The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!

 

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat of the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as he had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

 

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

- Mark 14:12–26 

 

Yesterday we read that after two days (following Jesus' prophesy of the "end times" to the disciples) it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."  And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."   Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

 

  Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat of the Passover?"  The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) date the Crucifixion to the first day of Passover.  But St. John's Gospel dates it to Preparation Day, the day before Passover.  So this Passover meal is the occasion of the Last Supper here in St. Mark's Gospel.  In St. John's Gospel, Jesus dies at the exact time they killed the Passover lamb.  My study Bible comments that, while it is impossible to determine which is historically accurate, both traditions are theologically accurate -- the Mystical Supper which Jesus initiates in today's reading is the fulfillment of the Passover meal (synoptic tradition), and Christ's death is the fulfillment of the Passover lambs being slain (St. John's tradition).  

 

 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as he had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.  These two disciples are identified in St. Luke's Gospel as Peter and John (Luke 22:8).  Let us note once again, as in Christ's instructions for preparation for His entrance into Jerusalem (see this reading) Jesus gives very particular and explicit directions to the disciples for this preparation for the Passover Supper.  

 

  In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish."   My study Bible comments that here Christ emphasizes both that His betrayer is one of the twelve and also that he is one who dips with Me in the dish not so much to identify who the person is, as to emphasize the level of betrayal.  He indicates that this was one of His closest friends (see Psalm 55:13-18).  That he "dips with Me in the dish" indicates a communion that will be betrayed and broken. 

 

 "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."  My study Bible notes that divine foreknowledge of the betrayal does not take away Judas' moral freedom or his accountability for his act.  For God, it says, all things are a present reality; God foresees all human actions, but does not cause them.  

 

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."   The Greek word meaning to give thanks has at its root the word ευχαριστω/eucharisto.  Eucharist (or, in Greek, ευχαριστια/euxaristia) immediately came to refer to both the Liturgy and also the sacrament of Holy Communion, as explained by my study Bible.  It refers us to the Didache, a teaching manuscript written before the end of the first century, in which we find the celebration of the Liturgy referred to as "the Eucharist."  In 150 Ad, St. Justin says of Holy Communion, "This food we call 'Eucharist,' of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing [holy baptism] for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ commanded us."  Jesus says, "This is My body."  In the Orthodox Church, my study Bible says, these words have always been accepted as true.  According to St. Justin, "that the word of prayer which comes from Him is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus."  

 

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.   This hymn is a psalm from a group of psalms which were traditionally sung after the Passover meal (Psalms 116-118).

 

My study Bible says that Christ puts emphasis on the depth of betrayal by Judas toward Christ.  First of all, we may approach this subject by understanding what my study Bible says about Judas' responsibility for his act.  Divine foreknowledge does not erase his accountability or his moral freedom in choosing to betray Christ.  Of course we know Jesus' words regarding the consequences of such an act: "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."   We need to consider betrayal and what it means, exactly.  Betrayal is a type of ultimate lie, for what has been presented as the truth to a person or a group of persons -- within this communion of the disciples, imaged in Jesus' phrase, "one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish" -- is betrayed to all of them.  To violate a trust goes perhaps more deeply into our understanding of faith than we might usually consider, for in the Greek of the Gospels, the very word translated as faith or belief has as its root the word for "trust" (πιστις/pistis).  As "trust" relates to truth, we need to consider the betrayal of Christ as a kind of great lie, as is the betrayal of any friendship or depth of relationship that we know.  Somehow that trust is twisted by the lie of betrayal, and it is a denial of that relationship.  So the destruction of right-relationship, or righteousness, is a break in the goodness God asks of us, and gives us in the power to love.  In the Revelation we read, "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie" (Revelation 22:14-15).  That "whoever loves and practices a lie" gives us a sense of the spiritual impact of betrayal, in that it turns a relationship of trust into a lie.  Perhaps we could say that, building upon that understanding, the betrayal of Christ, who is not only a Friend and Teacher in this context, but our Creator and Lord and author of all goodness.  And, as we know that God is love (1 John 4:8), Judas' act of betrayal is a betrayal not only of divinity and goodness, but of pure love itself.  Therefore the "woe" that Jesus pronounces on the betrayer is one of those profound condemnations reserved only for those in such a category (see also Matthew 23).  Let us, in response even today, seek God's love as our basis for how we live our lives and forge our relationships, and continue as disciples in the trust of the Communion He gives us.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?

