Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven

 

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

 

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

 

- Luke 10:17-24 

 

Yesterday we read that the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."

 

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  According to the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), I saw Satan fall is describing an event that took place before the creation of the world.  At the very least, we might suggest this particular sense of "the world" does not include all of Creation, for angels are themselves created beings.  The OSB notes that five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  Serpents and scorpions are symbolic images of demons and devils, thus included in the power of the enemy.  

 

 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  The Study Bible (OSB) defines babes as people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17).  

 

 It's of great significance that we view today's reading in terms of its spiritual importance and impact.  The power Jesus is describing here is not one that is couched in material terms.  It is not about kingdoms in a worldly sense rising and conquering one another in material combat.  But Jesus lays the groundwork here for us to understand the kingdom of heaven and its reality and presence in our world and our lives.  Looking closely at the instructions with which the Seventy were sent out, we see that Christ's instructions were that they were to tell people, "The kingdom of God has come near to you" (in yesterday's reading, above).  This is the groundwork and foundation of the fullness of the Kingdom, completed in Christ's earthly mission, including His suffering, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  This kingdom of God exists in its fullness already, but it is the spiritual ground of the reality of the Church.  As Father Stephen Freeman has written in a recent article, titled Mystery as Reality, this Kingdom is not established as a process or historical evolution; neither is it the work of human beings.  Rather, Fr. Freeman writes, "the Kingdom of God is hidden and revealed – it comes by revelation, by manifestation, by in-breaking, by uncovering. It was hidden from the beginning, and always existed from the beginning in its fullness. . . . Fullness is an essential characteristic of the Kingdom. If we see something of it in part, it is not because the Kingdom is in part, but only that the fullness has not been made manifest."  Thus, this sending out of the Seventy, the proclamation of the gospel message, and that "the kingdom of God has come near" are expressions of the reality of the Kingdom which undergirds our existence.  It is, in fact, the greater foundation of which we are a part, and which we may begin to grasp in its appearing and manifesting.  Thus, for human beings, "even the demons are subject to us in Your name!" declare the exuberant apostles upon their return from this first missionary journey.  And Christ in return can declare to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."  This is nothing less than the extraordinary revelation of the truth of the ground of all that exists manifesting and breaking in to our world, to our lives.  Moreover, Jesus' conferring of authority against the spiritual enemies of the Kingdom can therefore be seen as the great gift to human beings that it truly is.  It is we who are elevated to service in this Kingdom, we human beings who may participate in it, and this is the extraordinary good news of the Kingdom of a loving God who gives such a gift to us.  In Christ's subsequent prayer to God the Father, in which He expresses His thanks that such revelation was given to babes, He declares His own power and authority:  "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Here is truly the birth of the Church, in the revelation by Christ of the reality of the Kingdom, and our own capacity for participation in it through Him, and through our faith in Him.  Again, as Fr. Freeman writes in the same article, we human beings do not create this, but we are given the gift of participation in it, cooperation with it, God's revelation to us of its reality.  Thus, Christ can teach the disciples about the many prophets and kings who desired to see and hear what they do, for revelation comes through Him.  In the sacraments of the Church, Fr. Freeman reminds us, we receive this Kingdom and its fullness which is already present; the Spirit exists in His fullness.  Thus, Jesus declares to St. Nicodemus, "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure" (John 3:34).  It is we who are given the gift of salvation through revelation and participation, the ability to receive what already exists in its fullness.   This understanding is echoed in the words of St. Paul, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).  In the return of the Seventy, they rejoice over their power to subdue the demons.  But Jesus tells them, "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."   Thus the reality of the Kingdom is all in all, and our participation in it the greatest gift. 

 

 

 

See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!"

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

 

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27–39 

 

We are currently in the middle of chapter 23 of St. Matthew's Gospel.  In this chapter we are given Christ's final public sermon.  In it we find a grand critique by Christ of the ways of the Pharisees and scribes.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, is it nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets."  Jesus continues His condemnation of the murderous hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.  Their outward piety, while nominally good in upholding the teachings of the Law, masks an inward faithlessness and even murderous greed.  Thus, inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  As Jesus says, they outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Moreover, just as Jesus told in the parable of the Vineyard, the many servants sent by God (the prophets and righteous) were persecuted in the days of their fathers.  So while they may outwardly honor the martyrs of the past, they witness against themselves that they are "sons of those who murdered the prophets," meaning that despite their words, they follow in the same footsteps as those murderers, and are therefore their "sons."

