I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 

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

 

- Luke 18:9–14 

 

Yesterday we read that the chief priests led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evil-doer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.  Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

 

  Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector."  My study Bible explains that the Pharisee is highly respected and a careful observer of the details of the Law, whereas the tax collector is despised as a sinner who collaborates with the occupying Roman forces, and is seen as betraying and cheating his own people.  

 

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' "  The practices of this Pharisee are laudable.  My study Bible calls them worthy examples to follow.  These good deeds named here (fasting and giving tithes) are primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion).  But without the participation of the heart -- in humility and repentance -- outward practices are worthless, my study Bible says, and they lead to pride and judgment of others.  Of importance to note is that the text tells us he prays with himself.  My study Bible comments that God is absent where there is boasting.  

 

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' "   According to my study bible, the tax collector shows by his posture an awareness of the state of his soul.  He stands far away from the altar of sacrifice, and his eyes are cast downward.  This prayer, God, be merciful to me a sinner, is the foundation of the Jesus Prayer (a practice designed to fulfill St. Paul's teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; see also this article), as is the refrain "Lord have mercy" that permeates worship and personal prayer. 

 

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   To be justified means to be forgiven and set right with God.  My study Bible comments here that inward humility is blessed, while pride in outward deeds is condemned.

 

Fr. Stephen Freeman (of the Glory to God for All Things blog) relates a story from the Twelve Step program Alcoholics Anonymous.  He writes, "I recall the words of an old-timer in AA to a young man who was troubled about AA’s talk about 'God' and a 'Higher Power': 'Son, the only thing you need to know about God is that you’re not him.'"   This anecdote may not explain who God is, but it gets to the point of something fundamental to Christ's story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  The Pharisee, a scrupulous observer of all outward religious laws and practices, apparently does not truly pray before God.  He prays "with himself."  This is deliberate language in the Gospels, directly from the Greek, which reads πρὸς ἑαυτὸν προσηύχετο; literally, he "prayed to (or toward) himself."  As my study Bible points out, this is in great contrast to the posture of the Tax Collector, who "would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven."   This hesitancy in facing God, so to speak, is an indication that the tax collector is all too well aware that it is God he stands before, and not another fallible and sinning human being such as himself.  By contrast, the Pharisee seems quite unaware of his own shortcomings, whatever they may be, and has no intention of bringing them up before God, but prays in a way that not only boasts about himself but casts aspersions at the one near him, the Tax Collector.  He not only prays "with himself," but fails to come to God even to ask what else it is that God may want of him.  Where there is no inquiry nor openness to the other (and in this case, the Other is God), there can be no growth.  Thus the Pharisee's prayer is a recipe for being stuck.  The truth is, we're either going toward God, or we're going the other way.  He prays "toward" or "facing" himself (as the Greek πρὸς indicates).  He's looking in his own mirror, at his reflection of himself to himself.  What we all need -- and the point of all worship really -- is to turn toward God, and find how that particular mirror reflects who we are.  In the Proverbs we read, "My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;  for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights" (Proverbs 3:11-12).  In today's lectionary selection, this is quoted by St. Paul in the reading from Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:1-14).  A loving God wishes us to be disciples, learners.  To return God's love, and to be embraced by God is to be taught, to be encouraged above all else to grow, to become more like God, for this is the great gift of true self held in our relationship to Creator.  If we pray only toward or with ourselves, well then, like the Pharisee, we stay stuck -- except stuck always leads backwards, for life moves on and there are always new things for us to learn and ways God asks us to grow through the tensions and contradictions of life.  For this Pharisee is deliberately blind to the ways God would lead him.  As Jesus asks frequently, echoing prophets of the Old Testament, "Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?"   So let us be justified like the tax collector, in facing God in our prayer, like the children we truly are, and finding what it is our loving Father wants for us, what Christ will teach us.  For He says, "Follow Me."  There's another anecdote but it's told to us by St. John, at the very end of his Gospel.  St. Peter is restored and given direction as he's told by the risen Christ, "Feed My lambs."  But Peter then turns and asks about John standing nearby, "But Lord, what about this man?"  Jesus replies to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."   So this direction is for all of us, if we, like the Pharisee in today's reading, fail to pay attention to what's ours to pay attention to, and look around instead.  It's a good reminder, "You follow Me." Lent is for keeping our focus on God, sharpening and honing our practice at doing so, and learning to be humble before God.  Let us take it one day at a time, and remember what we're to be about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

- Luke 5:27–39 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened when Jesus was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Him; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering or your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

 

  After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Levi, also known as Matthew, answer's Christ's call to "follow Me."  He leaves his occupation to become a disciple, my study Bible comments.  It notes that from the beginning of Christ's ministry, He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him (as we read a little further on in the text).  Levi was possibly one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (Luke 3:12).  

