The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit

 

 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. 

 

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from  God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  

 

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  

 

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  

 

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?   No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

- John 2:23—3:15 

 

On Saturday we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 

  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.   St. John's Gospel gives us three Passover feasts between the Lord's baptism and His Passion (see also John 6:4; 11:55). This teaches us that Christ's earthly ministry lasted three years.  

 

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from  God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."   My study Bible comments that Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God, but his faith is still weak at this point, as he is afraid of his peers and so came to Jesus by night.   After this conversation, Nicodemus' faith will grow to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51) and finally making the bold public expression of faith of preparing and entombing Christs body (John 19:39-42).  Nicodemus' memory is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on the third Sunday of Pascha (Easter) together with the Myrrhbearing Women and Joseph of Arimathea.  My study Bible reports that according to some early sources, Nicodemus was baptized by St. Peter and was consequently removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to flee Jerusalem. 

 

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."   In the Greek, the word translated again can also be understood as meaning "from above."  It therefore clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13).  This heavenly birth, my study Bible explains, is baptism, and our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).  It is simply the beginning of our spiritual life, with its goal being entrance into the kingdom of God.  

 

 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Nicodemus misunderstands, and questions the possibility of a second physical birth.  This is frequently a pattern in St. John's Gospel (see John 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  Jesus uses such opportunities to elevate an idea from a superficial or worldly meaning to a heavenly and eternal one. 

 

 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  The birth of water and the Spirit is a direct reference to Christian baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit which is given at chrismation, my study Bible comments.  To be born of the Spirit is to participate in adoption as a child of God.  It is not a matter of ethnic descent, nor natural birth, nor by our own decision.  To become a child of God is a spiritual birth by grace, my study Bible says, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit.  It's accomplished and manifested in the sacrament of Holy Baptism (see also Titus 3:4-7).  Jesus' teaching includes a play on words. The Greek word pneuma/πνευμα means both wind and Spirit.  The working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, my study Bible explains, is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  So also, the Spirit moves where He wills and cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas. 

 

 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?   No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."  According to my study Bible, St. John Chrysostom comments that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to human beings.  These are "earthly" in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creatures, not that they are not spiritual.  The heavenly things involve the ungraspable mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, my study Bible says. They relate to His eternal existence before all time (with the Father and the Spirit) and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world.  It notes that a person must first grasp the ways in which God works among human beings before one can even begin to understand things that pertain directly to God Himself.  

 

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).  This miracle-working image prefigured Christ being lifted up on the Cross, my study Bible says.  It notes that as believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  Just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself. 

 

 John's Gospel dives more deeply into the mystical reality which Christ brings into the world in today's Gospel reading.  We have gone from the beginning of Christ's public ministry with the baptism of John the Baptist, to here, in which Christ begins to explain what it is to be "born again" or rather, "born from above," meaning to be born of the Spirit in Christian Holy Baptism.  Just as Jesus must use "earthly" language to describe spiritual realities, so we know that the Incarnation is the powerful plan of salvation in which God the Logos comes to us in human form, and gives us gifts which enable us to participate in the kingdom of heaven even as human beings in our world.  Once again, we observe the reality of Christ that He brings into the world as something which is "hidden in plain sight," even as He seeks to explain to Nicodemus the Pharisee, who comes to Him by night to learn from Him.  Here is one more gem hidden in this Gospel, that of the story of Nicodemus himself.  For we do not expect, those of us who have perhaps becomes a little too used to the stories we hear in Church, that there is at least one among the Pharisees, and perhaps many more, who were actually believers in Christ.  We're told that besides Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea also figures prominently in the story of Jesus, and both of these significant men among the Sanhedrin, the ruling Council.  Notably, it is St. John's Gospel which tells us the fullness of this story, despite the fact that the term "the Jews," so often used in this particular Gospel to indicate the religious leaders, has been misconstrued throughout history.  It is also St. John's Gospel that will tell us, "Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42-43).  Let us endeavor to read carefully as we continue, for there is so much hidden in plain sight.  It's all too easy to miss, and to generalize.  Just like the mysterious wind that blows where it wishes, the Scripture gives us glimmers of light and reveals things we don't expect.  But let us praise the Gospel in the truth and light it brings to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  

"Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,

My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel nor cry out,

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 

 A bruised reed He will not break, 

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

And in His name Gentiles will trust." 

