Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves

 

 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.  For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

 

- Matthew 10:16-23 

 

Yesterday we read about Jesus sending out the twelve apostles on their first missionary journey:  These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying:  "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.  Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.  And when you go into a household, greet it.  If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it.  But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"

 

 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  My study Bible comments on this passage that here Jesus instructs the disciples to be wise as serpents so that they might not be unnecessarily wounded and that they might take all advantage of the spread of the gospel.  He also tells them to be harmless as doves so that they should not retaliate against those who do them wrong.  Moreover, in this way they should be blameless in their witness of the gospel. 

 

"But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.  For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."  My study Bible indicates that persecution must not cause the disciple to quit, but simply to move forward in one's mission.  According to St. John Chrysostom, it notes, before the Son of Man comes is not a reference to the Second Coming.  It means that before the disciples could visit all the cities in Palestine, Christ would rejoin them -- thereby more quickly ending the hostility they would encounter.  

 

 As Jesus sends out the apostles on their first missionary journey, He has first told them to carry themselves in a very humble manner.  The only rebuke to those who will not receive them is that they are to shake off the dust from their feet as they leave.  (See yesterday's reading, above.)  Judgment is left to Christ in the "day of judgment," which will be at the end of the age.  Here in today's reading, as Jesus continues with His instructions, we read His words about persecution that will come to them.  Jesus presents this persecution as inevitable, and perhaps this is something that we, even those of us who live in nominally Christian countries where there is freedom of religion, must also take seriously.  There is first of all, Christ's teaching about proper responses to persecution and hatred.  We might not be persecuted for being of Christian faith, but there are teachings to which we adhere within our faith, regardless of denomination.  The world remains the world, a place dominated still by violence, by greed and ambition, by manipulation, by lies, even hatreds.  These things remain a part of the enemies of the kingdom of God.  Secondly, we can't forget Christ's words about the importance of testimony.  We mustn't simply think of testimony in terms of persuasive words or arguments, rational exposition of our faith in some kind of public debate.  Jesus adds regarding testimony:  "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."  If in our testimony we speak words by the Holy Spirit, then there is a power in testimony that is at work in the world on hidden spiritual levels, "behind the scenes," so to speak, and one simply can't estimate the impact of that power that can be contained in words through the Spirit, just as the power of Christ's words continues to influence the world throughout the centuries since His human life on earth as Jesus.  The powerful impact, for example, of the words in the Gospels goes beyond simply the printed words on the page; there are times when our soul is simply ready to hear or read those words, and that impact can't be explained away in terms of efficiency or utility.  Jesus warns of betrayals, and we know that betrayals and hostility, even hatred, for following our faith can happen in a number of ways having nothing to do with official persecution of a state.  Jesus tells us, "But he who endures to the end will be saved."  If we read the Revelation and Christ's prophesies of end times, we find also that this applies beyond the early Christian era, and to the whole of this time in which we await Christ's return and judgment.  When evil is present in the world, a Christian will struggle to follow faith and to resist following evil.  This remains a reality with us, regardless of historical change, and so we continue to take Christ's words seriously -- in the ways we present ourselves, how we carry ourselves in the world, how we respond.  Let us learn to be the disciples who follow in the footsteps of the apostles, regardless of who we are or where we live.  Let us continue to endeavor to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.  Let us make wise and prayerful testimonies.  Let us not copy the ways of the world but remain true to His teaching. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He who endures to the end shall be saved

 

 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  

 

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,  Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

 

- Mark 13:1–13 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple in Jerusalem, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces,  the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

 

  Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."   Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans, my study Bible reminds us.  This prophecy was quite literally true, as all that remained of the temple was one retaining wall, today called the Western Wall, and historically called the Wailing Wall for the prayer which pilgrims through the centuries would come to pray, as they do still today. 

 

 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,  Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"   Note that these disciples who come to ask Christ privately about the destruction of the temple are those closest to Him, the two sets of brothers, James and John, and Peter and Andrew, the first-called disciples.  Peter, James, and John were referred to by St. Paul as the "pillars" for their profound faith (Galatians 2:9).

 

 And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many."   Let us note that Jesus' first warning, in beginning this prophecy of "end times" is on deception.  In St. Matthew's Gospel as well, the warnings against deception are given the most emphasis.  In particular, this warning is against following a false Christ, which Jesus will warn against yet again, and with even greater specificity, in verses 21-22.

