Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my Father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  

 

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

 

- Matthew 8:18-27 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had come down from the mountain (where He preached the Sermon on the Mount) great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.  Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."   The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." 

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  My study Bible comments that, since the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it expresses both His humanity and His divinity.  Here it's a reference to Christ's human condition, but in Matthew 25:31-33 it describes Christ's divine authority.  

 

 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my Father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  My study Bible tells us that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but rather is teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as the highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.  

 

 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  Christ's mastery over creation is yet another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  My study Bible explains that commands to the sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 65:5-6; 107:29).  That He was asleep shows His humanity, for as a human being, he needed rest.  In His Incarnation, He assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, of which sleep is one.  My study Bible adds that this image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  It says that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul. 

 

 We would all like to be in that boat with Christ when we are in a storm, or in a tempest of trouble.  When calamity strikes in our lives, it would be wonderful to think of Jesus asleep in the boat, or in our boat, so to speak.  But we have Christ with us through our prayers, and the Holy Spirit who will testify of Christ, not speaking "on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come" and will "take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 15:26; 16:13-15).  So, even though it may feel like Christ is sleeping in terms of His awareness of what we go through, and that we are like the disciples who want to shout, "We are perishing!" He is nevertheless with us.  While Christ's miracles are extraordinary and instantaneous, it seems that often we must have patience in dealing with our own difficulties.  It seems that prayer allows us to call upon help, to shore up strength, but when it accompanies difficulties we are in a place where we can't see the next step ahead of us.  Then is the time we put confidence in God, so to speak.  We do all that we can, explore all the ways we might solve or understand what we're going through, and with forbearance find that we simply await the next step that might come to us.  Often it seems that prayer works through time, that the help we don't see today will unfold without our being in control or even aware of it.  We always have Christ's admonition to the disciples to recall, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Over and over again in the Gospels, Jesus reminds us, "Do not fear."  We have recently finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus counsels us not to magnify our anxieties, fears, and worries (see this reading).  Perhaps our greatest anxieties come from the feeling and the knowledge that we are not in control of everything in our lives, and that extends of course to the lives of others whom we care about.  It's possible that modern life gives us much more of a sense of control than our forbears had, with new technologies, medicines, and development that seems to remind us of our power to build solutions to problems.  It may give us a sense that human life can be perfected in material terms.  But when we put our confidence in Christ, we have another kind of assurance, which comes from our orientation and communion with Him.  The Gospels teach us of His love, and of the transcendent reality of God with us.  God does not ask us to choose between the material things that are helpful to us and our faith, but rather asks us to put our faith first and let that define and shape how we live our lives in the world and relate to the world, how we use our resources and for what.  Seek first the kingdom of God, as Christ taught when He preached against excess anxiety and worry, as those don't do a lot to help us when we need it.  It's perhaps ironic that modern developments seek to help control and solve problems in ways that weren't possible in the past, and yet anxieties and stresses may be the most common problems of the developed world.  For whatever era or place we live, let us think of Christ on the boat.  Even led by His presence, He does not lead the disciples away from problems and difficulties.  He leads them through them.  As my study Bible tells us, it is to teach us to call upon God in our own storms, not to promise a life without struggles.  We won't be judged by how "perfect" our lives are, but how we live with imperfection.  For this is what our faith is for.  In the first part of our reading, we learn that even the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.   In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul contrasts the state of the apostles with others, "And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now" (1 Corinthians 4:12-13).  "We live in a world in which we are caught in a type of wilderness where there is good and bad, beauty and heartbreak, difficulties and grace.  Let us pursue God's grace, and rest in our faith, learning more deeply what that means for us and how to live it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

 

 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

 

- Mark 4:35-41 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, after beginning to preach in parables, then asked, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."  And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.   

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"  My study Bible explains that the Lord's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  Commands to the sea can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-6, 107:29).  It notes that Jesus was asleep because, as a man, he needed rest.  In Christ's Incarnation, He assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, including sleep.  Additionally, this image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is a traditional one used to illustrate the Church.  My study Bible remarks that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Jesus' rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of Christ's calming the tempests in the human soul.  