 

"Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Jesus speaks here as the Son who was sent after all the servants (the prophets and righteous) who previously came calling the people back to God.  He prophesies of the persecutions to come from these men, and the resulting effect:  "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Regarding Zechariah, son of Berechiah, some patristic commentary teaches that this was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22).  But others teach that Jesus is referring to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  Indeed, according to commentary by Fr. Stephen De Young, the latter understanding is correct, that Jesus speaks here of the father of St. John the Baptist, for there is nothing in the Old Testament indicating that the prophet at the time of Joash was murdered, but on the contrary lived a long life.  

 

 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study Bible comments that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of God's people, but most do not want God.  The desolate house refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, for this Greek word broadly meaning house can also be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).  Both the temple and the nation, my study Bible says, will be without God's presence once Christ has departed.

 

 It's very easy to minimize the effects of hypocrisy in our lives.  It's such a commonplace thing, on a varying scale, that it's easy to excuse or pass off as simply the difficulty of living our lives authentically within our faith.  But the Church has its own ways of coming to terms with the ways in which we fall short of living the life of faith which Christ teaches us.  Repentance is a way of healing what is wrong in our lives, where we've made wrong turns, and forgiveness is held out by a loving God.  But when we are frozen in that repentance, for whatever reason, we unfortunately can become hardened in that place, even opposed to Christ, even despising and hating what is good.  The practices of the scribes and Pharisees described by Christ are such things as are the outcome of a refusal of repentance, of heeding the call back to God.  For God has called from the beginning for a righteousness not merely of outward practice, but of faith.  Outward practice is important, for we as human beings are physical beings; what we do with our bodies makes a great deal of difference, and our bodies are not separated from soul and spirit but we are of one creation by God.  It is the split itself, in these cases, that is the problem, and leads to evil.  And this is what Jesus condemns and is talking about.  When the outward practices of these religious leaders shield practices that defy the purposes of God, the corruption only results in a deepening problem.  Jesus describes greed and envy, murderous intention when authority or public position is threatened, and a whole history of such repeated through time, and culminating in the present moment in which He speaks these words in the temple during Holy Week.  He speaks as the Son, sent by the Father to call people back, the age of the prophets of the Old Testament period having culminated in St. John the Baptist.  But the refusal to repentance has consequences.  Jesus will hold out the possibility of forgiveness through repentance, and through all the practices of the Church, starting with Holy Baptism.  But a refusal will only leave things where they are, a constant refusal of God's grace and mercy.  Effectively, this refusal is itself a kind of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and without repentance will not result in spiritual healing and salvation.  So, we find ourselves today asking what this has to do with us.  But, as my study Bible says, it has everything to do with us.  Hypocrisy hasn't left us, and neither has corruption.  In our Holy Bibles we read of Abraham whose faithfulness was counted to him as righteousness; St. Paul explains that this remained essential even after the Law came, for we find it in David (see Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3-8), and so it remains as well for us.  Without hearts drawn toward God, we miss the point of our faith, we miss the righteousness of Abraham, we run the risk of a hypocrisy that refuses God's call to change and repentance, healing and, effectively, salvation itself.  Let us take Jesus' words to heart, for He leaves His scathing testimony to us as the faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5).  

 

 

 

 

 

Your house is left to you desolate

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 

 

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones  those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27-39 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus has been disputing in the temple with the religious leaders, who question His authority.  On Wednesday, the readings gave us the beginning of Christ's final public sermon, an eight-fold indictment of the practices of the scribes and Pharisees.  Yesterday, we read the next part of that sermon:  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!   Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  Jesus continues His sermon in the same theme from yesterday's reading (above), the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.  Here He describes that state of their hypocrisy as being akin to whitewashed tombs.  In this context of hypocrisy and lawlessness we should remember that the earliest teachings of the apostles included the teaching of the two ways:  the way of life and the way of death (see the Didache).  This tradition was also found in Judaism, and so would be familiar to Christ's hearers in the temple.  Surely the association with tombs and dead men's bones and all uncleanness would indicate the way of death.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets."  Again, here are more associations of their hypocrisy with death, but this time the accusation is one of continuation in the way of the murderers of God's servants, the prophets, those who bear the word of God into the world.   

