Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'   His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and  gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

 

- Matthew 25:14-30 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been speaking of the end times to His disciples (beginning with this reading).  In yesterday's reading, He told another parable regarding our own conduct and disposition during this "time of the end" in which we await His return:  "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

 

  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'   His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and  gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"  My study Bible explains that this parable illustrates the use of gifts given by God.  Let us bear in mind that, contrary to the meaning of the word "talent" in modern English (which grew out of the hearing of this parable), a talent originally indicated a great deal of money.  In Christ's time, it was a particular weight for measuring precious metals, silver or gold.  It was the largest unit of weight.  In modern terms, one silver talent was equivalent to the wages earned by a common laborer over the course of twenty years.  So, even one talent was a great sum of money.  But here Jesus uses the term to represent the goodness which God has bestowed on each person.  My study Bible comments that the amount each receives is based on that person's abilities (Romans 12:4-7).  It says that God does not show partiality in the ultimate reward, for all are invited to share the same joy.  (That they share the same joy is in tandem with Christ's parable of the Workers in the Vineyard; Matthew 20:1-16.)  The wicked and lazy servant, however, could not evade responsibility for ignoring his talent, for idleness is as much  rejection of God as outright wickedness, according to my study Bible.  To bury his talent in the ground is an image of using one's God-given gifts for earthly pursuits.  The bankers, according to my study Bible, represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use his talents wisely.  As help was available to him in the Church, the man is left with no excuse.

 

 The term talents, and talent, has come down to us with a particular meaning in modern English thanks to this very parable as told by Christ.  The great sum of money that a talent represented (in Greek τάλαντον/talanton; plural τάλαντα/talanta) should not be underestimated.  This was far more than the average person could hope to have, and was a sum only kings or other very wealthy people could deal in for great projects.  So, when Jesus uses this word, we cannot overestimate the kind of wealth such gift or endowment represented.  It frames for us the significant weight or substance (literally and figuratively) Jesus gives to the gifts that God endows us with, and so, we should never underestimate the weight or value of our own God-given gifts we're born with.  For this is Christ's perspective.  If you will, it is clearly God's perspective on us as human beings.  Sometimes, it seems to me, we simply don't realize what talents we actually have.  A talent doesn't have to be something that is easily visible to others like a talent for performance such as dance or voice.  Neither does it have to be something that makes a marker of achievement like an intellectual capacity for particular subjects, or a skill set such as carpentry.  If we look at the history of the saints in the Church, there are those notable saints who had talents or gifts for all kinds of things valuable and essential to the Church.  A very famous saint, one completely instrumental and essential to the very early Church and its foundation is St. Barnabas.  Barnabas had a particular gift for consolation.  His name is translated as Son of Encouragement a quality so important to others in the Church at the time that it is recorded for us in the Book of Acts (see Acts 4:36).  Such a gift was so valued that the name that we know him by was given to him with that meaning.  We might think about talents as those things that can be translated into high visible achievement and the garnering of wealth as a result, but this is not the way that talent -- nor profit, for that matter -- is to be understood in the parable.  For how do we measure the profits gained by the Church from St. Barnabas' talent for encouragement of others, for consolation?  A talent, therefore, is not necessarily something tangible or material, but rather denotes something we can use and contribute in the Church as a whole.  Do we have a talent for listening to others?  This is often effective consolation in and of itself.  Do we have a skill for working in a kitchen?  How often can Churches use that kind of help?  Are we capable of a smile when others need it, or words of encouragement?  Sometimes a helpful word in the right ear directs help to a person who might not even be aware of just who made a person their beneficiary.  Clearly, even anonymous help is still the use of our talents to benefit the Church as a whole, by helping even one person in an indirect way.  Most of the time we don't need a perfect voice to sing in a Church choir, nor to enthusiastically join in participation during a service.  And so often, simply being willing to ask the question, "How can I help?" is in itself a gift to someone feeling alone with their suffering.  Although a talent was an undreamed of sum of wealth for the average person in Christ's time, Jesus is telling us that our gifts -- the things God has given us, which we might take for granted, or even of which we may be entire unaware -- are worth great sums in value and substance in His Church.  And since we can recognize this from His parable, it behooves us to consider what we might have that, even if often unvalued in a worldly sense or overlooked by others, actually function as great talents which create profit in the Church, by which we become benefactors to the kingdom of heaven.  When Jesus is telling the apostles about the end times, He describes a time when "because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).  There are many who lament, in our modern Western societies, the loss of what is called common courtesy, in the ways in which not so long ago society more or less functioned with basic rules of politeness even between strangers.  Those of us old enough to remember a particular saying will recall being told, "Good manners cost nothing."  But a particular small word of politeness can almost move mountains in today's world when wrath or rudeness has become common; perhaps it will save a person's bad day to be treated with just that much respect.  When it comes to financial donation, even a small sum can help an institution that's struggling, or a person who needs help.  Having worked in a food pantry for those who needed some groceries, I can testify to the value of even one good word of encouragement for people who are struggling with poverty and need hope to keep trying.  We can't always be certain of outcomes, but God wants our participation.  We're to be engaged in this Kingdom, to do what we can with the things we might not even know we have.  In a very materially oriented world, there are so many ways in which we can overlook the great gifts God has given us, and count ourselves impoverished in some sense of that word.  But God knows what we have; let us not let it rest "in the ground," but meet the challenges of life with our active work and engagement, not undervaluing the Lord who gives us good gifts, nor ourselves to whom God has given them.  For this, too, is part of the struggle of faith and grace. In a time of personal suffering, even our woundedness can be given over to God in the mysterious ways that this combats the evil in our world, even as our Lord suffered on the Cross.  St. Paul writes that in a time of struggle in prayer with an unrelenting illness, he was told by the Lord, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  St. Paul writes, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Sometimes we just don't know what the Lord can magnify, even when we start with but a little (Matthew 14:17; 15:33).  Let us not forget the valuable gifts we might overlook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