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.  

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.   That Jesus knew it is a reference to the final verse in yesterday's reading (above), in which we were told that the Pharisees have now begun to plot against Him, how they might destroy Him.   

 

Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel nor cry out,  nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."  St. Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4.  My comments that Christ's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah.  It states that the reasons for this secrecy include, first of all, the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders (as noted above regarding the plotting of the Pharisees against Him.  Additionally, there is the people's misunderstanding and widespread expectation of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader.  Finally, our Lord wishes to evoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  In this quotation from the Old Testament, we can read that the prophet Isaiah had foreseen the mission to the Gentiles after Pentecost ("in His name Gentiles will trust").  

 

 The prophet Isaiah writes, "Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him . . .."  The beautiful poetry of this prophesy teaches us so much about Jesus.  The first word to describe Him here is Servant, teaching us all about Christ and His mission.  We know from His ministry that in all things He serves the Father, bowing His human will with His divine identity in obedience to the Father's will.  As His faithful, we also understand Him not simply as a Servant to God but also to all of humankind and to all of creation, for His mission and ministry in the world gave us Resurrection, and we know that He gave His human life "for the life of the world" (John 6:51).  His entire ministry, His teachings, His healings, His exorcism, His sharing His power with His own servants (see this reading) -- all testify to His life as a Servant of the world in every way, and He continues to serve us as Lord, in the mysteries of the Church and in all we depend upon as those who put our faith in Him.  Christ is called My Beloved, and we know He is the beloved Son.  If we look to the divine revelation, or theophany, manifest at Christ's Baptism, we see these words of Isaiah echoed in the voice of the Father:  "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).   These words of God the Father are repeated at the Transfiguration, also a theophany (Matthew 17:5).  Of course, we are all familiar with the Spirit "descending like a dove and alighting upon" Christ at His Baptism (Matthew 3:16-17).  That God declares through Isaiah, "I will put My Spirit upon Him" is a declaration of anointing.  It is a sign of Christ being at once our great High Priest and King (our King of kings and Lord of lords), and Messiah.  Isaiah foresaw these truths, and in Christ's life they are manifested, and they continue to manifest in the Church, as we each may be anointed with the Spirit of God to live our lives in imitation of Him, to be transformed into His image for us.  Let us consider how deep and how true this reality goes for us.  As we have recently read, and we read from this portion of Isaiah's prophesy, this great Savior is One who is also "meek and lowly of heart"; He does not need to prove who He is, but He lives who He is, and shows us by every manifestation this reality, even in His humility and courage and love for us.

 

 

 

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you

 

 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  

 

Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  

 

 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up to heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple and blessing God.  Amen.

 

- Luke 24:36–53 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the report of the women telling the apostles about the angel at the tomb and the announcement that Christ was risen, Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that say day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.   Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  

 

 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  Christ's resurrectional greeting, "Peace to you," is proclaimed by the priest or the bishop frequently in Orthodox worship services, as well as in many other denominations. 

 

 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.   My study Bible notes that Christ eats not because He in His resurrected body needs food, but to prove to the disciples that He is truly risen in the flesh.  The spiritual significance given to the fish is active virtue, and in the honeycomb is seen the sweetness of divine wisdom.  

 

 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.   My study Bible comments that it is partial faith that one believes either in a Messiah who only suffered or one who would only reign in glory.  Complete faith sees both, for this, as Jesus indicates, is what was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.

 

Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things."  Jesus teaches the disciples the Law and the Prophets and all that they have said about Him which was fulfilled.   Remission of sins, according to my study Bible, refers to the putting away of sins in baptism, which is preached by St. Peter at Pentecost (see Acts 2:38).  

