You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized

 

 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."

 

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may it, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

- Mark 10:32–45 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."  Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack:  Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were astonished at His words.  But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

  Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  This is the third time Christ predicts His Passion to the disciples.  Now they are clearly going to Jerusalem, already in Judea and on the road going up to the Holy City.  The disciples are amazed because they know the hostility of the religious leaders in Jerusalem which Jesus has so far avoided, and they are afraid.  These repeated predictions of Christ's Passion were intended to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events they will face there, my study Bible says.  It adds that it also confirms that Christ was going to His death of His own will and choosing.  We must remark upon the detail that Jesus gives them; they are prepared for all the humiliation and rejection He will face. 

 

 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may it, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  My study Bible calls this quest for temporal power and glory unfitting for a disciple, and it shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  It seems quite likely that James and John (and their mother, as reported in St. Matthew's Gospel) expect that this travel to Jerusalem will culminate in Jesus the Messiah establishing a worldly kingdom for Himself.  Thus they ask for the highest places in that kingdom they imagine, on His right and on His left, and speak of a worldly glory.  My study Bible notes that Christ calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  It explains that the Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is a baptism, for He was completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  Christ's prophecy of John and James participating in this same cup and baptism is a prediction of the life of persecution of martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost.  St. James will become the first to be martyred among the apostles (Acts 12:1-2), and St. John will go on to a long life of persecution and exile in the early Church, giving us one Gospel, three Epistles, and the Revelation.  My study Bible also explains that Christ declaring that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give does not mean that He lacks authority.  It means, instead, that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  Instead, He will give them to those for whom God has prepared them.  Moreover, according to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, no one could possibly occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can be given to human beings, the icons of the Church universally show the Virgin Mary (the most blessed among women; Luke 1:28) and St. John the Baptist (the greatest born of women; Matthew 11:11) holding these places.  

 

  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  This is another repeated emphasis by Christ on what constitutes greatness in His Church and the Kingdom, and in particular the use of worldly power for those who will become responsible for His flock.  See also the readings from Monday and Tuesday.  For many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."

 

The transformation (or perhaps we should say transfiguration/metamorphosis) of Sts. James and John Zebedee is a remarkable illustration of the power of the Holy Spirit and the effects of Pentecost that will manifest in the Church after Christ's Ascension.  They will go from the two who request Christ's highest places in what they imagine will be a popularly-expected worldly kingdom presided over by the Messiah, to the two great apostles who will suffer and sacrifice so much for the Church.  St. Mark tells us that Christ gave them the name "Sons of Thunder"  (Mark 3:17), and the truth of this name is borne out in their subsequent histories in the early Church.  Thunder would be the apt description of the effects of their own voices for Christ and evangelization.  St. James was a powerful (and perhaps even "fiery") orator for the Church, hence the first target of the wrath of Herod Agrippa against the early Christian movement.  St. John, of course, became a prolific spokesman in that he produced so much of the word we are given in the New Testament.  His Gospel, Epistles, and the Revelation remain for us among the most powerful inspired Scripture in existence, to this day studied, read, debated, and treasured in the Church among the faithful.  So much of St. John's writing determines what we understands about Jesus, and in particular his Gospel is the Gospel of love, and it is his words that teach us that God is love (1 John 4:8).  These men would truly go on to the cup and baptism of Christ, and lives of great sacrifice as well as great service.  We can understand the fulfillment of the name given to them by Christ in their subsequent histories in the Church, the "thunder" of their advocacy of the gospel reaching far and wide and even into today's world through the widespread dissemination of the New Testament through the internet and the world.  So we are given two great examples in today's reading, both of the power of the Spirit and Christ's ministry, and the transformational power we find in the Church, and which continues to create saints -- great and small -- today.  It is this power evident in these men that works to help all of us today to manifest the fruits of the Spirit, and to rely upon the power of God even to work through our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).

 

 

 

 

THE KING OF THE JEWS

 

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

 THE KING OF THE JEWS.

With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who  destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

 

- Mark 15:22–32 

 

Yesterday we read that, as the crowds, being stirred up by the chief priests, demanded Jesus' crucifixion and asked instead for Barabbas to be freed, Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!'  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of  the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

 

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  It seems somehow strangely disjointed from the time to consider that at the Crucifixion of the Man who fulfilled so many prophesies, these soldiers would, in fact, cast lots for His garments, essentially gambling for them.  These are the garments which healed those who simply touched them in faith (see Mark 5:25-34; 6:56).   