 

 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Jesus speaks directly to the scribes and Pharisees as those who continue in the ways of the ones who killed the prophets, but this time it is  a prophecy of persecution of those who will come in the name of Christ, and also a prophecy of what is to come upon this generation.  Some teach that Zechariah, son of Berechiah was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), but others, including Fr. Stephen De Young, say it refers to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  When Jesus uses the epithet, "Serpents, brood of vipers!"  He's using images of demons, and so is associating the behaviors of the scribes and Pharisees, and those whom He's calling their fathers, with the work of evil.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones  those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study Bible comments here that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of God's people, yet most do not want Him.  This desolate house Christ describes is a reference both to the temple and also to the nation itself.  My study Bible points out that "house" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).  It says that both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.

Jesus' words in today's reading are so serious that they should give everyone pause.  What He says is the depth to which we may hold responsibility for actions that may be politically motivated, but that in effect harm the prophets of God.  There is a powerful thread of bearing responsibility for our failure to recognize the consequences of what we do when we act against the power of God, against the Holy Spirit.  Prophets come into the world as those who do not fit easily into a social construct or way of thinking.  They are those who call those in authority, or the practices of a whole society, back to God when they have strayed and practice that which is not acceptable in the sight of God.  Of course, the responsibility for such practices also depends upon the extent to which such people should "know better," their spiritual understanding and education.  But in this case, in this great indictment of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus is speaking to people who are steeped in the entirety of Jewish spiritual tradition and in the Scriptures.  He is speaking to those who not only know the prophets, but also claim, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets."  They are entirely familiar with the activity of the Holy Spirit throughout the spiritual history of Israel, and so, their rejection of Christ carries with it the responsibility for the denial of what they see in His ministry.  This is an extremely powerful example for ourselves today, because we have our own knowledge of the power of God, the Holy Spirit, the ministry of Christ, and of all the saints that have come in His name since.  We are aware of what our teachings tell us about compassion and faith in God, and about holiness itself.  These are things that this passage calls upon us to take seriously, especially in terms of our own blindness to them when they may be present to us in our own lives.  For we all bear not simply a responsibility for our spiritual capacity to hear and see such things, but also our lives are blighted by such blindness and deafness.  There are ways in which we are diminished and lessened, even when we are blind to spiritual truth.  For, possibly like these men to whom Jesus directs His criticism in Matthew's chapter 23, when we do feel the effects of our own rejection of holiness in our midst, it might be in a way that has eluded our awareness -- a course that may be too late to change.  Even the destruction of Jerusalem and its terrible violence would seem on material terms to simply be part of the force of Roman might and military.  But Christ here connects that outcome with the long line of rejection of God's work, and more to come that He foresees.  Let us be alert to what God seeks for us to see and to hear today.

Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers!

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27-39 

 

In yesterday's reading, we continued with Jesus' final public sermon (read the beginning in Wednesday's reading).  Jesus said, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?"  Earlier, Jesus told the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, in which the vineyard owner (representing God) sent many servants to ask for the fruit of the harvest (the prophets sent to Israel).  Finally, the wicked vinedressers, who've leased the land, decide to kill the son of the owner (representing Christ) when he is sent to them.  Here in this part of Christ's final public sermon, Jesus links the leadership of His time with the leaders who murdered the prophets, declaring they are in the same lineage as those who were partakers in the blood of the prophets.  Their hypocrisy is condemned by Christ as it is covers staggering sins, which they are about to extend from the past murder of many servants/prophets into another terrible murder of the Son.  He says to them, in this context, that they take upon themselves the sin of the past by extending it into the present, "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt." 

"Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."   Here Jesus clearly links the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers to the prophets, wise men, and scribes which are to come in His name, affirming their responsibility for the continued persecutions begun in acts against the murdered prophets of the past.  In Jesus' words, they are all linked from the same impulse and in the same lineage.  The murder of Abel was the first murder, and was done for spiritual envy (Genesis 4:1-15), the reference to precisely which Zechariah Jesus names is disputed in the tradition of the Church.  Some of the patristic teachers say this was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), and others say it refers to the father of St. John the Baptist, who according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  At any rate, we are to understand from Christ's words the whole chronicle of martyrs, from the first murder to the last prophet murdered, the guilt of which is cemented by future acts in which they will kill and crucify, scourge, and persecute those sent in Christ's name, so that all these things will come upon this generation.

