While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light

 

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up/"  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

- John 12:27-36 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loaves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

  "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour."  My study Bible points out that here Christ reveals His human will, the natural human response to His impending Passion.  But nonetheless, He aligns Himself with the will of the Father, even as He is fully human as fully divine.  

 

"Father, glorify Your name."   Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  The Father's name is an extension of His Person.  My study Bible says that the Son's death completes the purpose of the Father and shows His love for all, thereby glorifying Him.  He is effectively saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is Christ's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross.  The Father's response, additionally, refers to the sign already performed by Christ and also to the death and Resurrection to come.

 

 Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake."  Although the Father spoke clearly, those who stood by heard indistinct sounds like thunder.  My study Bible comments that this is because they lacked faith.  Those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  The disciples knew the Father Himself had spoken, as indicated in Jesus' response, "for your sake."

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  Lifted up is a reference to Jesus being hung on the Cross (see also John 3:14-15; 8:28).  My study Bible notes that this death will bring salvation to all peoples, while at the same time rendering judgment on the faithless and destroying once for all the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.  

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up/"  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  The Gospel has referred to Christ as the light (John 1:4-9), and Christ has referred to Himself as the light (John 8:12).  My study Bible says that His teaching here has many facets of meaning.  First, He will shortly be completing His public ministry.  Moreover, our own lives are very limited; we have only a short time to repent and to believe in Christ before death.  Finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while compared to eternity. 

Jesus calls Himself light, and speaks of our journey through life as walking in the world.  It is His light we need to make sure we are on the right path, making the good choices of God.  He has called Himself the light of the world (John 8:12).  If we believe in the light, He says, we may become sons of light.  That is, children of light.   So, we may ask ourselves again, more deeply as the Gospel moves along toward Christ's Passion, what does it mean to be children of light, to be faithful to Christ?  Here Jesus clearly ties together faith and being.  What we put our faith and trust into, we bear likeness to, and we may become more so by walking in the light -- living according to this faith.  This is not a promise of some sort of fairy tale life, nor a promise of self-aggrandizement in some sense.  What it is, is a promise that we might have spiritual truth revealed to us and integrated into our way of being in the world, a sense of what it is to become more like Him and to follow God's judgment and discernment for our lives.  We seek His light in order to become the kind of people who seek His prudent counsel, who understand the purpose and meaning of sacrifice, and who do not fool themselves either about the nature of His light nor of the world.  In chapter 11, we were told that Caiaphas, in his role as high priest that year, advocated to the Council that they put Christ to death.  He said it this way:  "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  But we understand these words to be inadvertent prophecy, and fulfilling the role of high priest in so doing, because they teach us about Christ's mission and work, although as a man, Caiaphas meant something quite different.  (Jesus says, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.")  Christ's death would have the effect of gathering together Jews and Gentiles in one faith, and this is the power of His sacrifice, and fulfillment of the Father's will.  At the same time, it is a defeat of the enemy, whose final weapon is death (1 Corinthians 15:26).  What we might come to understand for ourselves, as Jesus speaks of the light, and of walking in the light, is that the sacrifices we might be called to make will be in some sense also serving this higher purpose of Christ's calling, of serving the light and becoming more "like Him," becoming, in effect, His children.  We are to understand, as we've frequently commented on the life of the Cross, that He calls us to exchange one life for another, an "earthly" life for one suffused with this kind of light, the light of spiritual reality and an understanding of discernment and higher purpose.  This is not a formula for instant gratification and happiness, but it is one of belonging to something transcendent and meaningful, one that teaches us about love and the emptiness of serving only materialism, a way of life that sees nothing of deep value and cannot recognize its own darkness.  Christ's light is one that illumines the way to discernment, to find a true worth and meaning in a world of competing interests, ruthless violence, and endless manipulation.  This is the light that shines in the darkness, the light of the world.  What side would you choose?  Whose light would you bear into the world?  Who do you choose to guide you? In 1 Corinthians 15:35-49, St. Paul speaks of glory, of the difference between the life of the Resurrection, and the various types of glory we might observe.  Here in today's passage, we are asked to ponder what type of glory we might want for ourselves, for there is the "glory" of the world and what it admires and envies and elevates especially through our media and public relations and all the means of the powerful, and then there is the glory of the light of Christ.  We might well want both, but so often we are asked instead to choose.  Whose light will draw you forward with love and truth?

 

 

 

 

Believe in the light, that you may become sons of light

 

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

 

- John 12:27–36a 

 

Yesterday we read there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the Passover feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 

  "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Jesus refers to His human soul, and that in His desire for life, He is in conflict with what the Father wants of Him.  But in all things, He is obedient and unified to the Father.  My study bible explains that the Father's name is an extension of His Person.  The Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, showing God's love for all and thus glorifying God.   It paraphrases Christ as saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is Christ's divine response to the human impulse to avoid the Cross.  The Father's response refers to the signs already performed by Christ, and to the death and Resurrection to come.  

Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake."  My study bible comments that although the Father spoke clearly, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder, because they lacked faith.  Those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  The disciples knew that it was the Father who had spoken.

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  To be lifted up is another reference to Christ being hung on the Cross (see also 3:14-15, 8:28).   This death, my study bible says, will bring salvation to all peoples, while at the same time rendering judgment on the faithless and destroying once for all the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  My study bible tells us that the light refers to Christ (see also 1:4-9, 8:12).   It says that Christ's teaching here has several facets of meaning.  First, Christ will soon be completing His public ministry.  Moreover, our own lives are quite limited; we have a short time to repent and to believe in Christ before death.   And then, finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when we compare it to eternity.

Jesus refers to Himself once again as the light.  His is the guiding light for us to follow.  His words are light, and they are life.  He shows us the way.  How is this true in your life?  As we listen to Jesus in today's reading, we observe His dedication to the will of the Father.  He will go to the Cross, although His human soul resists it, in order to fulfill His mission.  But He knows the Father is love, and He knows that He goes to the Cross for judgment.  Jesus says of this hour of the Cross:  "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."    There is no doubt of the link between the Cross and judgment:  the "judgment of this world" is also the time "the ruler of this world will be cast out."  His is the light that casts out the ruler of darkness.  At the same time, Christ is lifted up as the One who will draw all peoples toward Himself.   The implication is that He comes to bring a shift into the world, a displacement of the "ruler of this world" whom He casts out by being lifted up on the Cross, whose place He will take as He draws all peoples to Himself.  We who live in this time as we await His return are in the midst of that transition.  It is hard to see, and we may become lost in despair and sadness at what we see in our world, be might become frightened and disheartened, but nevertheless this is His message to us.  He is working to replace that cruel, evil, hard ruler of this world who could be behind the suffering and death of the sinless person who loved us and died for us.  If we continue to see the effects of evil in our world, we need to hear the words of St. Peter, reminding us what the Psalmist teaches:  "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4).  We are all in this crucible, the time of the Cross initiated by Christ's being lifted up.  We either stand in His light to witness His truth, or we reject it for ourselves.  We are all in this world together, but we know that His message to us is to endure, to stand firm in the ways we are taught, to walk while we have the light, and to become sons of light.  Let us remember this every time we look around, every time we find things that disturb our quiet, when our souls are troubled and let us know that the shadow of darkness is still in some forms with us.  We would do well to remember that every step we take following His light becomes a part of witnessing for Him, a part of the judgment of which He speaks.  Let us remember today His words that are still so powerful and remain true with us, who seek to follow Him and become sons of light.

 

 

 

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

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, 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. 

 

- John 5:1-18 

 

Yesterday we read that after the two days He departed from Samaria and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 

  After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Traditionally, this feast is viewed as the Feast of Weeks or the Old Testament Pentecost (as it occurs 50 days after Passover).   It is a celebration of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  Later in this chapter, we will see many references to the Law of Moses, which confirm this interpretation.  

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.  This was a double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers.  My study bible says that it has recently been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool was from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  My study bible further comments that this pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  The waters were special in the sense that they offered a way to indirectly participate in the animal sacrifices in the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But in that case, only the first person to enter could receive grace.  By contrast, under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in the sacrificial death of Christ (see Romans 6:3-6) and without mediation of angels.  Thereby baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, with inexhaustible grace. 

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary as saying that Jesus singled out this particular man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance, and also as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

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.  My study bible comments that Christ's question to the man is relevant for many reasons.  First, it makes public the fact that the sick man kept his faith although in a seemingly hopeless circumstance.  How could a paralytic ever be the first in the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need that we have for a man to help us.  This is fulfilled in Christ, who became that human being in order to heal all.  Finally, not all those who are ill actually desire healing.  Some might prefer to remain infirm for varying reasons, such as the capacity to freely complain, to avoid responsibility in some sense for their lives, or to continue receiving the pity of others.

 

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.  Although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, my study bible notes that it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and also explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.   It is made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by His command, "Rise, take up your bed and walk," and also by the man's obedience in response.  As we frequently note, in John's Gospel, the term the Jews -- as in this example -- refers to the leaders and not to the Jewish people in general.  My study bible comments on the malice of these leaders, who focus solely on the Sabbath violation in asking him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk?" and ignoring altogether the miraculous healing. 

