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

 

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

"Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,

My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel nor cry out,

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 

 A bruised reed He will not break, 

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

And in His name Gentiles will trust." 

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

 

I am the bread of life

 

 "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."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  

 

"But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." 

 

- John 6:27–40

 

 The events of yesterday's reading took place after Jesus fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, and He retreated to the mountain alone upon finding that these men wanted to take Him by force and make Him king.  When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks --- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "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."

 

  "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."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."   Today's reading begins with Jesus' final words from yesterday's reading (above).  What does it mean to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life?  The people ask, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  And Jesus answers.  Faith, the work of faith in Jesus, is the work of God.  What does this mean?  Perhaps we should think more precisely of what it means to be faithful.  

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."   As we read these words, let us keep in mind that these are the same men Jesus fed in the wilderness from the few fish and barley loaves (see Monday's reading).  So these words they quote from Scripture ("as it is written") are fulfilled in Him.  They attribute this miraculous sign of the bread from heaven as a work done by Moses, and -- in a refrain heard over and over again in John's Gospel -- they demand a sign from Jesus so that they may see it and believe.    Here Jesus begins to expound on the true salvific nature of His mission and His life as Incarnate Son.  He is the bread of life; He is the bread of God who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  

 

 "But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  Jesus speaks of "My own will."   My study Bible comments that, since Christ has two natures, He has two wills -- the divine will and a human will.  The Sixth Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), proclaims these two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  

The people know who Moses is, and they can believe in him because "it is written."  They assume that the miraculous feeding in the wilderness of the Exodus was a sign that came through him, perhaps as an effective agent.  But the comparison they're making is between Moses and Jesus.  The manna in the desert, they reckon, came from God because of Moses.  Regardless of the fact that Jesus has also provided a miraculous feeding in the wilderness, they demand a sign before they can do what He tells them is the "work of God."  They insist they can't believe in Him without a sign.  Jesus has told them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  It's worth breaking down this verb, to believe, in the Greek of the Gospel.  This verb is πιστεύω/pistevo ("I believe"), deriving from the word πιστης/pistis, meaning "trust."   So to believe, to have faith, is to trust.  Jesus is asking for trust, for their trust and for our trust.  This is not merely an intellectual acquiescence or agreement to a set of truths or beliefs.  This is about trust in a person, in a particular Person; that is, in Jesus Christ.  He Himself is the true bread from heaven, the bread of God is who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.   Questions of authority, of trust, and demanding a sign as proof before belief, will continue to plague Jesus throughout the Gospel.  Such questions began right away, after Jesus' cleansing of the temple, which in John's Gospel takes place very early in His ministry (see John 2:13-22).  These questions will continue throughout the Gospel, regardless of the seven signs He performs.  It will be because of the extraordinary nature of the final sign before Christ's Resurrection, that of raising Lazarus from the dead, that the religious authorities will unequivocally decide they must put Jesus to death.  But perhaps today's emphasis on demanding yet another sign in order to be convinced to put their trust in Him forms the basis for the best discussion in our own present moment, and the culture of the modern world.  For proofs take on a certain meaning in a modern context:  we want something to be proven to us before we can believe in it.  This comes partly from a popular mindset regarding what science does, and a mistaken assumption that we will be based in truth if we put our faith only in what has been proven.  Science works on hypothesis, a constant series of testing assumptions and positing theories, not absolute certainties.  These people who have just been miraculously fed in the wilderness, and can't seem to see the truth of it (although they wanted to make Jesus king because of it), demand signs before they will trust in Him, before they will believe.  But the signs are never enough, and belief (or faith or trust) has to come from somewhere else, from another place within us.  Because of this frame of mind, it really doesn't seem to matter what Jesus does.  Although He is united in will and action with the Father, they don't believe, they will not give their trust.  Faith is based on a different kind of knowing, a different perception.  The assertion of doubt is always possible where there is no desire to recognize the truth in front of oneself, especially spiritual truth.  This is perhaps the perfect example for our time, when every truth or assumption of history can now be turned upside down and questioned because it doesn't suit our own fancy or wishful desire.  Proofs may continually be demanded by those who want to refuse faith, but perhaps we should ask what keeps people from seeing instead.  For what Christ offers ultimately is love, and the refusal of that love is at the heart of the repeated demand for proof.

