Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

 

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." 

 

- Mark 9:14–29 

 

Yesterday we read that after six days (following Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus' own prophecy of His Passion) Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

  And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Here Jesus has returned (with Peter, James, and John) from the Mount of Transfiguration.  Coming to the rest of the disciples, He finds a dispute happening, with a great multitude around them, and also scribes in some sort of confrontation, disputing with the disciples.  Jesus surprises the crowd by returning, and they run to Him to greet Him.  We note how Jesus turns to the scribes to ask what they're discussing, intervening for His disciples.   

 

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me."  The father responds to Jesus' question that was directed to the scribes, and describes seizures which his son has, and also that the son is mute.  This shows that the father is eager for help.  But Christ responds by directing all attention to the lack of faith involved in this failed healing.  My study Bible comments that while the disciples also lacked faith (which we read a little further on), Christ rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples, while it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  So, effectively, Jesus is defending His disciples in front of the crowds, but later He will address their own lack of faith in private.  Moreover, we might consider that this exclamation of impatience with a faithless generation may be directed at all the crowd, including the scribes.  As we have sin, even a community's faith or lack of it has an effect upon healings and other signs Christ performs.  Christ's command to "bring him to Me" indicates that Jesus has not returned to the crowd but remained further away, where some have run to greet Him.

Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."   We see the response of the spirit that is harming the boy, once he is brought close to Christ.  It's interesting that Jesus interrogates the man to find out how long the boy has been afflicted; the answer of the father gives us to understand the cruelty of evil, that it seeks to destroy him.  His cry for compassion and his deep need for help shows his love and desire to help his son, even identifying with his son ("help us").  He seems to express that Christ is his only hope.

 

 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  The father shows with tears his desperate desire to help his son, and his feeling of helplessness. But now he also expresses his understanding of Christ's direction to him -- and that he knows he needs help with his little faith.

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  The text affirms to us that Jesus has kept the father and child away from this unbelieving crowd in order to heal him.  It also shows again the cruelty of the demons.

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."  Jesus teaches the disciples another important lesson about faith, and the efforts we make to shore it up.  My study Bible says that this kind refers to all powers of darkness, and not just those which cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons, it says, requires faith, prayer, and fasting, as there is no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, it's been taught that both the person in need of healing and the person who performs the healing must believe, pray, and fast. 

If we look at today's reading in stages, we see an interesting evolution in terms of the approach to the ailment of this boy whose father seeks his healing.  Jesus has just returned from the Transfiguration, together with Peter, James, and John.  So it is the other nine disciples who are found in a dispute with some scribes, with an onlooking crowd surrounding them.  Perhaps we first have to consider that Jesus lived in a time period where there were events of spectacle, but they were held in open theaters and stadiums as part of pagan religious festivals.  This was true of the ancient plays and events such as the ancient Olympic games, as well as the Roman spectacles such as chariot races and gladiatorial bouts.  But at this time, there is no common entertainment such as television or the internet or the radio.  So, we might presume, that each time there are any public disputes mentioned in the Gospels, they become an event which people gladly watch.  This is true of Christ's disputes in the temple with the religious leaders during Holy Week, as it is also true of this particular healing and others.  In this case, however, we can consider that the crowd is either unbelieving (as Christ has begun to acknowledge in His ministry in various places) or cynical or perhaps just watching for spectacle.  The scribes, of course, are eager to see Christ's ministry fail at this point, as Jesus has already become a rival to the religious establishment in their sight.  In the middle of the crowd is this exasperated father who seeks a cure for his son.  He seems to feel entirely helpless to the demonic power that afflicts the boy.  Whether we wish to attribute this disease to pure physical ailment or not (modern people might identify this illness as epilepsy), there remains a sense in which it is an evil affliction, and we can't mistake the torment and destructive power of what the boy is put through.  The word in Greek for evil is one with the word for "pain" at its root; this can also mean a kind of suffering under laborious hardship.  In any case, we can see the symptoms in this suffering child and father.  One sense we get of the father is his feeling of helplessness, and also desperation.  How many parents of suffering children go through such turmoil?  People desperate for help to save a loved one can experience the same things this father expresses for us of humanity suffering for their loved ones in the same way.  He turns to Christ as One who might help, as he has already brought the child to Christ's disciples.  But Jesus reframes the problem here from one of simply finding help to one of encountering and engaging the difficulties of faith -- and this becomes an important question for us when we find ourselves under the similar circumstances of seeking help and care for loved ones, or even for ourselves.  For faith always plays a role, even under modern circumstances with scientific medical advances, therapies, and new discoveries happening every day.  For faith plays a great role in our persistence and especially with regard to our hopes and how we perceive circumstances and even opportunities for new outcomes.  In this case, of course, Christ can effect a healing, and this particular healing is framed in terms of spiritual battle.  As my study Bible puts it, when Jesus tells the disciples that "this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting," it refers to all powers of darkness.  So we must once again think about the historical practices of Lent in the Church in this context.  What struggle are you engaged in?  Is there a form of evil -- something punishing and cruel, overly laborious, extremely painful -- with which you are wrestling?  Do you need help for a loved one and don't know where to find it?  Faith comes in for all of these circumstances, because in faith there is hope and a needed light cast on our circumstances.  All problems will not be resolved as we would choose ourselves, and all outcomes are not guaranteed.  Death is a fact for our world.  But faith opens doors of many needful things; in it is hope, and in it is love.  In the kindness held in our faith is the acceptance of compassion and grace, and the light of Christ that opens our eyes to things not previously known or considered.  The struggle for faith, in this perspective, becomes the central struggle for the world.  In today's reading, we see that even for the disciples, this is the key to the path they are on.  To engage in the prayer and fasting Jesus teaches here is to seek new ways of seeing a situation, new strength, the courage to face the challenges that come our way and to seek new answers we hadn't anticipated.  Like the Syro-Phoenician woman, prayers once helped me repeatedly approach a doctor who finally saved my mother a great deal of discomfort when no one else would.  Continual prayer gave me strength to face circumstances in which my resources were gone.   And such efforts help others as well, not only ourselves.  We should always remember that Christ's teachings do not simply enforce for us the supreme value of faith and the need which we have for faith, but also that He may help increase our faith when we need it.  Like the father in today's reading, we may start with a little faith, but there is also help for our unbelief in the struggle against a world of cynicism that too easily accepts what is evil as the final word.  Christ has assured us that He has overcome the world (John 16:33); He invites us in to join His victorious struggle for faith.