- Matthew 9:18–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed on, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  My study Bible comments on today's passage that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).   As He is of one essence with the Father, Christ has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the flow of blood demonstrates His power to cleanse and to heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, we must understand, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement.  This imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This suffering woman counts herself unclean, my study Bible says, but she nevertheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith.  He also corrects her thinking, because she could neither hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, Christ even exhibits her faith as an example to all, that they might imitate her.  

 

One interesting thing about today's passage is that the healing of this woman with the flow of blood is always placed "in between" the story of the healing of Jairus' daughter (the ruler of the synagogue is identified as Jairus in the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke).  It's interesting to juxtapose the stories of the woman and the girl.  Here we're told that the woman's flow of blood had lasted for twelve years.  Again, in the other Synoptic Gospels, we're told that the girl is twelve years old.  So there are some interesting contrasts and comparisons in this story.  The woman, an outcast because of her illness, comes to Jesus in secret and yet with great faith.  Contrast her actions with the ruler of the synagogue, who boldly comes to Jesus himself and tells Him that his daughter has just died, and asks for Christ's touch to heal her.  The woman with the blood flow has such great faith that her healing is effected through the touching of Christ's hem.  In the ruler's household, Jesus is ridiculed for saying that the child is not dead, but sleeping.  (The flute players and the noisy crowd wailing are mourning her.)  But of course, we notice that Christ's healing happens in both circumstances by touch:  in the first, she touched the hem of His garment; in the second He took her by the hand.  Perhaps the pattern in this story is suggesting to us that there is no "right" way that Christ can heal, no right person Christ can heal.  In some sense, we can say that everything in one story is inversed in the other, for Christ inhabits all dimensions. There is nothing and no place where He is not.  There is nothing in creation that is separate from His rule (John 3:31-36).  And His rule is supreme:  He is the Giver of the Law, and His mercy declares healing and love and responds to faith.  This reminds us of the righteousness of Abraham, accounted to him by his faith (Genesis 15:6,Romans 4:1-22, Galatians 3:6-9, Hebrews 11:8-10, Hebrews 11:17-19).   This woman comes to Christ in great faith.  In the other stories of the Synoptic Gospels, Jairus must be encouraged by Christ to have faith, and we see in today's reading that Jesus must put the people out of the house who ridicule.  In the Jewish culture of the time, public relations between men and women could make touch scandalous, but here in both cases, touch is the means by which God's healing comes.  

 

 

 

 

So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?

 

 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day."  The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite!  Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?  And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

 

- Luke 13:10-17 

 

Yesterday we read that were present at that season some who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."  He also spoke this parable:  "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.  Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none.  Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?'  But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  And if it bears fruit, well.  But if not, after that you can cut it down.'"