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

- John 3:16–21 

 

Yesterday we read that when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  My study Bible says that in order to show the reason the Son must be crucified ("lifted up" -- see yesterday's reading, above), Jesus declares God's great love which is not simply for Israel but for the world.  My study Bible adds that this single verse expresses the whole of the message of John's Gospel, and moreover, of salvation history.  

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  Christ, the text tells us, came to save and not to condemn.  But, my study Bible comments, human beings have free will.  Therefore, we are capable of rejecting this gift.  In so doing, our very rejection condemns us to live without that salvation Christ's gift offer to us. 

 

 In yesterday's reading and commentary, we discussed extensively the connection between Christ's crucifixion, and the defeat of death itself -- and the defeat of the one by whom death sin came into the world.  Again, to quote St. Paul (from Hebrews 2:14-15):  "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."   As Jesus explained to Nicodemus in yesterday's reading, Christ being "lifted up" (John 3:14-15) is, akin to Moses' lifting up of the shining image of the serpent to defeat the poisonous serpents, a way to defeat death itself.  But here in today's reading, we're given the verse that follows, in which we're taught the beginning and the outcome of such a gift to us:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."   The defeat of death through Christ's suffering and death on the Cross is not only given out of love (God's love and the Son's love), but that powerful love works so that we may share in the very everlasting life of the divine Son and Father.  We are called, out of love, to be with our heavenly Creator, and to share in the life which is eternal, unstoppable, everlasting.  But the gift is in the sharing of both Christ's sacrifice and the eternal life He offers:  it is our faith in both the Son of Man and Son of God, the way of the Cross and the way of everlasting life, that makes this gift available, receivable, realizable.  It is through faith (which in Greek is rooted in the word that means "trust") that we find our way to the salvation we're offered from an abundance of love.  Christ leads us to "the way" so that we may find ourselves in Him and in His life for us, even as we each are invited to take up our own crosses with Him.  That lifting up of the Cross is a way in which death and evil are defeated -- stung through the devil's own wiles, even as a sort of trap sprung back upon the trap-setter -- because Christ's is the power to turn poison back on its source.  But it is also made possible through extraordinary love:  a divine power come into the world which, through God's own sacrifice, invites us to share in even in His divine life.  The theology seems complicated, and invites a way of thinking that is not worldly in order to grasp it.  But the intuition and experience of love guides us to grasp it immediately:  a sacrificial love shows the better way of the stronger man so that we may live truly as His children.  Death, sin and evil  are not defeated through a greater violence or evil, but they are instead defeated through love.  We, too, are invited to be part of the Cross and its working, to take up our own crosses, and to defeat sin and death through living faithful lives.  Jesus takes up the task of teaching Nicodemus about Holy Baptism, and so we come to this image of the fullness of our baptism and its promise, a capacity fulfilled through a life of faith and our own sacrifices of the "old"  through its leading, in order to receive the "new" of Christ's love and life.   Let us follow Him into His light, and see the redeeming power of the Cross that lives through faith, trust, and love -- and to join in what St. Paul called the "good fight."  To prefer darkness is to lose that gift.

 

 

 

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life

 

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

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  

 

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

 

- John 2:23-3:15 

 

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

 

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  My study Bible points out that in the Gospel of John, there are three Passover feasts reported between Christ's Baptism and Passion (see also John 6:4; 11:55).  These who that Jesus' earthly ministry lasted three years.  Let us note also that John testifies here to Christ as the "knower of hearts" (Acts 1:24; 15:8) in that He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

 

 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."   My study Bible comments that Nicodemus believed Jesus was from God, but his faith was still weak, as he was afraid of his peers and therefore came to Jesus by night.  After the conversation reported here in John's third chapter, Nicodemus' faith will grow to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (John 7:5-51) and eventually making a bold public expression of faith in preparing and entombing Christ's body (John 19:39-42).  My study Bible also notes that according to some early sources, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin, and forced to flee Jerusalem.  