 

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."  A note in my study bible remarks on the fact that this man was found in the temple:  it shows his great faith, for he had gone there directly to thank God for his healing, rather than leaving to someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, sin no more.  My study bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, for the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are also often spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).   But there are times when our sins do lead directly to our own suffering in this world.  St. Chrysostom states that this was the case with the paralytic.  But, my study bible adds, Christ's warning is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The only hope is to flee from sin altogether.  

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.   My study bible notes that the man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of Christ.  Although these leaders only show an interest in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man nevertheless emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and he says nothing about carrying his bed.  

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.  Here is an explanation of the effort to persecute Jesus, but once again, Christ's response is on the work of the Father which He is working.  As Jesus declares God to be "My Father," the leaders clearly understand that it implies Christ is equal with God.  

In the first chapter of John's Gospel, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to His future disciples as the Lamb of God (1:29, 36).  Here in today's reading, the commentary of my study bible ties in that title and understanding with this reading about the pool at the Sheep Gate.  It is the pool in which the sacrificial lambs are washed before they are slain, and that is part of the perception that this water has properties through which one may indirectly participate in the sacrifice.  But, as my study bible explains, those properties are limited:  they are restricted only to the first one to enter the water, and that grace is mediated by an angel.  Expanding on this understanding, we take on the meaning of the name of Christ as Lamb of God.  In our understanding of the Cross, and Christ's sacrifice as Lamb of God, we are each invited to participate fully in His grace and His healing for us.  Thus, we understand the viewpoint of our earliest ancestors in the Church:  that Christ is an expression of the fullness of the potential in our ancient expressions of faith and reaching toward God.  Where the man with the infirmity hoped for decades to reach the pool first, now Christ is fully in the world for each of us, as is the grace with which we've been bestowed, which my study bible calls "inexhaustible."  We should not think it strange that the water that washed the lambs was hoped to heal, and also through the intervention of an angel.  In the long history of the Church, and from the beginning, it was understood that objects could retain healing power through contact with the holy.   In today's reading, we're given the third sign in John's Gospel.  It exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness, an important expansion on what we already understand of Christ's power and identity as divine Person.  In our previous reading, we were given the healing of the nobleman's son, a presumably youthful and ill boy.  But here the text goes out of its way to let us know that this is an older man with a long degenerative illness, seeking a cure here at the Sheep Gate for thirty-eight years.  His immediate restoration to wholeness through Christ tells us of the abundant grace available in the Person of Christ, and also that time is no object to His power.  That Jesus tells the man, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you," is, to my ears, an affirmation of that power, as to go and sin would be a type of deliberate violation of the grace and power that has so fully been bestowed to heal.  What has been given is given freely and abundantly, and through faith:  to go and sin would be a deliberate act against both faith and the gift of grace, and thereby risking the effects of rejection of the presence of Christ in the paralytic's life, a turning away from the gift of participation.   This is a theme from the beginning of John's Gospel, that to turn away from the light is to risk the effects of the darkness.   Let us consider the ways in which we participate in Christ's sacrifice and in the grace of God.  What good things have come to you?  Is there healing that has happened in your life in response to faith?  Let us remember that gifts of grace are myriad, and seldom spectacular, except to the one who understands God's work in oneself and one's life.  To be grateful is a key here, as my study bible notes that Christ finds this healed man giving thanks in the temple.  Let us always refresh our connection and participation in the life and grace we're offered.  The man tells Jesus, "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."  Let us remember that in the communion we're offered and the fullness of our Pentecost, there are countless saints, and always a Helper present -- even when we feel alone.

If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

- John 11:1-16

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

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  Today we begin reading the story of the seventh sign of seven given to us in John's Gospel, the Resurrection of Lazarus.  The entire story is covered in verses 1-45 of this chapter.  It is this seventh sign that sealed the religious authorities' choice to put Jesus to death (verses 47-50).   Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  My study bible tells us that Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar" in Hebrew, which literally means "God helps."  Interestingly, John gives us a parenthetical remark about Mary, one of the sisters of Lazarus, which refers to an event which will take place in chapter 12, the anointing of Jesus (12:1-8).  Evidently, this must have been a story well-known to the early Christian community.

When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Similarly to the tragedy of the affliction of the man blind from birth, which Jesus pronounced was neither the result of sin on his or his parents' part, but rather an occasion for the manifestation of the works of God (9:1-3), Jesus proclaims here that Lazarus' sickness if an occasion "for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  My study bible says that this message is sent back to Mary and Martha in order to strengthen them so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in Christ's words.  The Son of God being glorified, my study bible tells us, must not be understood as the cause of Lazarus dying.  Rather, it is an indication that Christ will be glorified as a result of Lazarus' death -- which results from natural illness -- and Lazarus' being raised from the dead.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  My study bible explains that Christ delays in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough that the corruption of his body could set in (see verse 39).  In this way there would be no doubt of the miracle of the raising of Lazarus, and the work of the Lord would be seen clearly by all.

Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  In yesterday's reading (above), we read that -- not for the first time -- the religious leaders sought to stone Christ for blasphemy, after He declared that "I and the Father are one" (see Thursday's reading).

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  Jesus has already twice declared Himself the light of the world, and in the previous chapter, spoke about working while it is day.  All of these statements point to Himself as light, in which is illuminated the way to proceed.

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  Once again, John's Gospel gives us a misunderstanding regarding Jesus' allegorical language.  My study bible compares the use of the term "to sleep" as similar to that of Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.  It notes, also, that Thomas' final statement, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him," is an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It adds that this also illustrates the path that all believers must take -- that we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 15:31).

Jesus says, in today's reading, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   This is His response to the fears of His disciples, that He is willing to go again near Jerusalem (to Bethany, a nearby town), after the leaders have repeatedly sought to stone Him to death.  Ultimately, we know He refers to Himself as "the light of the world" and that He has said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."   John's Prologue introduces the Gospel Book to us and the story of Jesus by speaking of light and the darkness that seeks to oppose it and can neither comprehend nor destroy the light (John 1:4-5).  What Jesus tells the disciples is that He has an illumination, a way to walk in His life, to live through His mission, that is guided by something akin to the light of day.  His path is illumined, and He knows which way He walks.  All things are done in following the will of the Father, and by this light also He knows that Lazarus' illness is not for the purpose of death, but rather "for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  "Glory" is in some sense related to the light, for it is that very light which gives the substance of this kind of glory:  a reflection of goodness, a type of radiance that reveals true worth and substance.  It is in this sense that we want to think about light today, because it is through this light that we want all of our own lives, and our own works, to be revealed to us.  We need this light to reveal our potential, to illuminate our own ways and choices and walk through life.  We, too, are taught by Christ to radiate this kind of light and value and worth out to the world, as when Jesus teaches, in the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  It is this light that we want to think about today, because it is the light we need in order to truly see the path for our footsteps, as well as the light that we are called to reflect in the world.  Some people think of splendor as that which belongs to the generated output of PR agencies, a public relations media machine that can make us famous or well-known.  Those who look to the "stars" of Hollywood as the greatest glory in life can think about what they seek to value or worship in so doing.  But we are called toward a different kind of light and a different kind of glory in life.  We are called to the values of Christ, His weightiness, His worthiness, His light through which He calls us to illuminate our own lives, and to reflect, as well He does Himself, the light of life.  We may call upon God, through Christ, to illuminate our own lives and our pathways so that we also walk in the day, and glorify God through what we do.  We are not called to be great heroes of the popular media, neither are we called to court public opinion as the end-all and be-all of the world.  Jesus warns us about doing good deeds -- and specifically, charitable works --  to be seen by others (Matthew 6:1).   And neither are we told that we must be as popular as possible.   In fact, it is John who condemns the hypocrisy and cowardice of those among the religious leaders who believe in Christ but will not confess Him publicly, when he writes that "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (see 12:42-43).  We are called first to seek the kingdom of God, and not the kingdom of the world, and then "all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).  The glory of God is the work of God, that which comes through faith and is found through this particular light which is called the light of life.  Our glory comes through God's glory at work in us and through us, through our own consent and the living of our faith -- living by walking in the light that shows us the way for our footsteps.  We need to seek His path, the one that He illumines, and to find His way for us so that we, too, might share in His glory, participating with Him in His life.  If all that sounds much too complicated, think of it like this:  God sheds His light, and we must seek it, so that we can truly see where we are going.  That is the way to the life He offers, and there is no other.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world

Pantocrator, 14th century.  National History Museum, Sophia, Bulgaria.  Gospel Book is open to John 8:12, Christ's first declaration that He is the light of the world

 Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

- John 9:1-17

In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, and eight-day festival commemorating the time when Israel lived in tents, or tabernacles, as they followed Moses searching for the promised land.  (John 7:1-10:21 covers the period of events which take place while Jesus is at this Festival in Jerusalem.)  At this point, it is the eighth and final day of the Festival, and Jesus has been disputing with the leadership.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.   John chapter 9 concerns the story of the healing of this man who was blind from birth.  It gives us the sixth of seven signs in the Gospel.  Why is this of significance?  My study bible tells us that of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth.  The blind man, it says, is symbolic of all humanity.  All need illumination by Christ, who is the Light of the world.  It adds that this sign is an illustration of baptism, which is also called "holy illumination."

