Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you

 

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 

 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

 

- Matthew 7:1-12 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

 

  "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  My study Bible comments here that we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the same things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin also.  To pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  Moreover, my study Bible points out that the second part of this verse is found in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38, each used in a different context, as Christ clearly repeated this message many times.  This repetition teaches us something about the significance of the principle He names here.

 

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  Here is an elaboration on the warning against judgment, and a teaching on our own blindness to our flaws and what that does to us.  We are to look to ourselves to correct our own errors and mistaken thinking and practices before we can ever help others.  For Christ's teaching on mutual correction in the Church, see Matthew 18:15-35.  Let us remember also that Jesus is preaching to those who are His disciples, and who will in turn become teachers and authorities in His Church.

 

 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."   Dogs and swine, my study Bible explains, refer to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15), but this would also include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to patristic teaching, "dogs" are those who are so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, while "swine" are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  The pearls are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, including Christ's teachings (Matthew 13:46) and the great sacraments.  These holy things are restricted from the immoral and unrepentant, not to protect the holy things themselves, for Christ needs no protection.  On the contrary, we protect the faithless people from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt.  Additionally, this extends the warning about judgment to protection from those who would respond with hostility to what is intended as helpful correction given through grace ("removing the speck in another's eye") such as Christ gives to His disciples.  

 

 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  My study Bible tells us that in the Greek, the verbs ask, seek, and knock are present progressives:  "be asking," "be seeking," "be knocking."  Note the synergy here:  our effort is commanded, but not ever apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer; seek by learning God's truth; and knock by doing God's will.  Human beings are called evil not to condemn all of us, but rather to contrast the imperfect goodness in people (in other words, our goodness is also mixed with sin) with the perfect goodness of God (see Matthew 19:16-17).  If imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, my study Bible explains, all the more will God work perfect good.  

 

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  This verse is known as the Golden Rule.   Jesus' expresses that it fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets; my study Bible remarks that it is also a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (see Jesus' statement of the two greatest commandments, found at Matthew 22:37-40).  This Golden Rule is a first step in spiritual growth, according to my study Bible.  There is also a negative form of the Golden Rule which was already well known in Judaism ("Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you").  But Christ's fulfillment of the Law and Prophets renders this into a positive statement:  this is the action that begins to draw us toward God.  

 

Jesus teaches, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  We may be tempted to think of these words, taken apart from the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, as indicating material blessings to be given by God in exchange for our good behavior.  But to keep asking, and keep seeking and keep knocking in this context is to seek the blessings of discipleship, the blessedness of the Kingdom, the reality of what it is to be an adopted "son" of your Father who is in heaven.  The good things Jesus preaches about are the fruits of discipleship, the spiritual gifts meant for those who love God, and seek to do God's will.  Jesus begins today's reading by teaching, "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."   These are words that teach us, as followers of Christ, to pay attention to what we are to be about -- not to what everyone else is supposed to be doing.  In the final verses we find in St. John's Gospel, there is a story that is illustrative of this same principle.  Jesus comes, in one of His resurrectional appearances, to St. Peter.  In a striking dialogue, meant to be taken as a restoration of St. Peter to his place as apostle after his three-time denial of Christ (Matthew 26:69-75), Jesus asks St. Peter three times, "Do you love Me?"  Each time Peter answers positively, and Jesus indicates that his work going forward is to feed His lambs (John 21:15-19).  This moving scene is tremendous in and of itself.  But -- perhaps just because it's St. Peter -- that's not all there is to the story.  Peter then turns, see the apostle St. John (the author of the Gospel) following, and asks Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"  Jesus' response bears out His teaching in today's reading.  He tells St. Peter, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me" (John 21:20-22).  If it is even so for one as great as St. Peter, the first among equals of the apostles, consider how it is so for us that our job is to look to ourselves, our place as disciples, the "plank" in our own eye that needs removal, our own flaws, and our own ways we're called to follow Christ.  If we think about it carefully, casting pearls before swine or giving what is holy to dogs is also outside of our purview, not staying in our own lane, so to speak, nor remembering what it is we are supposed to be about.  Moreover, the grace and mercy we are capable of expressing will be measured back to us.  Let us remember that Jesus is speaking to those who would be His disciples, and that this sermon's theme is the righteousness of the Kingdom.  Beginning with the Beatitudes, He teaches us about blessings that seem to stand the values of the world on their heads, and here the promises and teachings are all about how we grow in discipleship, and the good things bestowed by our Father.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you

 

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  

 

"Do not give what is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 

 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

 

- Matthew 7:-12

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

 

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  My study Bible comments here that we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the very things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin.  To pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  The phrase "with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you" is also found in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38.  Each is used in a different context, and there is no doubt Jesus taught this important message many times.  