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  The term "born again" is something with which many people are familiar.  But in the Greek of the Gospel, the word translated as again may also be mean "from above."  It is a distinct reference to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (John 1:12-13), my study Bible notes.  It says that this heavenly birth is baptism, and our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).  Moreover, this new birth is simply the beginning of our spiritual life, the goal being entrance into the kingdom of God.  Thus we may think of our baptism as something that is meant to be fulfilled throughout our lives.

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Nicodemus misunderstands Christ's words, and questions the possibility of a second physical birth.  My study Bible instructs us in noting that misunderstandings are frequent occurrences in the Gospel of John (see John 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  This is a teaching method, whereby Jesus uses these opportunities to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning. 

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."  My study Bible says that this birth of water and the Spirit is a direct reference to Christian baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit given in chrismation.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  My study Bible references John 1:13 here, and reminds us that adoption as a child of God isn't a matter of the flesh (such as ethnic descent or natural birth), neither is it by a decision of a human being.  Becoming a child of God is a spiritual birth, born of the Spirit, by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit.

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

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

 

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  Jesus refers to the event when Moses lifted up and image of a serpent, in order to cure the Israelites from deadly bites of poisonous snakes, recorded in Numbers 21:4-9.  My study Bible explains that this miracle-working image prefigured Christ being lifted up on the Cross, as Jesus expressly indicates here.  As believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, it notes, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  So, just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the Cross, and Christ's death upon it, becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Already in chapter 3, the image of the Cross makes its appearance.  And this first time Jesus refers to the Cross, it is not with dread nor dismay, but He gives this image as life-giving, salvific, protecting and preserving human life against the poisons of the enemy.  The deadly serpents to which Jesus refers, whose poison killed the Hebrews during the Exodus, are an image of the devil's poison, intrinsically tied up with death.  But just as Moses, holding the brilliant copper image of the serpent -- a reflection suggesting the seraphic hosts in triumph over their fallen brethren -- took away the sting and power of death during that incident described in Numbers 21:4-9, Jesus gives us the image of Himself "lifted up" on the Cross, a powerful beam of the true Light reflected for us to draw our focus heavenward, which all the more powerfully works to defeat the power of the evil one, of death in its many forms, and to work for all time, throughout this age in which we await His return.  This is what we are given by Christ's very description and understanding, reflected in the image of Moses raising his staff with the copper serpent to draw the Israelites from the venom of the biting serpents. So let us delve a little more deeply into this image and understanding by considering what it is that the Cross works in such a powerful way -- even using the venom of the devil and the devil's most potent and feared weapon, death, in order to defeat death.  In this we are given to understand that Christ -- and the Cross -- have the power to reflect back upon the evil one the sins that begin there.  In Hebrews 2:16-18, continuing from the verses cited above, St. Paul goes on to describe Christ as "a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people" in the same sense that in ancient Israel, a goat was sent out into the wilderness (the "direction" of the devil) carrying the sins out of the community and back from where they came.  In this same sense the Cross is a reflecting weapon, a kind of mirror that sends back death to death, and Christ Himself and His life and mission and ministry in this world the ultimate weapon against evil, turning back the devil's sin upon the devil, the one from whom sin and death came into the world.  Note that St. Paul, in this passage cited, also states that Christ was tempted as we are, even as Adam through temptation the first sin entered into the world.  Whatever way we approach these subjects, as symbols or literal worldly truths, they remain spiritually true, a reflection of what St. Paul called our struggle or contest "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).  So we are to understand the saving power of Christ and the Cross as that which bestows defeat through the power to turn back evil upon itself, as the "stronger man" (Luke 11:20-22), as Son of Man, has come to claim and redeem for Himself those who trust in Him, that they should not perish but have eternal life with Him. 

 

 

 

And in His name Gentiles will trust

 

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

    "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen,

    My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!

    I will put My Spirit upon Him,

    And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  

    He will not quarrel nor cry out, 

    Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

    A bruised reed He will not break,

    And smoking flax He will not quench,

    Till He sends forth justice to victory;

    And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

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

 

  But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   My study Bible explains that our Lord's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, as quoted in the text).  The reasons for this secrecy are as follows.  There is first the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Second, the people misunderstand the Messiah to be an earthly, political leader.  Third, Christ wishes to evoke genuine faith not based solely on marvelous signs.  The Servant prophesied by Isaiah refers first to Jesus Christ, and then by extension to all who follow Him.  In the final line quoted from Isaiah (Isaiah 42:4) we understand that the mission to the Gentiles was foreseen in his prophesy. 

