If you love Me, keep My commandments

 

 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.  

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.  These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

 

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love  the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.  Arise, let us go from here."

 

- John 14:15–31 

 

In yesterday's lectionary reading, we were given the beginning of Christ's Farewell Discourse to the apostles, spoken at the Last Supper.  He said to them, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

 

  "If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever  . . ."  My study Bible comments that the Helper (in Greek, παράκλητος/parakletos) refers to the Holy Spirit.  This title, it says, also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  This term, in ancient Greek culture, signified one who came to help with legal matters, but expanded to include any form of support or encouragement.  In the context of the New Testament, it indicates the Holy Spirit, who acts as a divine helper and guide for believers.  

". . . the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."  The Spirit of truth is in each believer, my study Bible says, and we are called to know Him.  The Holy Spirit, it recalls, prays for us when we do not know how to pray, enabling us to pray in Christ's name (John 14:13-14; Romans 8:26) and giving us words of witness when we speak the gospel (Mark 13:11).

 

 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also."  According to my study Bible, the brief separation of Christ from His disciples at His death will lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection, and to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

 

"At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.  These things I have spoken to you while being present with you."   My study Bible comments that that day is a reference to Pentecost.  It cites St. John Chrysostom, who tells us that it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them all things."

 

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."   Again, the emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit is given here, and more explicitly.  My study Bible comments that we have confidence in the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher; He brings to remembrance not only Christ's words, but also their meaning.  It says that we have confidence in the Church because the Holy Spirit is our Instructor as well from Pentecost until today, leading us into all truth (John 16:13).  There is a quotation cited from St. Irenaeus:  "Where the Church is, there is the Holy Spirit and the fullness of grace."

 

 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  Peace, according to my study Bible, was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell.  Perfect peace is brought by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).  Peace, it says, is part of the traditional greeting of Christians to one another (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3), and the greeting "Peace be to all" is offered many times during the liturgical services of the Church.

 

"You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe."   My Father is greater than I does not mean that the Father is greater in nature or essence than the Son; the Father and the Son share one divine nature.  Neither does it mean that the Son is created, for the Son is begotten from all eternity (John 1:1-5).  Instead, it means that the Father, who is the Fountainhead of the Trinity, is the eternal cause of the Son.  According to my study Bible, before it comes is a reference to Christ's coming Passion.  To tell of these events before they happened was a way to strengthen the disciples' faith. 

 

 "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love  the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do."  The ruler of this world, my study Bible says, is the devil (see also John 12:31; 16:11), who dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Jesus has said the devil has nothing in Me because there can be no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Jesus became a human being, but was never stained with sin.

 

"Arise, let us go from here."  Jesus takes His disciples to another room or location to complete His discourse, so that He will gain their undivided attention.  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, their current location was susceptible to intrusions, and the disciples were likely to be distracted from fear.

 

In today's reading, the disciple  Judas asks Jesus a question (not Iscariot, for that Judas is no longer present at the Last Supper in this setting).  The text tells us Judas says, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."  What are we to make of this?  How can this not be the greatest gift possible in life, in this world, and for all of us?  There is a great, tremendous promise here.  Imagine that the Father will love us, and both Christ and the Father will come to us and make Their home with us.  We also have to understand -- given the whole text of today's reading -- that this We in "We will come to him and make Our home with him" includes the Holy Spirit also.  How can we not imagine that kind of grace as the most wonderful and stupendous gift in the whole world, and that is better, in fact, than the whole world and what it can offer to us?  But there is a sort of catch, a premise here made for us in order to realize that promise.  Jesus says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word."   We first need to love Him, and that means we will keep His word.  We think of grace as that which comes to us undeserved, even when we are unworthy.  And this is the truth about grace, for we can never "earn" what grace offers, as we're not capable of paying some sort of indeterminable price beyond anything we can understand.  We don't have anything we can possibly do to earn what is beyond this world.  But that doesn't mean there are no conditions implied here.  That doesn't mean that becoming a person capable of receiving that grace doesn't involve some sort of two-way street.  For that is, in fact, what love is.  It's a two-way street.  One could possibly venture to say that without this two-way street of love, there is no love at all.  There is just some sort of strange entitlement, a power relationship that doesn't work at all and is no longer about love.  Christ asks for our love here, and not only does He ask for our love, He tells us quite plainly that love isn't just a question of feeling something or believing something.  Love is a matter of doing something.  To love Christ is to keep His word.  What does that mean?  How can we keep Christ's word?  Is this a question of being perfect all the time?  No, it is a question of love, of being loyal out of love, of making every effort to live by what He has given us, to cherish this gift He has given of His word, which He clearly says comes from the Father in the first place.  Therefore we keep His word in love, and in turn He and the Father (and the Holy Spirit, for where One Person of the Trinity is present, all are present) will come and make Their home with us.  This is the simple, straightforward way God finds and makes a home in us:  we love God and keep the word Christ has given us.  This is covenant, it is union, it is a kind of marriage.  We are the Bride and He is the Bridegroom, only our Bridegroom does not come alone to make a home with us.  He brings more, and so much more.  How can we not accept such a gift?  Where are we going to find a better one?  Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  This is what it means to keep His word.  Let us live that love He desires.