 

"But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows."  My study Bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7 - 12; Matthew 24; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Christ's emphasis, it notes, is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue rather than constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.   The wars here refer first and and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars, my study Bible says.  Wars, we're told, are not a sign of the imminent end, but of the opposite -- the end is not yet.  In addition, there are calamities of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, famines, and troubles; but these are the beginnings of sorrows.  

 

"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.    Here again, the emphasis is on watchfulness, and a warning of tribulation to come.  But all these calamities and all this opposition, my study Bible notes, cannot stop the spread of the gospel, which will be preached to all nations.  It says that, according to St. John Chrysostom, this truth was evident already at his time, for he marveled that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

 

"But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."   Midst these persecutions, we're also given a great blessing.  This is the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Helper, who will give us what we need to speak, our testimony. Amid devastating -- even deadly -- betrayals, turmoil, hatred, and persecutions, we are to rely upon God.  The watchword with Christ also is always on endurance, persistence, forbearance -- for he who endures to the end shall be saved.  This is about endurance in our faithfulness. 

 

 Jesus says, "You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them."  This wording is quite striking, because it can be read in at least two different ways.  Jesus says that His followers will be brought before kings and rulers for His sake.  First of all, one may take it that this indicates that it is because believers are followers of Christ, they will be brought before rulers and kings.  But there's another way to read this, and perhaps the text -- as often happens -- is purposefully ambiguous so that both meanings become important.  It is Christ who wants us to testify, and this, too, is what can be meant by, "for My sake."  For testimony is clearly important, not simply perhaps to courts, kings, rulers, dictators, tyrants, and other hostile powers.  But one would say no, it's not important to persecutors.  Testimony is clearly important to Christ, necessary to the Gospel.  For we are witnessing as part of the very crux of our faith, and the missions of all the disciples and others sent out over the centuries and in living their faith, in practicing one's faithfulness.  "Testimony" in the Greek is μαρτύριον/martyrion, and "witness" is μάρτυρ/martyr.   From this, clearly, we get our English word "martyr," and we must know and understand the powerful necessity of such martyrs -- again, throughout the centuries including the most recent periods in places around the world, even today (see here, and here) -- and the role they play in the Church.  Of course, Christ is our great, first Witness and Martyr, even as our Savior.  But to take up our own crosses, and follow Him might also mean to meet Him in this place of sacrifice and even death.  In our modern, prosperous countries where religious freedom is often taken for granted, we are perhaps more used to a certain way of life, an expectation perhaps of goodness and blessedness even in material terms.  We forget about how essential and important to our faith testimony is, and that its root also includes that meaning even of martyrdom.  Most of us, perhaps, do not make such a sacrifice, but nonetheless Jesus' words remind us once again that our faith calls us to a kind of heroism, to sacrifice, to witnessing.  Testimony is important, and essential to our faith, for there would be no Church without it, no struggle for faith without it, no examples of great saints with tremendous courage, and inspiring knowledge for everyday people and common believers who struggle to find faith in their lives and to, indeed, endure in that faith.  For that is the true picture of the reality where we all are, if we would but know it and turn to Christ and His teachings, for the world remains as it was despite the spread of the gospel.  New forms of opposition to the truth of Christ happen everywhere, and we can see them with our own eyes around us.  We remain, no matter where we are, in a spiritual battleground in which "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  The "end times" began with Christ and we remain in those "end times" until the end of the age, at the time of His return.  Let us remain faithful and true witnesses to our faith, in simply living our lives and being true to Him and what He teaches.  For all that we do in His name becomes a testimony to Him, glorifying God. 

 

 

 

 

If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go

 

 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.   As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.  Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of God?"  So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am."  and they said, "What further testimony do we need?  For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."

 

- Luke 22:63–71 

 

Yesterday we read that, having been betrayed by Judas, Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."  Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."  And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

 

  Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.   We note the cruelty and crudity of the ones who hold Jesus.  To mock and beat Him is, we can imagine, the evil one at work.  To ridicule His divinity is to mock the capacity to prophesy in this gratuitously cruel and pitifully ignorant way.  As we read in context, all of this was carried on in the night, without benefit of trial.

 

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."   My study Bible comments that Jesus asked many questions of the Jewish leaders which they refused to answer because doing so would have meant confessing Him as the Christ (Luke 20:4-7; Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 3:4).  