 

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day."   As we have previously read in the Gospel (Luke 6:7) the scribes and the Pharisees had built up certain traditions around the Law.  According to such tradition, healing was considered work, and so it was not permissible on the Sabbath.  Because of this the ruler of the synagogue responds with indignation.  My study Bible comments that those who enforced such tradition felt they served God by zealously keeping these peripheral traditions, but such legalism made them insensitive to God's mercy.

The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite!  Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound -- think of it -- for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?  And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.  Jesus responds with a command, "think of it."  My study Bible cites patristic commentary, suggesting that this command directs us to a spiritual meaning for the eighteen years that this woman has suffered.  In the Greek expression, this number is literally translated "ten and eight years," and both St. Ambrose and Theophylact see ten as representing the Ten Commandments and eight as representing grace -- for the day of Resurrection is frequently called the "eighth day."  So, therefore, humanity is lifted up by faith in Christ, which fulfills both law and grace. 

Let us notice that the text tells us that this woman had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.  This "spirit of infirmity" is not a figurative expression for illness but an indication that her illness was caused by an unclean spirit.  We can think of her "bent over" state as a signal of oppression in some sense, by an entity hostile to humanity placing upon her a kind of unjust burden and affliction.  Jesus' words in delivering her healing confirm this understanding, for He tells her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity."  She has become unbound, in her healing, from the thing that literally held her down, "bent over and could in no way raise herself up."   This is language that tells us she was held in some sense captive by something that only Christ could free her from.  Jesus tells us directly that Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for eighteen years.  It gives us a picture of unseen warfare, a spiritual battle, with Christ as the One who is powerful enough to liberate this woman from the force that held her captive and harmed her.  If we think of illness in this sense, it gives us a different sort of picture to ponder than the usual concepts we have of medicine and healing, in which simply finding the right solution -- such as a procedure or a pharmaceutical -- is the key to healing.  We do not think of affliction or illness as a manifestation of spiritual force of some kind.  But perhaps we need to shift our focus, generally speaking, and consider what it means that affliction is seen also in these spiritual terms.  Perhaps it broadens our modern perspective into something better than what we know, despite the advances in science that have helped so many.  Perhaps it gives  us a picture not only of how the demonic might work, but even more importantly for our purposes, it gives us a sense that healing the body or even the mind should not be thought of as separate from spiritual healing -- or rather, the state of true health must include all of the above.  A young man suffers from a very rare cancer in a family of my acquaintance, and there is no one who could tell him or his beleaguered parents that the struggle to find him a cure is not also a tremendous spiritual battle, that takes its toll on every level, and needs every kind of help that can be given.  Another friend has just lost her husband to a different type of cancer, and her need is all-encompassing; supported by a strong faith she already had, no one would deny her their added prayers for every step of that difficult journey with her husband's illness, as well as her grief and that of her family.  Who can deny such impacts, or characterize such illness as something merely purely physical?  While we might not want to categorize every illness or affliction as coming from the same type of source, our real healing should never leave out or be blind to this very real spiritual battle we find in the Gospels.  For Christ has called Himself the "stronger man" who is the One effective against the strong man that binds this world (Luke 11:14-23).   Let us not neglect our spiritual reality midst every problem or affliction we have, because we are more than the body and we need all His help, all the time.  

 

Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

 

- Matthew 9:18-26 

 

Yesterday we read that, passing on from healing a paralytic, Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  

 

  While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  My study Bible comments here that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As Christ is of one essence with the Father, He has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the blood flow is an expression of Christ's power to cleanse and to heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, my study Bible explains, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, and imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  Even though this woman, having suffered so long, accounts herself as unclean, she nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith, and also corrects her thinking.  She could neither hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, He exhibits her faith to all, so that they might imitate her.  