 

 

 

 

 

Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "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 the Gospel gave us its sixth day of Jesus' ministry.  On this day 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 (on the seventh day, completing the first week of His ministry) 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 Jesus' ministry.  Here in John it is placed at the beginning, in the first of three Passover festivals that Jesus will attend.  There exist patristic teachings that this event occurred twice.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and doves were trading in live animals which were to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers were trading roman coins for Jewish coins.  As Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, they were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study bible tells us that the cleansing of the temple points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  At the same time, each person is also considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), and therefore is a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of purely earthly matters; that is, we do nothing separately from God and God's purposes for our lives and the good of the soul.  The disciples recall 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.  First, we must once again note that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is most frequently used to mean the leaders; it is accurate to think of the term as a kind of political one, denoting a certain party, in keeping with the events of the time of the writing of this Gospel (specifically the persecution of the followers of Jesus).  We recall once again that all the people in the Gospel are Jews, including Jesus, as well as the author of the Gospel, with very few exceptions.  Here John uses the term to refer in particular to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  Since Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by them.  Jesus is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, and so He answers here in a hidden way that His apostles understand when they remembered that He had said this to them:  the ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection.  It became an intrinsic part of their faith, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

We so often discount the effects and significance of language.  But illustrated in today's reading is the power of language, and especially of the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.   After each event described in today's reading, there is an important connection made by His disciples through memory.  In the first event described here, the cleansing of the temple, His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  And after the description of Jesus' confrontation with the leadership over His authority to cleanse the temple, the text tells us that 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.   Memory and language play an intrinsic role in faith, and in many ways.  The language of the Scriptures works in what we may term a poetic way, but even the word "poetic" isn't full of the true depth that is at work here.  The connections made between memory and the inspired language of the Scriptures, or of a beautiful service or hymn, and particularly the word of Christ Himself,  are infinite in their potential and their effect.  What we read in one passage today will open up for us tremendous new and faceted meanings every other time we read or hear them, depending on our place in life and what we may be capable of receiving.  That Christ Himself is the Word teaches us something of the power of language; that the Word uses words to speak into existence that which we understand as the very foundation of reality says more than one can write in a paragraph or two, and particularly with a limited capacity to understand the mysteries of God.  What we can know is that His is the word that keeps on giving.  For thousands of years, the Scriptures recalled here continue to feed, to inspire, to lead, to give direction and help and succor.  Gratefully, we can read John's Gospel and note that the author of the Gospel, and in the inspiration by the Spirit at work in all of it, gives us specific illustrations of just how the word works, how this language and memory works to help complete and fulfill our place in Christ's life for us, and in the entire framework of the Kingdom into which we are invited and may participate.  One cannot discount the power of word and memory, and its central importance to our faith.  The earliest founders of the Church, in the earliest centuries of its establishment, worked even article by article to establish meaning and to give us its theological underpinnings that lie hidden in plain sight, so to speak, in the language of the word we've been given.  For our purposes, however, it is more important to understand the power of memory at work with the connections that the Scripture makes within us, and how recollection plays such a role in our faith and even in defining who we are.  It all forms a part of the connectedness of the life we're given, and the greater abundance of life that we're promised.  It is how we may experience that Kingdom, how it will continually come to connect with our present experiences -- and how time is no obstacle to meaning, to connection, and even to the love present in the word.  Let us consider the ways in which we are given that which sustains us, builds us up, teaches us meaning, and in which we may also find ourselves at any moment.  It is all given in love, and its connections and memory continue to bring us what we need.