And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  My study bible comments here that Jesus rejects the assumption (which was common in the ancient world) that all troubles and even illness are the result of personal sin or possibly the sins of one's parents (see Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9; contrast Ezekiel 18:19-21).  Although suffering can directly occur as the result of personal sin, it is clearly not always the case.  Here, the man's blindness is not only denied by Christ to be related to his (or his parents') personal sins.   Jesus takes it a glorious step further; this is an occasion for the works of God to be revealed.

"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."   My study bible tells us that the work that people do consists of faith (6:29), good deeds (5:29), and repentance (12:40).  The night that comes is a reference to both the time after a person's death and to the age to come, in which there no longer remains an opportunity to express faith.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that on that day there will not be faith, but rather all will submit, whether willingly or unwillingly.

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."   The healing of the man born blind, unprecedented in Scripture, is seen to confirm Jesus' claim that He is the light of the world.

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  My study bible comments that St. Irenaeus sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of the creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7).  It notes that Jesus reveals His divinity by restoring part of creation using the same material with which He created humanity in the beginning.

And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."   My study bible says that the pool of Siloam was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and quite a distance from the temple.  Water was taken from this pool for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles (which Jesus is attending in Jerusalem).  Siloam, translated, Sent, is symbolic of Christ, the One sent by the Father (6:36; 20:21), and who has taught that "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (7:38).  My study bible says that just as the healing of the blind man is a confirmation of Christ's claim to be the light of the world (8:12), so also Christ using this pool of Siloam confirms that He is the true purification of the temple and of those who worship in it.  

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."  My study bible comments that, just as the Pharisees ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath (in chapter 5:10-16), so here many of them cannot see the glory of God through their own prejudices.

Looked at from a particular viewpoint, this healing of the man born blind is a type of prefiguration of Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection.  In the Crucifixion, the action of Christ takes a supremely evil thing and turns it to the good.  There is nothing "good" that we can say about crucifixion:  it was designed to give a slow and agonizing death.  But through the action of Christ, what was an unjust sentence of horrific punishment was transformed to a key to salvation for the whole of creation.  It is the power of God not only to renew, but to transform, even to produce good out of the effects of evil.  In today's reading, Jesus takes a man blind from birth, and in His viewpoint and perspective, something obviously hurting to human beings is transformed.  In the ancient viewpoint, as my study bible pointed out, and as the question of the disciples suggests to us, such an affliction was seen a the result of sin -- either of that person's sin or even of his or her parents.  But Christ completely transforms everything about this affliction.  Not only does He declare it has nothing to do with personal sin as a cause, but it is in fact an occasion for the glorification of God.   Regardless of the great achievements of people who have been afflicted with blindness in modern times, their tremendous capacities for fullness of life in all ways, we would not really presume that loss of sight was purely -- in and of itself alone -- a good thing for human beings.  But Jesus pronounces this an opportunity, an occasion for something tremendous to take place.  In that sense, the healing of this man and the restoration of his sight is not just an illumination for him, for one individual, but it is an illumination for all of us about the power of God, the character of God, and the renewing power that accompanies God's work in us.  We may not each experience the kind of miraculous healing that is on display in today's reading, the sixth of the seven signs given of Christ's divinity in the Gospel of John.  But nevertheless, the power of God rests within each of our own afflictions as possibilities for renewal and transcendence, even transformation of our lives and the conditions of our lives.  Jesus at once pronounces this man and his family innocent, freeing them of blame and condemnation of the popular understanding of the time -- and instead pronounces the blindness to be an occasion for the works of God to be manifest in the world.  What would our lives be like if every setback, every affliction, every problem became in our own sight an occasion for the glory of God as possibility to manifest?  What if every negative, hurtful, harmful diminution of capacity in our lives became for us an unprecedented opportunity to pray for renewal, and to find it in one way and another?  While we may not have our prayers answered in such a direct way as does the man in today's reading, we might find that hidden in every affliction, no matter what its nature, is some secret potential which can be tapped into through our faith.   A lost job becomes a possible opportunity to re-gear and reflect, offering more time for prayer and a greater development of spiritual resilience.    A friend's wrist injury rendered him unable to pursue his building project, but opened up an opportunity to write the story which had been persistently nagging at him to write down.  A setback in a vocal career became an opportunity to walk a deeper walk with God, an occasion for discovery of deeper waters and truer reality and acceptance of the self.  In so many ways, our walk with God gives us opportunities for the work of God through our own lives, our setbacks, and our struggles.  It is, in my opinion, not a mistake to cultivate such an attitude to anything that seems as if it limits us.  Jesus not only reveals the blamelessness of this man and his parents, but in so doing also conveys the very freedom of the truth of God which awaits our faith, where everything is an opportunity, even what looks like something hard, unjust, unwanted.  Let us consider the power of God who works in and through us.  That is what Christ came into the world to reveal, the light He gives to us so that we may truly see.