 

 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  My study Bible comments that this feast is an expression of Matthew's joy and gratitude.  The guest register, it says, is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness. 

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."    My study Bible tells us that Christ's earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But, of course, there will come a time when Christ's followers will be practicing the fast.  Jewish fasting practices would be transfigured in Christianity to reflect preparation for the wedding feast of the Messiah/Bridegroom at the end of the age.  Thus historically there have been practices of fasting in the Church to prepare for the feast of Easter, and also for Christmas and other short fasting periods before certain feasts or commemorations.  

 

 Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"   Christ here gives this parable of wineskins to illustrate the growing ranks of His Church, the New Covenant as it transfigures the Old.  My study Bible remarks that this final saying regarding old wine occurs only in Luke's account of this story.  It suggests that this last remark illustrates, first of all, the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, and secondly, the inner resistance which a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life.  Finally, it teaches us about the general stubbornness of the human heart. 

The analogy of the old wineskins and the new illustrates an important aspect of the difficulties of repentance.  We always want what we are used to, and it's often hard to accept the new and what is unfamiliar to us.  We're used to doing things a certain way, or being taught that a particular habit or way of doing things is good and preferable in general.  But just as the new wineskins allow for expansion, for new members welcomed into Christ's Church, so the practice of repentance asks us for a constant type of growth and expansion.  Often our faith and our prayers might lead us to make new choices, new decisions we haven't made before, new concepts we hadn't considered to embrace, or perhaps new alternatives to the ways we've always done things in the past.  Occasionally we run into seeming roadblocks in our lives, and we can't understand why things are not working or we seem to have hit a dead end.  It's then that prayer and spiritual guidance can help us find ways to move forward out of our "stuck" places, giving us options and insight into new possibilities and new ways of thinking.  The "new wineskins" of Christ offer us an opening to consider that within His Church and as His disciples we are always asked to grow and to expand, for we are made to learn (the word disciple in the Greek of the Gospels literally means "learner").  To grow within the discipline of following Christ is an expanding way of life, inviting us to continue toward that wedding feast of the Bridegroom and His Church, for union with our Lord has an infinite horizon beyond what we know.  While we may consider that repentance entails turning toward something we already know, the word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) actually implies change, and it literally means "change of mind."  Let us consider the ways Christ calls us to change, to expand our own ways of thinking, to follow Him.  

 

 

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 

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

 

- Luke 18:9–14 

 

Yesterday we were given the "first day" of the beginning of Christ's ministry (in John's Gospel), the testimony of John the Baptist:  Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

 

  Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector."  Today we are given the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  In the West, it is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  For the Eastern Churches (the Orthodox) Lent began on Monday, coinciding with our start of reading John's Gospel (which will continue tomorrow).  For Ash Wednesday, the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is given as the first day of Lent.  The Pharisee is highly respected, and a careful observer of the details of the Law, my study Bible says.  By contrast, the tax collector is despised as a sinner.  This is a person who collaborates with the occupying Roman forces, betraying and cheating his own people.  

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'"  These practices of the Pharisee are worthy examples to follow, my study Bible tells us.  His good deeds (fasting and giving tithes) are the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion).  But without a humble and repentant heart, the outward practices are worthless.  With such a perspective, they lead to pride and judgment of others.  Note that Jesus says he prays with himself.  My study Bible comments that God is absent where there is boasting.  

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'"  The tax collector shows by his posture an awareness of the state of his soul, my study Bible comments.  He stands far away from the altar of sacrifice.  His eyes are cast downward.  His prayer, God, be merciful to me a sinner, is the foundation of the Jesus Prayer, as is also the refrain "Lord have mercy" that permeates worship and personal prayer.  