Two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus

But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things, which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Then they drew near the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone further.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went into to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

- Luke 24:12-35

It is the culmination of Holy Week in Jerusalem, and its aftermath.  Jesus has been crucified and died.  In Monday's reading, we read of Jesus' death on the Cross, the declaration of the centurion, courageous act of Joseph of Arimathea, and the women followers from Galilee who brought spices and fragrant oils to the tomb.   In yesterday's reading, we read again that the women returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  In all the Gospels, Peter's exuberant character on display is consistent.  Here, he is the one who races to the tomb at the news of the women, while the rest scoff.  Perhaps his character also reveals his great need for Christ.

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things, which had happened.  My study bible introduces us to today's passage in Luke:  "This is a delightful account of a resurrection appearance of Christ to two perplexed followers:  (1) Cleopas (v. 18, below), whom tradition identifies as the brother of Joseph, Mary's husband, and thus Jesus' uncle; and (2) the unnamed follower who, according to tradition, is the evangelist Luke himself."

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"   A note reads:  "The risen Christ appears to them in a veiled way.  He shows tender concern for the feelings of the two men."

Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"   My study bible says, "These disciples are incredulous that anyone could have been in Jerusalem for the Passover and not be aware of the tragic events of the Passion."

And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel."  My study bible points out that "these two followers think of Jesus as a great Prophet who is to redeem Israel, probably in the nationalistic sense."  Their perspective reflects the perspective of those who hailed Him in His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  My study bible also points that "they recognize that the responsibility for the death of Christ lies on the leaders, the chief priests and rulers."

"Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  A note here tells us, "The risen Lord censures them for their weak faith, explaining the prophecies of the Old Testament which were fulfilled through His Passion and Resurrection.  To enter into His glory means to enter into the glorified order of existence, the Resurrection."

Then they drew near the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone further.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went into to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"   A note reads:  "The Lord broke bread with them in the same manner as during the Last Supper.  Christ's actions and the experience of the meal by the two men image the Eucharist.  At each Eucharist, as we continue to share the Lord's Supper, the risen Christ comes to open our eyes to His mystical presence and to leave our hearts burning with His love."  We recall Jesus words at the Last Supper, "Do this in remembrance of Me."  Remembrance of Christ constitutes all the ways in which we can come to understand and know God in the journey of faith.  In this form of "remembrance" our eyes are opened in growing and deepening relationship, even as He "opened the Scriptures" to these disciples.

So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.  A note tells us that "a resurrection appearance to Simon, the Apostle Peter, without any detailed description, is also reported by St. Paul" in 1 Cor. 15:3-5.