 

"Do not give what is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  My study Bible says that dogs and swine refer to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15), but would also include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to patristic commentary, "dogs" are those so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, and "swine" are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  Pearls are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, it notes, including Christ's teachings (Matthew 13:46) and the great sacraments.  These holy things are restricted from the immoral and unrepentant.  This is not in order to protect the holy things themselves, as Christ needs no protection.  But we protect faithless people from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt.  See also Luke 23:8-9 for Jesus' response to Herod's questioning.

 

 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  The verbs ask, seek, and knock are present progressives.  In other words, their effect is to say "be asking," "be seeking," "be knocking."  There is a synergy here which my study Bible cites:  our effort is commanded, but never apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer, we seek by learning God's truth, and we knock by doing God's will.  My study Bible also comments that people are called evil here not to condemn the whole race of human beings, but to contrast the imperfect goodness that is in people (that is, our goodness is mixed with sin) with the perfect goodness of God (see Matthew 19:16-17).  If imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, so all the more will God work perfect good.  

 

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  The "Golden Rule" fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets, says my study Bible, and it's also a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:39-40).  My study Bible calls it a first step in spiritual growth.  It adds that the negative form of the Golden Rule ("Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you") was well-known in Judaism.  Jesus' form, however, is positive, and this is the action that begins to draw us toward God.  See also Luke 6:31.

 

 In the context of the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, and in particular today's reading, we need to make sense of it in terms of being directed at disciples, those who follow Him.  We're first told, "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  This is another form of the Golden Rule in today's last verse, but applied specifically to judgment.  How do we look at our neighbors, or in particular our fellow disciples of Christ?  We should consider how we wish to be judged, for we will be judged the same way.  It seems to me this is directly invoking how we treat one another.  Jesus goes on, "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye"  In chapter 18 of St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will speak of mutual self-correction in the Church.  This verse reflects this notion of mutual correction as a way of helping with discipleship, and emphasizes the humility necessary to do this appropriately.  In monastic practice, a good elder is one who is experienced spiritually, so that their own knowledge of themselves and their mistakes and corrections can be beneficial to others, and they may correct helpfully and with love and mercy, not the kind of judgment Christ forbids here.  If we're blind to our own errors, we're in no position to help, and will easily practice projection upon others.  In this context we read, "Do not give what is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  For a person to benefit from spiritual help, they must be disposed toward acceptance and not rejection.  Even the greatest spiritual treasure may be hated by one who does not wish to accept it.  Jesus then says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  This is a great exhortation to spiritual growth and discipleship, for it emphasizes the generous nature of God for those who do seek and ask and knock with sincerity.  As my study Bible points out, these are meant to be ongoing always with us; it's a continual pursuit and practice. We keep asking, keep praying, keep knocking through the practices and resources we have in the Church. And the world needs that resource and experience.  Finally, here again is the summing up:  "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  Do you want to learn?  Then help teach.  Do you value kindness, humility, mercy?  Then offer it to others, and in particular we need to model this among the faithful in the ways we treat one another.  Do you wish to gain self-knowledge, spiritual understanding?  Offer what you have, but be properly discerning.  This message of the Golden Rule is a deep emphasis on the communion involved in all of this pursuit of following Christ in discipleship.  God is first of all our Father in heaven, as Jesus references God, so let us understand what we are to be about, all the time.  Let us understand that the good God who gives to us may also reward us with knowledge of ourselves, even of what we need to change in our habits or ways of thinking.  But we continue to ask and seek and knock for how to go forward in God's love and teaching.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets

 

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

 

- Matthew 7:1-12 

 

Currently we are reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'   For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  My study Bible comments that we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the very things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin.  To pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  Jesus also uses these terms, "with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you," in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38.   Each is in a different context, as no doubt Jesus repeated this important message many times.  

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."   We should remember that this message is directed to those who would be disciples, and regarding the practice of discipleship.  How can one possibly correct or instruct others in spiritual growth unless one already has the rigorous experience of seeing, knowing, and correcting one's own spiritual "blind spots"?  It's also a warning about our own capacity to overlook our own flaws, and an admonition for this kind of self-knowledge and correction.  The language here follows Jesus' earlier teaching, "The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (see Saturday's reading).  

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  My study Bible says that dogs and swine are references to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15), but this would also include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to patristic sources, "dogs" are those so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, and "swine" are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  The pearls are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, including Christ's teachings (Matthew 13:46) and the great sacraments.  These holy things, my study Bible explains, are restricted from the immoral and unrepentant, not to protect the holy things themselves, for Christ does not need protection.  Instead, we protect faithless people from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt.  The words of Christ also warn us about the response of those who cannot or will not understand.  Again, Jesus is still speaking in the context of discipleship, correction, and spiritual growth.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  Once more, Jesus is speaking of spiritual growth in discipleship.  My study Bible says that the verbs ask, seek, and knock are present progressives, which can be rendered "be asking," "be seeking," "be knocking."  There is a synergy here, it asks us to note:  our effort is commanded, but never apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer, we seek by learning God's truth, and we knock by doing God's will.  Here, human beings are called evil not to condemn all, but rather to contrast the imperfect goodness in human beings (where our goodness is also mingled with sin) with the perfect goodness of God (see Matthew 19:16-17).  My study Bible further comments that if imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, all the more will God work perfect good.  

