doves were trading live animals to be used for sacrifices.  Sacrifices were a true function of the temple, meant to be part of communal meals "setting right" the people with their God and community, a part of the amelioration of the effects of sin, and the understanding of righteousness.  The money changers traded Roman coins for Jewish coins, since Roman coins bore the image of Caesar (worshiped as a god) and were considered defiling in the temple.  Christ's cleansing of the temple is about the corruption which had become endemic and penalized the poor, the greed and hypocrisy of the religious leaders.  My study Bible comments that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered a temple of God, it notes (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  The disciples remember "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up" as written in Psalm 69:9.

 

 So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  My study Bible explains that, since Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged.  In St. John's Gospel, the term Jews is meant most often to refer specifically to the religious leaders.  In this case, it refers to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  It's important to remember that all the people in this story are devout Jews, including Jesus, His disciples, and the author of this Gospel.  As Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, my study Bible says, He answers in a hidden way.  The ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection.

 

The Gospel presents us today with an interesting contrast between what is hidden and what is not.  Here Jesus performs a very open and public act, one which would clearly garner much attention, as it is openly done against the system of the temple and its leadership.  The first question that opens itself up in this circumstance is one of authority, and it is there where the religious authorities zero in and begin to ask Jesus questions.  He needs to prove He has the authority to do this, and show them a sign to do so, as some sort of extraordinary proof of God's presence.  Well, Jesus is not going to do that, and He openly tells them so.  He's not going to give signs and proofs because unfaithful people demand it of Him.  Christ's signs and miracles come to the faithful.  Importantly, as our reading today deals with sacrifices, Christ's signs come in fulfillment of righteousness and communion between God and the faithful, God's people, and through the power and will of God -- not on demand by scoffers or hypocrites whose minds are already made up against Him.  And yet, we've just read (in yesterday's reading, above) about the first sign of St. John's Gospel, the turning of water to wine at the wedding in Cana.  Here was, in a sense, a "quiet" miracle, a sign given through the prompting (or intercession) of Christ's mother.  They had run out of wine at the wedding, and so this first sign of God's extraordinary presence occurred in the 30 gallon stone waterpots filled with water for cleansing, and it was transformed into the best wine.  Note the contrast between that almost private community affair of the wedding (and those who knew and understood about the wine) and this busy Passover festival, with all the noise and hustle and bustle of pilgrims purchasing sacrifices, and the money changers exchanging coins.  It must have presented quite an extraordinary and even cacophonous scene.  There can be no doubt of the attention which Christ's action would have brought upon Himself from both religious leadership and the people.  Now the power of human religious authority will focus its attention in Him, the One who has now challenged that authority with this act of cleansing the temple, and we already know where it will all lead (as Jesus forewarned His mother in quoting the widow Zarephath's question to Elijah in response to Mary's prompting about the wine -- see yesterday's reading and commentary; also 1 Kings 17:17-18).  Here is another riddle, another mystery of our faith?  How is a "sign" hidden?  How is the Christ hidden in plain sight?  How are the religious leaders blind, while the disciples and John the Baptist see?  How is Christ a temple, and so are we?  These are all questions we must begin to ponder and to consider as the Gospel unfolds.  Like the three days He was hidden in the tomb, so we understand the power of God at work, even though we may be completely unaware.

 

 

 

 

For many are called, but few are chosen

 

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

- Matthew 22:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught to the chief priests and the elders, "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedresers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given  to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

 

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come."  My study Bible explains that, like the preceding parables (see Wednesday's reading, and yesterday's reading above), this one also proclaims the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless Jews to the Gentiles.  This parable is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see also Matthew 25:1-13).  Christ is often known to us as the Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29), and St. Paul uses the analogy of marriage for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  The repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's strong desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom.  This first group invited is interpreted to mean Moses and those with him.  

