Who then can be saved?

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children and lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

- Matthew 19:23-30

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

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."   There have been various attempts at interpretation of this vivid saying of Christ of a camel going through the eye of a needle.  My study bible names a couple of them:  that the word for camel in Aramaic resembles the word for "rope" or possibly that the eye of a needle was a city gate through which a camel could possibly squeeze if it first were relieved of all of its baggage (which would symbolize possessions).  There is a saying in the Talmud:  "for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle."  But whatever the origin, the phrase gives us an understanding of what is preposterous, impossible.  Salvation is impossible for those attached to riches, my study bible says.  This is clearly shown by the disciples' response, "Who then can be saved?"  But through the grace of God, even what is impossible for human beings alone becomes possible.

Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."  Of judgment, my study bible quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments, "Christ judges by discerning the heart, and not by examining deeds.  So also the apostles are being shaped to exercise spiritual judgment concerning faith, and in rebuking error with virtue."  The apostles will judge not with earthly judgment, my study bible says, but rather with the witness of their own lives.  God's kingdom begins with Christ's Resurrection, and therefore the authority of judgment has already been given to the apostles and their successors in the journey of the Church on earth (16:19, John 20:23).

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children and lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."  My study bible says here that Christ is not commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children.  St. John Chrysostom says that this passage refers to keeping faith under persecution, even if it means to lose one's family.  It also means to accept that unbelieving family members may cut off ties because of the believer's faith (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).  My study bible comments that believers are promised a hundredfold of houses and relatives not in a worldly sense, but rather in a spiritual sense:  the fathers and mothers of the Church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship. 

What does it mean to sacrifice everything for Christ?  This is something we have to contemplate and think about.  I know what it is to need to cut off relationships with family because of religious faith, but that comes from a deep conviction of loyalty to God, an earnest desire for prayer and for peace with one another, and an impossible choice that simply has to be made.  It also comes from a place of forgiveness:  one has to be willing to include all of Christ's teachings in the choices that we make, not just one or two.  What we are to understand in life is that to "follow Him" requires of us a great huge life in which we participate, not a partial one.  This is not about following one commandment or another; it is about a full participation in an expanding understanding of a way of life that is whole and fulfilling, not partial and not abstract and not theoretical.  It is not about forming opinions and values with which we go about judging one another.  In fact, this is a good time to remind ourselves of what judgment is and means according to my study bible (as noted above):  the apostles will judge not with earthly judgment, but rather with the witness of their own lives.  They will learn to live the life Christ initiates them into on a deeper and gradual basis of immersion, so to speak, to be like Him, and they will rebuke error with virtue.  The kind of freedom that is claimed in this level of a life lived in Christ is total, and it grows over time.  If we are truly to follow Jesus, we do so with a growing commitment, and a gradual growth of what we are willing to sacrifice in order to be truly free to follow Him.  Hence, the image of the impossibility of the camel going through the eye of the needle:  what will be asked of us might be things we thought unthinkable to give up, but necessary for our own movement forward into God's life and love.  It is necessary to begin to think about what we have and where we go in prayer, for prayer has to be the guide for all of us in life, plus guidance in the context of the Church.  Historically the Church frowns upon extremes.  At the time period of the early Church there were philosophers and gnostics and all kinds of sects that practiced extreme forms of purification, with highly black-and-white theories of the pure and the tainted, or the good and evil of what was inside of us.  But Jesus gives us a different example of how we need to understand ourselves.  We may have a choice in this world between forces of evil such as produced the fall and sin, but it is Jesus who stands out like a beacon, having gone through this world as a human being, and showing us the way.  There is just the choice to follow Him, to understand that we ourselves have so much to learn, and that He does not require us to be "perfect" except in one sense only:  that we be willing to give up whatever it is that stands in the way of following Him.  If we are called to separate from those who would harm us or our spiritual lives in order to follow Christ more perfectly, then the time has come to step up and do it.  If we must let go of our "once in a while" habit that we know separates us from God and is destructive to our prayer life, then when that time comes, let us step up to the place.  If we need to commit our time more fully to prayer, let us heed the call and give up that time to Christ.  These are the ways in which Christ asks us to sacrifice in order to follow Him.  Moreover, if we have a hard time doing this by ourselves, we know that we are not alone in this -- nor is it expected that we ever do it all "just by ourselves."  What is impossible for human beings becomes possible with God -- for with God, all things become possible.   The many possessions of the wealthy man are all things that can come between his loyalty to Christ and his need to take care of those possessions:  one by one each must be placed in God's hands for discernment and judgment about how to live in this world and heed where God asks us to go.  And let us not forget that everything -- every blessing and gift, and all things -- come from God in the first place.  It really doesn't matter what we are talking about; it is all a journey of placing our lives and ourselves more deeply in the hands of God.  But, as He said, His yoke is easy and His burden is light (11:30) -- and He replaces what we feel we lose by the hundredfold.  It is all a matter of placing ourselves in His hands and trusting, to commit our lives to follow Him.