My study Bible comments that Christ's  rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in our souls.  Such a commentary makes it clear that "tempests" are the stuff of life within all of our collective experiences, and thus we should think about how we bring them to the Church, to Christ.  If we all experience these upheavals, times when we're afraid, when we don't know what is going to happen next or what the outcome will be, then we all have times when our faith is tested and our trust in Christ becomes, at least in some sense, challenged.  The disciples ask Jesus (who is asleep on a pillow), "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  This is clearly a time of the testing of their faith, as their challenge to Jesus expresses.  Doesn't He care?  Doesn't our Lord care if we perish?   But this question phrased in this way in the Gospel indicates something much deeper than human physical death, for this word is quite often used for a deeper, eternal death, a spiritual death.  It's also translated as to destroy or to annihilate, a certain death.  So, if we hear this question posed to Christ on those terms, we can most certainly say with confidence that Christ cares indeed about whether or not we will perish in an eternal or spiritual sense, because it is for this reason that He has come into the world, to save us all in this sense.  And perhaps, this is what we should think about when we think of perishing, and the tempests of life.  For the times of the testing of our faith don't really rest so much upon the outcome to our physical life conditions in this world, but the spiritual ones.  Do we come out of harrowing times with resentment toward God, or a detachment, or with a lack of faith?  These are the questions that seem more pertinent than whether or not we suffer in some sense that is physical, for all of us have expectations that we one day will die in the human, mortal sense.  While life in this world is indeed precious, and is given to us and created by God for us to cherish and cultivate, there's a deeper death implied in the word to "perish," and that's particularly true of the Greek word from which it's translated (ἀπόλλυμι/apollymi).  It's also the root word used to name "the Destroyer" or the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11.   So, we may ask, does Christ care if we are perishing?  And most certainly and emphatically the answer to that question is "yes."  He will die on the Cross to save us from that permanent, eternal spiritual death.  But in the reading, Jesus asks the disciples, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  In some sense, we can also understand that there are times in life we're given this experience of some sort of "storm" so that we strengthen our faith through it.  Relying on Christ, on prayer, on help from other faithful in the Church, becomes a way of learning and growing in dependence upon Christ through our fear, teaching us more about resilience and endurance, and even how our faith works through difficult circumstances.  So, in this context, the disciples will learn about facing the tempests which are yet to come to them, when they will go out into the world and preach the gospel, and brave persecutions of all kinds.  Oftentimes we may find that it is through difficult circumstances that our faith becomes deeper, teaching us not only about resiliency under duress, but even the creative potentials hidden to us that become revealed through persistent faith, to see a light in the tunnel, a path forward, a way to resolve something which remains a blessed sense of life and its continuity.  Frequently, outcomes may not be what we hoped for or expected, but faith leads to a different path that turns out to be one filled with light, one we had not expected nor understood before the storm and testing.  A persistent faith in facing a difficult situation may frequently produce unforeseen solutions and new ways of thinking to learn.  So Christ's faith works in us, and His powerful care remains active, even when He seems to be asleep or missing to us.  As human beings, these form our common experiences, for we are so often weak and at the mercy of forces beyond our personal control.  We can either put faith in the power of control, or faith in Christ who teaches us what is possible for us.  So often our choices seem to come down to that, a basic dichotomy that poses to us the very question of the reality of our existence and what foundation life is based on.  Where will you put your trust?

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head

 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 

 

- Matthew 8:18–27 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had come down from the mountain after preaching the Sermon on the Mount, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and sad, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." 

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."    My study Bible comments that since the term Son of Man is a reference to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it's an expression of both His humanity and His divinity.  Here this refers to Christ's human condition.  In Matthew 25:31-33 it is used to describe Christ's divine authority.  Regarding the commend to "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead," my study Bible says that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but rather is teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as our highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.  Let us note that these verses follow upon the last in yesterday's reading, in which Jesus spoke of His human condition, despite His miraculous ability to heal illness.  Quoting from Isaiah 53:4 (see also 1 Peter 2:24), the text tells us that Jesus' use of the term Son of Man fulfills the prophecy of the suffering Messiah.  As Christ suffers with humanity, we who follow Him must be prepared for our own at to,es difficult choices made for the sake of serving God.

 

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"   My study Bible comments that the Lord's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  Commands to the sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 66:5-6, 107:29).  Jesus was asleep because, as a human being, He needed rest.  In Christ's Incarnation, as has been the theme throughout this reading, Christ assumed all the natural actions and needs of the flesh, of which sleep is one.   Additionally, this image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is one traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study Bible comments that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.