What are we to make of this woman who has suffered so long (twelve years) with a flow of blood, a hemorrhage?  Twelve is a significant number in the Bible; there are twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the sons and grandsons of Jacob, also named Israel.  There are twelve disciples named by Jesus who will go on to found His Church and its bishops who descend from them.  Twelve is a type of building block of time, as there are twelve months to the year.  So this number of the years of her suffering defines her in a way, in this sense of her shame and uncleanness, and her lack of healing.  But encountering Christ does something entirely different for her than anything she has known.  In St. Luke's Gospel, she has "spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any" (Luke 8:43).  Everything she knows or understands has in some sense sentenced her to this life as one who is unclean and cannot be helped, her suffering and isolated status unalleviated by anything she knows.  But here is Jesus in Capernaum in the crowd, approached by Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, who seeks help for his daughter (in St. Luke's version, she is also twelve years old), and although the woman according to the law is unclean because of her flow of blood, nevertheless she approaches Christ with great faith.  What we notice is that her faith enabled her even to run the risk of being caught in this crowd, also forbidden to her in the law as she would have been excluded from community.  But let us observe that there is a sense in which Christ's healing power works seemingly despite Himself; He does not see this woman, but power goes out of Him to heal nonetheless in response to her faithful touch.  That faith of hers connects with Christ as Son, with the power of the divine to heal, and makes the connection.  Again, in St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus asks, "Who touched Me?"  (Luke 8:45).  Thus far in St. Matthew's Gospel we have had several occasions to ponder the Lord's ultimately healing aim in all things, whether we speak of the Law or the many teachings and healings of Jesus in the New Testament.  But here He affirms, and exhibits before the whole world, the faith that heals, that is here an essential component to healing.  We have had occasion to read of friends' faith helping to heal the paralytic, we have heard Christ referring to Himself as Physician (in yesterday's reading, above), we have seen His healing of two demon-possessed men among those without faith (see this reading), we have read of His healing of the Gentile centurion's servant, and the healing of a leper by touch (also forbidden in the Law).  All of this followed upon His teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 - 7 of St. Matthew's Gospel), showing us that in Christ there is a new birth, a renewal of all things, a New Covenant.  And all of this is true in His healing of this woman, no longer sentenced to her twelve-year identity as unclean, with an unremitting affliction casting her out of the society.  She is, instead, put on display by Christ for her exemplary faith, which He says has made her well.  Moreover, He proclaims her "daughter" in so doing.   In the Revelation, the Lord on the throne says, "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).  In the Greek, we should understand that it effectively means, "I am always making all things new."  And then He adds to St. John, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."  True and faithful; these must be the themes we seek and know for today, for they are exemplified in this woman's healing, in her transformation to one returned to community and healed, in her faith to which Jesus testifies to the whole community for all of us.  Let us remember that faith is trust, and where better shall we put that trust than in Him, the faithful and true?

If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land. 

 

- Matthew 9:18–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed on from healing a paralytic, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

  While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  On today's reading, my study Bible comments that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As He is of one essence with the Father, Christ has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the flow of blood is a demonstration of Christ's power to cleanse and heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement.  It imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This woman, having suffered so long, and accounting herself unclean, nonetheless approaches Jesus in secrecy but with great faith.  In verse 22, Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith; He corrects her thinking -- as she could not hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness; and He exhibits her faith to everyone, so they might imitate her. 

This woman's suffering is exemplary, and important to know.  It's an essential part of the story.  She's been suffering with a flow of blood, a hemorrhage, for twelve years.   Luke's Gospel tells us that she "had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any" (Luke 8:43).  One can only imagine what it would be to deal with an ongoing medical problem for twelve years, and still seek hope despite losing one's livelihood in the process.  But the presence of Christ is one that inspires, and in this case even the hem of His garment becomes a source of inspiration.  Her sense is that if she might just touch His hem, she might be healed, and it is so.  Again, Luke's Gospel reports the response to this connection of touch.  Jesus turns and says, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me" (Luke 8:46).  The story gives us once more a sense of how faith makes connections which enable Christ's holy power to work.  Although Jesus does not consciously know who touched Him, He nonetheless understood power going out from Himself, as if the power of God works in a way that seeks out faith and makes a connection to it.  Her desire to touch Him becomes as much of the "work" or "energy" in the story as Christ's power is.  This is significant, because it speaks to us of communion, of this divine power working to build communion upon faith, to make connection, and to create wholeness.  For this reason, Jesus praises her faith, and encourages all to be like her.  Note how, in the case of the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, Jesus is asked to come and touch her in order to heal her, to lay His hand upon her.  In order to heal the girl, He must put the ridiculing crowd outside so as to protect faith.  He gives her His touch by taking her by the hand and raising her up.  The story of the woman with the blood flow teaches us how significant faith itself is, for in that case it isn't Jesus who actively seeks to heal her first; it is her faith which seeks Him out and to which His divine power responded in order to heal.  We do not need to wait for an invitation from Christ to seek Him and to seek His healing for us in our lives, but we do need faith and humility.  For this is the price of entry into community.