 

"Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of God?"  So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am."  and they said, "What further testimony do we need?  For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."  My study Bible notes that by this claim ("Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God") Jesus declares Himself to be equal with God.  

 

 We have to ask with Jesus (as reported in yesterday's reading), "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."   For, as we observe, the seizure of Christ takes place literally in darkness, and not in the daytime.  As they hold Him overnight, He suffers cruel and ignorant mocking and beating.  Nothing about what happens in this detention and trial is in accord with the legal practices stipulated at the time.  Of note is how "darkness" correlates with all that is being done.  There is the "power of darkness" Jesus described at work here, and it is at work in many ways and in many iterations.  It's at work in the cover of darkness when these authorities seize Him, it's at work in the betrayal of Judas done under cover of night as well (and of course, in the opposition to the truth that is in Christ).  It's in the ways these men have avoided open confrontation and dialogue while Jesus was teaching daily in the temple, and have chosen this method to have Him seized and for an illegal detention and trial.  Darkness is at work in this story in many ways.  But, because this is the story of Christ, and not a conventional story on worldly terms, darkness is inherent in the narrative, because Christ has come into this world to combat the darkness.  He has come here to defeat the darkness through its own methods.  For, these methods of subterfuge and scheming, of evil that shows its hand when it is possible to underhandedly fight the truth, will all, in the end, defeat the devil in his cunning.  For this is a story about "trampling death by death" as the Orthodox Pascha (Easter) hymn proclaims.  Christ will be ruler of heaven and earth, as all power is given to Him by the Father through this mission as the Incarnate Jesus.  It is He in whose hand is the judgment of all things, visible and invisible, given to Him by the Father -- and this is the way that He will complete that mission to destroy the one (or ones) who bring the darkness, who oppress human beings, who hate the truth of God.  And this is the story we are born into in this world, and into which we are called upon by Christ to follow Him, to be His disciples, and to do as He did.  It is, perhaps, a strange story by worldly material conditions, but not by the holistic sense of our lives which include the spiritual.  In Romans 12, St. Paul writes extensively about living life in the spirit of love.  In verses 17-21, he teaches above all about avoiding revenge.  Quoting from Deuteronomy 32:35, he reminds his flock of the Lord's words, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."  And then quoting from Proverbs 25:21-22, he writes, "Therefore 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.'  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  We look in all things to the judgment of the Lord, for it is by the power of the Lord that darkness -- in this full sense of what that means in terms of the Scriptures -- is defeated, judged, dealt with.  Again, in the midst of a passage on love that is perhaps the greatest ever written, St. Paul says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (see 1 Corinthians 13).  From our worldly, material perspective, we might not easily understand how these things work, but in the spiritual sense, we understand that it is, in fact, the Judge who is the One standing before those who seek to judge Him.  All the evil of darkness brought against Him will not defeat Him, it did not defeat the Church, even though the Church depends upon fallible human beings.  And God's justice will not fail.  Let us understand how, precisely, to defeat darkness.  For darkness depends upon ignorance and is blind.  Let us live and walk in the light, His way, to defeat it.  In today's reading, Jesus rightly replies to these men who now are incapable of repentance, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  They have blinded themselves to His light.  But it is He who will have the final answer nonetheless.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By your patience possess your souls

 

 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."   

 

So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  and what sign will there be when these things are to about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."  Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."

 

- Luke 21:5–19 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to scribes in the temple, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?" Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best sets in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  My study Bible notes that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans in the Siege of Jerusalem.  Literally not one stone was left upon another.  Only a retaining wall remained, known today as the Western Wall (and for many centuries as the Wailing Wall, a place of prayer and pilgrimage for Jews).

 

 So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  and what sign will there be when these things are to about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."  Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."  My study Bible comments that, in the Scriptures as a whole, the end times are described in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Here He warns of deceptions from false Christs (which indeed was so in the very early period of the Church).  The immediate wars and commotions, my study Bible says, apply first to the period of the first century in Jerusalem ("these things must come to pass first").  The things that follow pertain to the whole of the Christian era, in which we await Christ's return.  But as we read a little further along, Christ's emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue rather than on constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  

 

 "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."  Here Christ gives warnings of the tribulation to come.  Note the emphasis on persecution as an occasion for testimony.  Christ promises the Holy Spirit as Helper and Advocate ("I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist").  Persecution entails betrayals and death, and hatred for His name's sake.  "But," He says, "not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."  This is the promise of eternal life, of the life of the Kingdom for those who follow Him steadfastly.