 

My study Bible makes clear that Christ was to be an entirely different kind of Messiah than the one of popular expectation -- and possibly popular desire.  He was not to be a powerful king who would overthrow the Roman rule and establish Israel as its own worldly power.  He was not to be another King David in that same sense.  Most of the conflicts that take place between the religious rulers and Jesus are focused on the idea of authority.  As far as they are concerned, Jesus has no authority.  He has no worldly authority to back Him up.  Not only is He not a king, He has no accomplishments or customary things associated with a king.  He has no worldly power.  He has no army, His followers are not soldiers with weapons and chariots; He doesn't come to conquer in this sense.  Not only that, they will demand impressive signs in order to be impressed enough with "proofs" on demand, and He won't give them.  The only signs He will give are those of His ministry:  His teachings and healings, and the rest of those who follow and become His disciples.  But most of them aren't very impressive in a worldly sense either.  It is this same question of authority that will be repeated over and over again that is the stumbling block, especially to the religious leaders.  They don't recognize His authority, for it doesn't come from worldly matters but from God.  It is a similar sense in which the saints who were to follow Christ are not known for their worldly accomplishments, authority, and power, but for the holiness that comes from what they do and whom it is they touch in the world -- and for this recognition one must have faith, or the capacity or desire for it somewhere deep in the heart.  Isaiah's prophesy of the Suffering Servant, rather than a conquering king, is the picture of this Messiah.  In Isaiah's chapter 53 we're given the picture:  one despised and rejected, a Man of sorrows, One who carried others' griefs and yet was esteemed to have been stricken by God, and led as a lamb to the slaughter.  The chapter is very vivid and very apt, and describes what Christ's ministry would have looked like to most people in its time.  As is so frequently the case, the people believed they needed a great battling king to overthrow the Roman Empire from their land, to solve their problems, to provide everything they wanted.  Just like today, people look to might and power to solve their problems, or put their hope in empire, in weapons and armies, and trust in material power to do battle for them.  But the Savior is a different kind of savior, and our salvation depends upon none of these things.  In which will you put your faith first today?  In Whom?  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus notes the desires and anxieties of the people, acknowledging the things the Gentiles seem to possess and seek after.  He tells the people, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  Can we do as He asks?  Will we do that?  In Luke's Gospel, He also asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).  In Whom do we trust?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?

 

 "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."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  

 

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  

 

Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.

 

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

 

- John 6:27-40 

 

Yesterday we read that, when evening came (after the feeding of the five thousand), His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "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."

 

  "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."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Our reading continues from yesterday, repeating Christ's statement to this crowd who has been fed in the wilderness, chased after Him to make Him king by force (which Jesus evaded), and now followed Him to Capernaum.  He teaches them not to labor for perishable food, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which only He can give.  They follow with a logical question, part of the ways in which John's Gospel uses misunderstandings and overlapping earthly and spiritual meanings:  "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  And Jesus responds with a teaching about faith, that to believe, to do the work of faith in Christ, is work the works of God:  "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." 

 

 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  The people then move on to the next question; they want a sign so they can believe, so they can "work the works of God."  Jesus moves them to a new place, the true bread from heaven.  And what, or we should say, Who is that true bread from heaven?  It is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  It is Christ Himself, the Son of Man.

 

 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.   Finally, answering their demand for this bread, Jesus explicitly claims, "I am the bread of life."  Nonetheless, they still do not believe.  

 

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."   My study Bible comments here, regarding the will of Christ, that since Christ has two natures (human and divine), He has two wills -- the divine will and a human will.  At the Sixth Ecumenical council, held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), it was proclaimed that these two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  Jesus' statements here build upon and amplify what He has taught earlier when disputing with the religious authorities:  "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me" (John 5:30).

 

"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  And here Jesus explains the will of the Father who sent Him, that of everything that belongs to Christ -- that the Father has given Him -- He should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  How are we His?  How do we make that connection to what is eternal and everlasting?  Through faith, through belief in the Son who was sent.