 

 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:  THE KING OF THE JEWS.  The third hour corresponds to 9:00 in the morning.  Regarding the inscription, THE KING OF THE JEWS, my study Bible comments that this title, intended as an accusation and mockery, becomes instead a triumphant symbol.  Again, this is an unwitting act of prophecy connected with Christ's Crucifixion, this time on the part of Pilate.  According to my study Bible, it shows that the nation has risen against their own King, and that the cross was the means by which Christ established His Kingdom.  

 

 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who  destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.  My study Bible claims that Christ being crucified between two robbers not only fulfills the Scripture, as noted in this passage (see also Isaiah 53:12), but shows that He is completely identifying with sinful humanity.  

 

Once again, we experience the "upside down" quality of this time in which Jesus is led to the Crucifixion.  My study Bible explains the title on the insignia of the Cross, meant to humiliate, and yet it was unwittingly a prophesy, and inadvertently proclaimed the truth about Jesus Christ.   Even so, at the same time, it fulfilled the prophesy, "And He was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12).  Again, the "upside down" quality is present in that Christ is the singular Innocent, free of sin as no one else is, and yet, He's numbered with the transgressors.  In this sense, He bears the sins of the world, although He comes in order to forgive and to redeem.  Notice also how the text tells us that Jesus is blasphemed, by those who wag their heads and tell Him,  "Aha!  You who  destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  This is the Man who performed many healing miracles, and yet here He's mocked for seemingly failing to save Himself.  The chief priests most notably jeer at Him regarding His incapacity to "save," once again demanding a sign from Him, "that we may see and believe."  It's like they've never heard Him before when He's told them He will not produce a sign on demand (Mark 8:11-12).  Moreover, there is a greater irony here, in that we know the truth -- that Jesus has purposefully gone to the Cross of His own volition and for His own purposes, which they cannot imagine nor understand.  The text also tells us that even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.  But we know that at least one of these men with Him will be saved, and possibly both (see Luke 23:39-43).  But Christ goes so that we will follow.  In His death on the Cross, He will defeat death through His Resurrection and Ascension, human nature taken up into Paradise with Him, and transfiguring human suffering such as is witnessed through such a cruel death.  Those who revile Him cannot see what is happening in front of them, and to the defeat of their purposes in putting Christ to death.  In Galatians 3, St. Paul tells us, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14).  Those who were to uphold the Law inverted both its purpose and letter in putting Christ to death; yet through the use of the law, Christ removes its curse once and for all, and for all humankind.  One really couldn't imagine a more "upside down" vision than the one His detractors have of Him and what He does on the Cross, in His suffering, humiliation, and death.  All of this brutality, injustice, and ugliness is transfigured in Christ, so that He may in turn transfigure us and out suffering and sin -- even the curse of evil -- in our own lives.  All of it is done through faith, and that is where we must start, with Him, and where we must end also with Him.  

 

 

 

I see men like trees, walking

 

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, 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 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 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."

 

- Mark 8:11–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, in those days of Christ's ministry, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, 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."  A sign from heaven, my study Bible explains, means a spectacular display of power.  It says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but these hypocrites have not recognized the signs already being performed because their hearts were hardened, and they ignored the works which were happening all around them.

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 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?"  The leaven of the Pharisees, according to my study Bible, is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, it explains, "leaven" is used both positively (as in the parable found at Matthew 13:33) and also negatively, as Jesus uses it in this instance.  In either case, what leaven symbolizes is a force powerful enough -- and frequently subtle enough -- to permeate and affect all that is around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). 

 

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 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 comments on this passage that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (see Matthew 11:21).  This is why, therefore, Jesus leads this blind man out of the town in order to heal him.  My study Bible comments that this is so that the people would not scoff at the miracle, and thus bring upon themselves greater condemnation.   (Let us note also that Jesus does the same with the people who ridicule Him at the time of the healing of Jairus' daughter; see Mark 5:40.  This is also done to shore up the faith of those who seek the healing.)  My study Bible further asks us to observe that this blind man was healed in stages; it says that this snows that he had only a small amount of faith, for healing occurs according to one's faith (Mark 6:5-6).  However, this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Jesus.  Christ's command not to return to the town symbolizes that we must not return to our sins once we have been forgiven, my study Bible says.  Note also that by doing so, this healed man will not surround himself with scoffers, but hopefully will remain in a place that helps preserve, protect, and grow his faith instead.  Those who seek healing in faith will often find it is necessary to separate oneself from old company or even community in order to retain the life in Christ we gain and the strength that comes through our faith, should such influences be detrimental to it.