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." My study Bible says that this "Golden Rule" fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets, and is a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:39-40).  It's a first step in spiritual growth.  There is a  negative form of the Golden Rule ("Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you") which was well known in Judaism.  Christ's form is positive:  this is the action that begins to draw us toward God, my study Bible says.  

This "positive" form of the Golden Rule is illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, found only in Luke's Gospel (Luke 10:25-37).  In that parable, the Samaritan is the one who gives aid and help to the injured Jewish man, and so it is the Samaritan who was his true "neighbor."  In the language of the Gospel, the one who was the true neighbor was the one "who showed mercy" on the hurt man.  So this positive form of the Golden Rule applies to all acts of mercy, of charity, in whatever form that takes.  This ties in Jesus' statement at the beginning of the reading, concerning judgment.  Our positive acts toward others, embodying the things we'd want done for ourselves, become a way to heed Christ's teaching, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  Interestingly, Jesus also speaks of what we call "projection" in modern psychological terms.  That is, we're blind to our own flaws ("And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is your own eye?"), and we often accuse others of the very same thing we ourselves are doing.  This seems to be particularly true in the public eye, in which it's often observed.  We can see this on the smallest scale, such as an argument between child siblings, to the grandest scale, in which those committing war crimes will often accuse their opponents of the same crime.  Clearly Christ calls us, if we would be His disciples, to do otherwise, and to rise above this common human flaw as part of spiritual discipline.  One thing is certain, Jesus does not entertain those who would claim their character is written in stone or that human nature cannot be changed.  On the contrary, what He teaches is that our own minds are malleable and capable of the greatest transformation, for this indeed is the very essence of salvation, of repentance (in the Greek of the Gospels, the word for repentance literally means "change of mind").  What we are asked by Christ to do then, in our own discipleship, is to be aware of our propensity not simply to overlook or be blind to our own faults, but to project them onto others -- and to do something about that.  We're meant to shift our focus onto ourselves, and instead to follow this positive Golden Rule.   Good judgment, Jesus tells us, is impossible when we have no clear understanding of ourselves and our own faults, and hypocrisy leads to our downfall.  Indeed, the greatest condemnation Jesus gives will be in Matthew 23, when He rails against the religious leadership for their very hypocrisy.   We remember that the word "hypocrite" originally meant "actor" -- the Greek literally meaning "below the mask," as in the masks worn by actors in ancient plays signifying the character they play.  Many today would seem to replace religion as a guiding light for practices of mercy in public life, with the tools of political ideology and persuasion.  Yet there we also observe that many seem to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the powerless even as they pose as champions of enlightened policies and human rights.  So neither blindness to our own shortcomings nor hypocrisy has left the world, and perhaps the modern day power of propaganda and communication technologies make such masks that much more powerful and oppressive. Let us, then, look to our Lord to guide us in our lives, despite the hypocrisy we see.  In such a time, many would say that the light and truth of faith -- which shines from the inside to the outside -- is now more needful than ever.  For where there is hypocrisy there is surely hardness of heart.

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets

 

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  

 

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

 

- Matthew 7:1-12 

 

We are presently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 

 

"Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  My study Bible comments here that we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves also have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin.  To pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  The second part of this verse is found in Mark 4:24 and in Luke 6:38, each in a different context; no doubt Christ repeated this particular message many times.  It teaches us, also, how basic this concept is to our faith and our lives.  There is yet another important message here, and that is the means whereby we seek to clarify our own perceptions, to cleanse ourselves of false beliefs and values through repentance, and whether or not we have practiced our own spiritual learning and discipline in order to properly help others.  For without the discernment that only comes from one's own experience of repentance and spiritual growth, one fails to perceive clearly or properly.

 

 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  My study Bible explains that while dogs and swine would refer to heathen peoples in the context of the time (Philippians 3:2, Revelation 22:15), they also would include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to patristic literature, "dogs" are those people who are so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, while "swine" are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  Of course through continual evil behavior, this is possible for any one of us.  The pearls are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, which includes Christ's teachings (Matthew 13:46) and the great sacraments.  These holy things are restricted from the immoral and unrepentant, my study Bible explains, not to protect the holy things themselves, for Christ needs no protection.  Rather, we protect the faithless people from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt. 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  My study Bible points out that the verbs ask, seek, and knock are, in the Greek of the Gospel, present progressives.  In other words, Jesus is saying we are to "be asking," "be seeking," and "be knocking."  It asks us to note the synergy:  our effort is commanded, but never apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer; we seek by learning God's truth; and we knock by doing God's will.  Human beings are called evil here not in order to condemn all of us, but to contrast the imperfect goodness in people (our goodness is also mingled with sin - fallibility and imperfection), with God's perfect goodness (see Matthew 19:16-17).  My study Bible comments that if imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, all the more will God work perfect good.