We observe the teachings of Christ, as He moves from "earthly" subjects to divine ones.  He does this through His answers to the questions and demands of the crowd, whom He's fed in the wilderness with earthly food multiplied through divine power, and they now want more.  We keep in mind they wanted to make Him king by force, so much do they desire the life they imagine He can provide for them, through the sign of the feeding in the wilderness.  They do not truly know Him, do not understand Him, nor do they understand what He offers, but nonetheless He explains and He teaches them.  He is the One who was sent by the Father, the Son of Man, as He referred to Himself in yesterday's reading.  That is, the One upon whom, He said, the Father had set His seal.  Within that seal, within the Name of God, there is one "will" which Jesus does.  There is one power, which Jesus honors through doing the works the Father asks Him to reveal to the world.  But for we human beings, we might ask what is the key to belonging to that will ourselves, to that divine power working even through One who is sent to us as fellow human being?  The key is faith, belief -- that we believe in the One who was sent.  So let us think about faith in Christ, which Jesus says is how we "work the works of God."  It is faith that links us to Christ, and in turn we are then part of what the Father has "given" to Him, part of what will be raised up with Him, part of that "bread of heaven which is unto everlasting life.  It is faith that connects us.  But what does faith entail?  What does it mean?  How is it a work?  Does faith simply mean that we intellectually choose something, or swear to it, or participate in a code?  Or does faith really ask more of us?  Faith, in the Greek of the Scriptures, is a word whose root means "trust."   So to have faith in Christ is to trust in Him -- and that necessarily means all the works, choices, actions, decisions that follow when our trust is there.  To trust implies something more deep than to believe, because we tend so often to separate various intellectual choices into different categories, and apply them to different circumstances in our lives.  But to trust in something means we rest ourselves there, we place ourselves on that rock, and our security is there.  So to trust in Christ in this way implies an entirety of our being, and our subsequent way of life.  It means that we belong -- and there we return to Christ's words:  "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day."  When we trust in Him, we belong to that which is given to Christ by the Father, for this is what forms connection and belonging.  We trust to Him, to the bread of heaven.  So, we may become children by adoption, part of a bigger family than we know, the family of the Father and the Son.  Let us ponder these mysteries, for we may participate in them, and "work the works of God."

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one can serve two masters

 

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 

- Matthew 6:19-24 

 

 We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:   "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  It says that they become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  If we look at the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-30), we find Jesus counseling a person who was extremely attached to his possessions to an extent that they interfered with his spiritual life.  My study Bible adds that the heart of disciples lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and secondly attaching ourselves to God, who is the true treasure.  However, our possessions may be used in service to God, if we put the kingdom of God's first and seek God's will for us in prayer (Matthew 6:33).

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  The mind (Greek νοῦς/nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul, my study Bible says.  It illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to Christian life.  As Jesus' words express here, the loss one suffers through the failure to do so is very great.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  As slaves serving two masters, people attempt to maintain an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things, a note in my study Bible tells us.  But this is impossible because both will demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but rather because of the control it has over people. 