 

 Jesus begins His discourse here on end times, and it will continue through tomorrow's reading also.  There, He will delve into more detailed predictions which clearly portray the Siege of Jerusalem that is to come even in the lifetimes of His hearers at that time.  But today, Jesus begins with essentially a couple of points which He illumines with great color and urgency to impress upon His followers how they are to live through and bear the times He predicts.  The first point that He makes, as my study Bible points out, is a warning about deception, about being deceived.  He says, "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them."  This was quite true.  As we read in Acts 4:35-37, Gamaliel relates some of this history when he speaks to the Sanhedrin about how to proceed with Christ's followers and the nascent Church.  He mentions a man named Theudas, and another named Judas of Galilee, both pretenders to a messianic role at that time.  Then Jesus speaks of wars and commotions, which must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.  Following this, He embarks on what sounds like a summary of the entire age of the Church to this day:  "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."  This is a description of the age, but then Jesus begins to speak of the immediate persecutions to come to His Church and His followers.  He begins with an admonition to take heed and watch that the believers not be deceived by false Christs, and ends with a powerful prompting not to fear the persecution to come, but to consider it an occasion for testimony.  Moreover, there is a great gift in the midst of tribulation.  He promises, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  And herein is the secret of the great struggle for faith.  That God lives -- or to use the language of the Scriptures, is enthroned -- in our hearts and minds, and that it is with our hearts and minds, and our mouths that speak wisdom that God lives and dwells with us in the world.  God is truly everywhere present, but Christ has made God known to us (John 14:9).  And we are those who will profess and proclaim God, keeping ourselves as temples in which God dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16).  While the reality of God and God's presence is not in doubt, it is up to us to receive God, and to live our faith through all things.  Jesus speaks clearly of dire persecutions and tribulation, but we are encouraged to testify, to proclaim wisdom.  The time of tribulation, my study Bible explains, includes the whole of the Christian era, and not just the immediate times faced by Christ's followers at that time, nor a period of time just before His return, as some suggest.  Let us keep our own wits about us, understanding our role as those who follow and are faithful. By our patience let us possess our souls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him

 

 And it happened when He 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 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!"

 

- Luke 5:12-26 

 

 Yesterday we read that, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

 

  And it happened when He 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."  My study Bible comments here that leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases of Christ's time.  It brought tremendous physical suffering, and included total banishment and isolation from the community.  Leprosy is also symbolic of our sin.  

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."   According to the Mosaic Law, a priest had to give a certificate certifying that a person was clean leprosy and could therefore rejoin community.  According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, my study Bible notes, Christ gives this command to "show yourself to the priest" in order to convince the priests by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests hold Moses to be greater than Christ, but Christ heals leper immediately and with His own divine authority.  However, my study Bible points out, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and still she was only healed after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).  

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.  Let us note Christ's withdrawal into the wilderness to pray.  It emphasizes that if this solitude for prayer was necessary for Christ, how much more necessary for each of us?

 

 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!"  My study Bible comments that, as shown by the healing of the paralytic, faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  It notes that faith is collective as well as personal, for the faith of the paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  Three signs of Christ's divinity are on display here.  First, that He knows the secrets of hearts ("when Jesus perceived their thoughts").   See 1 Kings 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30.  Second, Christ forgives sins, which is a power belonging only to God.  Finally, He heals by the power of His word.

 