 

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  This is the "Golden Rule" which fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets.  It is also the practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:39-40).  My study Bible says it is a first step in spiritual growth.  The negative form of the Golden Rule ("Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you") was well-known in Judaism.  Jesus' form here is positive:  this is the action that begins to draw us toward God (see Luke 6:31).

My study Bible calls the Golden Rule ("Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets") the first step in the road toward God.  That is, when we simply begin to consider treating others as we'd like to be treated, we are making a first start on Christ's road of perfection, of being His disciples.  I daresay there are times when we'll find, in this practice, that there are others who don't like being treated as we'd like to be treated (that is, they don't necessarily want the same things from others that we do), but this becomes part of the learning curve of spiritual discernment and proper boundaries.  It is part of the learning curve of discipleship, even of how to deal with those who don't love or appreciate or treasure the "pearls" that we do.  Nonetheless, that very basic understanding of proper respect for other human beings becomes a first step in the journey of discipleship; it sets out a sense of what we might call boundaries, and lays down a foundation of how we approach Christ and neighbor.  It will teach us also that there are limits to what "doing good" means; what is good to us is not necessarily what others think of as good.  Moreover, it is the first step to discerning those who do not wish to receive the "pearls" which God has given to us.  On another level, it is important to understand that the road to Christ is the long learning curve of love.  What is good for people, what they truly need, may vary from person to person.  Sometimes love asks us to let go; sometimes love is reaching out.  Sometimes love means having to say "no" to what another person wants from us.  All of these things are integral to the spiritual life of discernment, the level of discipleship we have integrated and towards which we wish to move.  Jesus says earlier in today's reading, "First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  He emphasizes that it is this spiritual experience, this discipleship journey, that makes us qualified to even begin to help another:  not only to recognize the "speck" in another's way of perceiving, but even to understand our own difficulties in perceiving and doing away with the flaws in our ways of seeing, the places where we are blind.  In terms of how we treat others and the Golden Rule, the more blind we are in our own way, the more we seem to project our flaws onto others, and fail to see where we also need change and repentance.  The things we fail to see about ourselves on this road of discipleship become the places where we fail to "change our minds" in repentance, and so to correct our own spiritual sight.  In the midst of all of this, Jesus promises great help:  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."  We do not do spiritual seeking on our own; the level of change we need is one that is addressed through asking, seeking and knocking.  It is through a life of prayer that God can help us to know our way; this is not a journey that we judge nor undertake ourselves.   It is only God's love -- and the help of Father, Son, and Spirit and the saints and angels with whom we pray -- that can lead us on this journey, teach us, guide us, refine us, and help us to know what we need to cast away.  And this is where real discernment comes in, when we realize our dependency upon God, and that we cannot undertake this journey without the practices of our faith and the loving hand of the Helper (and other helpers) always there, and the communion we find in the great cloud of witnesses, both seen and unseen, by which we are always surrounded.   We are taught to "judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."   It's only with God's help that we can seek good judgment, and discernment -- for everything begins with the Golden Rule.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 7:1-12

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which is chapters 5-7 in Matthew's Gospel.  Yesterday, we read, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

  "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  Here, my study bible tells us, "We will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the very things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin.  To pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  The second part of this verse is found in Mark 4:24 and in Luke 6:38, each in a different context, as Jesus no doubt repeated this particular message many times."

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  There are other places where Jesus will teach a system of mutual correction in the Church.  However, what it is important to note here is that Jesus calls us to self-awareness first, to self-knowledge,  and to the practice of "plucking out" an eye that offends, of cutting off a hand that offends.  If our eye is full of light, then that light will also illumine what is in our own inner darkness for us to consider and to repent of, to change.  Only with that experience are we really capable of helping others.  Our own knowledge of ourselves and our practice of what Jesus teaches about repentance, or "changing our minds" (as the word for repentance literally reads in the Greek), is essential to our real capability for helping others.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  My study bible says that "dogs and swine refer to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15), but would also include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to the Church Fathers, dogs are those so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, while swine are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  The pearls are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, including Christ's teachings (13:46) and the great sacraments.  These holy things are restricted from the immoral and unrepentant, not to protect the holy things for themselves, for Christ needs no protection.  Rather, we protect the faithless people from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt."

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"   A note in my study bible tells us:  "The verbs ask, seek, and knock are present progressives:  'be asking,' 'be seeking,' 'be knocking.'  Note the synergy:  our effort is commanded, but never apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer; seek by learning God's truth; and knock by doing God's will."  Asking, seeking, and knocking are also ways of seeking discernment -- the illumination of God's way for us.  Of the last verse here, it says that "man is called evil not to condemn the whole race, but to contrast the imperfect goodness that is in people (that is, our goodness is mingled with sin) with the perfect goodness of God (see 19:16-17).  If imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, all the more will God work perfect good."