 

 How does Christ calm our tempests?  There is first of all the understanding of the trust which we put in Christ.  This is not the kind of trust in which we confide our deepest desires to Christ and expect Him to answer every prayer as we hope He will.  It is, effectively, the kind of trust in which we accept that whatever our circumstances there is something we can gain from them by trusting in Him even to guide us through what seems perilous, or horrific.  If we think back to the early Christians, we know of the terrible persecutions they endured for their faith, submitting to martyrdom as did He.  When we have times to make difficult choices, such as the man who had to choose between discipleship to Christ and going back to bury his father, we also begin to understand what it is to bring the Kingdom into this world and carry our own crosses.  We will come across the heartbreaking and difficult understanding that there are those who will hinder our capacity to do that, with demands which we cannot meet.  This seems harsh, but we need to consider that the world we live in imposes harsh circumstances on everyone at times, whether or not we can trace them to the struggle to serve God in a direct or obvious sense.  Indeed, we cannot be surprised at the difficulties that come in opposition to Christ and to Christ working in us and among us.  What we turn to Christ for is the kind of peace that is meant to teach us where our true roots are, where we find ourselves in the security of love, and how we can follow His love.  The Cross is the symbol of what is possible through God's work in our lives and in our world, turning grim prospects into a victory of spiritual truth and meaning, of Resurrection.  On the other side of the tempest, we don't know what awaits. We live in a world which in many ways reminds us of opposition to Christ, and yet we hold to His love for us.  He has lived as one of us, experienced what we do, and loves us.  In this we must trust.

 

Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

 

 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

 

- Mark 4:35–41 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

 

 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"  My study Bible comments here that Christ's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah, and that He is divine.  It notes that commands to the sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 66:5-6, 106:29).  Moreover, Christ was asleep because as a human being, he needed rest.  Note that we are even told that He was on a pillow.  The Man who will suffer so much knows the need for basic comforts.  So in today's reading, we see not only evidence of His divine identity, but also that in His Incarnation, He has assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, of which sleep is one.  My study Bible adds for us that this image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  The disciples here evidence faith mixed with unbelief.  They showed faith when they came to Him, but unbelief when they said they were perishing.  Jesus' rebuke of the storm, my study Bible notes, is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.

 

 I do find in my life that this sort of testing, if you will, goes on all the time.  My study Bible comments that "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly."  Sometimes I feel that this is the whole route of the Christian journey of faith, and as paradoxical and strange as it may seem to those who have not experienced this, it seems as if we the faithful are those who are being prepared for something.  That is, we are disciples like the disciples in the Gospels.  We are permitted to go through difficulties, and we make the choices to call upon God and learn more about our faith through such experiences.  As difficult and challenging as this may be, it is clearly a part of our faith.  God permits us to live in a world beset by evil, with both good and bad influences.  Since we accept Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, and so much of the faith is about His power and God's goodness and truth, we must also accept that the world remains a place of trauma, evil, and deceit for a reason.  That is, we might wonder why Christ did not simply fix it all and correct everything here so that we live in a perfect world.  I would venture to answer this question by stating that if we did, we wouldn't be learning anything.  We wouldn't have this kind of preparation, refining, and challenging of our faith that leads us through a kind of a journey someplace.  We wouldn't have saints if it were so, we wouldn't have apostles, and we wouldn't have our own learning curve for the deepest values and meanings of life.  Perhaps one of the greatest challenges one can have are health issues in a loved one.  I recently read the blog of a man whose child has an exceptionally rare genetic disorder which causes unpredictable seizures that can last for unpredictably long times. (He and his wife publish updates at this site.)  There are numerous health complications from this, and even from attempted treatments.  But it is with faith that these parents pursue the health and care of their child, and without that faith one would venture to guess it would be impossible.  What seems revealed, above all, from their writing is the tremendous love between this family in its struggles, and how transcendent and meaningful that is.  It is akin to the Cross, and the love believers understand from Christ's suffering and Resurrection.  God is with us in that suffering, and pulls us up in Resurrection.  Both, together, can take on myriad forms in our life in this world.  We need not await life after physical death to experience these things, just as the stories of the disciples and the beginnings of the Church teach us.  St. Paul seems to echo this strongly when he writes, "And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'" (1 Corinthians 15:30-32).  As one who has been caretaker for a difficult period, it seems to me that the strength and meaning coming from such experiences transcends everything, and uplifts us with greater love, greater wisdom, a greater sense of values, than anything else in life -- and faith and prayer are indispensable in that outcome.  For this is indeed part of the Kingdom within us and among us, and it must be that journey forward which Christ calls us upon.  For this is salvation, which St. Paul tells us to work out with fear and trembling, as we go day by day understanding that we are being taken somewhere (see Philippians 2:12-13).  Our struggles have meaning -- even though we live in a world where so many seem to have decided that there is no point.  But Christ has chosen for us otherwise, and He has lived a life for us that testifies distinctly and truly otherwise!  Let us struggle for the good, the true, and the beautiful amidst the suffering and evil of the world.  For we have been blessed with this mission of redemption of the creation, each one of us, through our own lives in this world.  