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  If we break down this last statement by Jesus in today's reading, we see that He is asking us to make a choice regarding what it is we'll put our trust in.   According to Strong's Concordance, mammon is derived from an Aramaic word.  While it is used to indicate money, it also has a more general derivation indicating that it means a treasure in which a person trusts, and therefore a valued currency.  If we understand the word this way, what He is doing, then, is contrasting God and worldly wealth in terms of their absolute natures.   Do we serve material wealth?  Is material wealth like God?  Or is God a reality far beyond something confined to material substance here in this world, and therefore worthy of our worship as God?  This is a question of asking us to make a choice regarding what it is we serve.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us what we understand as the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father, in which we are taught to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Jesus is asking His disciples to think about the vast difference between that personal God to whom we are to "pray in secret," and who "sees in secret," and who is "in the secret place" (see Monday's reading), and the material things that make up the world.  Do we worship something inanimate, trust in what is always mutable and changeable -- or do we serve God and allow the rest to fall into place behind that service?   Jesus speaks of the lamp of the body, the eye with which we see, indicating the mind and how it perceives and comprehends what it takes in.  We need to clarify and to keep the mind clean and not polluted or toxic so that we can truly perceive what our lives are about, truly understand and make good choices.  As He says, "If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  If our capacity to discern, to know, to think is clouded over with distractions and falsehoods and the darkness of spiritual ignorance, then imagine how great that "pollution" is, as it is our perception which leads our whole body, our whole lives, our capacity for decision-making.  Everything hinges on it.  So we come to the first verses in today's reading, in which Jesus asks us to consider what our treasure is -- and especially where our treasure is.  This is because everything else He speaks of, including our capacity for thinking and perception, and ultimately where we are going to place our true loyalty and what we're going to serve in life, comes from this basic question about "treasure."  It seems that what Jesus is saying is that what we treasure will define who we are, and give us our deepest identity, our heart.  Therefore He gives us His starkest warnings about how we think, what we dwell upon, what we trust in.  As is so often emphasized in this Bible Commentary, the root of the word for faith (πίστις/pistis) is really "trust" in the Greek of the Gospels; it's all about what we put our trust in, what gives something true value and substance.

 

 

 

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

 

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

"Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen,

My Beloved in whom 

My soul is well pleased!

I will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 

He will not quarrel nor cry out,

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break,

And smoking flax He will not quench,

Till He sends forth justice to victory;

And in His name Gentiles will trust."

 

- Matthew 12:15-21 

 

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

 

  But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  Jesus is responding to the threat from the Pharisees, that they have begun to plot against Him, how they might destroy Him (see yesterday's reading, above).  It is not yet time for His Passion, so He withdrew from there.

Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."  My study Bible comments that our Lord's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4).  The reasons for secrecy include, as we have noted above, the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, for one thing.  In addition, the people expect and misunderstand that the Messiah must be an earthly, political leader, but Jesus' ministry is the gospel of the Kingdom.  Furthermore, Christ's desire is to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on the marvelous signs He does, but rather that the signs point to the deeper reality of the Kingdom.  The Servant (in "My Servant whom I have chosen . . .") refers first to Christ, my study Bible says, and by extension to all who follow Him.  

It's intriguing that my study Bible says that the Servant of Isaiah refers first to Christ, and then by extension, to all who follow Him.  We can read the prophesy of Isaiah quoted in today's reading, and clearly see the resemblance to Jesus in the prophesy.  We understand in His own words His character and demeanor, as in Tuesday's reading, when He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Looking more closely at the character of the Servant in Isaiah's prophesy, we observe Jesus.  Now that He understands the Pharisees begin to plot to destroy Him, He chooses to withdraw.  He will go to preach elsewhere.  His ministry is part of a mission, and this is also part of the understanding of what it is to be a Servant.  His mission is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom.  This gospel message will eventually declare justice to the Gentiles.  His ministry is essentially one which comes in peace:  "He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust."   His victory will come at His hour on the Cross, and remains with us through this time until His Second Coming, His name has come to the Gentiles as one in which to trust.  But we observe His life and His behavior; for now in His ministry He has withdrawn from direct conflict with the religious leaders.  His ministry is not one of physical conquest nor military victories, but a battle for true faith, for the hearts, minds, and souls of those who will follow and can accept that the mighty works He does are but signs of the presence and working of the Kingdom which He preaches.  It is faith that He seeks, and those who will trust in His name.  If we are also to be servants by extension, by seeking to follow Him and bear His name into the world, are we also as deft as Christ?  Can we know when to withdraw, clearly understand the peaceful quality of our mission, and bear the truth into the world to continue expanding the trust in His name that He seeks and preaches?  This is a great mission, for which He has sent out His apostles on their first mission, and which by definition we who follow continue to bear into the world.  But it is Christ from whom we need to learn how to live this life, whose mission we undertake to join and to follow, to take on the easy yoke and light burden He continues to offer.  To continue this ongoing mission of the Servant we enter into, we need to know who He is and what manner of spirit we are of.   Let us watch and learn to be like Him:  to discern the times when we need to withdraw, the times we need to speak, and how to follow in humble imitation of our Lord, the Servant.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life

 

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

 

- John 5:19–29 

 

On Saturday we read that there was a feast of the Jews [considered to be the Feast of Weeks, or Old Testament Pentecost], and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.   