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study Bible comments that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of God's people, yet most do not want God.  The desolate house refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, for house can be used to mean "family or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).   My study Bible adds that both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.

There is an interesting concept which Jesus expresses in today's reading that should give us pause to think.  He refers to all the unjust murders of the past -- and specifically those martyred for reasons of faithfulness to God, especially servants of God such as the prophets and others -- as contained also within such acts going into the immediate future.  In other words, the continuation of such types of acts incurs the collective guilt of the precedents.  This is something we need to think about, as our faith does not nominally hold anyone responsible for the sins committed by others.  But at Jesus' words we need to think.  If we would collectively mourn and rue terrible acts of sin through the murder of innocent martyrs, servants of God, of the past, does that not give us a responsibility in terms of the things we ourselves do in life?  Should we mourn terrible injustices of the past, and yet move along to commit the same sorts of crimes?  Here, Christ is speaking of crimes committed precisely because a servant of God (such as a prophet) is sent with a message from God to the people, calling people back to God.  He extends that to the servants (I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes) whom they will also persecute and murder.  If they understand and mourn the terrible acts of the past, if they mourn the murder of the prophets of the past and claim they would not do such things as their ancestors have done, then what culpability will they have when the do the same?  Of course, it is Christ Himself who knows what is going to happen to Him at the end of this very week through which we're reading in the Gospels.  He knows they plot against Him, and that He will go to His crucifixion.  But here, He does not mention Himself.  Instead He refers to those whom He will send whom this leadership will also persecute, scourge, and murder.  It should, at the very least, give us pause to consider that when we do something similar to that which we have condemned in others of the past, we take the responsibility of that past crime upon ourselves.  It is the greatest act of hypocrisy to condemn an injustice of the past, especially one implying such serious understanding as committed against one who bears a message of God, but to engage in the same oneself.   Christ's words should teach us about our own acts of hypocrisy, to weigh our decisions in light of what exactly we would join in condemning of the past.  For the same temptations and evils, as Jesus Himself points out here, come in the future.  God will continue to attempt to reach us, and we will be faced with similar choices about message we don't like to hear, and the temptation to respond with hatred against the messenger, even the spiritual envy of Cain for one who was favored by God for his sacrifice.  Let us weigh the options of repentance and sin, and think about Christ's words, for sin continues, and our options remain the same. 

 

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

- Luke 10:17-24

Yesterday we read that after beginning His journey toward Jerusalem, the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  My study bible says that Jesus' statement, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, describes an event that took place before the creation of the world.  It notes that five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  Taken in its entirety, Jesus' statement is a response to report of His power and authority at work through the seventy apostles.  Serpents and scorpions are representations of demons and devils.  Nevertheless, the seventy -- and we -- are to rejoice rather because our names are written in heaven.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  My study bible says that babes are people of simple faith and open hearts (see 18:15-17).  Jesus rejoices over the outworking of faith through His ministry, the fruits of faith in His disciples, and especially the presence of the Kingdom at work through them to whom God has revealed it.