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

Angel of the Lord, Theophanes the Cretan, 1545.  Fresco, Chapel of St. Nicholas, Stavronikita Monastery, Mt. Athos, Greece

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, 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.

- John 5:1-18

 Yesterday we read that after two days with the Samaritans near Jacob's well, Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans, received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they had also gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  As we can see, John's Gospel is organized through the various Jewish feasts that occur during Jesus' ministry.  Frequently, Jesus' sermons and teachings during these festivals touches on themes of the events commemorated through them in Jewish spiritual history.  Through this understanding, the Fathers of the Church have taught that this particular festival is the feast of the Old Testament Pentecost (which is also called the "Feast of Weeks").  This was a celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  We will see Christ's references to the Law of Moses later in this fifth chapter of John's Gospel.

 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.   My study bible remarks that this double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers, was discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool originated from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  It adds that this pool functions as a "type" of Christian baptism.  That is, as the text tells us, under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing, after an angel touched it.  These waters were special in the sense that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But that grace was limited to the first person who entered.   By contrast, under the new covenants, my study bible explains, baptism is given to all peoples as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Therefore, baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace is not limited, but rather inexhaustible.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who remarks that Jesus singled out the man who had already waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

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.   Jesus' question, "Do you want to be made well?" is relevant for several reasons, which my study bible gives:  1.  This made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in circumstances which were seemingly hopeless.  One must ask, how could a paralytic ever be the first into the water?  2.  Christ draws our attention away from the water and toward the need for a man to help us, which is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became a human being to heal all.  3.  Not everyone who is ill actually wishes to be truly healed.  Unfortunately, it is simply true that some may prefer to remain unwell in order to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue drawing upon the pity of others.

 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.  My study bible points out that although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22.  It is also specifically forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  But we are to understand that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath through His command ("Rise, take up your bed and walk") and also by the man's obedience.  (See also Matthew 12:1-8.)  My study bible also reminds us that, as is often the case in John's Gospel, the term Jews here is used similarly to a political term, in that it refers to the leaders (that is, those who make up the ruling parties), and not to the people in general.  Every person in this story, including Jesus and the paralytic man, is a Jew.  Moreover, we must bear in mind that the attributed author of the Gospel was also a Jew.  My study bible remarks upon the malice of the leaders, whose focus is only on the Sabbath violation.  They ask this healed man, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?"  But they lack altogether any concern or interest whatsoever in his miraculous healing.

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."  My study bible says that the fact that this man was found in the temple shows he had great faith.  He had gone there directly to thank God for his cure, as opposed to departing to someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells the man to sin no more:  my study bible says that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), that connection is not always one-to-one, as we all know the innocent often suffer, and the guilty are frequently spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).  But nonetheless, there are most definitely times when our own sins lead directly to our personal suffering in this world.  St. John Chrysostom comments here that this was the case with the paralytic man.  Christ's warning, however, according to my study bible, is that sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  And we must also consider that for this healed man to knowingly sin against God would be, in a certain sense, to repudiate the giver of the grace he has received, and so result in a deeper condemnation.  Our great hope is to flee from sin altogether.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study bible says that this man does not report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of Christ.  Although the leadership is only interested in the Sabbath violation, the healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed (the subject of the violation).

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.  Jesus declares God to be My Father.  This is clearly understood by the leaders as a declaration of absolutely equality.