 

 

For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them

 

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servants; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and his your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

 

- Matthew 25:14-30 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been giving a discourse to the disciples in the end times, and His Ssecond Coming.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins:  "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servants; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and his your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"  In the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (given in yesterday's reading; see above), the concern given was with the lamps which should have been full of oil, an image correlated with mercy and the grace of the Holy Spirit.  My study Bible says that today's parable illustrates the use of gifts given by God.  Even one talent was a huge sum of money (a talent was a certain weight's worth of precious metal, usually silver but also gold).  Here it represents the goodness which God has bestowed on each person.  The amount each receives is based on that person's abilities (Romans 12:4-7).  My study Bible notes that God does not show partiality in the ultimate reward, for all are invited to share in the same joy.   But note that the wicked and lazy servant could not evade responsibility for ignoring his talent; my study Bible comments that idleness is as much a rejection of God as outright wickedness.  To bury a talent in the ground is an illustration of using one's God-given gifts for earthly pursuits.  The bankers, according to my study Bible, represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use his talents wisely.  As help was available to him in the Church, the man doesn't have an excuse. 

 

 In today's parable, there is a great deal of emphasis on the positive.  That is, on the positive action of doing something with the talents given by the man to his servants.  Again, it is imaged in St. Paul's expression of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).  What do we produce with the things God has given to us?  How are we capable of expressing fruit of the spirit?  The word "talent," as one may presume, has come to have its present meaning in English from this story.  Its original meaning was as a weight measure for precious metal, value as currency or exchange.  But as we can see from the parable, the product of the talent(s) or investment of the master is all about what is a bountiful blessing for the estate of the master.  The servants don't keep the profit; it all becomes a part of the servants' profitable work for the master whom they serve, and the growth of that estate.  So we're mistaken if we assume that this is simply about doing something with the talents we're given, or making a profit or career for ourselves somehow; the parable is not directed toward a self-centered perspective.  With what does God invest us?  What gifts are we given from God?  We no doubt have many innate talents with which we might be born.  But we're also given a gift in baptism; and the greatest grace we're given is that of the Holy Spirit.  Certainly in the great communion of saints, some are blessed with particular gifts they're known for.  For example, St. Barnabas, one-time companion of St. Paul, who himself had brought Paul to the apostles (Acts 9:27), was named for his gift of encouragement or consolation (see Acts 4:36-37).  As he contributed this particular gift to the early Church and the growing ministry of the apostles, so the name they gave him reflected the great value of his contribution.  In this sense, we can come to understand the nature of the talents given by the master and what results we produce.  So often we confuse talent with something that is monetarily profitable, but this is not the point of the parable.  The point of the parable is how we share those gifts and make the estate grow, build it up and edify it.   Again, in these early passages about St. Paul, we read in the Book of Acts that when Barnabas first brought the then-named Saul to the apostles, no one would speak to him, for they were all afraid of him and his past history of persecution of the followers of Christ.  But Paul's testimony thanks to Barnabas, and his gift of speaking, soon came to the attention of the community.  Included in Paul's gifts was his relatively sophisticated knowledge of Greek, so that in the wider Greek-speaking world, and when Gentiles began to come into the Church, Paul would prove so greatly valuable.  In Acts 11, we read, "Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:25-26).  Of course, this doesn't simply mean formal gifts to the Church per se; to serve the kingdom of God, to serve our true Master, is in the ways in which we reflect the grace we're given and choose to live our lives with respect to the kinds of righteousness God wishes as part of God's will for our world ("Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven").  We can use our gifts as did St. Barnabas, to console and encourage others.  We can use our gifts as did St. Paul, to edify and spread faith in all ways, to help understand and explain, and to testify.  Note how it is St. Paul's very experience of conversion that become a part of the "talent" he's given to take out to the world and produce spiritual fruit, to expand the Kingdom in the world.  We can all participate in this kind of action -- of putting our faith and the love of God into action of our own in the world, in the ways in which we choose to relate to others, and the kind of gifts we reflect in the world.   Let us keep in mind that it is most important that it is a prayerful life that leads us to use our talents in ways that please God:  we may find that we're asked to contribute beauty to others through artistic talents of all kinds.  A beautiful garden can uplift even as we've seen many gardens dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, who through the Holy Spirit, gave birth to the greatest gift of all, the beauty therein reminiscent of what has been given to us all and reminding us of the prayer and beauty of Mary and her example to us.  There are an infinite number of ways in which whatever gifts we have -- even those which may be overlooked -- can be directed in prayer for the great fruitfulness of the spirit in this world.  For just as Christ was born into the world with the cooperation of Mary, this is how each of us may also cooperate with the Holy Spirit through our "yes" and our willingness to be profitable servants (Luke 1:38). 