Many people seek for power and for signs of the presence of the Kingdom at work.  But Jesus tells us that we should rather rejoice in that our names are written in heaven.  This is a powerful call to faith.  The Gospels are filled with signs and wonders of the presence and power of the Kingdom, as is all of Scripture.  But what about in our own lives?  What should we look for?  Perhaps the most important characteristic of Christ's ministry, especially in Luke, is healing.  What does healing mean?  And what does it look like when we are healed?  Quite often, healing is something we know from the inside, but people cannot necessarily tell from the outside, except perhaps those of great spiritual and psychological discernment.  Healing may come in the form of God's love which empowers us to overcome hidden wounds, personal difficulties with addictive behaviors or reliance upon abusive relationships, or destructive patterns of our own habit and thinking.  God's work in us may be to turn us around, to create true repentance from bad or destructive behaviors, to release from forms of selfishness we thought we needed to rely upon for substance in the world.  Our faith may give us the strength to say No to what we need to renounce, and Yes to what we need to embrace.  We simply cannot predict the type of healing God's work in us offers, but these things don't necessarily present themselves to us or to the world as spectacular signs such as those we read about in the Gospels.  And yet, it is the power of Christ against "the enemy" that we don't realize is at work in us to produce such healing results.  This does not mean that we attribute all bad behaviors and choices to the direct work of demons and devils, but it does mean that we recognize that at the root of much selfish and destructive behaviors of all kinds is the "enemy of God," the "evil one."  There is an influence in our world that comes from spiritual origin which the Gospels also testify to, which gives birth to all kinds of ways of thinking and being -- destructive and misleading patterns of thought,  such as, for instance, toxic forms of shame or blame, as the case may be.  Even our own denial of a problem is a kind of lie that may work destructively, and which we need to face.  In the Gospels, the patterns of demons at work in a person are always destructive, and particularly self-destructive.  The patterns and influence of various ways of thinking which are quite commonplace among us can also work within us in the same way, and we should understand these also as forms of evil which harm both individuals and communities.  They form the root of what the tradition of Eastern monasticism calls "logismoi," the things for which we rely on our faith to help us with a constant kind of repentance or "change of mind" so that we are healed.  Spectacular signs and proofs of the presence of God's kingdom need not come in the forms we see in films (such as The Exorcist) or the signs of Christ's miracles.  But our own signs and miracles may happen to help create change in us, to overcome the flaws of our own lives and upbringing, the hardships that may befall us at any time.  There are thousands of thousands of ways in which the Kingdom may be influencing our own lives, even as science may measure and validate the power of love and prayer on health and healing.  Let us consider more deeply the ways in which our faith instructs us through the power of God's love, and in particular the ways in which we heal.  And let us, indeed, rejoice because our names are written in heaven, even when it is only we who know and understand the impact of our faith and the reality of that journey.

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it." 

- Luke 10:17-24

Yesterday we read that the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."   The seventy apostles return with joy.  Jesus takes joy in the sharing of his holy power with human beings, those who are laborers for the harvest.  Once again, what we are told by the Gospel is about a type of hidden warfare going on; in Christ's mission into the world, He enlists human beings as participants in this battle, which is not like worldly battle but one of hearts and minds, and based in love.  My study bible says that the reference, I saw Satan fall, is a description of an event that took place before the creation of the world.  Five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  Serpents and scorpions are allegorical images of the demonic.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."   Jesus continues to rejoice over the sharing of holy power with human beings, the revelation possible for us, and our participation in the life of the Kingdom He offers.   This is a sharing in the life given from the Father to the Son and in turn to those human beings who may share in and understand the revelation given to us.  It is all about the working of grace in the world.  My study bible says that babes are people of simple faith and open hearts (see 18:15-17).

How can we understand the joy of Jesus?  His newest apostolic mission, these Seventy whom He has recently appointed (see yesterday's reading, above), return with joy, as the holy power invested in them by Jesus has come to fruition they have experienced and seen for themselves.  Jesus tells them nevertheless, not to rejoice over such power, but that their names are written in heaven.  That is, because they share in the joy of heaven, as members of the Kingdom.   Jesus alludes to a battle which my study bible suggests has taken place before the creation of the world.  Nevertheless, its effects are seen and felt, and continue, with human beings at the center of the battleground.  And we are invited to participate in this battle.  I wonder if we today can calculate the reality which is revealed here and given to us in the words of Christ and in the actions and appointment of the Seventy.   We don't always generally see or measure these effects, from a modern perspective, in the terms that Christ names.  But we can look around at our world and most clearly see all types of evil effects.  The demonic that makes its presence known through Scripture functions to create varieties of affliction, hardship, pain, hostility, and aggression toward human beings.  Christ, by contrast, shares His power in grace, through faith, with the ultimate boundary respected as the free will of human beings.  He offers us participation and membership in a Kingdom, in which not only He but also God the Father become a part of our own reality, our identities in this shared participation, an ongoing energy present within us and among us.  We can look around at the world and see the things that typify demonic behavior in the Gospels:  abuse, affliction, aggression, hostility, hatred, coercion, manipulation, a total lack of respect for the basic integrity that free will gives to a human soul as endowed by Creator.  But it's not enough to wonder at the presence of evil.  What is important to understand through the Gospels is precisely what Jesus teaches His apostles to rejoice over:  that their names are written in heaven.  That is, that they may be participants in this Kingdom through faith, that they may serve God through faith in Christ -- that they may live through His love, grace, and truth.  This remains the pillar and cornerstone of our understanding of the battleground.  It's not about the things that we see with a limited perception of events in our world.  It is rather about finding that internal pole of faith, finding our own participation in this living grace and God's energies at work in the world, and remaining within the conditions of discipleship Christ has taught us.  This is a difficult task, but one nevertheless that remains with us 2,000 years after Jesus' ministry and teachings He's given us, which remain true and living for us.  Let us understand that He still sends us out as sheep in the midst of wolves, with instructions on how to live as those sheep who belong to Him.  His language and teachings are those of humility, of truth, of strength, and hope, and perseverance.  St. Paul instructs us in the fruits of the spirit, which remain hallmarks of our participation in that Kingdom and in His grace.  Can we live them for ourselves?  Let us remember this battle was won long ago, but that in real time, in our time, Christ invites us in to participate His way.  The choice lives within us, day by day.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