In Christianity, we embrace the equality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  These are the three Persons of the Trinity.  But for the religious leaders of Christ's time, for a man to declare himself to be equal with God is simply blasphemy, and therefore punishable by death.  Jesus emphasizes the quite personal and intimate role of this relatedness simply by using the term "Father" -- and therefore giving us a sense not merely of equality or relationship in and of itself, but rather characterizing this relationship as personal and intimate, and also one of love and likeness.  It is in John's Gospel that Jesus will say, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).  It is in Jesus' care, His compassion, His healing, and also His intimate understanding and relationship to those whom He guides, counsels, and helps that we also come to understand God the Father, and the Spirit as well.  It is the same John to whom the authorship of this Gospel is attributed who also writes in his first Epistle that "God is love" (1 John 4:8).  And this is the unfolding in this Gospel of how we are to understand Jesus, and to know that Jesus is sent in order to reveal to us more deeply the true nature and identity of the Father:  today's reading gives us the third sign or miracle of John's Gospel.  It is an unfolding in which Christ's compassion for those downtrodden and struggling is most clear and evident, for this man has waited thirty-eight years for help, and yet his hope was not exhausted.  He is afflicted and handicapped.   He needs someone to help him.  He has been struggling to take what is a desperate and narrow chance for healing for a significant portion of his life.  It is he whom Christ asks, "Do you want to be made well?"  It is of him that Jesus engages first in intimate conversation, inquiring about his state of mind, his frame of being, beginning a healing with a depth of understanding and dialogue.  And this, for us, further reveals the mind and persona of God -- who seeks to engage on intimate terms with us, and for us to share our deepest thoughts and concerns in dialogue, which is prayer.  There is no deeper expression of what is called the condescension of God, as in some very real sense, God became human so that God could engage directly with this isolated man with no one to help him.   The fact that he struggles in this circumstance for decades tells us something, and offers to us a glimmer of light in our own challenges.  It tells us that God knows where we are, and affirms that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7).  And there is another way in which today's reading gives us a sense of grace at work in our lives, and that is through the gift of baptism.  While this paralytic man awaits the angel to stir the water, and some man who would help him, Christ gives baptism to all of us, in which the waters of the world are sanctified for healing on all levels.  That is, through the sacrament of baptism, we are brought even closer to God and God comes closer to us, endowing us with the gift of the Spirit for our own struggles and battles with what ails us in life, and helping us to find God and to reject sin and evil.  We often overlook baptism as the great gift that it is, that it makes it more possible to be endowed with a gift that effects prayer and intimacy and dialogue with God, unifies our understanding of the faith and the living Church, helping us to understand intercession and the communion of saints, and even the work of angels in our lives.  This is a gift of illumination, and so often we seek to squander it by undervaluing its potential for each of us.  Let us consider the ways in which today's reading gives us enlightenment about the loving nature of God and God's care for us, and also how the elements of the world -- something as common as water -- may also be formed in sacrament to help us understand that life of faith which is so vital to our own hope and struggle in life.  Jesus' command to "sin no more" tells us about the importance of valuing what we have and are given by grace, and not overlooking what is worthwhile simply because it is freely given of love.  Today's text tells us that it was an angel who stirred the waters, so that they could be used for healing.  While we may or may not dispute this idea, there is little doubt that the testimony of the whole history of faith gives us evidence of the work of angels -- as messengers, as instruments in human history, as part of the entire communion of saints, intercessors, guides, and guardians of human beings.  While modern sentiment frequently depicts angels as cuddly children, the reality of such beings is one to which many have testified as that of a tremendous intelligence, many times beyond our capacity to grasp, and power that normal earthly barriers of space cannot hinder.  Let us give attention where attention is due, and understand that in the tradition of the Church, each one of us has one such being as guardian, and that where worship is present, so we also worship at the altar with the angels in heaven.  Christ Himself goes so far as to testify of even the least among us that "their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10).  Through the baptism of water and the Spirit, Christ may change the dynamic of healing and sanctifying waters.  But the ministry and presence of these great messengers remains active and with us in all ways, and mysteriously more than we can know, as part of God's love at work for human beings.

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.  Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"  Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

- John 12:27-36

In our present readings, Jesus is at His third and final Passover festival in Jerusalem.  Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save Me from this hour'?  But for this purpose I came to this hour."  Jesus tells those who listen, and all the rest of us, that My soul is troubled.  His human soul -- the full psychological reality of being truly a human being -- means that He has a natural abhorrence of death.  But the ultimate guide for Christ is His divinity and His union with God the Father; and so, in this hour He affirms for those who hear that for this purpose I came to this hour.   The lives of the first apostles confirm that this was understood to be leadership for all the rest of us, for whom faith in Christ and the unity in that love of God would become the ultimate loyalty, the fullness of life.

"Father, glorify Your name."  My study bible tells us that the Father's name is an extension of His Person.  The Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, and it shows His love for all, and therefore glorifies Him.  Regardless of His natural human instinct, Christ is in effect saying to the Father that He should be led to the Cross.  My study bible calls this the Lord's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross.

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."  Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake."  The Father's response refers to the signs which Jesus has already performed, and also to His death and Resurrection to come.  Although the Father spoke clearly, my study bible says, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  It notes that those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, believing that it was an angel.   But the disciples knew that the Father had spoken, as Jesus indicates by saying, This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.  The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"   Lifted up is Christ's reference to being hung on the Cross, as we have already read in 3:14 and 8:28.  My study bible notes that this death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same time it will render judgment on those who lack faith.  Once and for all it will destroy the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.

Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.  Yet again, Jesus refers to Himself as the light (see 1:4-9; 8:12).  My study bible says that His teaching in these verses has several facets of meaning.  He indicates that He will shortly be completing His public ministry.  Moreover, our lives are quite limited.  That is, we have a short time to repent and believe in Christ before our own deaths.  And more -- the second coming of Christ is but a little while when compared to eternity.