Teacher, what shall we do?

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"   He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

 - Luke 3:1-14

In our recent readings, the lectionary has given us John's Gospel, and specifically the events of the Last Supper.  We have read through Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples, and also what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.  In yesterday's reading, He concluded this prayer:   "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, . . ..  Luke writes with an orientation toward a Gentile audience.  He is very careful to place the Gospel in a worldly, historical setting, establishing for us the dates in the story of the ministry of Christ.  This Herod is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great.

. . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  My study bible says that Caiaphas was now the sole high priest, but people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas, a previous high priest who was deposed by the Romans.  The setting of the Gospel in its historical time and place, midst the power and authority of the Roman Empire, assures a faithful Gentile audience that this, indeed, remains a setting in which the word of God comes into the world, to the holy ones who desire to receive it.  John is, of course, John the Baptist.  He is in the wilderness, set apart from the world in total devotion to the word of God; his radical poverty for the love of God will be a model for the early desert monastics.  Many of Christ disciples were first disciples of the Baptist.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, . . ..  My study bible says that the call to repentance was tradition for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all.  But it was a preparation and prefiguration of the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   John, my study bible says, is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally, "put away") sin.  However, both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.

. . . as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  The Baptist fulfills one aspect of the prophecy of Isaiah, from which he quotes (see Isaiah 40:3-5).  He ascribes to himself the role of the voice in John 1:23.

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  My study bible notes that while parents and ancestors help to impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself doesn't make one worthy of God.  Every person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance, as the Baptist emphasizes here.  Stones are symbolic of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18, see also 1 Peter 2:4-6).

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"   He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  John's emphasis is on relatedness and community, as the Law also emphasized as its goals.  He addresses those who "have" (two tunics, food) and how they treat the "have nots."  He addresses the tax collectors, who would commonly use the power of the Roman state to extort additional monies for themselves.  Soldiers come to him also, and again John's emphasis is on ceasing to use violence and manipulation to extort, being content with their wages and just to the people.  Hidden within these questions to John is the conflict between serving or doing business with the Roman state and being a loyal Jew, which will also figure in Christ's Crucifixion.  In his responses, John gives them a fair and just "way" to live their lives in accordance what is understood as righteous in the Law (as opposed to nationalism), as Christ will also, and emphasizes repentance and change of sinful behavior.  It is a profound testimony to the figure of John the Baptist that these people (the well-off, tax collectors, soldiers) come to him for repentance and preparation for the Messiah.  It also teaches us how strongly the Jewish nation felt the fervor and desire for the Messiah, and how high expectations really were, the setting in which Jesus will begin His public ministry.

In our time and place we have our own conflicts between seeming to serve what we might consider an "evil" entity, and being loyal Christians.  If the state in which we live also commits errors, or what we consider to be sin (such as, for example, unjust war, extreme violence, extortionate taxes, unfair and discriminatory polices, extreme penalization for wrongdoing, oppressive or corrupt practices), is our option purely political?   That is, do we serve the good by various means of political resistance?  Let us presume, for a moment (and purely for the sake of hypothesis), that we live in a state we consider to be hostile to our faith.   Should we never take a government job?  Should we isolate ourselves from such government, not obeying its regulations and laws?  What role does our citizenship play in our lives?  John the Baptist takes us out of such a dilemma by emphasizing the truth of the Law, the holy and righteous behavior which the Law sought to emphasize and through which the Law sought to create community among the people of God.  Our duty, in such a model, and through John's advice, is first to God.  That is, we consider the commands we have been given, what we already know to be the good, and the desires of God for our holiness.   We have just finished reading the High Priestly Prayer of Christ, found in chapter 17 of John's Gospel (see the final reading in the prayer above).  Christ's overwhelming emphasis was on a kind of community that surpasses all other community.  This is the community of the love of God, found first is the love of God the Father, to which Christ's life and ministry is a testimony, and the gathering up of the people of God into this communion of love.  This is where we start and where we finish.  When we have a question, when we have a problem, we take it to that place in the love of God, where we know we are held and loved beyond all measure of worldly or selfish love, and we seek that place for guidance -- because  it is in that kingdom that we wish to take our true identity and meaning for all of life.  This is our true direction.  Let us consider the struggles of John, of the people, the wealth and power of a state which knows nothing of the history of the Law or the people of God, and the depth of God's love that reaches to all of us, all the time.