 

"Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  My study Bible tells us that are endued with is literally "have put on," as in putting on clothing.  The same verb found in Ephesians 6:11, which indicates the complete protection of spiritual armor.  Tarry is literally "sit down" in the Greek.  It's an instruction not only to stay in place, but also to take rest and to prepare attentively before a great and difficult task (compare Mark 14:32).   The Promise of My Father, my study Bible explains, is the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:4).  

 

  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up to heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple and blessing God.  Amen.  My study Bible comments that the Ascension of Christ is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  This event fulfills the type given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11) and marks the completion of Christ's glorification and lordship over all creation.  At the Incarnation, my study Bible says, Christ brought His divine nature to human nature.  In the mystery of the Ascension, Christ now brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  There He reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body.  This reveals His glorified human nature -- even human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  In the Orthodox Church it is sung at Vespers of Ascension, "The angels were amazed seeing a Man so exalted."  In some icons of the Ascension, Christ's white robes are tinted red in order to indicate the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world, and the ascent of that life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see also Psalm 24:7-10).

 

 In today's reading, we're told, "Then He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.'   And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."  Let us note that right from the beginning -- in the sense that life after Christ's Resurrection has begun here at this point in the journey of the disciples -- Jesus offers wisdom.  And the way that Jesus offers them wisdom is not like anyone else teaches us wisdom.  The Gospel tells us that He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  We have wisdom in the Scriptures, there is wisdom in Christ's teaching, what He literally says to the disciples.  And yet, He also opened their understanding, that they might comprehend.  It takes something more to have understanding, to truly comprehend, than to be told words, than to seek to grasp something intellectually.  Oftentimes, we might hear something and be unable to take it in, to comprehend.  With bad news, this is certainly often the case.  It's also true of news we can barely believe, or things that startle us out of our normal expectations, even exist in contradiction to what we've hoped or assumed.  We need that something different to truly understand and comprehend.  And here is the Promise also mentioned by Jesus, most importantly, in conjunction with His gift of understanding and comprehension:  "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  This Promise is the Holy Spirit.  In John 14, Jesus tells the disciples at the Last Supper, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:15-18).  A bit farther along, Jesus explains, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26).  This is the Promise of His companionship, His dwelling within us together with the Father and the Spirit, and the One who will "teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  This is the One who helps us to know and to understand, to have wisdom, and to comprehend what we need to know as we prayerfully seek His guidance, and the ways in which we are to understand and to follow His commandments in our lives.  Let us consider the communion we have with God, this great, even staggering Promise of such full communion dwelling within us, this indwelling of love:  "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23).  And there is another part to this Promise, that they will be endued with power from on high.  Let us gratefully rejoice in the Promise He offers, and have the hearts to receive, and to cast all aside that conflicts with this great treasure, the Promise, His gift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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, having begun His long 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 comments that "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" is a description of 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).  

 

 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 defines babes as people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17).  These are those who now see the things which many prophets and kings have desired to see, and have not seen it, and to hear what they hear, and have not heard it.  

 