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  My study bible notes, "The 'Golden Rule' fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets and is a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (22:39-40).  It is a first step in spiritual growth.  The negative form of the Golden Rule ('Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you') was well known in Judaism.  Jesus' form is positive:  this is the action that begins to draw us toward God."

Jesus begins here with the words, "Judge not, that you be not judged."  But in reality, the entirety of today's passage is all about a kind of judgment -- albeit one that we usually call "discernment."  True judgment -- that is, of an entire person or soul -- is up to God.  We cannot take God's place, or do what is God's work.  But Jesus does call us to practice "good judgment" in the sense that we are to be discerning in our choices, in what we do, in how we practice our faith correctly -- and that would include the discernment not to practice improper judgment.  We can't really tell others where they need to correct themselves so long as we haven't been actively doing the same on ourselves, and have experience doing so!  We must not be hypocrites.  A hypocrite is a good indication of one who practices judgment improperly, who practices bad judgment.  We are to be discerning in how we offer others the pearls of our faith, of Christ's teaching.  The same applies to the apostles when they are sent out on their first missions.  In this we must be discerning, guard our mouths, consider all the consequences -- especially, as my study bible pointed out, for those others we may be addressing.  (And let us note that those consequences are the consequences of God's judgment.)  We must be discerning in praying for the things we want, especially when it comes to spiritual understanding, to the things only God can give us, to the awareness of God's mysteries and holy faith.  In this we also practice a kind of discernment in asking and seeking and knocking.  Here we are encouraged to do so, to come forward in prayer and reliance on God.  That is a positive sense of discernment, something we are encouraged by Jesus  to actively engage in.  And we are given a promise here by Christ:  our Father in heaven wants us to seek Him, to seek Him out for personal relationship in prayer, and we will be rewarded for such behavior -- especially when it comes to deepening our faith.  Finally, Jesus sums up the essence of discernment:  "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  Here is the "Golden Rule" we follow for our own behavior, our conduct as one of Christ's children, the summing up of the whole of the Law and the Prophets.  He calls us to discerning and sober behavior, but there is much more here:  He calls us to awareness of every kind -- both of self-knowledge and self-awareness, and also the illumination that comes as a result of asking, seeking and knocking in prayer and the practice of following as best we can that which God calls us to.  This is an always active practice, as the tense implies:  be asking, be seeking, be knocking.  Ultimately it is our awareness and understanding we are called to, the light that banishes ignorance and darkness, our effort that seeks God's help and God's love and all the abundance and understanding that conveys.  Can we practice as He preaches?

What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?

When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine" And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

- Matthew 8:28-34

In yesterday's reading, Jesus gives a command that He and His disciples will depart for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They are in Capernaum and headed to Gentile territory across the Sea. A scribe tells Him that he will follow Jesus wherever He goes. But Jesus tells Him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Another disciple says, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." As they set off over the sea, great waves and a tempest come up, so that the disciples fear they are drowning. But Jesus is asleep in the boat. Jesus said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. This story is presented in a more detailed way in other Gospels (see My Name is Legion). But there are a few details that are different in Matthew's Gospel. Here, there are two demon-possessed men. They are mentally deranged to the point of violence and cannot live among the community. Instead, they live in the tombs, among the dead. This is Gentile territory, a new mission for the disciples, across the Sea. These frightening, wild demoniacs live even further out of community, possessed by that which is ultimately outside of community. It is a kind of picture of the absolutely forlorn, the wild and chaotic, without any sense of rule -- simply a meaningless, purposeless violence, a frightening forsakenness.

And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" These are the words of the demons. "Before the time" refers to the time of Judgment. They recognize who Jesus is. My study bible says, referring to the demons, "They know they have nothing in common with Him, for Jesus seeks man's salvation. . . . They are surprised their power is being terminated before the time of the last judgment." Jesus' authority is immediate and full. This is something surprising to the demons who torment the two men and pull them from all community, into a violent self-destructive life.

Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine" And He said to them, "Go." The demons have possessed these men, driving them out from community into the wilderness and among the tombs, caves carved out of rock, far away from the village. Now it is Jesus who will drive them from these men. The herd of swine is a kind of important symbol in the context of the Jewish audience of the Gospel. They are unclean animals in Jewish law, and another sign that we are in Gentile territory. My study bible says that the demons' entrance into the herd of swine is a sign of the reality of the demoniacs' healing. We observe Jesus' authority and power over the demons; without His permission even they can do nothing. His presence expels them.