 

 "Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited,  "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them."  The oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant, my study Bible explains.  "Fatted" is in fact better translated "wheat-fed," or even more literally "formed from wheat."  So, therefore, both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.  This second group of other servants is understood to mean the prophets.  Both the first and second group of servants call those initially invited -- the Jews.  

 

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is prophesying here the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and therefore attributes that destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.  Nonetheless, God showed His patience by waiting roughly forty years from the time of Christ, giving that entire generation a chance to repent.  

 

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good."  This third group of servants represents the apostles sent out to the Gentiles ("into the highways"), those who were not initially invited, but are now called.

 

 "And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, but few are chosen."  My study Bible explains that the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and so therefore there is no excuse for not wearing one.  Therefore, this man is speechless.  His refusal to war the garment that was provided is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, my study Bible says, or who desire God's Kingdom on their own terms.  More specifically, the garment refers to the baptismal garment, and by extension a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.   

 

 Jesus says, "For many are called, but few are chosen."  My study Bible explains elsewhere that it is a common Aramaic expression to use "many" as meaning "all."  So this last group of servants sent out on all the highways leading everywhere, inviting "as many as you find," are the apostles and others sent out to all the world, to all people; and still today this action and calling continues through every means, including the "superhighways" of telecommunications and worldwide connection through the internet and other modern technologies.  It is interesting to consider that this action of the third group of servants continues in all its forms.  Whatever "highways" human being build to connect cities and towns, countries and civilizations, the word still goes out and invitations are still being issued to this cosmic wedding banquet for Christ the Bridegroom.  Means such as this blog, communications and podcasts, videos, and all means of communication are used to continue issuing invitation to "many," meaning "all."  The whole world is invited to this wedding banquet.  Certainly we can think of no reason why "all" would not want to accept an invitation to such a banquet.  So, therefore, we ask ourselves of what does a wedding garment consist.  Pope St. Gregory the Great comments on this question:  "What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy church. He may have faith, but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this is what our Creator himself possessed when he came to the marriage feast to join the church to himself. Only God’s love brought it about that his only begotten Son united the hearts of his chosen to himself. John says that 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for us'" (Manlio Simonetti, Matthew 14–28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001, p. 146).  St. Gregory's description of love here gives us a proper sense of the fullness of love, and in particular, love in the sense of a marriage.  This love is not only asked of the guest, but it begins with God's love which unites the hearts of God's chosen to Christ.  So, as my study Bible indicates, the wedding garment is a gift of grace, given by the Father, but must be embraced and worn by the guest; that is, received as love must be received and reciprocated.  This also teaches us about hospitality in the ancient sense of our faith, even the hospitality that began with Abraham who "entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2; Genesis 18:1-8).  For we also need to practice hospitality for God's grace, welcoming it into ourselves and returning that love, and thereby do we wear our wedding garment, even as Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God, welcomed the Holy Spirit within herself to bear the Child Jesus.  Hospitality is in this sense a synergistic gift, for which it is essential to welcome God's grace, the call of the gospel message as our invitation to the Wedding Banquet.  As faithful we both receive and expand that invitation as did the apostles and disciples, through the highways of the internet and telecommunications which continue to expand for a modern age. So through the gospel the invitations are sent out to the world for others whom we hope will receive God's grace, and return God's love, uniting to Christ.  It is as true now as it was then.  "For many are called, but few are chosen."

.

 

Take these things away!

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.   And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 

- John 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read about the sixth and seventh days of the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry given to us in John's Gospel:   There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.   And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) this event occurs at the end of Christ's ministry, at the start of what we call Holy Week.  But John places it at the beginning.  There are certain Church Fathers who teach that Christ performed this act twice.  Those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves traded in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Roman coins, my study Bible explains, bore the image of Caesar and so were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible adds that the cleansing of the temple also points to the need to keep the Church free from earthly pursuits.  Moreover, as each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), so it's also a sign that our own hearts and minds be cleansed of earthly matters.  The disciples recall a passage from Psalm 69:9.