Today's reading highlights something we might repeatedly understand from our faith in different dimensions, and that is the aspect of paradox.  In a literal world based on appearances, things often seem to our perception to be black and white.  There's good and evil, right and wrong, the one thing we need to do and the other thing we don't do.  But today's reading gives us paradox:  the Pharisee is a highly praised public person, full of seeming virtue in all that we might "see" of him as reported here in his words.  He fasts regularly, he gives tithes, and he compares himself very favorably with this tax collector.  Tax collectors, to the Jews of the period, were notorious sinners who worked against their own people, often using the might of the Roman state to extort extra money for themselves.  It seems that we can all find that image and popular opinion understandable.  But Jesus does not give us black and white, good and bad.  God's judgment is far more discerning than that.  Moreover, in telling us this parable, Jesus asks us to go further than black and white and good and bad.  Jesus takes us to that place of discernment of deeper realities than what we see on the surface.  Jesus asks us to gain the insight that sometimes what we see is deceiving, because we need to see the heart.  When God sent Samuel the prophet to the home of Jesse to anoint a new king over Israel among his sons, the first looked to him likely candidate, while David the youngest was away tending sheep.  But God said of the first, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (see 1 Samuel 16:1-13).  The rest were rejected by God, until David the youngest was brought in.  So often, the truths of our faith are not found in proofs and what's visible to the eye, but rather in paradox.  The truth of the matter here in our parable is that this tax collector has the highest virtue, the one that is the gateway to all else: humility.   The Pharisee does not.  In fact, in this language that tells us that the Pharisee "prayed with himself" we can see a hint of the myth of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image in a pool of water.  If all of our lives are about constructing some kind of image of ourselves for the eyes of others to admire, we're treading the same dangerous path.  Jesus perhaps reserves His worst criticisms for the Pharisees and scribes, in Matthew 23.  This is because of their hypocrisy, a way of life based purely upon one's own image in the eyes of the world.  In John's Gospel, John will tell us, "Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in [Jesus], 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).  What Jesus praises as "justified" in the tax collector in today's story is his willingness to see himself in the eyes of God; that is, his humility.  For it's really the judgment of God that matters, and that's what the tax collector -- no doubt a sinner -- seeks in his prayer.  Just as the Cross seemed to be, in its surface image, the absolute worst thing that could happen, we know that it is the instrument of our salvation, and the moment of Christ's glorification.  Such is the element of paradox which returns again and again in our faith, for we can't see only with the eyes of the world and know the mind of God.  Sometimes even a great evil may serve the purpose of God.  We human beings need to learn through failure and experience -- and to persist in our faith.  That is, even under such circumstances, to put our trust in God.  Humility is the key virtue to all other virtues in the traditional perspective of our Church.  It is the most important thing to keep in mind as we go through Lent toward the Cross, and to Resurrection.

 

 

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And he said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others  who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

- Luke 5:27–39 

 

Yesterdays we read that it happened when Jesus was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could mot find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

 

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And he said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Here Levi (Matthew) answer's Christ's call to him, "Follow Me."  He leaves his occupation to become a disciple, as did Peter together with James and John Zebedee, in Monday's reading.  My study Bible comments that from the beginning of His ministry, Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him in today's reading.  Levi may also have been one of the tax collectors prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (Luke 3:12) in the same way that Peter, James, and John were first followers of John the Baptist (John 1:35-51).  

  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others  who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."    My study Bible comments that this feast expresses Matthew's joy and gratitude.  It says that the guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness.  

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved."   My study Bible comments on these verses that Christ's earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  In Jewish practice, fasting typically occurred twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover, additional public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; 1 Ezekiel 8:49-50; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the  Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But, my study Bible says, the Jews saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Christ here is proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible adds, fasting is not gloomy but desirable, a bright sadness, for by fasting we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"   My study Bible explains that this saying only occurs in Luke's account.  It notes that it illustrates several things.  First, there is the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant.  Then there is the inner resistance a person faces in turning away from a sinful way of life.  Finally, it teaches the general stubbornness of the human heart.  