 

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that say day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  

 

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there these days?"  

 

And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  

 

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  

 

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.   Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  

 

- Luke 24:12–35 

 

Yesterday we read that after the women returned to Christ's tomb and prepared spices and fragrant oils, they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.   Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.' "  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 

 

  But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that say day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  The two of them are Cleopas and, according to tradition, St. Luke himself.  My study Bible notes that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Mark 14:51; John 21:24).  

 

 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there these days?"  My study Bible explains that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).  It's also able to take different forms -- which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  My study Bible notes also that the Lord's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but also appearance.  Sometimes He is recognized by His disciples, and other times He is not.   Also, here the text tells us that their eyes were restrained.  My study Bible comments that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures, as we read a little further along in today's reading.

 

 And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  My study Bible comments that the disciples' hope for redemption was still imbedded in a foolish misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or deliverer.  With Christ's death, this earthly hope had been dashed. 

 

 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  My study Bible says here that it is partial faith to believe either in a messiah who only suffered or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith, it notes, sees the Messiah as encompassing both, for all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.  

 

 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.   Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  Christ breaks bread in the same manner as at the Last Supper, my study Bible notes (see Luke 22:19), and so images the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  All who commune with the Lord in His risen Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him, for the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread.   They say to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us . . .?"  My study Bible calls this the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  This burning, it says, is the conviction that the words and promises are true. 

 

 As we see from the text, the risen Christ is capable of seemingly anything.  Where and when He appears to His disciples doesn't have to be "logical" to us.  It doesn't have to make material sense, or even sense in terms of what we think of as normal limitations of time and space.  Even Christ's risen Body seems possibly to take on different forms.  At least we know, as well, that whether or not people discern who He is may be limited by Christ Himself.  Certainly we can look around ourselves and know that there are those who discern the "things of God" and those who do not, who simply can't perceive what others perceive in faith.  There are modern stories of conversion in the Orthodox Church in which people walk into a church filled with icons and other aspects of religious worship and are immediately struck by the presence of heaven there.  For others, there may be no response whatsoever.  However perception happens to us, however it is that faith grows in us, my study Bible says the description by the two disciples of their response to Jesus' word is telling and universal.  They say, upon reflection, "Did not our hearts burn within us . . . ?"  So how does Christ reveal Himself to you?  That is, the unlimited, risen Christ who has no barriers of time or space, and can apparently appear in any form? In the Orthodox Church, we encounter Christ through worship, through icons, through prayer, through His saints, through His angels, and in any number of ways that are uncountable.  In Romans 1, St. Paul speaks of the glory and truth of Christ showing through all of creation:  "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead . . ." (see Romans 1:18-23).  For this author, the sudden insights or revelations that come through faith and worship in the Church have come gradually and over time, but it is clearly a spiritual process, evolving from Baptism to the present day, and always grace that is at work.  "Did not our hearts burn within us . . .?" describes a feeling of recognition, a stirring of the depths of what is inside us, an identity deeper than we know, in a place where Christ knows us and we will eventually come to know ourselves as well.  The apostles are those who have come first in this New Testament story, who have experienced and known the risen Christ, to whom He appears and makes Himself known.  For they are the first, whom we follow, even as they followed the prophets and other Old Testament Scripture as a guide to the Christ, the Messiah.  Although Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, we observe that the manifestation of the fullness of God's truth is nonetheless something that may be missed unless we have the eyes to see and ears to hear.  Let us honor the mysterious working of grace in all the unexpected ways we've been given for God's power to manifest, most especially on this walking trip to Emmaus for two of the disciples.  Let us recognize the burning in our own hearts that kindles itself when God is present to us one way or another.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have found the Messiah

 

 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard Jon speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone). 