 

 So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Because Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by the religious authorities.  The term Jews in John's Gospel is most often a reference specifically to the Jewish leaders.  Here, it's a reference to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  As Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, my study Bible remarks, He answers in a hidden way.  The ultimate sign will be Christ's death and Resurrection. 

 

 My study Bible cites St. Paul, who teaches that each of us is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).  In that respect, Jesus' example of cleansing the temple serves as a reminder that our journey as Christians is not one merely of nice and beautiful things added to us, but it is also a call for us to be discerning, and even to put down boundaries toward things that take away or diminish this understanding of ourselves which Jesus gives, together with St. Paul.  Christ's action here is decisive.  While it's done in accordance with His identity as Messiah, the application of such decisive action also belongs to us in our own private lives.  It is in the nature of sin to be something that has effects that spread beyond the single person responsible, or the one separate act of sinning.  In Christ, of course, we have repentance and forgiveness, and we are blessed with grace through our baptism.  But the effects of sin nevertheless are always things we need to consider.  Perhaps the most stark example of such is the example of a parent who commits a serious crime, and goes to prison.  While the crime can be forgiven in the context of repentance and forgiveness in the Church, and the person may pay the adjudicated debt to society, nevertheless the effects of the sin persist on those who are affected in relationship and proximity.  Children pay a price for a parent who is in prison, or for violence encountered within the family, even for the social stigma that may be attached -- real or imagined by the child.  This is but one small example of how sin is not a private affair, but is rather like the effects of a rock cast into a pool.  The ripples continue and affect the whole pool.  The same can be said for something unclean or poisonous cast into that pool.  In this sense, we should think of what we decide we want to "cleanse" from our lives as that which we neither want to cast into the pool around us or perhaps want to distance ourselves from for protection of ourselves and others.  Gossip is one such thing we could consider under these circumstances.  The effects of malicious gossip can range from harmless if ignored to exceptionally tragic when they take their toll.  But either way, we don't want that to spread into our "pool," neither to us nor to others around us.  Perhaps we don't want to spend so much time around people who constantly bring this into our lives.  Especially as it is now Lent, let us consider giving up those things which pollute our own temples, and give them up in exchange for things we can think of doing that add beauty to our "pool" instead.  Rather than using time to spread a rumor or story we don't know is even true, why not take that same time instead to pick up a book on an uplifting subject, to plant some flowers, to walk in a park, to say a prayer?  There are all kinds of ways we can think of beautifying our lives in a spiritual sense, and so let us do so.  Equally important is to rid ourselves and our environment of the things which pollute and poison, for sin has such effects, whether we see them or not.  

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

- Luke 14:12-24 

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

 

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

- Matthew 22:1-14 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is Holy Week.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into the city, He has cleansed the temple, and He was quizzed by the religious leaders as to His authority to do so.  In yesterday's reading, He told them, "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 

 

  And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'   My study Bible comments that, like the preceding parables, this one also proclaims the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless among the Jews to the faithful who will come even from among the Gentiles.  It is set as a joyful wedding banquet, as Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29), and St. Paul uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  The repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's great desire to have God's people with God in the Kingdom.  The first group of servants is interpreted to be Moses and those with him, while the second group is made up of the prophets, who repeatedly were sent to the "first-called," the Jews.  Additionally, my study Bible explains that the oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fattled cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant.  It notes that "fatted" is better translated as "wheat-fed," or even more literally, "formed from wheat."  So both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church. 

 

"But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."   My study Bible says that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is here prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and therefore attributes this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.  Nonetheless, patience was shown by waiting some forty years from the time of Christ -- thus giving an entire generation a chance to repent. 

 

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests."  This third group of servants are the apostles, sent out across the highways among the nations, the Gentiles. 

 

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."  According to my study Bible, the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, so there was no excuse for this man who was without one -- therefore he is speechless.  His refusal to wear the wedding garment provided by the king is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, or who want God's kingdom on their own terms.  Specifically, says my study Bible, the garment refers to the baptismal garment, and through extension, a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.   For many, an Aramaic expression repeated frequently by Christ, means "for all."