Perhaps nowhere else do we read Christ stating so clearly that His mission is to heal than in today's reading, and His statement in which He compares Himself to a physician:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  If we may close attention to what He's saying, He's telling us something that isn't all that popular today in our common culture.  Christ is, in fact, describing repentance as the ultimate medicine for what ails people.  We don't often think of repentance as something healing, that takes us out of some form of illness -- whether that be a mental or emotional ailment, a spiritual or soul ailment, or even a physical ailment.  This is because our common conceptions of repentance are overlaid with a terrible burden of guilt or extreme shame, with the shadow of a punitive and accusative finger pointing at us.  But the word translated as repentance is μετάνοια/metanoia.  It means "change of mind" but in a deeper sense that if we were to simply think of it in intellectual terms.  This word for "mind" indicates a change in the inner person such that our way of thinking is transformed, including how we perceive things.  So repentance is a kind of transformation that changes who we are, our orientation to things, a recognition that we need to do something differently because it changes how we look at our reality.  If we perceive that we are hurting ourselves or others, a repentance can take place through a healthy sense of shame (not one that defines us), one that applies correction justly and reasonably.  Repentance in this sense is reorienting ourselves to Christ, to God, so that we are in better communion than we were before.  It is for this reason that it is the ultimate act of healing.  That's why it applies to all problems.  Even a physical ailment or hardship one cannot change is "healed" for the self through personal change and reorientation to how we will approach our lives and our relationship to God.   Twelve Step programs, if looked at closely, are a methodical approach to a plan for repentance, transformation.  All of our lives in the Church are directed toward this because we seek a deeper and growing dependency and communion with God through worship, through the Eucharist, through confession and repentance, through all the acts with which we dedicate ourselves to our Lord, including prayer and fasting.  A deepening faith isn't possible without this sense of repentance as transformation.  There will always be ways in which we need to change our minds to come to a deeper communion with God and the whole great cloud of saints.   As God is infinite, so then is our capacity to come to know God better, and this happens through this process of change, a willingness to be led like a child in the Lord's embrace, to reconsider and change one's mind.  It's also important to understand that we're not absolute like God is; we are creatures subject to change.  Therefore if we're not on the path toward God, we're headed the other way.  We don't stand still, we're not fixed points.  So these sinners become saved in ways that the Pharisees and their scribes cannot, will not -- because they don't necessarily think they have anything to learn from Christ, or see the ways in which repentance is for them, too.  They can't open their minds to that; as a result, throughout the story of Christ's ministry, they dig in deeper against Jesus.  Of course, there are great exceptions, like Nicodemus (see John 3), who comes to learn from Christ and eventually becomes a part of the Church.  Possibly our most known example is St. Paul, who describes himself as "a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee" (Acts 23:6), and was the most feared persecutor of Christians.   Philippians 3 is perhaps a very great statement on repentance, for in it St. Paul describes himself as one who has the greatest reason to have confidence in the flesh, in his spiritual inheritance and pedigree as a Jew.  "But," he writes, "what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:7-11).  This great giving up of what was his by flesh, so to speak, for the inheritance and gain in Christ is indeed a tremendous statement of transformation, repentance, and if we read closely, he describes it also as an ongoing process toward perfection, and one meant for each one of us to undertake, "for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).  The most vivid and succinct illustration Christ gives us of the principle illustrated in today's reading is the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).  This parable is found in Luke's Gospel, and is addressed "to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others."  Perhaps St. Luke, called the "beloved physician" by St. Paul (Colossians 4:14) had a powerful insight into the effectiveness and necessary means of this medicine.  He is the one who uniquely reports the difficulty of taking it, and what it repairs:  "And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  But nonetheless it's the new that we need, and that need is ongoing.

 

 

But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after healing two demon-possessed men who dwelt across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus got into a boat, crossed back over the sea, and returned to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  for which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Matthew is also named Levi (see Mark 2:14).  My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who in turn were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Let us keep in mind that this implied using the power of the Roman state, including its soldiers, to do so and extort their own people.  My study Bible says that because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, among fellow Jews they became objects of hatred and were considered  unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Since Jesus dines with them here, and accepts a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), this is offensive to the Pharisees.  But, returning to themes we have already observed in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus goes back to God's root purpose in terms of divine activity in the world:  healing.  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.   "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)  is not a rejection of sacrifice per se.  It is instead a statement that mercy is the higher priority (see Psalm 51).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."  Here my study Bible points out for us that the Jews would typically fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were fasts that were regularly observed or proclaimed on occasion (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But in contrast to those times of fasting, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast; a time of joy and gladness.  What Jesus is doing here is proclaiming that day, as He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  