Christ is willing to give up His entire life.  How can this be?  Why would the God of all creation be willing to give up life?  This One "without [whom] nothing was made that was made" (1:3) is the very creator of life.   He is in the world, in fact, to save human life.  We know of His encounters with individuals, like the Samaritan woman (John 4) -- not a man and not a Jew -- and yet His individual time was spent with her, His revelation of His identity is first made to her.  Christ has confirmed that to Him, each human life is precious, and that He loves each of us.  God's love for us will never end, and will never turn away.  But it is we who turn away from God.  In Christ's willing sacrifice, He is giving us an image of ourselves and what we do.  It is we who turn away our own lives from His life-giving love.  It is who we choose to reject His joy, and His peace for ourselves.  In today's reading, Jesus gives a warning to everyone, to all of us:  "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  We have the light with us; the Church gives us this message.  While we are all human beings and capable of error, including the human beings who make up the Church, we accept that the truth of the Holy Spirit and the message of Christ comes to us through His words and the work of God which is active and with us and among us.  Christ goes willingly to His sacrifice simply for this, to teach us that salvation has a process and a way, and that He is the light that guides us.  Let us walk while we have the light by believing in the light, so that we know where we are going, and that we may become sons of light.  In the darkness is death.   God gives us the gift of will, and offers us His choice and His love.

I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house

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

- Mark 2:1-12

Yesterday we read that as soon as Jesus and the others had come out of the synagogue at Capernaum, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.  So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.  And she served them.  At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.  Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.  And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.  When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."  But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."  And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.  Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.  And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"  So far in Mark's Gospel, throughout chapter 1, we have observed Jesus as Liberator, the One who lifts the oppression both of demons and human suffering.  Here, that effect of liberation takes on another of its spiritual aspects.  My study bible comments that one purpose of Christ's coming into the world is to forgive sins.  This is a freeing of humanity from another sort of bondage.  To forgive sins, it notes, is an even greater power than physical healing.  As the scribes note correctly, God alone can forgive sins.  Therefore, the easier task is to grant physical healing.  Moreover, even though Christ is fully God, and He holds the authority to forgive, here He condescends to those gathered and heals this man in order to draw people to God, whom they glorified.

In the tradition of the Church, paralysis has been viewed as a symbolic representation of sin.  When we sin, it is as if we are stuck in a particular place of repetition and lack of growth.   Sin is habitual; there is something that might be a particular weakness, or a place of ignorance in which we function in ways that are limited and damaging -- harmful to ourselves or to others.  In this case, the healing of the paralytic illustrates that no such healing takes place without the presence of faith.  But faith isn't limited to our own efforts alone.  The prayers of others can help to bring healing, illumination, and divine energy in the form of grace to a problem in which we are "stuck."  When we're too paralyzed to help ourselves, the prayers of others may avail to bring to us the energies we need, help for healing whatever it is that has us frozen in our behavior or habit, unable to overcome what it is that binds us in a  particular place.  One bad habit may be anger that overboils too easily, a habit of seeking to find blame elsewhere when we really need to take a look at our own behaviors that are faulty or ill-advised.  The blindness that has us stuck in habitual behavior that causes us problems can be a sort of paralysis, an inability to see further down the line of our own possible changes, an incapacity to grasp just how things might go better if we did our own work of growth.  Faith works not only to connect us with something bigger and greater than ourselves, to take us beyond our own "stuck" places, but also to draw on strengths and wisdom and the grace to overcome habitual behaviors.  It makes us capable of using spiritual "muscles" and "strength" we did otherwise do not know we have.  In today's reading, the friends who help the paralytic not only conceive of bringing him on his bed to Christ, but faith makes such an effort with them and among them to facilitate his healing that they collectively come up with the idea to lower him through the roof -- something so unusual it is reported to us until today in the Gospels.  Faith makes this persistence and creativity, this capacity for thinking outside of our own boxes possible.  Faith connects us to wisdom and intelligence through grace, to energies that supply us with what is necessary when we don't have these resources of ourselves alone.  In this sense, today's reading is a brilliant illustration of the power of faith -- and that collective prayer can do things for us when we can do nothing of ourselves, even when we may find ourselves unable to pray for ourselves.  In turn, it teaches us what our prayers may do for others that they haven't found a way to do for themselves as well.  Faith connects us to the Source of our liberation, our freedom from bondage and slavery to that which keeps us stuck, pinned down, chained to something we'd like to break free of but can't quite do it of ourselves.  We should not underestimate the strength found in prayer, as we come to learn reliance on God and God's grace for what we need.  Even through others, faith connects us to that which is meant for our good, and can lift us up from the beds we've made for ourselves.  This is part of the journey of faith.  Christ offers His command for us to arise; but this is only possible through that which opens us up to those potentials beyond the "stuck" place we remain without Him.