So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. My study bible notes here: "Jesus' sovereign power is not only over physical infirmity, but over mental illness as well. It shows us the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice." The people of the town beg Jesus to leave because they have lost their swine. But the swine throwing themselves into the water is a sign of the destructive power of these demons, who formerly occupied the men, making them crazy with violence, and self-destructive. This Gentile community fails to realize the value of the healing, and can only look to the material value of the swine who are destroyed. The healing of the human beings is not "worth every sacrifice to them" and they want Jesus to leave. It's another sign of "lawlessness" - a lack of regard for God's law. In Mark's Gospel, the healed demoniac wishes to follow Jesus and get in the boat with the disciples. But Jesus tells him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he has had compassion on you." Then, Mark's Gospel tells us, he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. Here in Matthew, we are not told what becomes of the healed men, only the power of Christ even here in Gentile territory. The two demoniacs, as opposed to one, symbolize to me both Jew and Gentile, and in Matthew's Gospel we will find this sort of "doubling" happening. Christ's power is for the whole world; the light of the nations will come from Israel, and will be for both Jew and Gentile.

Christ's authority is complete. It is there in Jewish territory and among Jews; it is also so in this forsaken territory of demons, among people who prize their "unclean" animals above the healing of the demon-possessed human beings. I think this must have been a terribly frightening and powerful experience for Christ's disciples, especially coming after they nearly drown. There is no exception to the places that this power is at work. Even before Resurrection, my study bible points out, "Jesus rescues people from the devil's control." So, the Gospel is telling us, the power of Christ is over all things and all people, and in all places. There are no exceptions. In Revelation, we read, "Behold, I am making all things new." And this is the real power of Christ. He makes all things new. He renews these men, He brings a new order out of chaos, and His priorities are clear: the salvation of human beings is worth every price. He is here to restore us all, to bring order out of chaos, health out of self-destruction. What does that mean to you? Are there places in your life that feel out of control, without rule, forsaken in some sense? Are there things for which you need a resolution, a kind of restoring hand to distinguish what is good and healthy from what is not? Do you at times feel that you are in a true wilderness, far from life and community? We seem, at times, to live in a time of chaos and violence, fear and anxiety. My study bible says that "even the demoniacs had enjoyed God's providential care." We don't know how God's power will work in our lives, we only know that it does. We call Him into places where we fear, where there is chaos, and we ask for His law in our hearts, the Logos that restores us and all things into right-relatedness. Call on the Paraclete, the one who comes by your side, when you need a restoring hand, the one who helps you to see your way through chaos and destructive power.

What have we to do with you, Jesus?

When he had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to depart from their region.

- Matthew 8:28-34

This is perhaps one of Jesus' most spectacular healing miracles. It is an exorcism, but truly an act of healing. It is found in other gospels, but in a slightly different form.

I'm going to begin by quoting a lengthy note from my study bible on the entire passage: "The two Gergesene demoniacs are unsuitable for society and live at a great distance from the village. They are possessed by mental derangement, which makes them aggressive and self-destructive. The demons in them recognize Jesus as the Son of God. They know they have nothing in common with him, for Jesus seeks man's salvation; but his presence torments them and expels them. They are surprised that their power is being terminated before the time of the last judgment. Thus, even before his Resurrection Jesus rescues people from the devil's control. Jesus does not yield to their request, but sends them out by his will: though the malice and deceitfulness of the demons is great, they can do nothing unless he permits them. Even the demoniacs had enjoyed God's providential care. The demons' entering into the swine (v. 32), which were unclean for the Jews, is a sign of the reality of the demoniacs' healing. Jesus' sovereign power is not only over physical infirmity, but over mental illness as well. It shows us the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice."

When he had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. I think it's important that we begin by understanding the condition of these men. As my study bible indicates, they are considered unfit for human society. They live among the tombs - in the realm of the dead, and not the living. They are also "exceedingly fierce" so that they drive others off - they are not only set apart, but their affliction drives others away, they are self-destructive.

And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" They (the demons) recognize Christ in his full identity as Son of God - and fear his healing power. The demonic has completely taken over and eclipsed the lives of these afflicted men. We could say that their mental illness has taken full control over their lives.

Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. We understand that Matthew's gospel is written for a Jewish audience. These afflicted men are in Gentile territory - Jews would not keep swine, considered to be unclean animals. Therefore, for a Jewish audience, that these "unclean spirits" would choose to be swept away into a herd of "unclean animals" makes a particular kind of sense - it is an understanding of what is happening in spiritual terms. What is important is that we understand the ultimately self-destructive nature of this affliction. It was simply full-time torment to the men - it becomes an action of pure destruction for the herd of swine. The men were forced to live in the realm of the dead - the swine "run violently down the steep place" to drown themselves in the sea. This affliction of the demonic is violent and self-destructive, to both the swine and the men.

Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to depart from their region. We understand that this is a city that has rejected Jesus' healing power. All they can think about are the lost swine - rather than the miracle of the healing of the men who were demon-possessed. Elsewhere in the gospels, however, there is an addition to this story. (See Tell them what great things the Lord has done for you.) The healed man is sent out by Jesus to tell others what has happened to him; in effect, he becomes the first evangelist.