What does it mean to reveal the things of God?  To have the things revealed to us that Christ reveals to us?  Here He makes it clear that there is none who knows the Father except the Son -- and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  This is the reality of the revelation of our faith.  It is not understood from theories or fanciful notions about how the world should work.  Ultimately, the "all things" that are give to Christ by the Father are revealed to human beings to whom Christ wishes to reveal them.  It's an important distinction, because it reveals reality that exists in places you or I can't know and don't experience in the fullness of that reality.  Certainly visions have been given to prophets throughout the spiritual history we read of in the Bible, such as the vision of the prophet Isaiah cited above (Isaiah 14:12-15), and of course the Revelation of the New Testament Scriptures.  These are the ways that things have been revealed to us, and it's important that we understand this process.  For what we have been given is a gift, a priceless gift for each of us.  St. Irenaeus of Lyon (125-220 AD) writes:  "True knowledge is the teaching of the Apostles, the order of the Church as established from the earliest times throughout the world, and the distinctive stamp of the body of Christ, passed down through the succession of bishops in charge of the church in each place . . ."   Ultimately, we also have the Holy Spirit given to us, alive and well and at work in our world and in ourselves, and that gift is what will be celebrated this coming Sunday, the feast of Pentecost (see Acts 2).  While theology is essential to our understanding, and great saints and visionaries have helped us to understand God through their capability in their education and also in the holiness of the love of God and certainly through prayer, our foundation is in these revealed realities given to us as a gift from God.  When Christ praises and thanks God the Father for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, and revealing them to babes, He is glorifying for us this process in which we are to understand further that God does not work on worldly terms, but on God's terms, and that this gift of what is revealed is given to all of us.  So there are none left out of the great salvation plan of God, in the Son's revelation of God to the world.  The visions inspired and given by the Holy Spirit are also those things that reveal the things of God to us, such as the vision of St. Stephen which he revealed even as he was stoned for doing so.   This is told explicitly to us in Acts 7:55-56:  "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!'"  See Acts 7 for his entire testimony before the Sanhedrin.  These things are important for us to understand, for they give us our foundation upon which the Church and our faith is built.  All that we do, every sacrament, every element of worship and prayer, is informed through revelation -- and shaped through Christ's revelation of the Father to the apostles in order to be given to us.  Let us stand on that foundation and receive Him and His word, and the great gift and blessings of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are not far from the kingdom of God

 

 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:  'Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.

 

- Mark 12:28-34 

 

Yesterday we read that the religious leaders in Jerusalem sent to Jesus some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him. Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

 

 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is:  'Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."  But after that no one dared question Him.  My study Bible says that, in response to one of the scribes, Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which is the greatest Jewish confession of faith.  It is called the shema' (meaning "hear," from the first word of the confession).  He then quotes from Leviticus 19:18, thereby combining what is already present in the Old Testament to create a new understanding.  My study Bible says this new understanding declares love of neighbor to be an expression of love of God.    The Pharisees, it says, had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures and they constantly debated which was central, thus this question appears to be something with which they'd always be preoccupied.  Jesus summarizes the Law with these two.  My study Bible makes clear that the latter commandment means that we're called to love others as of the same nature as ourselves, created in God's image and likeness as are we.  It says that as the Fathers and Mothers of the Church have taught, we find our true selves in loving our neighbor. 

How can we find our true selves in loving our neighbor?  One thing is clear, if we take a look at Christ's parable of judgment, the one of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), we read that the supreme rule is one of active compassion.  It is in this sense that we can see, defined for us, what it looks like when we love neighbor as ourselves.  In that parable Jesus says that the sheep on His right are the ones who made acts of compassion for Himself.   When He's asked when these acts occurred, He says, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."  The same is true in the negative for the goats, who failed to do those acts, to whom Jesus says, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me." Of course, in Mark's Gospel, we've already read Jesus' teaching to the disciples, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  This comes in response to the disciples' disputing who would be the greatest among them. See Mark 9:33-37.  Each of these examples given to us teaches us how Jesus views the inter-relatedness implicit in coupling these two laws of Moses together.  In terms of how we are to conduct ourselves in His Church, we're to couple these two things together in our own conduct:  that we first love God with all our mind, soul, heart, and strength.  There is no place in us exempt from this devotion, this love of God we're asked for.  But that is extended also to the love of neighbor as oneself -- we're not to be endlessly disputing who is greater.  Instead we have a deeply loving relationship to God that will claim everything within ourselves, and within that depth we know that others are in the same category, that we are all equally called to that love and share in this endeavor.  It's there we find ourselves, and it's in that place that genuine love will teach us who we are.  We are called to live our lives with that understanding, that we're all called to the same faith and to the love that faith asks of us.  Such a perspective gives us one in which we're blessed to help others along the way and to share in the bounty of that love God calls us to in the first place.  Clearly the scribe in today's reading comes to understand Christ and to recognize His teaching.  Thus, Jesus tells him, in a sense welcoming him to the life He offers:  "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

 

 

 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

 

 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  

 

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  

 

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  

 

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

 

"Do not marvel that I said you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  

 

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  

 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  

 

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

- John 3:1–21 

 

On Saturday, we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.   