 Leprosy as a sign or symbol of sin forms a great deal of imagery from the Old Testament. Seen in this light, we can understand how a defect or imperfection forms a kind of mark or impurity, symbolizing the reality of sin on our true image in God, with healing coming through its lifting via repentance.   It's important to know that in a traditional Christian context, paralysis also is symbolic of sin, as in sin we are seen as "stuck" somewhere, victim of a type of stumbling block, unable to move forward in our faith.  Certainly the habitual return to repeated sin so often works like an addiction of one sort or another, and this emphasizes the symbolism of paralysis.  In this sense, we see what help there is to avail us to move past our stumbling block, move past where we are stuck, where a particular habit or temptation has a hold of us.  Many people have observed the help of this paralyzed man's friends, and how necessary it is to his salvation.  In this we see not only that the nature of faith is collective as well as personal, as my study Bible noted.  But we also see the universal need to acknowledge that such collective nature extends to the communion of saints, and our need to recognize prayer within this communal reality.  When saints -- living or dead according to worldly perspective -- are venerated or we ask for their prayers, we are asking for the kind of work done by this man's friends.  Even lowering his bed down to Christ can be seen as help "coming from above," so to speak, in the form of friends.  The same is true of asking for prayers from our own friends and community and fellow believers.  So often, this kind of prayer can help to bring a person to healing when that person, for whatever reason, is unable to pray for themselves.  Such is the power of prayer, that even our prayers for the dead are important in this respect, to help to draw closer to God.  The importance of prayer, as we've observed, is emphasized in our reading in the fact that Christ Himself often withdrew to solitude in order to pray.  This tells us that there are those who are helpful in pursuing what we need, to draw closer to God, and those who are not.  Let us consider the power of community in prayer, and all those who are in the "great cloud of witnesses" upon whom we call for help with prayer.  For there are those times when we can't help ourselves to move forward, but we can call upon others to help us to do so.

 

 

 

 

 

Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

 

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

 

- John 1:29–34 

 

Yesterday we were given the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, found in St. Luke's Gospel:   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."  For the previous reading in St. John's Gospel to today's, please see Tuesday's reading.

 

  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  My study Bible comments that John's declaring Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of his people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ, the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible adds that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus came to John this second time so that John could make this declaration.  Therefore it would stop anyone from thinking Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins. 

 

  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."   That the Spirit remained upon Jesus is a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  This does not indicate that Jesus received the Holy Spirit first at His Baptism.  Instead, this is a vision that John saw which revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ, the Son.

 

 In today's reading, John the Baptist brings into fullness his destiny to introduce the world to Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God.  We know that John has already indicated of himself that he is "'the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." (quoting from Isaiah 40:3).  In other words, John has already identified himself as the fulfillment of this part of the prophesy of Isaiah:  the one who heralds the coming of the Messiah, and prepares the people to receive Him.  Today his identity comes to its apex, when he presents Jesus as the Lamb of God, the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, upon whom the Spirit sits as clear indication that He is the Christ.  This clear fulfillment of the ministry and identity of John the Baptist gives us a sense of how God works in the world and through creation.  God does not work alone, but brings each of us into the entirety of the salvation story.  God works through God's ministers, the angels, through saints (holy human beings like John), prophets, and others.  And finally, God works through the Incarnation of His Son as the human being Jesus to bring us the Christ, fully divine and fully human.  There is only one Son, and that is Jesus Christ.  But just as Christ is unique in His identity in the story of salvation and of existence, so each one of us -- like John the Baptist -- may also have our own place, our own identity, to fulfill within the salvation story and in service to Christ.  John is an exemplary saint.  Only Mary the Theotokos, the Mother of God, has a similar place on the iconostasis of an Orthodox Church; she is always on Christ's right, while John is on His left.  In other words, John (and the Theotokos) so fully embrace the holiness that is possible for them, that they attain this exalted saintly stature as human beings through their lives.  They both fulfill to a maximal degree the identity that Christ offers as God shares with each of us the capacity to participate in the salvation story.  There is such a deep and complete communion given through God's act of creation that we are all invited in to participate to the greatest degree possible, and this happens by a gift of God and through faith.  In today's story, John fulfills his destiny by presenting the Lamb of God to the world, and witnessing the full truth of Christ's identity, testifying to all that He is the One upon whom the Holy Spirit rests.  This is John's exalted honor, his great place of tremendous grace, to fulfill this service.  Each one of us, then, taking John as example, should consider, throughout this Lent as we approach Resurrection, what role Christ asks of us, how we may serve.  For we, too, may embody holiness should we embrace our faith and devote ourselves to the grace He offers us, and we do this through all the practices we're given in Lent, all the ways we are invited to participate.  We can pray, we fast, we give alms, but perhaps most of all we make time for God in that secret place and in ways not spectacular but hidden from the world in our heart and in the inner room we make for contemplative prayer (Matthew 6:6).   For it is in seeking God who sees in secret, and who is in the secret place, that we find ourselves.   Let us take this secret place seriously, for Jesus has told us that it is there we find our Father, and there we must be to meet Him. 