What is the wedding garment?  It is an intriguing speculation to consider.  My study Bible clearly states an affirmative explanation that it is one's baptismal garment, but also composed of the life one leads afterward, of "faith, repentance, virtue, and charity."  We can consider, then, the garment a type of weaving of the soul, if we may so phrase it.  It invites us to think of our own souls as those things in which we will come clothed to God, and the image in which we will appear at Christ's final judgment, which coincides with the time of the wedding banquet.  It's interesting to think of our souls as comprised of thread after thread of our lives, our choices, our faith lived or not, and woven into a garment that expresses more truly who we are than any clothing we could choose to wear.  Think about the weaving process, in which cloth is spun from threads woven on a framework which holds in place a basic structure, while chosen threads of whatever quality or color or substance are woven constantly through them, back and forth, to make a garment of whole cloth.  It is said by reference to a similar idea, that the word "history" comes from the ancient Greek word ιστός/histos, meaning loom.  Therefore in this same sense, history is like a tapestry or cloth being constantly woven until we can see the shape and pattern and quality of a cloth, thread after thread across the loom.  Our own histories, therefore, are written in the soul -- a wedding garment, then, is a life lived through faith in what God has given us, the teachings we're given for eternal life and attendance at this wedding banquet.  Certainly this is a gift of God, of Christ, and the working of the Holy Spirit throughout our lives, as well as our cooperation with the same, our "yes" to a life so lived.  And this is the invitation we're given, for the gospel message is clearly meant to be our invitation to the life Christ wants us to live with Him in His Kingdom, entering into His wedding banquet of the Bridegroom and the Church.  Let us consider how we weave our lives, the garments of our souls, and what we want that to look like -- composed of beauty beyond our knowing but that will shine forth in the Kingdom.  "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 13:43).

Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all  out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. 

 

- John 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read that, on the sixth day given of seven in John's Gospel, telling the story of the beginning of Christ's public ministry, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Today's reading gives us the story of the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem.  In the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this event occurs at the end of Christ's ministry.  But John places it at the beginning, which sets a strong tone for the Gospel.  My study Bible notes that some patristic commentary holds that Christ performed this act twice.   John's Gospel gives us three occasions on which Jesus participates in the Passover festival during Jesus' ministry, teaching us that His ministry lasted three years.  

 

 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all  out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  Those who sold oxen and sheep and doves were trading in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins, since Roman coins bore the image of Ceasar and were considered to be defiling in the temple.  John gives us the detail that Jesus made a whip of cords, giving us an image of His decisive and strong action here.  It is also here in John's account that we're told the disciples remembered the words of the Psalm:  "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up" (Psalm 69:9), also giving us a picture of the strength and energy of Jesus.  My study Bible reminds us that the cleansing of the temple points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  Additionally, as each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), it is a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  Jesus' energetic and decisive response is reminiscent of His language illustrating decisive action to separate ourselves from sin (see for example Matthew 18:8-9).

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.   As Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by the religious leaders.  My study Bible reminds us that by the time of John's Gospel, early Jewish Christians had been subject to persecution.  Hence the term "the Jews" is used most often as a political term here, and does not mean the Jewish people.  It is most frequently used specifically to refer to the Jewish leadership at the time of Christ.  In this case, it's referring to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  We would do well to remember that Jesus and all of His disciples, including the author of this Gospel, were Jews.  My study Bible comments that, as Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, HE answers in a hidden way  the ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection.  These words, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" will be twisted and used against Him by false witnesses at His trial (Matthew 26:60-61).