 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."   Today the Gospel gives us a faithful man of the Pharisees.  As the text tells us, this means he was a ruler of the Jews, part of the religious leadership in the temple.  My study Bible comments on these first verses that Nicodemus believed that Jesus was from God, but at this point, his faith is still weak, as he is afraid of his peers, and so therefore came to Jesus by night.  After this conversation, Nicodemus' faith will grow to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51) and finally he will make a bold public expression of faith by preparing and entombing Christ's body (John 19:39-42).  In the Orthodox Church, his memory is celebrated on the third Sunday of Pascha (Easter) together with the Myrrhbearing Women and Joseph of Arimathea (who was also a prominent member of the Council and a wealthy man).  According to some early sources, my study Bible says, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to flee Jerusalem.

 

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Regarding the term born again, the word translated as "again" from the Greek literally means "from above."  It clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13).  This heavenly birth is baptism and our adoption by God as our Father, my study Bible says (Galatians 4:4-7).  This new birth is just the beginning of our spiritual life; the ultimate goal is entrance into the kingdom of God.  

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"   Nicodemus misunderstands, and so asks about being physically born a second time.  These types of misunderstandings are frequent in John's Gospel (John 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30:34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  These become opportunities for Christ to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning.  

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  The birth of water and the Spirit is a direct reference to Christian baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit which is given at chrismation.  This is a spiritual birth by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit, and thus adoption as a child of God (see Titus 3:4-7). 

 

"Do not marvel that I said you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Here there is a play on words.  In the Greek of the Gospel, the Greek word πνευμα/pneuma means both wind and Spirit.  The working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, my study Bible comments, is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  Similarly, the Spirit moves where the Spirit wills, and cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas.  

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, according to whom earthly things is a reference to grace and baptism given to human beings.  These things are "earthly" in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creatures, although they are spiritual in nature.  The heavenly things referred to here are the ungraspable mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, and they relate to the Son's eternal existence before all time and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world.  My study Bible comments that a person must first grasp the ways in which God works among human beings before one can even begin to understand the things that pertain exclusively to God in God's identity.

 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  In Numbers 21:4-9, we read that Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from deadly bites of poisonous snakes.  This was a miracle-working image, which, as Jesus indicates here, prefigured Christ being lifted up on the Cross.  As believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, my study Bible says, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  Just as the image of a serpent became the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself.  

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  My study Bible comments that to show the reason the Son must be crucified (or "lifted up" as He refers to it in the preceding passage),  Jesus here declares God's great love not only for Israel but for the world.  This single verse, cited quite often, expresses the whole of the message of John's Gospel, and, my study Bible adds, of salvation history.

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  My study Bible says of this passage that, while Christ came to save and not to condemn, human beings have free will.  So, this gift can be rejected; and a person effectively be condemned through one's own rejection.  

What is salvation?  One must consider all the ways in which we come to understand how salvation works.  There is first of all Holy Baptism, of which today's passage speaks.  This is baptism with both water and the Holy Spirit.  We recall that John the Baptist baptized with water, but not with the Holy Spirit, and his was a baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah (the Christ).  Baptism with water is a type of symbolic burial and rebirth; to be submerged is to take off the old life, and rise up out of the waters of sin, to repent and to seek another way.  But to remit sin, to "put away" sin, is the property of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  Through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are given the capacity to become children of God, and to be transformed into those who may enter the kingdom of God.  So to be reborn in the Spirit is a process of faith, a transformation throughout our lives so that we may be saved in that sense -- to enter into this quality of eternal life.  These are indeed mysteries of God, but they are "earthly" in the sense that they have been given to us, and through the life of the Church and its saints, through the experience of countless faithful, grace has played a role that we know and can experience and see.  Again, we revisit the words of Christ, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27).  To be baptized in Holy Baptism is therefore a tremendous gift, made possible through the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ, and the grace freely given to us all.  But we remain free to reject this salvation, and to lose it.  Let us remember, everything is given to us from God's love, which Christ lives and enacts throughout His ministry.  Let us receive His way to the life He offers to us. 

Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

 

 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  

"Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, 

My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel nor cry out, 

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break,

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.  And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"  But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:  how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?  Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?  Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.  But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.  For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."  Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.  And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" -- that they might accuse Him.  Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."  Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.   

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.   Jesus withdrew because He knew the Pharisees were plotting against Him, how they might destroy Him (see yesterday's reading, above).  

And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   My study Bible comments that Christ's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  There are several reasons given here for Christ's secrecy regarding His identity.  First, there is the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Second, the people misunderstand the Messiah as an earthly, political leader.  Finally, our Lord's desire is to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  My study Bible adds that the Servant is a reference first to Christ, but by extension it applies to all who follow Him.

Looking closely at today's reading, we are given an important chance to note Christ's reaction to opposition, and what it tells us about Him, and "what manner of spirit He is of."  If people are expecting a worldly king as Messiah, one who uses every advantage of power for what it can bring to him, then they are disappointed and perhaps shocked or surprised at Christ.  Although He has clearly shown His power to heal and to cast out demons, this extraordinary power that He has is not used to defeat His opponents (such as the Pharisees) either in the traditional sense of the power to manipulate or move circumstances "His" way, nor is it used in some magical sense to manipulate the minds of the Pharisees.  Instead, Christ is the Servant in the prophesy of Isaiah, He withdraws.  It is not yet time for the confrontation that will come later, not yet time for His Passion.  This Servant is not like rulers and governors like Caesar or King Herod.  "He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."  Even among the Gentiles, He will declare and send forth victory to justice -- and yet His persona, power, and authority are nothing like those of the Gentile rulers.  His justice does not work like worldly justice.  His methods and working are entirely different, almost opposite.  Everything about Him speaks to humility; above all He is a servant of God, does not curry favor nor play political games.  He is the One upon whom is God's Spirit, and everything about His working and what He does is a part of that spiritual reality which travels through even our world unhindered by time or space, but works through everything.  The prophecy of Isaiah is a part of this "network" (so to speak) of the Spirit, and so even 700 years earlier He could tell us about the Christ.  This reveals to us yet another aspect about Christ's identity; in the Kingdom this King brings into the world there is an eternal reality.  It permeates and intersects with our lives, and deeply within our hearts, but it is unrestricted by time and space.  In God's Kingdom, power is used in a way that conveys grace, and our Messiah is the Servant who will achieve victory through this power which so embraces humility and the service of the will of the Father.  God calls the Servant My Beloved, indicating to us this is also a Kingdom of love.  Let us seek His way, so that we also serve His Kingdom, accept His justice, and trust in His name.

And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:  

    "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

    Who will prepare Your way before You."

    "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

    'Prepare the way of the LORD;

    Make His paths straight.' "

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came  from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. 

 

- Mark 1:1–13 

 

Over the final three readings of last week (the first week of Lent in Western churches, and also for the Armenian Apostolic Oriental Orthodox church), we were given Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.  See the first two parts of this prayer here and here.  On Saturday, we read the final portion, in which Jesus prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.' "  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  My study Bible explains that gospel (Greek εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion) literally means "good news" or "good tidings" (it was the common name for missives and announcements from the Roman Emperor).  Here it doesn't refer to Mark's writings per se, but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the good news of our salvation.  Beginning here points to the opening evens of Christ's public ministry with which St. Mark opens His gospel; this is the preparation by Jesus' forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Christ's encounter with him.   John gives quotations which explain his own ministry and identity from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3.  We are also to notice the widespread popularity of St. John the Baptist's ministry, as all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  John the Baptist is considered to be the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament period.  My study Bible says that he fulfills prophecy and prepares the people of God for the coming of the Messiah.  Part of this preparation is a baptism for remission (Greek ἄφεσις, "letting go") of sins.  This is the same word Jesus gives us in the Lord's Prayer, when we pray that our sins are "let go" as we "let go" of the sins of others.  In Christian baptism, we are not only forgiven our sins -- letting them go -- but God also brings us into union with Christ (see Romans 6:5).