 

The first thing we might note about today's reading is that what we might term the slow learning of the disciples parallels the healing in stages of the blind man in the second part of the reading.  This "slow learning" is also a matter of faith; for as the text says, their hearts were hardened.   That they had not understood  is also a matter which goes hand in hand with faith, and the depth of that faith in the heart.  If we go back to an earlier passage in St. Mark's Gospel, we find that the text tells us the disciples did not understand about the loaves, for their heart was hardened.  On that passage, my study Bible commented that to know Christ is a matter of the heart, and not simply the intellect.  It says that when our hearts are illumined by faith in God, they are open to receive God's presence and grace.  In the ascetic writings of the Church, we're told, the heart is known as "the seat of knowledge."  So, we must find this understanding of the heart for ourselves, if we are to understand our faith and how it works in us and for us.  Note how this understanding, in fact, grows.  Nothing is static, else Christ's mission -- and the ongoing mission of the Church -- would be in vain.  At the very beginning of our reading for today, we see for ourselves the "hardness of heart" of the Pharisees; they don't understand at all, and for reasons that conflict with what that understanding and faith would mean for them.  It would result in a loss of authority for their doctrine, and the need to repent and change.  They are blind in a sense that is symbolic, and also reflects a parallel in the healing of the blind man.  In their blindness, a demand for a sign, even if fulfilled, would do not good anyway, and so Christ responds with the truth that He will not provide proofs on demand, signs to convince.  His signs come in response to faith.  So, in this context, we move on to today's somewhat humorous passage in which the disciples cannot understand what Christ is talking about, and misunderstand His comment regarding "the leaven of the Pharisees" for criticism that they have forgotten to bring bread with them -- to Christ's seeming exasperation.  His words, "How is it you do not understand?" would seem to indicate that our Lord even marvels at this possibility.  Yet, they are His chosen disciples, and there is something essential that makes them different from the Pharisees.  They remain capable of growing in their faith, and growing in their understanding of Christ and the gift of His mission into our world, and His ongoing ministry in which they will participate and grow also.  Finally, we come to the healing of the blind man, which is such a significant passage for so many reasons.  There is first the understanding which my study Bible comments upon, the gradual healing of the man.  Note how it comes from Christ's repeated touch with His hands on the man's eyes.  We have already written above the notation in the study Bible regarding separation from those who scoff, and what an important component of our need to strengthen and shore up our faith that is.  One common example we might take from modern life is the struggle against addiction, and the Twelve Step program's advocacy for reliance upon a Higher Power for help.  Very frequently recovering addicts will find they need to separate themselves from old friends or even community in that same struggle, for bad influences are detrimental to sobriety.  It's the same with our need for our faith, and these deep matters of the heart.  We need to do all we can to protect and guard our hearts in the very need to practice and grow our faith as well, regardless of circumstances.  Like the disciples will do in their ongoing journey and learning from Christ, the blind man gradually recovers his sight, even as it is parallel to his faith.  "I see men like trees, walking" is a memorable image of an image coming gradually into focus, something we can't quite see nor understand with a bare grasp only of what it is.  It is Christ who gives sight and heals, Christ who teaches us that He is the light of the world by which we shall truly see.  That He has great patience while we learn and grow, just as with the disciples, is the gift of the love of God for us, and teaches us in turn how to love. 

 

 

"Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus said, "I am"

 

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.   

 

Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.'"  But not even then did their testimony agree.  And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.

 

- Mark 14:53–65 

 

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

 

  And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  In our previous reading (see above), we read of the young man (frequently thought to be the Evangelist Mark himself, or possibly John) who fled naked after He tried to follow Christ.  Here we read that Peter managed to follow at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  This sets the stage for the challenges Peter will face in our next reading.  

Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.'"  But not even then did their testimony agree.  Here we see the desperate search by the authorities (the chief priests and all the council) to find witness testimony that will convict Jesus.  Here are many false witnesses whose testimonies did not agree.   