 

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  For Christians, my study Bible says, fasting is not gloomy, but is instead desirable, a "bright sadness."  This is because, in fasting, we see ourselves as gaining self-control and thereby preparing ourselves for the Wedding Feast toward which we look.  The old garment and old wineskins, it notes, refer to the Old Covenant and the Law, seen as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who can't be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

My study Bible describes Christ's reference to the new wine as the Holy Spirit, which lives within renewed people.  How beautiful is this understanding, which gives us a sense that we are here for a purpose, that Christ came for a purpose, to give us this indwelling new wine, the Holy Spirit, so that we also may look forward to the time of the Bridegroom, Christ's return.  We should notice how in the passage on fasting, my study Bible's notes ask us to focus on how Christ's Incarnation and ministry asks us to turn toward that time of the Bridegroom, always keeping this in mind, so that everything is seen in this light.  If we fast, it is because we look forward to that time, and we prepare for it.  Don't we know already that we're not quite prepared to dwell in that heavenly Kingdom as one capable of dwelling in perfect harmony with God?  So we practice prayer, and we practice fasting, we learn to be a disciple, and hopefully grow in discipleship -- not because we need to sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, but because we look toward Christ and His plans for us.  We hope for that indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we might be transfigured like the wine that through mysterious enzymatic action grows into the good wine.  We worship so that we participate in that communion of saints that is meant to take us somewhere, to transfigure who we are and even who we think we are.  St. Matthew the repentant tax collector, so grateful to be taken on as disciple by Christ, is not presented as immediately perfect, completed, even if our Physician has forgiven him and called him to join Him.  On the contrary, St. Matthew the tax collector is brought into a new place where He has something toward which He now goes forward, a bright light to guide His life and whatever things will be changed in Him.  He has a cherished hope, and an indwelling of light, just as we all do who are on this path toward the place to which He calls us forward, to His light, to the wedding feast.  If Christ is our Bridegroom, we clearly also need always remember that He is our Physician.  He is here to heal us, and that indwelling of the Holy Spirit is meant to take us on the road to healing, where perfect health in this sense is our own capacity to live in the Kingdom, to dwell with God in that heavenly Kingdom Christ has promised.  The Kingdom is here among us and within us (Luke 17:21), but it is working in us to make us more fit for its dwelling and the return of the Bridegroom.  When we struggle with our journey in His light, let us consider the help we have to find the way, to make the changes we need to (as will Matthew), so that we may receive the light in its fullness that shines on us, even when we can't fully see it.  For this new wine must be preserved in the eternal day of the Kingdom which is always at hand, in which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). 

 

 

 

But new wine must be put into new wineskins

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins." 

 

- Mark 2:13–22 

 

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about those things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Let us take note here that as first priority, this passage begins with Jesus once again teaching, and this time to all the multitude, by the sea.  Levi the son of Alphaeus is also known to us as St. Matthew.   According to my study Bible, he's the only one of the Twelve who has a powerful position in society, as he is assigned by a Roman overlord to collect taxes from fellow Jews in a specific area.  These men, backed by the Roman state, were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  My study Bible says that their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean.  For Jesus to dine with tax collectors, and to accept one as a disciple ("Follow Me") is offensive to the Pharisees, even scandalous.  But Christ's defense gives us the orientation of His ministry:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."

 

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."   My study Bible explains that in Jewish practice, it was typical to fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover there were regularly observed and also occasionally proclaimed public fasts (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  By contrast, however, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast, a time of great joy and gladness.  Here, Jesus is proclaiming that day, my study Bible says, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, it adds, fasting (such as in traditional Lenten practice) is not gloomy but rather desirable, a "bright sadness."  By fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  My study Bible also explains that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ. The new wine, it says, is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law. 