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.   John's clothing and lifestyle bear resemblance to that of Elijah the prophet (2 Kings 1:8).  Here, we can read it as a sign that he fulfills the prophecy of the return of Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew 11:14, 17:12). 

And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  My study Bible comments that to be baptized with the Holy Spirit means that only Christ, the Son of God, fully possesses and gives the Spirit.  To receive the Spirit we must be baptized in Christ and adopted as children of God (Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 1:5).  By this adoption, we become anointed ones, of whom God said, "Do not touch My anointed ones" (Psalm 105:15). 

 

 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came  from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."   My study Bible comments here that Christ's rising from the water (Jesus came up from the water) is suggestive of His Ascension; it is the same Greek verb used to refer to that event (John 3:13; Acts 2:34; Ephesians 4:8-10).  And as He came up from the water, it is maintained in the theology of the early Church, so the whole world is lifted up with Him.  The Spirit descending upon Him is a foreshadowing of the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Like a dove describes the descent of the Spirit (not a physical dove), but also as a special sign showing the presence of the Spirit.  My study Bible adds that a dove symbolizes purity, peace, and wisdom. We note importantly that this is a Theophany; that is, an appearance or "showing forth" of God the Trinity.  Jesus is declared the beloved Son in the voice of the Father, together with the presence of the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 

 

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  For more details of Christ's time in the wilderness and temptation for forty days, see Matthew 4:1-10; Luke 4:1-13.  

 

My study Bible comments that, as the baptism of Jesus is the first revelation of His divinity, so this temptation is the beginning of His role as "Lamb of God" (John 1:29, 36), the One who will suffer on our behalf, the beloved Son whose destiny is the Cross.  Moreover, my study Bible adds, forty days echoes the forty years of the temptation of Israel in the Old Testament, and beyond that, the basis for our forty-day period of Lent into which we have recently entered.  (For the Eastern Orthodox, Lent begins in approximately one month.)  My study Bible also notes that Christ being with the wild beasts, and served by the angels suggests a relationship between Christ and Adam, Himself being the "New Adam."  Even if we are subjected to evil, it says  (such as the demons and possibly beasts)  God doesn't desert us as we struggle toward God.  In patristic understanding, meditative seclusion is considered to be conducive to freer commuion with God, and also effective preparation for great tasks ahead of us.  Clearly, Jesus sets us this example.  The temptation of Christ in the wilderness (see more details at Matthew 4:1-10; Luke 4:1-13) is the model for the period of Lent, traditionally observed through the practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.  Let us remember that each of these practices can take on many forms.  If we examine the details of Jesus' time in the wilderness, we'll see that there were specific temptations that He said "No" to, and this is what we remember in the traditional practices of Lent.  It's a time to remember that we need to draw boundaries in life for our own good, and for the good of those around ourselves.  Discernment is important, and being capable of saying No to temptation is also important.  Without it, we sorely lack the discipline necessary in life for having a healthy outlook, and a way to function in the world that is at peace with our souls.  Fasting is a way of building up the understanding of discipline, the capability of saying No to things that are harmful.  We may fast from gossiping and backbiting, we may seek simply to be more aware of the times we lose our temper, or indulge in unhealthful envy, or other ways in which we break communion and harm ourselves, our relationship to the world around us, and our relationship to God.  In an atmosphere where discipline may be looked at askance, seeming to repress or conceal, what is important is to understand the therapeutic value of finding ourselves set on a good path in life, where our relatedness to the world, to God, and even to all the parts of ourselves are able to thrive.  A good garden needs tending, and so it is also with human beings, for this is how to care for ourselves and our world.  Let us take seriously the discipline of fasting in its many potential forms, giving of ourselves charitably (also in myriad forms of kindness and care), and prayer -- itself a many-layered and subtle practice.  These are the tools of Lent, of responding to an imperfect world in need of care.  For in so doing, the angels will also minister to us.

But who do you say that I am?