 

 

 

 

For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well"

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land. 

 

- Matthew 9:18-26 

 

Yesterday we read that, after healing a paralytic, as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

  While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land. My study Bible comments on today's passage that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  Being of one essence with the Father, Jesus has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the blood flow demonstrates Christ's power both to cleanse and to heal (see Matthew 8:1-4, in which Jesus healed a leper by touch).  In the Old Testament, my study Bible explains, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, which imposed religious and social restrictions, for contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This suffering woman accounts herself unclean, but she nevertheless approaches Jesus secretly and also with great faith.  Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith.  He also corrects her thinking, because she could neither hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, Jesus exhibits her faith to all, so that they might imitate her.  

My study Bible really focuses in on the trouble of the woman with the blood flow.  She has been crippled from the society and participation in it because of this affliction.  We see Christ's mercy at work in His response to her, but we also see something quite powerful that doesn't involve an apparently conscious decision on the part of Jesus.  In this text, here in Matthew's Gospel, we're told that Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  In Luke's Gospel telling of this story, Jesus asks, "Who touched Me?" and later says, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  We should keep in mind that when we read additional details in one Gospel over another that the Gospels are made from witness statements, and come from oral testimony, so this should not surprise us nor should it be considered unusual.  But taking either text, what we see here is the response of the divine to this woman's faith.  While Jesus perceives power going out from Himself (in Luke's Gospel), here in Matthew, He turned around, and it is only when He saw her that He responded to tell her that her faith made her well.  It might seem to be a slight form of elucidation of meaning, but nevertheless what we can see is His divinity responding to her faith, and specifically to her act of faith in touching the hem of His garment.  The human Jesus may be quite aware that power has gone out of Him, and that it is the faith of this woman that has made her well, but nevertheless it was the human Jesus who needed to turn around to see her to fully understand what happened.   The divinity of Christ, on the other hand, responded to her faith before Jesus' human sight could be aware of her.  What this seems to mean for us would be an assurance that the divine power of Christ is present and working, whether or not the human Jesus walks among us still.  What we can be assured of is the response of God to our faith, the response of the divine to real faith -- and I would say especially to acts of faith.  That is, to faith put into action and thus made manifest somehow by what we do.  This is what the woman does by reaching out and touching the hem of Christ's garment.  She puts her faith into an action, and the response of Christ's divine power is immediate, even before He is aware of who touched Him.  So let us take heart from this story, and understand that while the world is beset with its own problems, we are not left abandoned by God.  For God's Spirit is present for us and working in us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  We must be particularly aware of God the Holy Spirit this week, as tomorrow is the celebration of Pentecost in the West (in the Eastern Churches, it is one week from tomorrow).  Let us give thanks and be aware of God's great gift to us.  We may not experience the kind of immediacy that this woman experienced in the presence of Jesus Himself, but our prayers are heard and God's power is at work to help us to God's way for us (Philippians 4:13).

 

 

Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

- Matthew 9:18-26 

 

 Yesterday we read that as Jesus was passing on after healing the paralytic, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  My study Bible expresses the theological perspective that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39, 1 Samuel 2:6).  As Christ is of one essence with the Father, He has this authority (John 5:21).  Here in the healing of the woman with the flow of blood for twelve years Christ's power to cleanse and to heal is demonstrated (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, my study Bible explains.  This imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  But this suffering woman, while accounting herself to be unclean, nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith, as Jesus remarks for all to note.  He brings her good cheer because of her faith, corrects her thinking (she couldn't hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness), and finally He exhibits her faith to everyone, so that they might imitate her.