 

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind cane come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

- Mark 9:14-29

Yesterday we read that following Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Jesus (together with James, John, and Peter) has just come down from the Mount of the Transfiguration, to find a great crowd surrounding a dispute between his disciples and scribes.  The people run to Christ.  But His chief concern is with defending His disciples, and His first question is to the scribes.

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  Yet again, the Gospels give us a teaching about faith in the image of this father, but also to another extent, in the disciples themselves.   My study bible comments that sickness in Scripture is frequently connected to demonic activity.  The father of the child shows humility, but lacks faith.  In fact, Jesus' statement ("O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?") applies to all those present.  Clearly the exorcism of the boy is the basis of the dispute, a kind of holy contest between the scribes and the disciples, who could not cast out the demon.   Note that when Jesus commands the father, "Bring him to Me," it is yet another time when those with the need for healing are taken aside by Jesus, and apart from the crowds, in order to shore up and strengthen their faith.

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind cane come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."   In effect, in private, Jesus instructs the disciples on their own lack of faith, and points them and us to practice designed to strengthen and shore up faith.  The text also gives us a hint that sometimes we will face personal spiritual challenges which are much more pernicious and difficult than others, requiring of us spiritual discipline to more greatly help us as well.

The father in today's reading recognizes his lack of faith, and tearfully cries to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  But this man has an advantage.  His own humility allows him to understand that although he believes, he still is lacking in faith -- he has belief, and he has unbelief.  It is a great advantage to know oneself to this extent, for to recognize what we lack is the first step in solving a problem and becoming truly "well."  It is like any ailment; a cure requires first an honest diagnosis and understanding of the problem.  So, in this sense, the father teaches us all a good example.  If we don't come to recognize our own problems and "lack" of anything, how can we come to Christ and pray for what we need?  How do we stand a chance of becoming well, healed?  Humility, then, becomes the great stepping stone to what we need.  In and of itself, our own need for humility is a tremendous challenge.  Note how the dispute between the scribes and the disciples doesn't really do much at all for helping to find faith.  We are much more likely to simply be put on the defensive through such disputing, and less likely to find the humility to come to Christ for help.  That happens in private, when the disciples are in the house with Him.  So it is with us.  In prayer, we stand a chance of coming to terms with our own flaws, and requesting help for them.  Before the world, especially when challenged to produce something as "proof" of our own merit or cause, we find ourselves challenged in ways that aren't very helpful to anyone.  What we need is the capacity to pray, even in the midst of our disputes -- just as Jesus recognizes that He needs to take the father and son apart from the crowd to truly help.  Moreover, the disciples themselves need "more faith" to deal with this particular "kind" of demonic activity.  They need to use prayer and fasting in their ministry in order to heal more effectively.  When we engage in our own prayer and fasting practices, so we should take note that what we are doing is shoring up our faith -- especially for more difficult challenges.  During an experience of caring for a dying parent, and being called upon to make constant life-and-death decisions for care, I personally found that taking time out for regular prayer was the best medicine for my own well-being, and in particular for finding the strength to make those decisions with reserves of energy and clarity that I didn't have otherwise.  In fact, I found that prayer practices -- such as using traditional Prayers of the Hours, or other traditional daily prayer practices as well as occasional prayers of the Church -- was the one thing that truly restored my reserves of energy to cope with the tasks at hand, and to encourage my own resourcefulness and positive attitude to meet the medical challenges that came constantly.  The Gospels -- and particularly our recent readings from Mark -- confirm the importance of taking active steps to shore up faith.  Christ's healings cannot happen without effort for faith, neither do any other of his "great works."  Our environment is important as well, as we can see from Christ's attempts to separate those in need of healing from those who ridicule and scoff.  It is always necessary to protect faith, to take the active steps to protect our own healing, whatever form that may take or need that presents itself in our lives.  This first starts with the necessary humility to face our needs, our hurts, and the things we lack, but most especially our dependency on Christ.  Gratitude must play a role in this sort of recognition.  The Gospels seem to emphasize this "active" role of faith, rather than a passive feeling.  There is always something we can do about it.   In John's Gospel, the people ask, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answers them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:28-29).  We note also how Jesus seeks to protect and defend His disciples.  So it is with each of us, that we are essential and precious as the faithful.  Let us do what is necessary to protect what is good in our lives, and to continue to root and grow what He gives us, what He offers.

Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled

 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately, he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

- Mark 14:43-52

Yesterday, we read that Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.  Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately, he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.   My study bible tells us that the fact that a kiss was needed to signal this mob is an indication about who comprises it.  The Jewish leaders and even the most common people would have recognized Jesus.  What this scene shows us is that these soldiers were mercenaries, sent by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, and that it contained Roman troops (according to John 18:3).   It seems likely that they could not get others to participate in such a plan, for many reasons.  In the Orthodox Christian liturgy, there is a prayer not to kiss Jesus in betrayal like Judas.

And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.   In John 18:10-11, the person with the sword is identified as Peter.  Jesus says, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?"  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword," and tells them He could pray to the Father who would supply Him with twelve legions of angels to save Him.  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus heals the ear of the servant of the high priest.  Jesus notes clearly that they have come against Him in the night as if He's a robber, while He was teaching daily and openly in the temple.  That "the Scriptures must be fulfilled" is another way of indicating to all, including the disciples, that He's going willingly.

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.  We remember they've all been awakened from sleep in the middle of the night.  My study bible tells us that the flee naked is a great shame and humiliation (Ezekiel 16:39, Amos 2:16).  Some say this was James, the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19), others that it was the apostle John who was the youngest of the twelve.  But most believe it was Mark who is the author of this Gospel.  It was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (Luke 24:13, John 21:24).  Also, the other evangelists don't report this incident -- they wouldn't have been inclined to humiliate Mark, while Mark would have been more likely to reveal such an event concerning himself.

If we think about it, today's whole reading is a kind of scene of humiliation.  Christ is betrayed by one of His chosen twelve, with a kiss.  It's the middle of the night.  Jesus has been praying all night, and although He has asked them to keep watch with Him, the apostles are roused from sleep.  It's a kind of scene in which we can imagine they are in fight-or-flight  mode, a sort of dazed shock.  An automatic response is defense, with a sword, but that is put down by Jesus who is the One who is calm and knows and accepts what is happening.  It becomes occasion for another kind of teaching, and acceptance, and direction to the apostles about what is happening.  A young man, most likely the author of this Gospel, runs with just a linen cloth to cover him -- he tries to follow Christ, but the soldiers seize at him too, and he flees away naked.  The disciples are scattered, as Jesus predicted, quoting Zechariah ("I will strike the Shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered").  This is not the usual way we think about heroism.  It's not a brave story of a great and valiant battle, soldiers on a battlefield in a fight for their lives.  No, this is something completely different.  There's no superhero to save the day, no magic coming out of the sky, not even the legions of angels Jesus assures the rest of them that He could pray for to the Father and would indeed be sent to save Him.  No, this is it.  This is the time of ultimate betrayal and seizure and humiliation.  It is the Lord brought low, so to speak.  The Christ Himself, as infinitely vulnerable human being, God bound and chained and seized by foreign soldiers, betrayed into the hands of enemies and sinners.   This is something that, to this day, we have to struggle a little to wrap our heads around, to come to terms with, to see the true heroism in what doesn't look heroic or epic or awesome or any of the other kinds of descriptions we might give it.  This is something we have to understand with a mature mind.  We have to know something of the courage of sacrifice to understand this, and the courage that comes from love.  We have to understand the heroism that comes from sacrifice in order to gain something better for others you love, no matter how it looks for you.  And that's our royal king, teaching us how to be royal sons and daughters like Him, where it's not the opinions and raves of the world that count, but rather the inner life, the reality of where it comes down to you and God, who you are and what you love.  Our hero is the one who overcomes the world, and this is how He does it.