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."  My study bible comments on Christ's statement that the Son can do nothing of Himself.  It proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In other words, Jesus is teaching that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  So Christ the Son shares the divine attributes both of giving life and of executing judgment. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."   That the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God has two references, my study bible comments.  It refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ; and it also refers to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  Christ confirms this statement, it further explains, by raising Lazarus from the dead (11:38-44), before going to His won death.  These verses (vv. 24-30) are read at the funeral service of the Orthodox Church.  It confirms the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.  Christ's judgment is based on both faith (he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me) and works (those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation).

Since so much depends upon faith in Christ's statements, perhaps it is a good idea to review the whole concept of what faith or belief is.  Jesus says, in verse 24, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."   This word, believes, translates a word in Greek that is derived from the word for "trust."   It's also given in an active form in the text, indicating a present active state of a person, "believing in the One who sent Me."  If we understand the verb "to trust," it gives us a different sense of what this faith is that Jesus is seeking than simply an intellectual acceptance of a premise or a set of statements or values.  He is not talking about a simple intellectual concept with which one either agrees or disagrees.  This word for "believe" is one that indicates that Jesus is talking about relationship.  If a spouse or loved one tells you something incredible, hard to believe, that has never occurred to yourself as possibility, where does one go in terms of belief or credibility?  Moreover, the statement is one made as witness -- it is a statement, in Christ's case, of something Christ has witnessed and knows as Son that we don't.  It's not a theory and it's not a strange idea He heard somewhere.  Again, going back to the idea of friend or spouse or loved one telling you a strange thing that person knows or has witnessed -- how do you believe or not?  It all goes back to trust.  It goes to a basic sense of the person who is revealing something to you that might be hard to conceive.  Do you trust that person?  How credible do you find them based on your relationship to them?  And this is what faith is with Christ, and the Greek word for "believe" used here.  How do you find trust in a person?  What sense within oneself is activated deep in the heart for trust?  This reveals not simply an intellectual assent to a set of ideas.  It is rather a question of depth of relationship, something coming from an inner place we don't always understand at all, but will sometimes make itself known and present to us.  This is where real faith comes from:  it is a connection deep in the soul.  Many times one might speak of a relationship to spouse or loved one on this basis:  there are people one knows one can trust, and there are others one does not.  This sense of trust comes from a depth that can feel almost instinctual, but is strongly linked to love, to a sense of what is intrinsically or deeply good.  In this sense, we understand faith to be that which draws us into trust in a Person (in this case, with a capital P).  It doesn't mean we already understand all things; it means that we are drawn, and will be drawn more deeply into the truth He offers.  It implies a sort of relationship that is always in the process of fulfillment and deeper reconciliation, in the same way that deep and significant human person-to-person relationships work.  Christ has spoken of Himself as a door, in John 10:9, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."  To be actively believing is to enter through that door and to continue into that journey of faith it opens to us.  This is a continual process, one in which we might struggle with doubt, we might backslide, and which will always involve ongoing encounters with repentance.  But that is just part of what the "good fight of faith" is all about (1 Timothy 6:12).

You will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me

 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.  But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

Now behold, one came  and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, " ' You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "  The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

- Matthew 19:13-22

On Saturday we read that when Jesus had finished teaching on correction and forgiveness, He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.  The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."  His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.  But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.  The disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and also because they thought children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master."  This is according to Theophan, as quoted by my study bible.  But Jesus firmly rejects such thinking and in fact sets little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, my study bible says, children are invited (even as an example to adults) to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion.  On Wednesday last week, we read Jesus' teaching of the little child as an example to those who would enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now behold, one came  and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"  So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."   My study bible points out that this man does not come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from one he considers to be only a good Teacher.  Jesus' response does not deny that He is Son and divine, but it is designed to lead this rich man to that knowledge.  Let us note the primary importance that Jesus places on the commandments.

He said to Him, "Which ones?"  Jesus said, " ' You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "  The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth.  What do I still lack?"  The formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God, my study bible says.  It notes this man's earnest desire for eternal life as indicating he still senses he lacks something.  Clearly, he continues to press Jesus for that answer.