 

- John 1:35–42 

 

Yesterday we were given the second day (paralleling the creation story of Genesis) of the beginning of Christ's ministry, the testimony of John the Baptist: 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."

 

  Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard Jon speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).  My study Bible comments that the Lord's first disciples had been followers of John the Baptist.  They were Andrew; Simon (also known as Peter), or Cephas;  Philip and Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew), both of whom we will read about in tomorrow's reading; and an unnamed disciple, whom some patristic commentary say was John, the author of the Gospel.  It was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Luke 24:13). 

 

Today's reading encompasses the third day of the beginning of the story of Christ's ministry.  Here in today's reading, John the Baptist sends two disciples to Christ whom Christ then gathers to be His own.  One of them He declares to be the foundation of the Church (see also Matthew 16:18).  As this Gospel began with the words, "In the beginning" (John 1:1), suggesting the creation story of Genesis (Genesis 1:1), so each day also parallels a day of that creation story.  Today's reading parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land on the third day in Genesis 1:9-13.  In the story of creation in Genesis, we find that God brings order out of chaos, and fills the world with good things, establishing both order and creativity.  Here John's ministry takes the shape of its fullness by John leading his disciples to Christ, following his testimony to Jesus as the Christ in yesterday's reading (the second day in the unfolding of Christ's ministry).  We could suggest the parallel to the creation story gives us Logos Himself -- both the organizing and creative principle of existence -- as the center of all things.  John the Baptist plays his role by revealing Logos to the world, and also gathering his own disciples to the Christ, thus filling the world with good things, even children to the Lord.  In our own lives, we might consider this same pattern and how it can be set down for us -- and set into motion: a blessed and good way of life.  We first place the Lord at the center of all things in life, for He is the creative and organizing principle Himself in His Person.  He is the Logos.  In John 1:1, the Greek word Logos is translated as "Word" ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God").  This, of course, refers to Jesus Christ, whom we know is the eternal Son of God.  My study Bible commented on that verse that Logos can mean "wisdom," "reason," and "action" as well as "word" -- all of these are attributes of the Son of God.  So, when we first place Jesus our Lord at the center of our lives, it is all of these properties of Logos that we are putting front and center in life, and as we pray and as we worship and structure our lives around Christ, so we are bringing the energies of those properties into our lives as well.  We participate in His life through prayer and worship practices and following the things He teaches (such as almsgiving, fasting, repentance, etc.) and in this way we ally with His energies.  This process is called "Theosis" in the Orthodox Christian tradition.  But by putting this principle of Logos first in our lives as the center of our focus, we bring organization, order, creativity, and all that Christ offers into our homes and our lives, into our families and relationships.  This is the story of the unfolding of Christ's ministry, where first John the Baptist serves Christ by revealing Him to the world, and then draws his own disciples to Jesus.  So we can do the same ourselves in our lives.  We can first put Christ in the center, knowing and learning and growing in our understanding of Him, and after that we seek to grow all things in our lives as things which serve Christ.  Whatever we do, whatever we choose, whatever steps we take, whatever we create in our lives, follows the pattern of creatively serving Christ and filling our lives with good things.  In our own practice of discipleship, we seek this constant pattern, so that we in turn are ordered, creative, and serving and enhancing the good with all we produce.  Christ has life in Himself, and the things that come from the Lord remain dynamic, creative, original, unique, and a constant marvel, such as the myriad saints that come from our faith, all of whom are unique and show us original ways in which their uniqueness is magnified in ways that serve God.  In this sense, we return the gift of our lives to our Creator, and in turn our Creator blesses us with ways to serve, to be a true part of this dynamic unfolding creation, and its salvation in Him.  Let us consider this pattern, and the growth of Christ's disciples and ministry, and how that pattern can work and unfold as well in our own lives.  In today's reading, Simon is brought to Christ, and he is revealed by Christ to be Cephas, or Peter (from the Greek Petros, meaning a Stone); that is, he is revealed by the Lord to be the foundation of the Church.  So we also may seek the Lord, and He in turn reveals to us who we are, giving us life and ministry and a way to lead our lives.