And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.  Jesus testifies Himself, in answer to the question of the high priest, "I am."  In Greek this is ego eimi/Ἐγώ εἰμι.  It is the divine name of God as given to Moses in Exodus 3:14, as reported in the Septuagint version of the Scriptures commonly in use at the time.  (When Christ quotes from what we call the Old Testament, it is the Septuagint version reported in the Gospels.)  My study Bible comments that the use of this divine name here, the I am, indicates a theophany, or revelation of God Himself.  The use of this Name by a human being was considered to be blasphemy and was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16; see John 8:58), hence the response of the high priest. But because Jesus is fully God, His use of this Name is not blasphemy.  Rather, He is revealing His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  My study Bible adds that it is only in Mark's account that Christ's answer is this direct.  To sit at the right hand of the Power is to share authority with the Father.  This statement was clearly understood by the high priest to be a claim of equality with God, and therefore results in his response. 

 

 Our systems of justice today, particularly in the West, reflect our understanding of the injustice carried out against Jesus Christ.  We know what false witnesses are, we know and accept that the innocent -- and in this case, the profoundly and truly Innocent -- can be falsely convicted through false witnesses.  Even in ancient times, a false witness was unacceptable in legal systems.  Enshrined into our laws today is that this is so, even for defendants despised by the society for all kinds of reasons.  The same is true for testimony that is contradictory.  But the extraordinary thing about this hearing we read about today is that the ultimate witness is Christ Himself.  What is the case when it is the truth itself that people despise and want to reject?  In this case, the One who referred to Himself as the way, the truth, and the life is being rejected for stating clearly who He is.  What are we to make of that kind of a trial and conviction?  How do we see it?  How do we look at it?  What does that tell us, in fact, about our own propensity to reject the things we don't like, the things that threaten us, or take away our own righteous sense of ourselves?  But let us look at Christ Himself, for He came into the world to proclaim His gospel.  Luke tells us that as Jesus went into the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth, He read the prophecy of Isaiah, saying:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:16-30).  To these words Jesus added, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," thus rendering indignant to the point of murder the people of His hometown -- who could not accept that Jesus could be the Christ.  Thus we have this similar response in the high priest and members of the Council.  Jesus' truth is unacceptable for them.  It is too threatening to their places and the ways of life they know, the things they hold most precious, just as the people of Nazareth were indignant of their own perceived positions in relation to Jesus and His family.  If Jesus' words were true, what would that mean for them?  How would they have to change their own minds about life, about themselves and their places?  How would they have to change?  So, we must also ask ourselves what we're willing to do to accept a truth we might not like.  Are we prepared to go wherever it is that Christ would ask us to go?  This is the position the disciples were in at this time.  And there is a greater question here.  We know where Jesus will go, and we can see it previewed in the actions of those who spit on Him, mock Him, beat Him, blindfold Him demanding prophesy while they do so.  He will be treated with the contempt of those meting out violence and torture and the cruelty of crucifixion.  From this, we understand Christ's blood shed for us, for telling us His truth, for bringing us the gospel and the good news of our faith.  So as we are baptized into His life, what can we endure for this faith and this truth?  Do we at times find ourselves paying the price for our faith, for those who are indignant at our faith?  How do we know to accept this reality, to bear it even with humility and dignity if there is nothing we can do to change others and their response?  Can we change ourselves to accept our own suffering for His name's sake?  We make many decisions in life, and even the smallest choice can reflect our faith.  Christ declares Himself openly here before the high priest, knowing that His human death is coming.  There are all kinds of ways in which we may also suffer for our choices, some very small.  Those persons who have shared Christ's death for the sake of their faith we call martyrs.  In ways we can't completely understand, their suffering becomes the fertile ground of the Church, and there are martyrs today suffering for the sake of their Christian faith around the world.  For each of us who enter into His life through baptism and the Eucharist, we should put into perspective the times we go through difficulties for our faith, for we enter through participation in His cup, even in small ways, separating ourselves from the way of the world for His way when called to do so.  Let us consider His strength and courage and the power hidden from these men in Christ's truth, for it is there for each of us as well. For when we also find His strength and faith to continue through difficulties, and carry our own cross, then we in turn bring and share it with others as well and help to build His kingdom in this world.  Let us be true to who we are and follow Him.