 

 

Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

- Matthew 8:18-27

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had entered Capernaum (after healing a leper), a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   The Son of Man is a term found in the book of Daniel (Daniel 7:13); it is used to refer to the Messiah.  It expresses both Jesus' humanity and His divinity.  Here He refers to His human condition.   Elsewhere it describes His divine authority (25:31-33). 

Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  My study bible says here that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but is rather teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as the highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.  In both examples of the scribe, above, and this disciple, it is the things of the Kingdom which come first; even as Incarnate Son, Jesus finds Himself as One without a place to lay His head.

 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  Here Christ's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine, my study bible tells us.  A command to the sea and waves could only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-6, 106:9).   We also see Jesus' full humanity expressed here.  He was asleep because, as human being, He needed rest.  In His Incarnation, Jesus assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, which of course includes sleep.  This image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is one traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study bible says, "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly."  His rebuke of the storm is also a spiritual illustration of calming the storms in the human soul.

Each of the stories contained in today's reading give us illustrations of the fearlessness asked of us that is a quality of discipleship.  That is, the natural human fears and worries that accompany the journey of discipleship, of faith, are those things we must acknowledge but not allow to hinder or stop the journey.  There is a quality of fearlessness that is also asked of us, regardless of whatever else is going on.  In putting the things of the Kingdom as first priority, there may be all kinds of ways in which we are asked to break through, override, or transcend our personal fears and concerns.  We're asked for courage in faith. Jesus first challenges the scribe to an understanding that even He has no place to lay His head, preparing him for discipleship and the sacrifices that may be asked by following Him.  He then tells a disciple that the concerns of home and family life left behind may be things of the past not required by the present path of discipleship, and left to those who still live that life.  We may not all have such stark levels of challenge to deal with, but we will all face challenges of life in learning a deeper faith.  This can apply to any number of things that we leave behind in our own faith journey, ways of life and even social concerns or former duties which are no longer top priority.  We note the vivid detail of the journey across the sea.  Jesus has commanded the disciples to go forward, even across this sea which is home to the several fishermen among the disciples.  But for them it is still strange territory; they are going to the other side, and are no longer in home waters.  The boat was covered with the waves.  Sometimes it seems that waves are all that we can see!  Our following of Christ may lead to great waves in our own lives, where all we seem to do is to make waves, to be in unfamiliar and uncharted territory, with even hostility around us.  This is a far cry from the idea that by following Christ we lead charmed or magical lives in which all goes the way we assume it "should."  Faith leads us to new places, instead.  It takes us where we likely would not have gone before.  But faith -- not our own good intentions or resolutions -- has a way of rendering us secure.  A life of prayer is that which roots us to this ship, even when we feel that Christ is asleep or not responding to us.  We anchor ourselves to this place with Him and renew our faith even when everything around us looks like it's against us.  It's a teaching that the one thing that is firm and upon which we hold as a foundation is Him.  He teaches us that it is faith, His love for us and our trust in Him, that roots us to what is truly secure -- even in a world that offers little real security in fact.   He has nowhere to lay His head; even those who are dear to us may pass and the things we thought important may take second place.  All kinds of things will arise to seemingly oppose our faith, but there is one place, one relationship in which we may take hold and place our faith and trust.  The journey will teach us greater faith, but to get there we need to face and go through our fears.   The only way to do this is through His guidance and safety, allowing His word and commands to lead the way.

Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 

- Matthew 8:18-27

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had come down from the mountain, after preaching the Sermon on the Mount, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  The term Son of Man refers to the Messiah and is found in Daniel 7:13.  It expression both Jesus' humanity and His divinity.  Here He uses it to refer to His human condition.  In 25:31-33 it describes His divine authority in His Resurrected state.  Jesus begins to describe the state of detachment He experiences and also commands.  He doesn't negate the command to honor parents, but rather is repeating the depth of the message about putting the things of the Kingdom first, as highest priority.  Those who ignore such priority, my study bible says, are spiritually dead. 

 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  In yesterday's reading, we read about varied healings that happened immediately after we were given the Sermon on the Mount.  Here another sign that Jesus is Messiah and is divine is given to us:  His mastery over creation.  Commands to natural forces such as sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-6, 106:9). But again, we have clear signs of Jesus' full humanity; as a human being, he needs rest and was asleep.  In His Incarnation, my study bible points out, He assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, of which sleep is one.  The image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  God both permits storms and delivers us through them, my study bible says, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul, and so is also related to His healing capacity for all of us.

What does it mean to really heal?  In some sense, everything that Jesus does is healing, and for each of us -- all of humanity.  In the personal sense, we find images in each of His actions that tell us about what is good for us, what heals.  In His teachings to those who would be His followers, He tells them of the necessary steps for each of us to really put the Kingdom first, to rearrange our priorities.  According to St. Paul,  "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).  What this means is that even our deepest assumptions, learned in our closest ties in the world, we may be challenged.  Things come up for questioning, and we may have that "sword" of the word of God reaching down to separate what we thought was inseparable, asserting its own priorities and values in our lives.  This is a demand for detachment, which Jesus' own human life mirrors in its realities:  "the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   Jesus' own actions are those that teach us about not seeking the crowd, nor fame, but finding who we are in a deeper and more detached place.  He flees the multitudes with His disciples.  Even the terrifying storm is a good analogy to understanding the difficulties with which we may struggle when we put these priorities into action.  Cultivating a kind of detachment creates potentially "terrifying" scenaria whereby our own senses of security and attachment come up to dissuade us from taking steps to cultivate new values by following His teachings.  Breaking free from the crowd, from the way things have always been done, from the ways we've been taught to think, isn't a simple nor easy matter.  The long tradition of fasting and prayer takes us away from the crowds in order to more closely cement our own internal souls with the word of God and the ways God will pull us out of the conventionally "worldly."  Everything here is for our understanding of what is healthful and good, recipes for growth and personal maturity through spiritual teaching and discipline.  While the world will debate and argue and seek to conquer through all kinds of manipulation, we take time to find Christ's word for us, how we are to go forward, and how He teaches us to find His calm and the center of who we truly need to be.  This is a recipe not only for individuals but for the good of the community.  That kind of maturity can be a life-saver for others lost in a sea of selfish demands and competing interests.  This maturity and growth is a love meant to be shared with others -- but found by putting the Kingdom first, and doing all we need in order to do so.  Those who can rise above a situation are often the only ones to truly help with ills that plague us.  But to do that, we need to clearly understand what to leave behind.   It's faith that gives us strength for the journey, in the confidence and trust we can find in Him.

Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

- Mark 4:35-41

Yesterday we read that Jesus continued, after teaching the parable of the Sower, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever as, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."  And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."   Another sign of the expanding nature of Jesus' mission, the spread of the gospel:  Jesus decides that they are to cross over the Sea of Galilee, into new territory.

 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.   The natural factors of the world are encountered by Jesus in His ministry, and by Jesus as incarnate human being.   It is something we should always keep in mind as faithful, when we go through our own storms and deal with our own need for rest and care.

And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"   There are two kinds of fear addressed here; in fact, the word for fearful in Jesus' question "Why are you so fearful?" and the one used to tell us the disciples "feared exceedingly" are two different words in the original Greek text.  The first implies a kind of cowardice or timidity that inhibits our courage or resilience to follow Christ.  The second is a fear that comes from overwhelming awe in the face of incomprehensible power; they are encountering the power of Christ, something far more than was expected of the Teacher they have known until now.  Only God can command the wind and sea.