 

Today's reading gives us an image of Christ that is dynamic and powerful.  In the cleansing of the temple, it shows Him as a man who is ready to take decisive action, and who can use strength for the right purposes.  Many people seem to get the impression from Christ's preaching, such as in the Sermon on the Mount (where we are taught, for example, to pray for our enemies), that Jesus was a man of very passive nature.  But to see Christ this way is not to understand Him or His strength, or even His teaching in a full perspective.  To know Christ is to know the great and true passion and dynamism in Him, even in the way that the disciples understand the line from the Psalm, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."   In Matthew 5:5, we read iJesus teaching (in NKJV English), "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  In Matthew 11:29, we read Him saying, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."    "Meek" in the first case, and "gentle" in the second case, are both translated from the same Greek word.  That word is πραΰς/prays (pronounced pra-EES).  This can also mean humble, but it is more than that.  It indicates not weakness, as is often imaged by English translations, but rather God's exercising strength under God's control.  That is (according to HELPS Word-Studies), "demonstrating power without undue harshness."  This kind of gentleness is a blend of both reserve and strength.  So John's picture of the dynamic Jesus here gives us a fullness of Christ we're apt to miss at times.  Although He comes into the world as a human being without social or material power, He is the Incarnate Son.  As such, He manifests and pronounces judgment and justice.  Therefore His actions in the temple represent this, as do His powerful words to the religious leaders as well -- see Matthew 23 for His vivid critique of their habits.  This is not a shrinking violet, not the meekness of someone who shows any fear whatsoever, but the supreme confidence of One who takes absolute nature and strength and judgment from God (and who is God), and One who has come into the world to show us what that is ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father" - John 14:9).  If we are to model Christ in our lives, we must take an understanding from the fullness of what we are taught in the Gospels, and our understanding must come not from contradiction between strength and meekness, but from a comprehension of what grace is and does, and the power of God's truth and judgment.  Moreover, the phrase "strength under control" could serve as a model for what real discipleship will make of us.  Above all, we rely on God, as does Jesus in the example He sets before us.  This is where we take confidence, and where Christ derives His supreme confidence.  In one other example of this we might note, when Jesus is arrested in Gethsemane, He says to His disciple who took up a sword, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?" (Matthew 26:52-54).  In citing the "more than twelve legions of angels" Jesus reminds us all of who He is, of His strength that He has available to Him.  But we are given to understand yet again that He is the Son of Man, on a mission, and that mission must be fulfilled as the supreme command for Him; it is the line He will not cross.  Let us understand meekness and gentleness not as weakness but as power under grace, strength under God's command -- a reserve that knows its boundaries and mission, with discipline and ultimate service.  Let us not be like those who cannot see for their blindness to God's grace.

 

For many are called, but few are chosen

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding." '  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen." 

- Matthew 22:1-14

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught another parable in the temple, addressing the chief priests and elders who had questioned His authority:  "There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

  And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come."  My study bible comments that, like the preceding parables (see the readings from Tuesday and Wednesday, above), this one is also a proclamation of the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless Jews to the Gentiles.  It is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see also 25:1-13).  Christ is often called the Bridegroom (9:15, John 3:29).  St. Paul also uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  In this parable, the king repeated sends out servants to call those invited to the wedding.  This repeated call shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the kingdom.  This first group called is interpreted to be Moses and those with him.

"Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding." ' "  This second set of servants is by tradition considered to be the prophets who call the people back to God.  Together with the first sent out to call people invited to the wedding feast, they call those initially invited, the Jews.  The oxen, my study bible says, represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.  The fatted cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant.  The word in the original Greek text can be translated as "wheat-fed" or more literally as "formed from wheat."  Therefore, in the wedding of Christ and Christ's Church, both the Old and the New Covenants are fulfilled. 

"But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  That their city was burned up is, according to St. John Chrysostom, a prophesy by Christ of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70.   Thereby its destruction becomes attributed to an act of God rather than that of human beings.  Nonetheless, God shows patience by waiting approximately 40 years from the time of Christ, giving an entire generation a chance for repentance.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests."  This third sent of servants assigned to call and invite "as many as you find" on the highways, both bad and good, is considered to be the apostles sent out to all the nations.  That is, to those who were not initially invited, but are now called. 