I was recently listening to a podcast (see here) in which it was explained that we can read the Bible, and the various time periods given in the Old and New Testaments, as times of preparation.  In this light, the New Covenant given by Christ isn't a simply replacement of the Old Covenant, but rather it is viewed as a renewal of the Covenant between God and God's people.  Indeed, this perspective makes sense in light of the concept that Christ initiated a new time (referred to in its entirety as "end times" while we await His return), and that this new time began at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Indeed, there was also an Old Testament Pentecost, associated with the giving of the Law through Moses.  This was called the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot.  As St. Paul explains, in this perspective the time of the Law given through Moses is "renewed" in Christ by the coming of the Holy Spirit; as such this renewed time means that instead of the Law written on tablets, this new time is one of the Law written on the heart.  See Hebrews 8:7-13, in which St. Paul refers to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34) as being fulfilled at this time.  In this perspective stated by St. Paul, then, Jesus speaks of the new wine as that new thing which needs room in order to grow and to expand, the powerful force of transformation at work likened to something akin to the enzymatic action of fermentation.  Hence, new wineskins are necessary.  Jesus' metaphor of new wine teaches us about a new vintage which cannot be placed in the old container which held the old wine, for something new and dynamic is happening.  Jesus the Physician has come to heal, and that means calling not the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Something new and tremendous is happening, and something transformational and powerful, that works like the enzymes of the yeasts at work in wine, in a way that is hidden and unseen to us, but nevertheless producing dynamic results we can see in the necessary expansion of the new wineskins.   So often we forget that our New Covenant is one meant to bring about transformational effects in us.  These are the effects of the laws the Lord has put in our minds and written on our hearts so that we turn and are healed (Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:15).  If we think of the New Covenant as not one that is simply "new" but is in effect renewed, then it seems that we come closer to understanding the power of our faith and its working in Christ and through the Holy Spirit.  For this dynamic action is not simply a one-time declaration or label we join with a single choice, but rather it institutes an ongoing process -- always renewing and at work within us.   The Lord's work is always making all things new (the literal meaning of the Greek in Revelation 21:5), and hence we are continually asked to renew ourselves and grow in these new wineskins of His covenant with us.  Our growth is meant to be a continual expansion.  Lent is a particular time to focus on this dynamic growth, making time and room to renew our life of prayer and our focus on covenant in the love of Christ.

 

 

 

 

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 

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

 

- Luke 18:9–14 

 

This week for those in the West (and also for the Armenian Apostolic Oriental Orthodox) is the beginning of Lent.  The readings of the lectionary correspond to our preparations for the forty days of Lent, traditionally and historically a set-apart time of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer as we move toward the celebration of Christ's Resurrection.  Yesterday we read that, after His night trial at the home of the high priest, Jesus was led from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.  Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king them?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all.  But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover.  Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  Then they all cried again, saying, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!"  Now Barabbas was a robber.  

 

  Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector."  Jesus tells this parable in Luke's Gospel as He is about to begin His journey toward Jerusalem for the final week of His earthly life.  My study Bible explains that the Pharisee is highly respected in the society, and a careful observer of the details of the Law.  But the tax collector is despised as a sinner, collaborating with the occupying Roman forces, and betraying and cheating his own people.  

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' "  My study Bible comments that the practices of this Pharisee are worthy example for all to follow.  He does good deeds such as fasting and giving tithes (two hallmarks of historical Lenten practices, we may take notice here) are in fact the primary weapons against the passions of lust and greed (adultery and extortion).  But without a humble and repentant heart, such outward practices are deemed worthless by my study Bible, and under such conditions they lead only to pride and judgment of others.  It's important to note that the text tells us this man prays with himself.  As my study Bible explains, God is absent where there is boasting.  

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' "  This tax collector, my study Bible says, shows by his posture an awareness of the state of his soul.  He stands far from the altar of sacrifice, and his eyes are cast downward.  His prayer, God, be merciful to me a sinner, is the foundation of the Jesus Prayer.  Moreover, the refrain "Lord have mercy" permeates worship practices as well as personal prayer.  

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   To be justified means to be forgiven and set right with God, my study Bible explains.  It notes here that inward humility is blessed while pride in outward deeds is condemned.  