- Matthew 23:27-39

In the past two days, we've been reading Jesus' final sermon, which took place in the temple at Jerusalem after several confrontations with the leadership.  We began reading the sermon on Monday.  Yesterday we read that Jesus continued, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you nether go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees focuses on their hypocrisy.   Their emphasis is on outward appearance, but He questions their corruptions and greed, which has made its way into some of their practices, against the intent of the Law.  Here the emphasis is on the inner life of the heart, every person's need to know themselves and to discard what is not worthy of humility before God and true righteousness in relation to others.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Jesus plainly names these men as included in those to whom He referred in the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (see this reading).  He calls them the latest in a long line of those who persecuted the prophets and refused to listen to God's call back to Himself.  He also speaks to the future when He refers to prophets, wise men, and scribes who will be sent.  Some patristic commentators say that the Zechariah Jesus refers to was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), and others teach that it refers to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  We note that once again Jesus uses the phrase earlier used for these men by John the Baptist (3:7; see also 12:34).

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  Jesus mourns over Jerusalem, and here we see an interesting metaphor.  Jesus images Himself as a mother hen, gathering her brood.  But instead of chicks, it is a brood of vipers, full of rejection. 

Even in the midst of condemnation, Jesus gives us an image of God's love:  a mother hen who wishes only to protect and gather her children under her wings.  Let us rejoice at this loving and maternal image we are given at this moment of condemnation, and understand our God more fully, as well as the nature of God's love for us.  Let us note the balance we have in Christ, of images both maternal and paternal.  Not only that, but Jesus also refers to God's love and God's nature when He says, "How often I wanted to gather your children together . . ." (emphasis mine).  In other words, the nature of God's love is to return again and again, even pleading, with open arms, but it is human beings who refuse and are not willing.  In a real sense, we are given here God's own image of God, a rare glimpse at the internal character of God.  How many of us understand this kind of love for ourselves, and know God this way?  This maternal image is a reframing of the repeated sending of prophets, wise men, and scribes to the leaders of the people.  It frames the image He gives us in the parable of the Wicked Vindressers and the repeated sending of servants, until finally the son is sent, as the pleas of a mother who is concerned for her children.  It should give us pause to know that this image is given to us at the moment of condemnation, at the time when the Son/son is about to be murdered through manipulation by those in charge of the spiritual welfare of the people.  Finally, this appeal is to all the people, the whole of the Holy City, and God's love is for all.  My study bible says here that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of His people, yet most do not want Him.  The image of the desolate house can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalm 115:12; 135:19).   The indication here is that both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.  This is like a mother's statement of  letting go of her rebellious, refusing children -- until, He says, the time of His return.  At this time He begins to openly reveal Himself in His identity as Son.  St. Chrysostom writes:  "This is the language of one that loves earnestly. He is poignantly appealing to them in relation to the judgment that is to come. He is not merely warning them concerning their past follies. He is now speaking of the future day of his second coming."  Gods' love is ever-present to us as well; let us each take His words to heart for all of us.