But in Matthew's gospel, we are to understand not only the healing power of Christ, but the importance of the choices we make in response to this power. These men were cast out, unfit to live in the society with others, given up and numbered among the dead. But they have been restored through Christ's healing action. If we compare, once again, to this story in other gospels, not only do the demons cry out but also the man himself "worshiped Jesus." That does not happen in this version. In Matthew's gospel, the entire community - presumably including those who have been saved - asks Jesus to leave. It is a full rejection of Christ - despite the healing (or perhaps, because of it and the destruction of the swine). So, in that sense, this story tells a different tale to us: about the nature of our choices.

If we compare the self-destructive behavior in these men to that of an addiction, for example, or other mental affliction, we understand several things about the nature of our social ailments. First of all, to change and to be healed will disrupt the social order created by the illness. In this case, the men are separated from the society, they live among the tombs and no one dares go near them. But the freeing of the affliction causes change: the swine are destroyed. Something else gives to make way for change among the society. We could see this as analogous to the adjustments and changes that often need to be made around emotional and mental afflictions of many types in our society. Within a structure - such as a family structure - the problem affects more than the most immediate and obvious member struggling under the effects of an illness or affliction. Adjustment and healing often require that the entire social structure shift and change, to make room for the healing. Boundaries are often an issue that need to be redressed, and there are all kinds of behaviors that need to be adjusted for the whole social structure to be healed. In that sense, such afflictions are not simply the disease of the person most obviously affected - who may reach a point at which they have little or no control over their illness. But healing requires a whole shift in the structures and interactions of the family or social group, often re-learning new behaviors and discarding old beliefs and patterns. It always rests its success on the acceptance of truth - and on love. In this case, we can see this story as analogous to the types of ailments and afflictions of an emotional or mental nature we see in our society today. Are we prepared to accept the truth? Are we prepared to accept the full effects of healing? Are we prepared to "make room" for the new ideas necessary - and the truth and love that will create a fully supportive system for health? In this case, the community does not value the healing as much as it values its swine - the material things they have lost to this change. They were happier with the status quo. There is always an exchange. In all circumstances - for the desperately afflicted or simply for those coping with the more easy stresses of life - we are prepared for an exchange. And we must also be prepared for the shift in our lives that exchange will ask of us for healing, restitution, redemption, reconciliation. We know that Jesus has told us, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." The road to healing may involve many changes and adjustments, great and small. But if we are prepared to accept the pearl of great price, then we understand the exchange is worthwhile. It all depends on what you treasure, what you put first in your life.

The plank in your own eye

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 7:1-12

We are continuing in our readings with the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon began with The Beatitudes, and has continued through the readings Salt and Light, Till heaven and earth pass away, You shall not murder, If your right eye causes you to sin, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, Your father who is in the secret place, Our Father in heaven, No one can serve two masters and Solomon in all his glory. Today, we continue with themes of judgment and discernment - what it is to have good judgment. The entire Sermon on the Mount is a teaching on what it is to be righteous, to live a righteous life, to be love in action. Jesus continues to emphasize the importance of our own choices in terms of how we treat one another, and the centrality of these choices to our relationship with our Father in heaven.

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." My study bible notes, "We will be judged with our own judgment because we, the judges, are doing the very same things that we condemn in others (Rom. 2:1). We ourselves have failed to unceasingly remember our own sins and lay them aside (John 8:7, 2 Pet. 1:9). Condemnation of others and forgiveness do not mix (see Luke 6:27-38). It is the evil one, the slanderer of all, who urges us to pass judgment on others. To pass judgment on another is to usurp a prerogative of God, who knows all things and alone is able to judge (James 4:12)." Also, my study bible notes that the second part of verse 2 ("and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you") is also found in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38, each in a different context. It notes, "Jesus no doubt used these words many times." So, clearly, these teachings are central to Jesus' message about how we are to live in righteousness, to practice righteous behavior in relationships with one another - as these teachings have been repeated in the gospels numerous times. I think it's important to understand that the words here for "judge" (in "Judge not") and for "judgment" (in "For with what judgment you judge...") can also be translated as "condemn" and "condemnation." We get a sense of what kind of judgment he is talking about here. The root word is not from the same word that means "justice" in Greek, from which the word "righteousness" is derived (as in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"). "Justice/righteousness" in the Greek is dikaiosune; but "judge" and "judgment" in this passage are from the Greek root krino, related to "decree" - to "pass judgment," to decide, to pronounce, to condemn. So, we must understand the subtleties in the meanings of the words to understand his teachings here fully.