Today's parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector places a great deal of emphasis on humility.  Perhaps this is the singularly most important virtue in terms of our focus during Lent.  Humility is often thought of as something we express before other people, or perhaps in our face to face encounters with others.  But humility only properly begins with humility before God first.  It is that relationship with God that sets down the proper conduct and boundaries for our relationships and communion with other people.  Humility does not imply that one is "less than" another person, nor that one is meant to be "humiliated" or to grovel before others.  Humility is, instead, our guarantee of reliance upon something that is real, a correct assessment of ourselves and our circumstances, and that we don't step outside of or beyond boundaries that are proper to ourselves.  We might also note that in today's parable, Jesus compares the two men in terms of their levels of humility before God, but they are not compared to one another on any other ground.  Jesus does not focus on adding up the virtues of the Pharisee that he brags about, nor does Jesus tear down the Tax Collector for the work that he does.  In this story, the example is about how we come to terms with who we are by being face to face, in humility, with God.  It is once again a way of seeing that we can only come to measure ourselves with hope of a realistic assessment if we do so by coming to God in humility, with God's judgment as the proper yardstick for measurement.   At the end of John's Gospel, there is the story about St. Peter coming to Christ after his denials of Christ, and after Christ's Resurrection.  In that story, Jesus first asks Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" and when Peter replies affirmatively, Jesus tells him what he is to do:  "Feed my lambs."  In this way, Peter is restored to Christ after his three denials of Christ.  But then, another thing happens.  Peter -- as is so frequently the case -- isn't quite satisfied in his exuberance.  He then turns to Jesus and asks about John, who is nearby, and asks Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"  Jesus replies to Peter, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me" (see John 21:15-22).   In other words, it's up to Peter to 'mind his own business,' so to speak, and focus on what is his to do, not on others.  In this sense today's teaching on humility is also pertinent, for our jobs do not consist of comparing ourselves to others, one way or another.  We stand before Christ, and only humility is appropriate for this relationship and communion, because it is in Christ that we find One who knows us far better than we know or understand ourselves, and One whose love encompasses all things, including the particular roles God desires for us in life.  We needn't fear this humility, because even when we are corrected, we are received in love, and God's truth is always for our benefit.  So let us get used to this idea of finding ourselves in that place where we place love of God as our first priority, and love of neighbor in relationship to that (see Matthew 22:36-40).  In this way there is no sense of envy nor comparison, there is no relationship of competition within a communion, but rather simply a desire to love and to be loved in God's embrace of ourselves and our community.  These conditions are essential for us to understand, for humility of the type which Christ exemplifies can only work in this way for us.  This is the way to sanity and health for all the things that ail us.  Let us seek God's love in this way, as does the tax collector, and find where true righteousness is for us, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me"

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9–17 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.   

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   My study Bible tells us that Matthew is also named Levi (Mark 2:14).  It says that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean (Matthew 11:19).  So, Jesus dining with them, and even accepting a tax collector as a disciple (let us note, with the command, "Follow Me") is offensive to the Pharisees.  But Christ teaches us His own defense:  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6) isn't a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible comments, but rather shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  My study Bible explains that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were public fasts which were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But the day of the Messiah was something entirely different -- a wedding feast, a time of joy and gladness.  Jesus is proclaiming that day, and declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  My study Bible comments here that for Christians, fasting is not gloomy but desirable, a bright sadness, for by fasting they gain self-control and prepare themselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as imperfect and temporary; the new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law. 

Everything about Jesus' teaching and effect is renewal.  All that He does and teaching reflects the words spoken by the One who sat on the throne in Revelation 21:5:  "Behold, I am making all things new."  In the Greek, it means effectively, "I am [always making] all things new."  In today's reading we see this explicitly taught in these two encounters.  First, to draw Matthew, a hated tax collector, who, while he is a fellow Jew, is despised by the others for he works for the Romans.  Moreover, tax collectors were also notorious for using their position to collect extra revenues for themselves.  We can simply imagine the picture of tax collectors in the mind of the Jews at that time, in which they were seen not only as working for the oppressive Romans but against their own people.  Jesus orients us to the aim and meaning of this constant effect of renewal; it is healing and He is physician:  "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."  These things are perfectly encapsulated when He says, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance," implying both renewal and healing.  Both together, taken with Christ as physician, imply transformation.   In this context, we come to the question of fasting, which will also be transformed through the renewing effect of Christ, and the new wine that will come as a result of His ministry.   Neither the old garment nor the old wineskin will do, because with the expansive movement of renewal, a stretch is necessary.  There must be room for growth, a way to take in those who will be coming into this place of renewal.  So this is the power of Christ, exemplified in His Passion, death, and Resurrection, in which while the old passes, transformation and renewal bring something new.  His healing power as physician will even transform death for human beings into the promise of Resurrection.  What this story implies is that sometimes healing is not the predictable thing we expect; transformation implies a change that might be new for us.  But, like Matthew and the rest of His disciples, we "Follow Him." 