I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

- Luke 10:17-24

Yesterday we read that after Jesus made the decision to start His journey toward Jerusalem, He appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'   But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."   I saw Satan fall describes an event that took place before the creation of the world, says my study bible.  Five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  Serpents and scorpions are images of devils and demons; they are things which carry poison and cause pain to human beings.  These are part of the power of the enemy, who is the evil one.  In the Lord's prayer as given in Matthew 6:13, Jesus teaches us to pray, "Deliver us from evil," or from "the evil one" (it can be read both ways in Greek).   The Greek for this word translated as "evil" is poneros, which literally means the one who causes pain, is hurtful.  That pain includes burdens of harsh labor and toils in its meaning.  But again, Jesus reminds us that it is not power that is ours personally nor that we should rejoice over. Rather it is His power shared with us as a work of grace, and our true rejoicing is that our names are written in heaven, and that we may participate in the kingdom of God.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  Here Jesus Himself rejoices over the power of grace at work in the world, and gives us a true taste of the joy we should know in gratitude for such gifts.  He teaches us their true value in His words.  Babes, says my study bible, are people of simple faith and open hearts (see 18:15-17).  This is the power that has worked through Christ, in whom is vested all power by the Father -- and Christ reveals the Father to whom He wills.  What we need to understand is that many prophets and kings have desired to see what these apostles -- and through their work, we also -- see and hear. 

Here is really the great good news that the Virgin Mary understood at the Annunciation, when she said in what is known as the Magnificat, "He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty."  Her own song was reflective of the songs of others before her, such as Hannah, and so this is a theme that has echoes throughout spiritual history and the work of God in the world.  Jesus Himself rejoices in Spirit at the work of the Father through His own ministry, saying, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."  At that which our Lord rejoices, in the Spirit, in prayer between Father and Son, we can truly take time for awe.  It blesses His ministry and sanctifies the work of God in the world that is always truly surprising.  And more than that, it means that Satan has fallen like lightning, the one who oppresses with toils and hard labor and pain, who enforces only the power of materialism and conquest and murder and all its association with death in many dimensions.  (That is, a purely material perspective minus a relationship to God, to Christ.)  This is the great victory in which all should rejoice.  And yet, how do we neglect the gift of this good news, God's grace in the world?   Let us understand its awesome power in our lives and its blessing.

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

- Luke 10:17-24

Yesterday we read that as Jesus had set Himself to go to Jerusalem, He appointed seventy other apostles also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."   My study bible says that "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" describes an event that took place before the creation of the world.  Five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  Christ shares His power with the Seventy, as He did previously with the Twelve, so that even the demons are subject to human beings in His name.  Serpents and scorpions are symbols of demons and devils.  This is about spiritual battle, not a worldly one.  But the greater rejoicing, He reminds us, is not over such power but rather to be members of the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever power the Church may have over demons, human beings always have free will.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  Christ rejoices in prayer over the revelation of His ministry.   Babes, says my study bible, are people of simple and open hearts (see 18:15-17).  These seventy, like the twelve before them, are not men of extraordinary learning or social stature; in this sense they are like babes.  Jesus contrasts them with the wise and prudent.  What it reveals is the power that rests solely in the Son, for even many prophets and kings have desired to know what these babes know, to see and hear the things they have seen and heard, and it remained hidden from them.  This is clearly the remarkable intention of God the Father at work through Christ's ministry to the world, another sign of gracious condescension and love.