 

 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

 

- Mark 8:22-33 

 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."   And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"   

 

  Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  My study Bible reminds us that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (Matthew 11:21), and so, therefore, the blind man is led by Jesus out of the town in order to heal him.  It notes that this is so that the people would not scoff at the miracle and bring upon themselves greater condemnation.  That the blind man was healed in stages ("I see men like trees, walking") shows that he had only a small amount of faith, for healing, my study Bible says, occurs according to one's faith (Mark 6:5-6).  But this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Christ.  Christ's command not to return to the town is a symbol that we shouldn't return to our sins once we've been forgiven.  

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  My study Bible comments here that "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question which a person can ever face.  That is because this question is the one that defines Christianity.  It notes that Peter's correct answer to this question prevents Christian faith from being seen as simply another system of philosophy or a path of spirituality, because it names Jesus as the Christ.  In Matthew 16:16, Peter adds, "the Son of the living God," which adds the true impact of his answer, the unique reality of Jesus Christ.  This position, according to my study Bible, excludes all compromise  with other religious systems.  Peter's understanding cannot be achieved by human reason, but only by divine revelation through faith (1 Corinthians 12:3), making a poignant response to the events described in yesterday's reading (above), in which the disciples were so slow to understand Jesus.  Christ means "Anointed One," and it is equivalent to the Hebrew title "Messiah."  My study Bible also asks us to note that Christ first draws out erroneous opinions about Himself; this is in order to identify incorrect ideas, as a person is better prepared to avoid false teachings when they are clearly identified.  

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."   Here, just after Peter's confession of faith, Jesus reveals the real nature of His messiahship, and that is the mystery of His Passion.  My study Bible comments that it was expected that the Messiah would reign forever, so the idea that Christ would do was perplexing to Peter, and remained scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan, as the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission, and save humankind through suffering and death.

Jesus says to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." So, what then are the things of God of which Jesus speaks?  As Jesus is the Christ, He is both divine and human; this is the definition of His Incarnation, which is so essential to the Church and the entirety of Christianity.  For we cannot truly understand our faith if one or the other is left out.  Thus, when Peter emphasizes the very natural human impulse against death -- and especially for Jesus, the Christ -- then while we can sympathize with him, he is nonetheless not being mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.  For our faith, we need both, just as Jesus was both.  For He is truly God with us, God as one of us.  Listening to a podcast yesterday, I was struck by a Bible Study on Genesis.  The priest who lectured pointed out that in Genesis 2:7, regarding the creation of human beings, we read that "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." In the Hebrew and in the Greek of the Septuagint, it says literally that man (meaning "human") became a  living soul.  The word for breath in both Greek and Hebrew is "spirit" -- so God breathing spirit into the form of humankind created a living soul.   This is the opposite of what would take place among pagans with their idols; in their rituals, an idol would be made a god by breathing into the statue or shape.  But here, God creates in God's own image and likeness by breathing spirit into man and creating a living soul.  This, in some strange sense, is a prefiguring of Christ born of a human mother and the Holy Spirit, the One who would be the perfect Man, the model for us all, living as one of us and yet divine.  In this sense, He is the One to lead us into our true image, to show us what it is to be the living souls which God created us to be and to become more fully.  We can neither leave out our bodies nor the spirit breathed into us by God to make us living souls -- and we can neither leave out Christ's humanity nor His divinity to understand who He is, and therefore what we worship as Christians.   So when we consider what makes us living souls, living beings, we have to understand what we are truly made of; we are both spirit and flesh -- and those two things must be together to make a living being.  We cannot be a living soul without one or the other.  Hence, when we consider it well, we need Christ to lead us into the place where we grow into the image and likeness of which we capable as created by God.  Let us look carefully at any philosophies, systems, or ways of thinking that would limit us in one way or another, so that the wholeness of who we are can be lived and understood as what it means to be fully alive and healthy in all ways.  We are not simply material, nor are we just purely "spirit."  We are living souls, and must come to know our Creator even to understand ourselves.  For this is what Christ came into the world to show us.