 

 While my study Bible expands upon the significance of the healing of the woman with the blood flow, in all Gospel accounts of this story the two healings are linked in the same narrative, as they are here.  That is, the ruler came to Jesus to seek help for his daughter who is at the point of death (in Mark and Luke, this man is identified as Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum).  On the way to heal the girl, Jesus is touched in the midst of the crowd by the woman with the flow of blood.  We first have to note the urgency.  Here in Matthew's Gospel, the ruler tells Jesus that his daughter has just died.  We get the sense that if Christ were to act quickly, He could revive her, bring her back even from death.  As human beings have feared throughout time, perhaps she's not dead but unconscious; that is, while the signs of death might be there, perhaps she is still alive and has a chance to survive through Christ's healing work.  Whatever the perspective, urgency is the order of the day.  And yet there is time for a stupendous healing of the woman with the blood flow, and for Jesus to remark to the crowd upon her great faith.  As Jesus arrives at the ruler's house, the mourners are already there,  the flute players and the wailing crowd are proclaiming her death and the noisy grief that follows.  They go so far as to ridicule Jesus, but He puts them outside, while He goes in and brings her back from death with the touch of His hand.  Elsewhere we're told that not only has the woman's blood flow lasted for twelve years, but the ruler's daughter is also twelve years old, so there are other poetic parallels between this older woman alone in her affliction, and the young girl just embarking upon maturity and still in her father's house.  Both are sheltered by Christ, and healed by Christ.  Both are healed with the touch of Christ.  The isolated woman, unwanted in community, approaches Christ with faith despite her unclean status.  She stealthily tries simply to touch Him in the crowd, unleashing the power in which she had such faith to begin with.  The young woman is pleaded for by her father; it is his "prayer" (as we're told he worshiped Jesus, indicating prostration before Him) that is the faith that engages Christ's healing power.  She is protected and pleaded for, while the woman with the blood flow is entirely on her own and meant to be excluded from society.  Mark's Gospel emphasizes her destitute state, saying that she "had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse" (Mark 5:26).  This is a story not only about healing, but about the sheltering found in Christ, and especially for those with a limited agency for themselves.  Through faith, both women are healed.  Faith is the leveler here, for one of these is a young woman still under the protection of her father who could not keep her from death of his own power, and the other is a woman meant to be excluded from the community.  But it is also telling that both healing stories are of females in the society:  a young woman and an older woman, and the care with which Jesus takes time for both, the tenderness evinced in His response to the woman's faith who touched Him in the crowd, and in taking the young one by the hand to raise her up.  This is the Christ whose radical love teaches us that faith makes us close to Him, acceptable, worthy of His power on our behalf, whose compassion has brought Him into the world as our Physician.  In yesterday's reading, we read of the tax collectors, despised for their collaboration and predatory graft, who nevertheless gather to Christ in repentance.  In today's reading, we are given those who have instead suffered affliction, but who nevertheless must depend upon Christ for help.   Both the tax collector Matthew (the author of the Gospel) and the woman with the blood flow were regarded as unclean to the community, but the latter is "more sinned against than sinning" (Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2).   Jesus provides a shelter in response to faith, a kind of haven from the the storms of life, and especially for those with little to no  power or agency of their own.  The single capacity they do have, the freedom that might be used to help themselves, is in the choice of faith, and it is this that connects with Christ's power to heal.  That is the message we take from the reading for today.  Whether that faith is on behalf of another (such as the daughter), or ourselves even in the most isolated state (such as the woman with the blood flow), the message is the same.  He is the place we turn when there is no where else to go midst the harassment of cares and afflictions in life.  Through Christ's sheltering love, on many levels we may find that, like the woman with the blood flow, it is our faith that has made us well.

 

 

Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

 

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

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother."  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

 

- Luke 18:15–30 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners; unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  My study Bible comments that infants are the standard of faith by which adults receive the kingdom of God, and not the other way around.  Theophan writes, "A little child is not arrogant, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless.  He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from those in sorrows.  Instead, he lives in complete simplicity."

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God."  My study Bible points out that this young ruler does not come to test Jesus, but to seek advice from one he considers to be no more than a good Teacher.  Christ's full response (in the following verses) does not deny that He is God, but it is designed to lead the rich man to this knowledge.

"No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother."  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  My study Bible reminds us that formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God.  This man, it says, had an earnest desire for eternal life, and sensed that he still lacked something.  Therefore, he continues to press Jesus for the answer.  Like the Pharisee in the parable Jesus has just told (see above, yesterdays' reading), he already knows the value of the commandments.