 

 

 

 

You give them something to eat

 

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him. 

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.   When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. 

 

- Luke 9:1–17 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus returned to Capernaum (after healing a demoniac across the Sea of Galilee), that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."   While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

 

  Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Here Jesus calls His twelve disciples together, giving them power over demons and to cure diseases, and sends them out to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick, making them apostles.  The Greek word for disciple means "learner" and the word apostle comes from the Greek word αποστολος/apostolos, which means "one sent out."   In so doing, my study Bible emphasizes that Jesus gave them power and authority, while He performed healings and cast out demons through His own power and authority.  Their mission is like Christ's, they are to preach and to heal.  Their demeanor is to be humble and reliant upon God, not ostentatious, and not "trading up" for a better place to stay.  The response to those who reject them is also humble, not vengeful but to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them.  

 

 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.   My study Bible comments that this is the same Herod to whom Pilate would send Jesus during His trial (Luke 23:7).  He is the son of Herod the Great who slew the innocent infants in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  The story of the beheading of St. John at the court of Herod Antipas is found in Mark 6:14-28.  

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.   When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.  My study Bible cites the commentary of Theophylact, who sees a liturgical parallel with the feeding of the five thousand.  He notes that Christ first healed and spoke of the gospel, and then He fed the multitude with the miraculous bread by the hands of the disciples.  In the Church, he says, a person is first healed through baptism; then at the Liturgy, the gospel is preached and the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands of the ordained clergy.  Jesus charges the disciples with the command, "You give them something to eat."  My study Bible says that this commission is  a type and preparation for the apostolic ministry the disciples will perform after His Resurrection.  They will be feeding the world with the word of God, and with the Eucharist.  St. John Chrysostom is also cited in his understanding of today's passage.  He says of the five loaves and two fish that Christ is the same Creator "of both the earth and the sea, who in the beginning brought fruit from the earth and life out of the water."  The Gospel tells us that Christ looked up to heaven before blessing and breaking the bread.  St. Chrysostom says that He does so "not as receiving power from elsewhere, but as honoring the Father who begot Him."  Moreover, St. Chrysostom comments, that Christ blessed and broke the bread teaches us "not to touch any meal until we have given thanks to Him who gives us food."  This blessing also gives us a clear image of the Eucharist, and directs us to pursue spiritual food greater than that which is earthly (see John 6:26-27).  

So, what does it mean to be fed?  How do we wish to be fed by Jesus Christ?   In John's Gospel. this miraculous feeding will lead to the people pursuing Jesus across the Sea of Galilee, even running to anticipate His arrival, because as a result of this feeding, they seek to make Him king by force.  Hence, Jesus' response, cited by my study Bible (see above) found in John 6:26-27:  "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  As we can see, these multitudes who followed Jesus into the wilderness are first fed with Christ's preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God.  Also, He performs healings as well.  In this context, let's ponder that in today's reading we're told that the disciples have been sent out as apostles by Jesus, on their first missionary journey.  In so doing, He shares His power with them, and they are to take it through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.   This is a kind of expansion of Jesus' ministry that marks a milestone.  Jesus' power has the capability of being shared with others, even with human beings who serve Christ.  This must surely be linked with faith, and we can see the connection of faith established through the apostles as they go through the towns -- only those who reject them and are faithless are subject to the testimony against them, the shaking of the dust from the feet of the apostles.  So when we think of what food we need, how can we leave out the importance and singular essential quality of needing food that feeds our faith?  In the perspective of the Gospels we see that this is the primary need we have, for faith leads in some way to everything else -- and to this miraculous feeding in the wilderness.  So let us think about feeding, and our impulse -- our needs -- to eat and to be fed.  We know when our bodies are hungry.  Recently experiencing surgery, during the healing process I found myself needing more food than usual, and of a certain type.  But our faith, or lack of it, must work a certain way.  While we're growing as children (or healing from an injury of some sort) we truly need food to feed the growth we're experiencing, the necessary nourishment for that process.  But faith must work the same way.  In fact, it would seem that in some sense the more we grow in our faith, the more we need to nurture it, and the more need we experience to shore it up, to find it and deepen it.  This goes hand in hand with the joy we experience in the faith, and perhaps even the challenges we face in its growth.  In the experience of the Church and her saints, it's perhaps safe to say that the more one's faith grows, so grows one's need for it and for its nurturing.  In Luke's chapter 17, the apostles demand of the Lord, "Increase our faith!"  This demand is sandwiched between Jesus' teaching on the need to forgive at each repentance of a brother, and His teaching that, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."  It leads also to His teaching on what it means to be a good servant.  See Luke 17:1-10.  So Christ's way is to feed the multitudes with what they need, and to teach us what we need.  He sends out the disciples, now become apostles, to feed this need in others, and to seek and to find those who will respond to it positively, grasping it with all their capacity.  For our love of God doesn't stop but expands to hold all that God can give, until we ourselves must share with others the good things we have been given, too.  Like the disciples, our faith may be nurtured when we share it with others.  There are those who teach that all the things of which we partake become a part of us, so we need to think hard, as human beings, about what we take in, and the things in which we participate -- for these things feed us too.  King Herod Antipas seeks to be fed, in some sense, by Christ, but to what end?  Not to faith.  Let us consider carefully what we really need, and what it feeds in us, where we need nourishment day by day, and the daily bread of the kingdom of God.  