 

 

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone)

 

 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."  

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"   The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

 

- John 1:29-42 

 

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

 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 declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God is a recollection of Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ is the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb; He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus came to John this second time in order for John to make this declaration; thereby it stops anyone from thinking that Christ 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."   My study Bible remarks on the passage telling us that the Spirit remained upon Him.  It notes that this is a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism.  This vision that John saw revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ.  This concludes the second day given in John's Gospel, in which John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's baptism of repentance, which was performed with water and on earth.  It parallels the separation of water above from water below on the second day of creation is Genesis 1:6-8.

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"   The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).  Here we learn that Christ's first disciples had been first followers of John the Baptist.  These first two chosen as disciples of Christ are Andrew, and his brother Simon, also known as Peter or Cephas.  (Both Peter and Cephas mean A Stone, or Rock; Peter comes from the Greek Petros/Πετρος and Cephas is Aramaic in origin).  Here is the third day we're given in this Gospel, in which John the Baptist sends two disciples to Christ and Christ gathers them as His own -- one of whom He here declares to be the foundation of the Church (see Matthew 16:18).  This third day in the Gospel parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land on the third day of creation in Genesis 1:9-13.  Let us note that there is a third person, unnamed, who has heard John the Baptist speak about Christ, and he is considered to be John, the author of the Gospel. 

As John's Gospel tells us the story, Jesus takes on His first disciples.  As noted above, there are actually two disciples who hear John the Baptist's  pronouncement, "Behold the Lamb of God!"   One is Andrew, and the other is not named.  These two disciples then follow Jesus and spend the day with Him.  This second, unnamed disciple is present to tell us that Andrew then went to find his brother Simon.  And then we hear something extraordinary.  Simon is brought to Jesus.  But then we're told, now when Jesus look at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).  In Matthew's Gospel, for example, Jesus tells Simon that he shall be called Peter in response to Peter's confession of faith, made on behalf of all the disciples:  "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (see Matthew 16:16-18).  But here, we have John the Evangelist's early witness (the one who does not speak of himself as the second disciple with Andrew).  John is telling us something very important about Jesus, and that is His ability, as a divine Person, to see into a person and know something about an outcome far away in time.  Jesus can see what we might call Peter's telos, or "end."  That Greek word means end, but in the sense of the fullness of a journey, completion.  We know all the hoops and pitfalls and stumbling blocks Peter will come to, for the New Testament tells us about many of them, but Christ sees the fullness of the outcome of Peter's life, and crowns him, "Rock" (or Peter, as derived from the Greek of the Gospels).  Christ's vision of Peter as he truly is, or will become, is a signal of His divinity given to us by John the Evangelist and disciple as witness.  He has insight into Peter that only Christ can have, for it is Christ who is the guardian and creator of the true image of who we are, and who we can grow into through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.  As yesterday marked the Feast of the Transfiguration (Metamorphosis in Greek) for many denominations of the Church, this is a good example of what is understood as theosis.  That is, the process whereby a person, through participation in the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ, and through the grace of the Spirit, becomes transformed, transfigured into this image that only Christ can teach us about ourselves.  It is through spiritual experience that this happens -- that trying, difficult, stumbling, insightful, and exalting process that we see unfold in Peter throughout the New Testament and into the life of the early Church.  A classic statement regarding the understanding of Jesus Christ as God Incarnate is given by St. Athanasius and others:  God became man so that man could become a god (or "like god").  This is the power of faith, and the vision of Christ for Peter as Rock, that powerful rock of faith in his confession that would become the foundation of the Church, is our example of that statement.  Peter will grow to conform to the image that Christ has of who he is, and this is true of the process of faith (to work the works of God, as John's Gospel will tell us) for each of us.  Each one has a role to play, just like the anonymous witness in today's passage who would go on to give us this Gospel.  Let us be attentive to our faith in our daily life, and Christ's seeds giving birth within us to the life He offers, as He sees us.