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

- Mark 2:13-22 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.   Levi the son of Alphaeus is also known to us as Matthew, and is the apostle whose Gospel bears that name (Matthew 9:9).  

And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who then were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  This would amount to a type of extortion backed by Roman might at their disposal.  Therefore, their collaboration with the occupying Romans, couple with their fraud and corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean (Matthew 11:19).  As Jesus dines and accepts a tax collector as His disciple ("Follow Me"), He offends the scribes and Pharisees.  But Christ's defense is simple, says My study Bible.  He goes where the need of a physician is greatest.  He did not come to call the righteous, He says, but sinners, to repentance.  In Matthew's version of this story, Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Hosea, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13).  

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  Here my study Bible explains to us that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were public fasts which were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But for the Jews, the day of the Messiah was a wedding feast.  That is, a time of joy and gladness.  Here Jesus proclaims that day, and declares Himself to be the Messiah or Bridegroom.  My study Bible adds that for Christians, fasting is not gloomy but rather desirable -- often called a bright sadness.  For by fasting we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for this Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins are images of the Old Covenant and the Law, which is viewed in this perspective as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  My study Bible elaborates that the new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law. 

 So how do we, as Christians, understand the Holy Spirit dwelling within us as renewed people?  For most Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit is a gift conferred at Holy Baptism.  In this light, we understand fasting and ascetic practices as those things designed for us to pay attention to this gift within ourselves, so that we might focus more deeply on the things of the Spirit, and see where God leads us to make us holy people.  This works not just as individuals but as a community living the life of our faith.  So, in today's reading, we have these mixed images of fasting and a wedding feast.  Christ announces that He is the Bridegroom, and more than a bridegroom.  For He is also Physician.  The Pharisees and scribes are scandalized that He calls tax collectors to be His disciples.  As we indicated in yesterday's reading and commentary, for the Jews, sin was a kind of contaminant, akin (and sometimes synonymous) with disease.  We can see that in the attitudes of the Pharisees and scribes to Christ dining with people who were considered to be sinners.  But Christ brings several things into this picture of what was considered to be ascetic or pious practice.  First, He characterizes Himself as Physician, indicating that sin is something not simply put aside somewhere and projected outside of oneself and community, but something that needed to be healed.  Moreover, in and through Himself, sin was possible to heal.  Therefore the new wineskins -- that must be used for a new people (new wine) are necessary, because this new understanding, this new covenant, is something that needs room to grow.  It must be able to expand, and its dynamic action is something that must be allowed to grow and to change our experience of sin and holiness.  The enzymatic action that produces new wine needs to be allowed to expand.  It is akin to the work of the Holy Spirit, and makes a metaphor to grace that works as energies to transform and transfigure.  In other words, to heal what needs changing.  It's the whole notion of healing in itself that is new here, and it is the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, even fasting becomes transfigured; as my study Bible calls it, a time of bright sadness.  This is because, in the words of St. Paul, we fast based on a hope of something to come.  St. Paul writes, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance" (Romans 8:22-25).  Fasting and other ascetic practices prepare us, as my study Bible says, for the Wedding Feast, the time of the Bridegroom.  These practices are meant to help us to focus on the indwelling of the Spirit, removing the distractions that keep us away from this faithful focus.  We fast from the things that distract us from prayer and worship and the remembrance of God and where we are within God's community.  We fast from the things that keep us from hearing the things we need to change.  For this is the real meaning of repentance, to change one's mind.   So let us deeply focus on what is happening in today's reading, the healing of sin and sinners, the Physician and Bridegroom -- who does not repudiate fasting altogether, but rather transfigures it as He does all things He touches, even as He calls Matthew the tax collector to follow Him.