So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  To be perfect, my study Bible says, one must willingly sacrifice all follow Christ.  Nothing is gained unless this sacrifice is given freely.  But the specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person.  As wealth had such a grip on this rich man, my study Bible says, his only hope was to sell and distribute his possessions.  St. John Chrysostom comments that giving away possessions is the least of Jesus' instructions to this young ruler.  To follow Him in all things is a far greater and more difficult calling.  Note that in Luke's Gospel, Jesus' language reflects the gospel of the kingdom of heaven; in selling all that he has and distributing to the poor, this ruler will have treasure in heaven.

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  My study Bible tells us that various interpretations have been suggested for the impossible image of a camel which goes through the eye of a needle.  One suggestion is that the word was not camel but rather "rope" as they sound alike in Aramaic.  Another is that the eye of a needle was a city gate through which a camel might barely squeeze if it were first unloaded of all its baggage, which symbolizes wealth.  Even the Talmud has an expression "for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle."  Whatever it is that the phrase refers to, it teaches the impossibility of salvation for those who are attached to riches.  This is clearly shown in the response of the disciples, "Who then can be saved?"  But with God's grace, my study Bible says, even what is impossible for human beings can come to pass.

Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."  My study Bible points out that Christ is not commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children.  According to St. John Chrysostom, this is a reference to keeping faith under persecution even if it means to lose one's family.  It also means to accept that unbelieving family members might cut off ties because of the believer's faith (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).  Believers are promised many times more houses and relatives not in an earthly sense, but rather in a spiritual one.  That is, in the many fathers and mothers of the Church, brothers and sisters in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship.  

There is an entire sense in which our earthly lives are transfigured by faith in Christ which Jesus speaks of here (and which my study Bible explains in its notes and commentary), but which isn't often taught or encountered when one seeks understanding of these verses.  The transfiguration of this man's great material wealth from that of worldly wealth to spiritual wealth is something central to the teaching in this parable.  Not only will he be saved in the sense that he himself would be transfigured through the giving up of his earthly material possessions in selling and distributing to the poor, but his life would also be transfigured within the context of serving and following Christ in the Church.  His wealth would be invested in the kingdom of heaven rather than an earthly kingdom with the rank and status of position that goes with his wealth.  He would work for the spiritual realities Christ brings into the world and contribute to them himself depending on what a life of faith would look like for one of his capabilities and potentials and history.  He would gain an entire population of those with whom he'd associate and call brothers and sisters, and fathers and mothers in the Church whose wisdom could guide and sustain his life with truth and meaning.  To participate in this movement and passion and possibility would be to gain a world of connections and centers of faith, adding to his life with dimensions that simply aren't available to him without this commandment from Christ.  But this young ruler is too attached to his possessions and whatever life or identity goes with his position to find out what that life would be.  Let us understand that what Jesus proposes here to this young man is done so with love.  Mark's Gospel tells us that before giving him this command to sell all that he had, Jesus, looking at him, loved him (see Mark 10:21).  This command is not meant to be punitive, nor to test the young ruler's loyalty, nor is it made for the sake of the Church per se.  Rather, we need to see this command as entirely and deeply therapeutic, offering to him something he desired and otherwise could not have, treasure in heaven and the eternal life of the Kingdom.  Altogether, there is a message here of exchange:  we give up one way of life for another, and in order to gain a magnitude of life and purpose which transfigures our present life in this world.  That's not to say we all leave everything behind in a material sense, but it does mean that we are changed, our lives are changed, and that we are given new direction and a whole host of new considerations and priorities for which to purpose our lives.  St. John Chrysostom comments that to give up his wealth is the least difficult command; to follow Christ in all things is harder.  But without that first step, we don't know where Christ would have led this man into his future.  He is called a ruler in today's text.  We don't know exactly who he was, but clearly his position was one of some authority and standing within the society.  Perhaps he was a ruler in the Temple, a member of a powerful ruling party.  But, if he had followed Christ's instructions, we might know him as an important disciple or early apostle or bishop of the Church.  Let us keep in mind that the beginning of the journey of faith is just the beginning.  This road or way of Christ will continue to transfigure who we are, and build spiritual realities in our lives as we go forward.  This rich young ruler asks Christ, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"   Christ transforms an earthly inheritance into an eternal one.