Traditional commentaries tell us two things about the picture of Christ with the disciples in the boat on this stormy sea.  One is that this is a picture of the Church, which has been likened to a ship.  My study bible puts it this way:  "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly."  Another way this has traditionally been interpreted is one that is highly personal:  it's an illustration of Jesus "calming the tempests in the human soul," again in the words of my study bible.  I think both of these things are true.  But it's a great illustration of life and our expectations of our faith.  Too often in our contemporary understanding of life we ask ourselves why, if we are faithful people, do things not just go better?  Why are there so many obstacles in the way?  Why do bad things happen?  Why does faith not propel us into an obstacle-free life?  But if we look at the lives of the saints, and indeed the promises of Jesus to His followers before His Passion, we see that it just hasn't ever worked that way.  Saints are among the most challenged of people, historically.  How many can we point to who have died as martyrs, even been persecuted by their own fellow members of the Church?  We may look at the great saint John Chrysostom, whose commentaries continue to enlighten us, whose preaching is still frequently quoted.  He did not die an easy or peaceful death, and suffered in being sent into exile.  Controversy surrounded his life, great challenges placed before him that he did not desire.  Indeed, there are times when it seems surely true that those whom God loves are also called to great challenges; let us be assured that Christ leads the way on that score, for all of us.  Even in the Old Testament, we can see by reading Maccabbees, for example, those Jews who suffer for their faith do so with the understanding that it is God who calls them to an even higher standard and to repentance, while those who torture them have no call to salvation but to oblivion.  When Jesus refers to Himself as the head cornerstone (quoting Psalm 118:22), and warns that "anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed" (Matthew 22:14), He is giving us a hint about something similar.  To be broken means one is still capable of repentance and healing.  Never to be challenged in our own selfishness and hard-heartedness is to go through all of life without coming to the better way of the Kingdom.  While it is Christ who teaches us that not every hardship comes as a direct result of sin, with the perspective of the Gospels, and illustrated in today's reading, we understand that even as faithful, we go through challenges in our lives.  We will face opposition and misunderstanding and obstacles, just as Christ did.  But it is faith that shows us the way through all.  We can look at the two different words used for fear in today's reading, and understand the difference between the need for courage to follow our faith, and the overwhelming awe - even a kind of natural terror - we may experience when we get a glimpse of the overwhelming reality of God as inconceivable presence to us.  He calls us to meet the challenges, not only to the necessary courage in faith, but also to its resourcefulness, imagination, creativity, perception, and discernment.  I have found through personal experience that when the world tells me there is "no way" through something, God gives me a way.  My own life experience doesn't provide me with all the answers, but time and again prayer and patience show me things I hadn't considered, an illumination, ways of thinking that help me in the struggle with a difficult world.  Humility alone, considered to be the greatest of the saintly virtues, plays a great role in helping us get through the challenges, particularly in a life of faith.  In speaking with countless people, particularly those I know whom I consider to be the most deeply faithful, I find stories of great challenges and great humility.  Let us remember that a worldly "perfect" life is not really the image of a faithful life; rather Christ has spoken about a life full of blessings, but also with persecutions (Mark 10:30).  Let us heed the realism of the Gospels, rather than a fantasy.  The storms in darkness will come; but we go through them with Him, in the courage to do it His way.

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Then another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But he was asleep. Then his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" But he said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and sea obey him?"

- Matthew 8:18-27

Today's reading occurs amidst the healing ministry of Jesus as reported in Matthew's gospel. These two scenes in today's reading are reported in between the healing of the centurion's servant and the Gergeseme demoniacs. Today's reading conveys to us a sense of Jesus' identity.

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." My study bible notes, "Since Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it expresses both his humanity and divinity. Here it refers to Jesus' human condition; in 25:31-33 it describes his divine authority as Judge." Surely, no Jewish listener (particularly a scribe) could fail to understand the term from the Scriptures. It is an apocalyptic reference to one (as my study bible notes) who is both human and divine. Here, Jesus describes his human condition. And, as we have focused in the past two readings (see Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean and I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! ) on themes of holiness and the effects of the power of the Spirit to "lift up the lowly" and to heal the afflicted, so this reading also reflects similar themes. The Son of Man himself has nowhere to lay his head. The world and its values are upside down - and the Messiah, the Son of Man, is here to reverse the order. The effects of holiness show us the nature of the values we see in a fallen world. That the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head when even the foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests tells us about our world - and about the spiritual reality that has come to reveal itself and to teach us about what we see and understand, and how we judge.