Jesus' ministry has power, as expressed in the joy of the Seventy that "even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  But perhaps in today's reading in particular, what is revealed is that this power is unlike earthly power.  A spiritual battle, as stated before, isn't an earthly battle.  There aren't great weapons that wipe out material civilizations and humankind.  This is a battle from the heart, and in the hearts and minds of people who choose their faith and the journey of their faith in the world.  These disciples have followed Christ, and He shares His power with them.  They have found that in His name, even the demons are subject to them.  We can't always know or tell demonic influence; it's something that is most likely subtle rather than something out of a horror show or frightening film dreamed up for the camera.  Popular culture won't really give us a good idea of what our faith is about.  Exorcism wasn't something strange or unknown in Jewish religious tradition.  (When Christ is accused by Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of demons, He responds by asking them, "By whom then do your sons cast them out?" in Matthew 12:27).   But what is truly remarkable and wonderful is that through Christ, God has given such power to babes -- and more than that, greater than that, is that such babes hear and see the work and the truth of the Kingdom, mysteries are revealed to them, and their names are written in heaven.  This is the gracious God that hid such things from the wise and prudent, even from prophets and kings who highly desired them, and shares them with those of true hearts and good faith.  There's really more to this than we've discussed, because all of it touches on the great transforming -- transfiguring -- power of Christ.  It is, as Christ's words of gratitude to the Father tell us, a product of the grace of God at work through this ministry, through Christ, and in these men and women of faith who are His followers.  The truth of God's grace and condescension is that human beings -- even babes -- are those who will share this kingdom and whose names are written in heaven.  This is the gracious power of God, the power that doesn't work as worldly power does, that will transform unlearned, even socially and politically naive men into those who will change the world with the Gospel message.  That is what we see at work in the saints, in the love of God, in our faith.  It remains at work, but it is still with us and within us to follow and keep His word in faith.  It is God's love that is the real power, and that we share in.   This is the bond that defeats the enemy.

I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

- Luke 10:17-24

Yesterday, we read that Jesus appointed seventy other apostles also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'   But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  "Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  My study bible tells us that "I saw Satan fall" describes an event that took place before the creation of the world.  It says that five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  To trample on serpents and scorpions is a figurative allusion to devils and demons.  But the greatest gift of all is to be part of the kingdom of heaven, of service to the gospel of the kingdom.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."    My study bible tells us that "babes" here, as referred to by Jesus, are people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17).  There is a command here in revelation, in the things given or revealed to people; those here referred to as babes are the open-minded, the ones who can receive, to whom the Son has chosen to reveal the Father.

Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."    Jesus emphasizes not only the astonishing nature of the revelations given to these men, but also how precious they are. 

I wonder, sometimes, if we can understand just how precious this gift is that we are given.  It is the gift and blessing of the kingdom, the capacity to participate in the kingdom of heaven, to have the Father revealed to us through the Son.  Here, Jesus emphasizes the unique and precious, priceless quality of this gift of revelation -- this blessing given to these "babes," little children without formal learning and education.  It seems that we take so much for granted, that so much that has been revealed as reported in the Gospels has become not only the things we know and count on, the familiar, but even the sadly discarded and unvalued.  It's a strange thing to consider Jesus' words in the Gospels, this great and powerful revelation of the kingdom, and the obviously exalted value placed upon our capacity to enter into the kingdom by Jesus, and to share in its mysteries -- and at the same time to think that somehow in today's world there is so much that just slips by us, all too familiar, or perhaps even discarded and unknown to so many.   It's tempting to take so much for granted.  The world offers so much, there is so much distraction, entertainment, shocking daily news, free invitation to be involved with so many things -- the power of the gospel may get shuffled under so many other things with which we busy ourselves in life, so many ways in which there are so many other things to think about or to consider or be involved with in our day to day lives.  It puts one in mind of the parable of the Sower, and Jesus' illustration of what it is for the seed of the word to fall among thorns, which choke the seed with "cares, riches, and pleasures of life" and so prevent spiritual fruition.   We are, so many of us, in such a place, choked with all the distractions that the world offers us -- and there are so many, and in such abundance.  It makes one reflect that perhaps we are now so surrounded by so many "thorns."  But this is why it is essential that we remember to stay centered and renew ourselves in prayer. Prayer has a way (and this is particularly so in the practice of contemplative prayer, such as the Jesus prayer practice) of refocusing and renewing, rendering us in a place where we have a chance to recollect who we are, as did the Prodigal Son when he "came to himself."  It's important that we remember who we are by remembering God, and refreshing ourselves in prayer that gives us renewed energy, centered in the power of the gospel message, the freedom that lives in Jesus Christ.  This is a freedom from the thorns, a freedom to choose, and to remember who we are and what we must be about, the things that give life meaning beyond what we chase or what distracts us, and the delusions we follow that give ourselves an idea of self that is temporary, transient, and often empty.  Our reliance is on God in this centered place, where we can encounter what we truly value, the rock we hold onto, and that supports and sustains when the more worldly things let us down, such as the "praise of men" we may come to rely on without this great value of the gospel that teaches us where and who we truly are in the sight of the One who knows that we are precious enough to reveal a Kingdom to, even if we are just "babes."