 

 

 

 

And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread

 

 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with the, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

 

- Luke 24:12–35 

 

Yesterday we read that the women returned from observing Christ's tomb, and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.  And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.  

 

But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  My study Bible notes that the two of them are Cleopas (identified in verse 18), and according to tradition, Luke himself.  It was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Mark 14:51, John 21:24).  

 

So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.   My study Bible comments that the nature of the resurrected body is so different from its previous state that it is not immediately recognizable (John 20:14; 21:4, 12; see 1 Corinthians 15:35-44).   In addition, the resurrected body is also able to take different forms, which is what occurs here (see Mark 16:12).  That their eyes were restrained suggests that Christ intentionally prevents them from recognizing Him in order to expose their doubting thoughts, and then cure them by means of the Old Testament Scriptures (see verse 27).  

And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."   My study Bible tells us that the disciples' hope for redemption was still based in a foolish (verse 25) misunderstanding of the Messiah as a political savior or deliverer.  With Christ's death, this earthly hope had been completely dashed.  

 

 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  My study Bible comments that it is partial faith to believe either in a Messiah who only suffered, or one that would only reign in His glory.  Complete faith sees the Messiah encompassing both, for all of this was foretold in the Law and the Prophets.  

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as he sat at the table with the, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  My study Bible points out that Christ breaks bread in the same way He did at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19), imaging the Eucharist of the New Testament Church.  It says that all who commune with the Lord in His rise Body in faith have their eyes opened to know Him, for the Lord is known most perfectly in the breaking of bread.  The disciples ask one another, "Did not our heart burn within us . . .?"  My study Bible comments that this is the inescapable effect of hearing the Holy Scriptures taught correctly and with faith (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  This burning is the conviction that the words and promises are true.

This recognition of Christ in the breaking of the bread is something strong and powerful, and also recognizable.  It also teaches us something important about memory in the Christian religious sense.  In our celebrations and feasts and commemorations we do just that -- we remember, we commemorate.  But memory in this special religious sense is not just a mere observation of something that happened in history.  To remember or to recall, as do the disciples here, is to recover the meaning of this event for ourselves yet again.  Moreover, it is to participate in, to have an experience of that original event.  This is an important religious (or spiritual) understanding.  All of the historical practices of the Church, especially those found in particular symbols, or even priestly gestures which serve as symbols, are meant to evoke something.  They are not empty symbols, but are done with faith and in a certain manner in order to recreate meaning and experience, inviting us into the realities of the mysteries of God and the events of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent apostles and saints who have lived this holy life.  In our faith, we don't look at historical events of the past as mere textbook examples of something that happened once upon a time.  We are meant to relive and recover those realities -- we enter into a communion and participate in something living and real and present today.  In Christ, and in this kingdom of God brought near to us (Luke 10:9, 11), there is no such thing as time.  That is, everything is sustained in the presence of God, in this place of spiritual meanings that don't pass away with the ticking of the clock or the time of the original events themselves.  This is what it is to be imbued with spiritual reality and presence.  In the holiness of various types of relics, even in the presence of a saint or Christ Himself evoked through prayer with an icon, in our worship services, we enter into the presence of communion.  We worship with uncountable angels at the altar; we are, together with Isaiah and the Evangelist of the Revelation, in the presence of the angels who worship in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3, Revelation 4:8), even with us as we worship on earth.  We enter into a glorious communion with the great cloud of witnesses spoken of by Paul (Hebrews 12:1), and all of these things give meaning and substance, and spiritual weight, to our present circumstances.  And this is the way that we encounter our Lord.  Just as He taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus, He lives in the Scriptures, in the Law and the Prophets, and in the New Testament as well.  He lives with us in our services, in our prayers, even where two or three are gathered together in His name (Matthew 18:20), and in the breaking of our "daily bread" which is the bread of the eternal day of the Kingdom.  The gesture of Christ in the breaking of bread is an evocation of the Eucharist, and it ever remains so.