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."   By tradition, the wedding garment would have been provided by the king; therefore there is no excuse for the man not wearing one.  Thus, he's speechless.  The refusal to wear the provided garment is an illustration of those who refuse the hospitality of God, or who want God's Kingdom on their own terms, according to my study bible.  More specifically, this garment refers to the baptismal garment, and through its extension to a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, my study bible says, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.  For many, as we've noted in other passages, is an Aramaic expression used to mean "for all."

What is the difference between being called and chosen?  This can be quite puzzling.  But one thing we can learn from this parable given by Christ in the temple to the religious leadership:  everyone is called.  The Greek word for "called" is κλητός/kletos.  It literally does mean "called" as in being summoned or invited.  As used in the New Testament, it indicates a call from God.  As such, we can understand that all who were part of the kingdom of Israel were called to God's wedding banquet, and subsequently the apostles are sent out (the literal meaning of the word apostle is one who is "sent out") to call all the world to this feast.  They go out onto the highways of the world -- again, in their own time, quite literally, as the Romans had built highways for transport and trade across the Empire.  In the language of the text, there's a double emphasis that these servants are sent out to the crossroads or thoroughfares, the places where roads meet outside of cities.   In the Greek, they are told to invite all whom they meet on the "road" -- and this second word for road is the same one Jesus uses which is translated as "way" in "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  Therefore we might understand a double meaning here for the apostles:  on their own journey of faith along the "way" of Christ, their job is to be those sent out to call those whom they meet, to invite them to this wedding feast of the Kingdom.  But to be chosen is another matter, and Jesus distinguishes these two things of calling and being chosen -- and not for the first time, either.  He used the same expression in the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard which He told to the disciples regarding their own work and calling, and the equal reward promised to all who answer the call to labor in God's vineyard (see 20:16).  To be "chosen" forms a sort of play on words by Christ, something that dots His speech in the Gospels, and makes it more clear to His original listeners what a brilliant mind He had in the use of language, of words.  While "called" is kletos, "chosen" is eklektos/ἐκλεκτός.  It literally means to be selected, or chosen out, and implies preference or favorite.  Perhaps it gives us a hint of the meaning to Jesus' words following the parable in chapter 20, in which He tells the disciples that the places on His right and left will go to those for whom it's been prepared by the Father (20:23).  In today's parable, we get a sense of being "chosen" as a kind of self-selection.  That is, the chosen are those who wear the garment prepared by the Father, who have accepted the place to which they are called to be citizens of this Kingdom, and who live it -- even embodying that calling.  This "self-selection," so to speak, echoes the meanings of judgment found in the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers in yesterday's reading (see above), in which the worthy vinedressers to come will be those who render the fruits of the harvest.  In other words, those who can accept and bear the spiritual fruit nurtured wisely and well by a properly tended vineyard of God's people.  In these parables we can obtain a sense of a kind of organic movement from within that constitutes being "chosen."  That is, who will bear the proper fruit of the harvest and return it to the Father.  Who can truly embody and wear that wedding garment, bearing graciously the fullness of citizenship in this Kingdom?  There is, somewhere along the line, an internal "yes" to that grace and its process in us.  It indicates a type of cooperation with God -- for why are we "called" if it is not so that we will respond in ways that others have failed to do?  Let us remind ourselves at once and marvel that it is indeed the whole world that is called to this banquet.  There is not one left out:  neither Jew nor Gentile, rich nor poor, master and servant, nor any distinction in this world.  The highways of the world -- including those of internet communications -- are those used to issue out this call, as we continue to do today.  Those of us who respond must bear the responsibility for wearing that wedding garment and assuming the duties and responsibilities that go with it, those things contained in the word of Christ for us -- for each of us.  Let us remember that garment is not of our own making, and will be provided for us.  We don't start all from scratch.  Our job is to respond to the grace which gives us everything we need.

Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

- John 2:13-22

 Yesterday, we read that there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  John's Gospel is organized differently than the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Here in John Jesus attends the first of three Passover festivals that John reports to us, and it is here, in contrast to the other Gospels, that a cleansing of the temple takes place.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke report this event at the beginning of the last week of Jesus' life, the end of His ministry.  Certain Church Fathers teach that Christ performed this act twice.   Jesus in every report of this act goes after those who are using what is holy merely for prophet.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and doves do so for sacrifices.  The money changers exchange Roman coin for Jewish, since the Roman coins had the image of Caesar and were therefore considered defiling.  What is holy is not meant merely for trade, as a market place.  In conjunction with this cleansing of the temple, we are to understand our hearts and minds also are not to be used merely as a place of "trade" with respect to our faith, as each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).  The Scripture recalled by the disciples is from Psalm 69:9.

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  We have just read of the first sign in John's Gospel, the changing of the water into wine at the wedding at Cana (yesterday's reading, above).  So here, when the officials in the temple ask Him to prove identity and authority to cleanse the temple by performing a sign, we already know that this is something possible for Jesus.  He's not a Levitical priest, so on these grounds His authority is challenged.   We must also remember that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is mostly used as a kind of political term, to indicate the leaders.  Here the term is used to refer to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  Despite the fact that we know He is capable of producing a sign, he won't reveal Himself to scoffers.  Jesus answers in a hidden way that is revealed through faith:  the ultimate sign will be his death and Resurrection. 

John's Gospel has already begun to teach us that there are ways of hearing Christ's words that point beyond the words themselves.  Like the signs in his Gospel, of which the turning of water to wine at the wedding in Cana is the first, everything about Jesus points to something more, something beyond.  His words are the same.  Often Jesus will say things that have meanings far beyond the surface value that conventional understanding can give to the words.  John's Gospel teaches us this kind of looking and seeing and understanding.  When Jesus cleanses the temple in such a vivid way (we're even given the detail of Him making a whip of cords), He says, "Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  But we're to think beyond this vivid literal scene, and to understand that what is holy can't be thought of as "merchandise," as something to be bought and sold.  Our souls aren't bought and sold, and our lives aren't just commodities.  Neither is the virtue we develop through faith.  What belongs to the kingdom of God "lives" in a different place, a different kind of reality, and it is that reality that is present Incarnate in Jesus Christ.  He is the kingdom of heaven brought near, and we belong to Him as much as we do to anything or anyone else.  This is the point of the Gospel, of His ministry, of the telling of Jesus' story.  Jesus refuses to produce signs of the presence of the Kingdom on demand for those who scoff, who won't have faith in Him, who think of themselves as His (and in effect, God's) judges.  He responds to the demand for a sign by telling them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  He's speaking, of course, of His Resurrection.  But it won't be until that event happens that even Jesus' disciples come to understand what He's really saying here.  The same is true of the Scripture quoted from Psalm 69, "Zeal for your house has eaten Me up."  It is later when the disciples understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of this Scripture.  It is faith that gives us insight and discernment, that opens up perspectives and vistas we are not able to grasp if we see what is holy the same way that we see merchandise or trade.  There is something more that we must be a part of to come to see all the things that are really present here.  It is the capacity for faith that will show us what is really there, what God has to give us, the meanings and values and depth of intangibles that become a part of our souls in God's love for us.  This is why a sign won't be produced like a commodity, like a piece of merchandise on demand.  There is something more that is present here, a something more that Christ demands that we have spiritual eyes and ears to see and to discern.  It doesn't work by "worldly" rules or conventional aphorisms.  When we start to understand that, we begin to understand what John's Gospel offers to us, that something so much more than meets the eye or the ear on worldly terms.  We begin to enter into the Gospel of love, that builds up who we are, how we see, how we hear, and gives us relationship with God who is love.  This is the journey we are on, the place Christ is here to reveal to us.