The breaking of the bread is an image that comes up repeatedly in this vivid story about a first appearance to two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  There are so many elements of the story that teach us about faith.  We can't get away from the bread and the breaking of the bread.  In all four Gospels, the feeding miracle of five thousand men (and more women and children) is told for us.  We mentioned already the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, in which Jesus has told them (and us), "Do this in remembrance of Me."  Jesus Himself takes the bread in this picture in today's reading, blesses and breaks and distributes it, mirroring the images in both the Last Supper and the image of the bread in the wilderness that fed five thousand men.  The dual action of the men's "eyes being opened" to the things of God, to the Scriptures and the word of Christ, is evidence of what it means to be fed.  To have our eyes opened is to be fed with the Word of God:  in all ways Christ Himself we know as the Word.  When Christ teaches us, "Do this in remembrance of Me" and "this is My Body which is given for you" we understand that the depth of relationship to Him in all ways feeds our bodies, souls and spirits.  But today's story gives us a new way to understand Christ and our relationship to Him, and that is that we are all on a journey.  The earliest writings of the apostles, a kind of "teaching manual" called the Didache (which we mentioned in yesterday's commentary) teaches us about "two ways" -- the way of life and the way of death.  The way of life is Christ's Way.  When Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6) He's not using the word "way" as it is used in English to mean "method."  This word in the Greek (όδος/odos) means "road."  So this "way" is this road, this path, this route -- but more importantly in today's story the truth is that we are all on a road.  We are on a road, a way, of faith.  As we go along in remembrance of Him, our eyes are opened to things we didn't understand before, just like the disciples' eyes here are opened to the Scriptures by Christ.  We're not expected to have it all in one go, in one place, but faith is a constant movement toward something, and more deeply into something.  Our relationship to God grows and deepens and extends throughout the whole of our lives, with more to learn on that road, another step forward, another avenue into perplexity beyond our expectations, and sometimes into things that completely destroy our sense of what is and what is expected so that our eyes may be opened to what is greater and better, and maybe a mystery beyond what we can understand.  Sometimes our eyes are opened to things that make no sense from the worldly perspective, but it is the Way of Christ.  Let us put ourselves in the places of these two disciples:  does it make better sense that somehow Jesus was not the political messiah of Israel, not a redeemer in the sense in which they expected Him to be?  Does it make sense that He was crucified and delivered up by the leaders, and betrayed by one of His own?  All these things we still fathom 2,000 years later.  But one other thing is also certain:  the experience of the life of the risen Christ is something that is palpable for each one of us, and the experience of love in relationship and in the kind of active remembrance that always opens our eyes to the here and now of what we need covers and deepens everything.  The Way is an ongoing experience.  It is an experience of love and presence, an active dialogue in which we participate, and grace that never stops giving as we partake and share.  We don't have all the answers.  But we are on a Way.  Today's story tells us about all of us.  It's the love and presence in this kind of remembrance that makes our lives whole, and given new meaning and illumination.  That is the way of life, and it is a daily journey.

This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me

 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors.  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves.  

"But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

- Luke 22:14-30

In our recent readings, Jesus has been in Jerusalem.  It is Passion Week.  He entered Jerusalem in His  Triumphal Entry, and wept over it, lamenting its lack of peace.  He has cleansed the temple, and already run into confrontations with the leadership, as they asked Him, "Who is he who gave You this authority?".  He told a parable against them, warning them of the times of the Gentiles and of Judgement.   The leadership has tested Him regarding payment of taxes to the Romans, and life in the Resurrection.  He has spoken against the hypocrisy of the scribes and tested them about Scripture,  He pointed out the poor widow, who gave all she had to the treasury.  He has spoken of the future destruction of the beautiful and magnificent temple, and the persecutions to come for the Church.   He warned His disciples not only about the destruction of Jerusalem, but also about the end of the age and the signs thereof, saying,  " Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."  He then taught the parable of the fig tree, and warned of what was coming, to look for the signs.  He told them,  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away, and warned against preoccupation, and carelessness, to remember the Day that is coming.  Each day the people came to hear Him in the temple, as He stayed with the pilgrims.  In yesterday's reading, the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.  And the chief priests and the scribes ought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.  So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.  And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.  So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.  Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.  And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."  So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"  And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water, follow him into the house which he enters.  Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" '  Then he will show you a large furnished upper room; there make ready."  So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."   My study bible says, "The Passover signifies deliverance of the Hebrew people from Egypt.  Now Jesus, with fervent desire, anticipates the great deliverance of humanity from the power of sin, which will be accomplished through His saving death, establishing the New Covenant.  This Passover meal is the Last Supper, continued in the Eucharist of the Church, which is to be fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."   My study bible notes here that Luke reports the partaking of two cups, and that several cups were offered during the Passover meal.  These passages so far in today's reading reflect something noted above in my study bible, that the continual Eucharist is ongoing, for it is "to be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."  Jesus will be the "firstfruit" in that Kingdom, but its process is ongoing, even to us in the present time, as we, too, look toward its fulfillment in the Kingdom.