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  My study bible says that to be perfect, one must willingly sacrifice all and follow Christ.  But in doing so, there is nothing gained except that the sacrifice is freely given, not coerced.  The specifics of how each one follows Christ will be different from one person to another.  But in this case, wealth has a great grip on this rich man.  Therefore his only hope to follow Christ freely is to sell and give away all his possessions.  According to St. John Chrysostom, giving away his possessions is the least of Christ's instructions; it is just a beginning.  But to follow Christ in all things is a much greater and more difficult calling.  It is also a lifetime calling, not a single issue or one-time commitment.

What does it mean to have great possessions?  Let us think about this.  Possessions can, of course, come in many forms.  Sometimes we cling to one thing and another.  Whether that be in the form of habits we cherish or other more conventional possessions, we need to think about this problem brought up by this well-intentioned rich young man.  Jesus first of all shows His own humility in responding to the man, by telling him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God."  In other words, even as Son and living Person of the Trinity, Jesus reveals humility as a human being, placing the question into context.  He then speaks of the commandments, which is another way to indicate humility.  To follow the commandments is to subject one's will to the will of God as understood by human beings, and revealed through the prophets (especially Moses).  That is, through those who give us the word of God.   Jesus Himself, as human being, is subject to the commandments.  (He will haggle over the traditions built up around them with the leadership; see 15:3-6).  As Son He will be the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets (5:17-20).  But to maintain first of all a stance on the necessity of following the commandments is an immediate teaching of humility and even sacrifice; it is a preparation for what will follow, Christ's new covenant.  Jesus connects a giving away of this man's great wealth to the poor with treasure in heaven, and here we see a powerful statement about what it means to give up something in order to more freely follow Christ:  we don't lose something or even sacrifice so much as we gain something else instead.  We give up one thing in order to have treasure in a different dimension of ourselves and our lives.  This may sound like "pie in the sky" rationalizing or philosophizing.  But in practice, it is assuredly a different experience.  If I am willing to give up something I care about in order to follow Christ, I gain a significant new understanding of myself.  As Christ indicates, I add to myself.  To have treasure in heaven is not an unreachable abstract idea of banking our wealth in a faraway untouchable place.  It is, in fact, to grow as a person, giving to ourselves new depth, and more importantly finding surprising joy in what is given and revealed to us in the process.  We are able to more deeply participate in the life of Christ.  To be closer to Christ is in and of itself something that produces a surpassing joy and comfort, and an inexplicable peace.  That kingdom of heaven is, after all, within us (Luke 17:20-21).  It is not far away in the sky somewhere.  This is the great secret of following Christ.  And when we take that first step -- which is, after all, what this command is for this earnest man -- we open the door to a different life, to parts of ourselves we haven't tapped, and to potentials for ourselves as human beings we haven't yet explored but which following Christ will bring out.  We start a journey somewhere.  It is, in effect, a freedom that shows us a way to a more fulfilling life, helping us to escape the trap of the "deceitfulness of riches" (13:22).  Let us understand, as Chrysostom teaches, that this specific teaching is for this one man.  It is not necessarily given to all.  In fact, we fail to understand what is being taught here except and unless we can understand that what is asked of us will be different for each.  It all depends on what is holding us back from freely following Christ.  Jesus has taught about those who will be "eunuchs" for the sake of the Church (in Saturday's reading).  He has taught the disciples that figuratively removing a hand, or foot, or eye for the sake of the salvation of the whole is necessary (5:29-31, 18:8-9).  This is not simply, in other words, a teaching about wealth and possessions per se.  It is, instead, a teaching about the freedom to follow Christ, and the treasure that is recouped in doing so.  It gives us a reason for sacrifice, a tangible event and response, a true nature to find for ourselves.  All we have to do is look at the lives of the apostles to understand the transformation in these men.  What Jesus is teaching over and over again is that it is our own humility that is the key to entering this kingdom, to finding a life of salvation, and to living more fully that life here in this world.  What we can accept for ourselves is just the faith and trust that it is so, for this comes before all else.  There are millions of people in the world who will offer us advice for a meaningful and fulfilling life, but Who would you really actually fully trust?