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." My study bible notes, "We ought to know our own sins better than those of others. The hypocrite sees the errors of others, ignoring his own, because he loves himself above all else." We remember that the word hypocrite in Greek (see Your father who is in the secret place) comes from the word for "actor." This is the inauthentic person, dishonest with himself and others - the one whose righteousness is a form of play-acting, not sincere. To know ourselves thoroughly - or to seek to do so - is an essential part of our teaching on what it is to be a righteous person. Jesus has preached earlier in this sermon about the essential knowing of the heart - "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." We are to know ourselves, and to find correction for ourselves - without this effort we are mere hypocrites and our righteousness is inauthentic. This involves the practice of humility, rather than the self-centered arrogance of the hypocrite who lives for appearance and image before others - and whose worship (treasure) of false front or public/social image is a form of idolatry that leads to projection onto others. It all depends on what our highest priorities are - what is our treasure.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." My study bible notes, "Jesus warns his disciples to turn away from opponents and those incapable of receiving his message (1 Cor. 2:14), and to turn toward those who are receptive (10:13, 14). Dogs and swine refer to heathen peoples (Phil 3:2; Rev. 22:15), but here Jesus' own Jewish contemporaries are not excluded. According to the Church Fathers, dogs are those so deeply immersed in godlessness that they show no hope of change, while swine are those who habitually live an unchaste and immoral life-style. The pearls are Christ's teachings (13:46), or the "inner mysteries" of the Christian faith, particularly the Eucharist." I think it's important that we remember that Jesus is talking to his disciples - to those who would be his disciples. I must admit that jumping from the earlier verses to this one at first glance seems as though it is a contradiction. But here we remember that what Jesus is talking about is using our discernment. This is not the same as practicing condemnation of others as in the admonition to "Judge not." One must balance the other. The teaching is not to engage in relationships with those who would abuse. If we are to practice self-awareness - to know the plank in our own eye - then we become capable of discernment. The two practices go hand in hand. It is the condemnation practiced by hypocrites that is blindness, the failure to know oneself and practice humility. But knowing ourselves also helps us to know discernment, and so here Jesus warns us about those who are incapable of grasping this understanding, and their abusive nature. Certainly, those whom he calls hypocrites might be counted among them.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?" My study bible notes here, that "the threefold exhortation, ask--be given, seek--find, knock--be opened, promises the availability of God's help. The verbs are present progressives: be asking, be seeking, be knocking. Note the synergy: our effort is commanded, but never apart from the help of God. We ask in prayer; seek by learning God's truth; and knock by doing God's will." So, our engagement with God is essential here. This is an active, ongoing, always-present relationship. It has no end, it is continual. And all of it fits together with a life of righteousness and righteous practice. We are to know ourselves, we are to change the "plank in our own eye" as we come to understand it and grow in that knowledge, we are to practice discernment - that is, "good judgment" and not engage in abusive relationships wherein our pearls will be trampled - the things we learn as disciples engaged in this practice will be despised and vilified by those whom we cannot trust. And through all this, an ongoing and active relationship with our Father in heaven. This is essential to all of the above, to knowing ourselves, to changing what we can change, to learning discernment, to gathering the pearls. All of this is couched in the life of active spiritual relationship, of prayer and dialogue in love. They are each inseparable. And this is a dynamic reality, ongoing, always at work with us and in us - it is continue throughout our lives.

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" My study bible says, "Men are called evil not to condemn the whole race, but to contrast the goodness that is in men -- which is from God but mixed with sin -- with the goodness of God, which is perfect (see 19:16,17). If imperfect and even wicked people can do good, how much more can God, in whom there is no evil." We are to trust, and to grow in that trust in our relationship with the Father.

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." A note reads, "The golden Rule fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets and is another version of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (22:39, 40). The negative form of the Golden Rule ("Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you") is well-known in Judaism. Jesus' form, however, is positive: this is the action which brings us to the God who forgives." This is quite interesting to ponder, that the negative form of this rule was known, but Jesus changes it to a positive form. I feel that we often think in the negative form: "I won't cheat others, I won't harm others... because I would not like this myself." But what is that positive form? What do we wish for? Do we need love? Once in awhile, a good correction and discipline with love? Self-knowledge? Kindness, compassion, courtesy. This begins a positive expression of virtue, rather than merely refraining from harm. It is yet another expansion on the Law and the Prophets, as Jesus' words teach us, and in complete harmony with the rest of the Sermon. And indeed, it would seem that this is the whole point of his teachings about not practicing hypocrisy in condemnation of others, knowing ourselves, practicing repentance and humility, learning good discernment (there are those who will trample on our love), and the ongoing trusting relationship with a thoroughly loving Father.

As we set on our way through the last part of the Sermon on the Mount, we recall how these teachings tie it all together for us. The emphasis on the cultivation of positive virtue takes us back to its beginning, to the Beatitudes. The extension of the Law and the Prophets takes us to his teachings that expand on the Law in its various forms. Through it all, there is the emphasis on sincerity, purity of heart, and in that, our depth of trust and relationship to a loving Father. The admonition against hypocrisy and condemnation of others comes in the context of this relationship. Jesus has already told us that we are to be "perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect." So, the ongoing, dynamic relationship is a way of learning our own flaws so that we gain better discernment. All of it ties together in love, and the loving Father who teaches us this discipline. It all depends on what a person chooses. Where is your heart, your treasure? Let us be like pearls ourselves - pure in heart - and then we will be Christ's salt and light. We will be his disciples that he asks us to be, and to become.