 

 

 

We have seen strange things today!

 

 And it happened when He 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!"

 

- Luke 5:12–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, so it was, that as the multitude pressed about Jesus to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

 

And it happened when He 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."  My study Bible comments that leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases of the time.  It was a disease that brought tremendous physical suffering, in addition to total ostracism and isolation from society.  Leprosy also figures as a symbol for our sin.  

  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."   Jesus commands the healed leper to "show yourself to the priest" in accordance with the Law.  My study Bible cites St. Cyril of Alexandria who comments that this command is given, also, so that the priests will see by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests hold Moses to be greater than Christ, but Christ heals a leper immediately and with His own divine authority.  When Miriam, the sister of Moses, was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and still she was healed only after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).  

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.  Let us note that the Gospel is careful to tell us of Jesus' withdrawal from the great multitudes who come to Him to hear and to be healed of their infirmities.  Note that Jesus went into the wilderness and prayed.   This teaches us about our own need for withdrawal and prayer, to seek the peace of God we need.  We cannot only respond to others' needs and demands.

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!"  My study Bible says that, as shown by this healing of the paralytic, faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  From this story it is clear that faith is collective as well as personal, for here the faith of the friends of the paralytic has helped in his healing (when He saw their faith).  There are three signs noted of Christ's divinity:  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (when Jesus perceived their thoughts; see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, Christ forgives sins, which is a power that belongs only to God.  Finally, Christ heals by the power of His word ("I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house").

At the end of today's reading, the people are amazed.  At the same time they glorified God and were also filled with fear.   What they say is, "We have seen strange things today!"   The Greek word translated as "strange" is an important one in terms of how we know or perceive Christ.  It is παράδοξος/paradoxos.  As we can see it is the root of our borrowed word in the English language, paradox.  Para in Greek means by the side of something, alongside something.  Doxa means "glory" but it also means opinion or renown, that which determines a positive value.  So a "paradox" is something strange in that it is uncommon, unexpected, contrary to expectation.   In terms of theological insights and the history of the Church, paradox has come even to define the only ways that we can think of God, or of divine and holy things.  God comes to the world in paradox.  How can a virgin bear a child?  How is it that Jesus is both God and man?  How can God die on the Cross, and yet how can even the human Jesus ascend into heaven?  In the hands of the historical Orthodox hymnographers, these insights and glimmers of paradox shine in myriad poetry and poetic phrases that we have for the figures that populate the story of salvation, and especially of Jesus Christ.  Mary, Jesus' mother, has many names that enshrine and highlight the paradox of her identity.  Often one may find icons painted that are identified by these names given to the many paradoxes we know about her.  Among a myriad of names, she is known, for example, as the Unwedded Bride, or the one who is Greater than the Heavens (for she held the Creator of the universe in her womb).  She is called the Unfading Rose.  Her title (established at the Council of Ephesus in 431) is Theotokos, meaning God-bearer in Greek, or the Mother of God.  It invites us to ponder questions that open us up to think about God, when we ask things like, how can God have a mother?  Paradox, in other words, is the only avenue by which we can know or think about God.  For it is the way that God comes to us, in paradox.  When these townspeople exclaim, "We have seen strange things today!" they are responding to things unexpected, that don't seem to go together.  But this is the way that our eyes are opened to consider the things that are beyond our daily reality, our earthly expectations.  It is the way that God comes to us, in expressions that open us to what we don't know, the mysteries of the reality of God.  This is how God comes to us in signs. 