Then another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." My study bible notes, "Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents. He means that nothing ought to be more urgent to us than the things of the Kingdom. Those who ignore heavenly priority are spiritually dead." This is another profound statement about spiritual perspective, about the reality of this kingdom that is intersecting with the reality of the world. What does it take for discipleship? Jesus has just told one disciple of his poverty and homelessness - even he, the great Teacher, the Son of Man faces this hardship in the world. And here, family obligations of the most solemn kind are given a particular treatment. "Let the dead bury their own dead" refers to those who fail to see, and places devotion to the kingdom ahead of worldly values. It is not a condemnation of family obligations, certainly - but it is a statement that there are those who will fulfill such obligations, while those called to the kingdom put that obligation first - just as the material concerns of daily life come second to the kingdom to the one who has nowhere to lay his head.

Now when he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But he was asleep. Then his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" But he said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and sea obey him?" My study bible notes here, "Jesus' mastery over creation is another powerful sign that he is the Messiah and is divine. Commands to the sea and waves (v. 24) cannot be issued by a mere human being, but only by God (Job 28:8-11; Ps. 65:5-8; 107:29). Jesus was asleep because he was truly fatigued and needed the rest, for in his Incarnation he assumed all the natural and blameless passions of humanity, of which sleep is one. His inactivity intensified the disciples' fear, giving this miracle a greater impact. The image of Christ and the disciples in a boat is traditionally used to depict the Lord and his Church. God permits storms, and delivers us from them, so that we can see his blessings and protection more clearly. Jesus, rebuking the storms, reminds us that he puts an end to the tempest in our souls." As my study bible indicates, power over the forces of nature is a clear sign in the gospel that we are dealing with divinity - and Jesus' sleep is his human side. He is (as the previous verses tell us) by his own self-reference, the Son of Man. Those who would be his disciples must be prepared not only for the vicissitudes of life: issues of material survival, family obligation (including the one with the strongest impact - death and mourning), and here the storm on the sea and the accompanying fears and emotions we all face. But we must also prepare for transcendence. We go through the realities of the world we live in with another in mind that teaches us about who we are and what we are here for - and how we negotiate all of these difficulties attached to our world. We have another priority that gives us shape and definition, a form to our lives within which we are disciples. It refines for us our choices, our priorities, and values. And we are dedicated to its reality, its teachings, and our Lord. He is the bridegroom of the Church, the Teacher, and the Comforter.

Midst the healings in this part of Matthew's gospel, we are given a picture of this man at the center, Jesus, who has referenced himself today as Son of Man. He sets down his values, his priorities - and teaches us in today's passage the way in which we must negotiate the affairs of the world in order to be his disciples. We have a perspective that sets things in a particular order that may be at odds with the world. Indeed, the effect of the holy is to "turn things upside down" while the world in its values may be seen as upside down. The "Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." His life with his disciples also teaches us that we will all still be subject to the realities of the world and its demands - and yet we are to negotiate them with a particular perspective in mind, a goal, a priority - and that is the kingdom. Like the parable of the Sower, which will illustrate these cares and needs as a riddle for the multitudes, we are to be firmly rooted in faith. It requires of us the ability to see, to bear fruit, to hold fast to something through our difficulties - and not to give in to the demands placed on us through all this earthly life of needs, pressures, and fears and and other emotions. While the good news of the gospels teaches us that he is here to "lift up the lowly" and to "fill the hungry with good things" - and the Beatitudes Jesus has so recently taught in this gospel give us a picture of the transcendent reality we embrace through spiritual values in faith - today's passage prepares us to look at life in all of its reality, its pressures and demands, and our own emotional natures. We will live through all of it, experience all of it. But we are called to do so with faith. As disciples, this is our job. Just as Jesus as Son of Man is both human and divine - as expressed in today's reading - so we are to live through the world in all of its fullness: we are here to root a heavenly kingdom in our earthly lives. This passage teaches us that we face all of reality unflinching, undenying, and yet we live through it in faith - with faith. Our Teacher does not tell us to put on "rose-colored glasses." Rather, this faith - as will Jesus' earthly life - reaches out to grasp all of life in its reality, the bitter and the sweet, the difficult and the joyously transcendent. And so, we are, like Him. We achieve this through faith - that is all he tries to teach us here, in that boat on the stormy sea, as we go through life and face its difficulties and put his priorities first.