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." A note here reads:  "Christ is the Lamb of God who gives Himself as a sacrifice on the Cross for the salvation of the world.  Remembrance in its biblical significance is a reliving of the original event.  We do this through the sacred act of the Eucharist."

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."  Again, another cup is taken, and this one in covenant.  When we remember in the spiritual sense we not only relive, but we bring to ourselves the reality of the Person we recall -- and thus our covenant with Him.

"But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.  My study bible says, "With these words Jesus looks ahead to His arrest and suffering.  Although Christ goes as "has been determined" it doesn't lessen the weight and responsibility of the betrayal involved.  Clearly He is speaking up to the one who is present who will do this, and it is a great warning, even as Judas has already negotiated to betray Him to those who wish to kill Him.  It's not too late to turn back even now; we can see even at this time in the warning and condemnation of such an act, a desire to save Judas.

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.   My study bible says here, "In view of Jesus' willingness to die for the world, the concern of the disciples over who among them is the greatest is reprehensibly small-minded."  Clearly they sense from Christ's words that the Kingdom is near.  They don't really understand what exactly is happening at all.  Their first thoughts go to their position, showing they're not immune from the human weakness that pervades the society.  Jesus has repeatedly and scathingly criticized the religious leadership for prizing position above all else.

And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors."  A note reads, "Some kings called themselves benefactors, a title which is not without irony considering their tyrannical rule."  In a modern age, people of great wealth also may call themselves benefactors, and perhaps in doing so are practicing what we now call "public relations" in the face of widespread public disapproval of some business practices.  In our modern times, we can look back a couple of centuries and see this happening in the rise of the great monopolies of the industrial age, for example.  We can today look around ourselves and consider those in positions of great power, what they may be responsible for and the way they would like to be remembered and known.  These "benefactors" in Jesus' time are examples He calls to mind in order to make a point to them. 

"But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves."  My study bible says, "Jesus Himself is the supreme example of His teaching that greatness consists in humble service to others."   He is giving them a lesson on real leadership in His Church, an example to emulate.

"But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."  A note reads, "Jesus is not speaking of two different kingdoms but of one kingdom which will be fully revealed at His glorious return.  Then, the disciples will sit on thrones occupying honorary positions as reward for sharing in Christ's trials."  He will honor those who honor Him.  In true answer to their question of position in the Kingdom, He refers to the end of the age, the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.  We remember He's speaking to the future Bishops, the Apostles and foundation of the Church.  Each will serve in ways that imitate His sacrifice.

Christ's teachings initiate the age in which we now live.  We remember Him in the things we do, especially in the sacrament of the Eucharist.  But this remembrance is much more than remembrance in a conventional or colloquial sense.  It is, as my study bible points out in a note, to relive the events.  And it is even more than that, in the mystery of sacrament, we recall in a way that reunites us, makes Him present and a part of ourselves, and we renew the covenant we have with Him.  In that we have His Kingdom among us and within us.  The Christian life is one of participation, and even in the Eucharist He continues to give of Himself to each of us.  In the many cups, we see His generous Spirit, the grace with which our lives are filled, that is always on offer to us.  We see His giving, the nature of the service He has taught His Apostles.  And so we may still wonder, and participate, and act.  We may consider what it is to betray this love and this grace, this giving.  We may consider the example to us of leadership:  what is and what is not appropriate to this kingdom.  His teaching in today's reading ends on a note of service, how His kingdom of earth is to be represented.  And then there are the words of more remembrance, that they are the ones who continued with Him in His trials.  The life in Christ is not an easy one, not simple.  We may go through a lot of stumbling blocks and trials.  Even in Judas' betrayal, it is not too late for him at this point to turn to His Lord for help, to stop and repent and undo what has been set in motion.  We remain with Him, we remember Him, and we do so continually, with cup after cup.  It is never too late to turn to the Lord, at each moment the cup is on offer.  We continue with Him through His trials, and through those that may be given to us.  Each moment His love and remembrance and presence is on offer to us.