 

 

Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?

 

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in our law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 

-  John 10:31–42 

 

In our recent readings (from the beginning of chapter 7), Jesus has been attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  It is the final year of His earthly life.  There He has disputed with the religious authorities, and restored the sight of a man who was blind since birth.  Yesterday we read that there was a division again among the leaders because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   At the end of yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus responded to the question of the religious leaders, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  He answered clearly when He said, "I and My Father are one."  For this they take up stones again to stone Him.  (We recall that the term the Jews is most often used in John's Gospel to designate the religious leaders, and not the people.)   In so doing, Jesus reveals Himself to be fully God.  To be one with the Father means one in nature or essence.   Christ's opponents clearly recognize this claim of divinity, my study Bible says, and therefore accuse Him of blasphemy.  

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in our law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   My study Bible comments on Christ's quotation from Scripture, "You are gods" (Psalm 82:6):  People who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  St. John Chrysostom paraphrases Christ as effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  Again, Christ cites His works as witness to His divinity and His union with the Father.  

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  As Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (verses 17-18), those who accuse Him cannot arrest Him until He is ready (John 7:30; 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).  

 

In today's reading, when Jesus goes beyond the Jordan (that is, east of the Jordan River, the place where John was baptizing at first), the people say, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  Note how, in the people's response to Jesus beyond the Jordan, it is first of all His works that speak as witness for them.  That is, the things that He does prove that John's word about Jesus was true.  Moreover, we are once again given John the Baptist as effective witness, for the people now see for themselves that all the things John spoke about Jesus were true.  So, in subtle ways, even though the religious leaders don't believe Christ, and don't accept His witness (nor the people or things He names as witnesses to His divinity), the people believe.  They accept Him, and affirm that the things John the Baptist said about Him were true.  This seems to be clearly the perspective of the Gospel, at least among those who have faithfully pursued the holy ones dedicated to God, like the prophet John the Baptist.  Perhaps there is a lesson here about witnessing and truth, in that these things teach us that the acceptance of truth also depends not simply upon witnesses, but also upon the disposition of the heart of the beholder in the first place.  If a person is dead set against accepting someone or something, then no amount of witnesses will be entirely persuasive.  This is especially true if there is a particular reason of self-interest or group interest for people to reject a particular truth.  Such things can form a compelling reason to deny or reject truth.  In the case of the religious leaders and Jesus, He criticizes them freely.  They stand to lose their positions of authority, and He also alludes to their corruption.  They have a tight control on positions in the temple and even for some faction of the ruling Council, on the wealth and property around Jerusalem.  So important is this aspect of faith that John the Evangelist begins this Gospel with verses that focus on the rejection of light for darkness (John 1:1-5).  At any rate, Christ's emphasis on repentance comes in here as an important aspect of His preaching, because in the sense of the Greek of the Gospels, the word translated as "repentance" means literally "change of mind."  In this context of witnessing and belief (or, more accurately, trust), the possibility of changing one's mind, the minimal awareness that there is perhaps something one cannot be absolutely certain about, is the one thing that opens one to the places God may lead us.  In the story of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), we read that the Pharisee prayed "with himself," while the Publican's position of humility at least allows for the possibility that there is something he has to learn, something left undone, something God calls him to that he doesn't know.  To be at least capable of changing one's mind means that God's work within us is still possible, and we know that this is important because -- especially in our recent readings -- Jesus has emphasized God the Father's role in drawing us to Christ (see above, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand").  In yesterday's reading, Jesus also said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Without the possibility of "changing our minds," of allowing for the unknown and unexpected, how would we hear Christ's voice?  For God will always call us to what is greater than we know, what we haven't considered, or perhaps especially what we need to reconsider in our own choices and behaviors.  For God will always be asking us to grow, leading us forward into what is greater than what we think we know.  Even the works that Christ does, those "signs" such as healing a man blind from birth, ask of us to open our own minds to accept them, and especially to accept what they mean about Christ's divine identity, and the kingdom of God present with Him.  Let us consider what it is to witness, and how we receive that witness.  For how will we be prepared to understand and accept the evidence that is before us?