For many are called, but few are chosen

 

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

- Matthew 22:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught to the chief priests and the elders, "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedresers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given  to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

 

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come."  My study Bible explains that, like the preceding parables (see Wednesday's reading, and yesterday's reading above), this one also proclaims the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless Jews to the Gentiles.  This parable is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see also Matthew 25:1-13).  Christ is often known to us as the Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29), and St. Paul uses the analogy of marriage for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  The repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's strong desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom.  This first group invited is interpreted to mean Moses and those with him.  

 

 "Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited,  "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them."  The oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant, my study Bible explains.  "Fatted" is in fact better translated "wheat-fed," or even more literally "formed from wheat."  So, therefore, both Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.  This second group of other servants is understood to mean the prophets.  Both the first and second group of servants call those initially invited -- the Jews.  

 

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is prophesying here the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and therefore attributes that destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.  Nonetheless, God showed His patience by waiting roughly forty years from the time of Christ, giving that entire generation a chance to repent.  

 

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good."  This third group of servants represents the apostles sent out to the Gentiles ("into the highways"), those who were not initially invited, but are now called.

 

 "And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  For many are called, but few are chosen."  My study Bible explains that the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and so therefore there is no excuse for not wearing one.  Therefore, this man is speechless.  His refusal to war the garment that was provided is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, my study Bible says, or who desire God's Kingdom on their own terms.  More specifically, the garment refers to the baptismal garment, and by extension a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.   

 

 Jesus says, "For many are called, but few are chosen."  My study Bible explains elsewhere that it is a common Aramaic expression to use "many" as meaning "all."  So this last group of servants sent out on all the highways leading everywhere, inviting "as many as you find," are the apostles and others sent out to all the world, to all people; and still today this action and calling continues through every means, including the "superhighways" of telecommunications and worldwide connection through the internet and other modern technologies.  It is interesting to consider that this action of the third group of servants continues in all its forms.  Whatever "highways" human being build to connect cities and towns, countries and civilizations, the word still goes out and invitations are still being issued to this cosmic wedding banquet for Christ the Bridegroom.  Means such as this blog, communications and podcasts, videos, and all means of communication are used to continue issuing invitation to "many," meaning "all."  The whole world is invited to this wedding banquet.  Certainly we can think of no reason why "all" would not want to accept an invitation to such a banquet.  So, therefore, we ask ourselves of what does a wedding garment consist.  Pope St. Gregory the Great comments on this question:  "What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast, but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy church. He may have faith, but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this is what our Creator himself possessed when he came to the marriage feast to join the church to himself. Only God’s love brought it about that his only begotten Son united the hearts of his chosen to himself. John says that 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for us'" (Manlio Simonetti, Matthew 14–28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001, p. 146).  St. Gregory's description of love here gives us a proper sense of the fullness of love, and in particular, love in the sense of a marriage.  This love is not only asked of the guest, but it begins with God's love which unites the hearts of God's chosen to Christ.  So, as my study Bible indicates, the wedding garment is a gift of grace, given by the Father, but must be embraced and worn by the guest; that is, received as love must be received and reciprocated.  This also teaches us about hospitality in the ancient sense of our faith, even the hospitality that began with Abraham who "entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2; Genesis 18:1-8).  For we also need to practice hospitality for God's grace, welcoming it into ourselves and returning that love, and thereby do we wear our wedding garment, even as Mary the Theotokos, Mother of God, welcomed the Holy Spirit within herself to bear the Child Jesus.  Hospitality is in this sense a synergistic gift, for which it is essential to welcome God's grace, the call of the gospel message as our invitation to the Wedding Banquet.  As faithful we both receive and expand that invitation as did the apostles and disciples, through the highways of the internet and telecommunications which continue to expand for a modern age. So through the gospel the invitations are sent out to the world for others whom we hope will receive God's grace, and return God's love, uniting to Christ.  It is as true now as it was then.  "For many are called, but few are chosen."

.

 

How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

 

 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse  and no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

- Mark 2:13-22 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus 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!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Levi the son of Alphaeus is also known to us as Matthew (Matthew 9:91-13).  My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  It notes that their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Jesus dining with them and accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me") is an offense to the scribes and Pharisees.  But Christ's defense of His ministry is simple:  He goes where the need of a physician is the greatest.  He clarifies His mission:  "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  

 

  The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse  and no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  Typically, fasting practices for the Jews included fasting on Mondays and Thursday (Luke 18:12).  Moreover, my study Bible tells us, fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), and most particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But for the Jews, the day of the Messiah was foreseen as a wedding feast; that is, a time of joy and gladness.  Here Jesus is proclaiming that day, and subtly declaring Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible comments, fasting is not gloomy but desirable.  It is a "bright sadness" because in fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  Moreover, the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, according to my study Bible.  They are viewed as imperfect and temporary, while the new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

 

 Of course, we know from an important story in the Gospels, that wine was essential to the celebration of a wedding feast (see John 2:1-12; Christ's first divine sign of seven in St. John's Gospel).  So Christ's comparison of old and new wine here is significant, because wine is symbolic and essential to covenant.  So it is also in our Eucharist; in addition to the understanding of the mystical presence Christ's Blood in the wine of the Eucharist, wine retains its covenantal meaning as well, for in taking our Eucharist we affirm that He is our Bridegroom and we wish to be united to Him as His Church, the Bride.  So when Jesus speaks of old and new wine in today's reading, we need to pay attention to the depth of what He's saying.  This isn't simply about a kind of preference in terms of a simple metaphor about what we drink, but its deeper sense is about how we live covenant, what we live by, what we know, and how we participate in the divine life of God.  One hallmark of that new wine is no doubt the element of forgiveness that is so crucial to Christ's ministry, and that becomes a counterpoint to the criticism of the Pharisees and the scribes.  Just as Jesus touched a leper (and therefore "unclean" person) in Monday's reading, something forbidden in the Law, Jesus' proximity to these sinners as He eats and drinks with them is offensive to the Pharisees and scribes, who follow the Law and the traditions built up around it as scrupulously as possible.  They, in fact, live their scrupulosity in seeking to serve God.  We can simply imagine, then, how they view Christ's behavior with these tax collectors and sinners.  But Jesus has a mission that they can't understand, and it is a mission of repentance for the purpose of forgiveness of sins.  So, as He says, He's come to call sinners to repentance, because repentance is essential to forgiveness -- and it is the freedom from sin that is the true state of wholeness or healing.  Thus, He likens Himself to a physician seeking to treat the cause of illness in those who are sick.  The Law for its purposes sought to ameliorate the effects of sin in community, to limit it, to protect the community from it.  But it did not have the power to forgive sin, for only God has that power.  As Jesus here insinuates, He has that power, for He is God.  Jesus does not openly declare Himself to be the Messiah (or to be divine) in an open or obvious sense.  But He does fulfill this role, and He is doing things that only a Messiah who was both human and divine could do.  The religious leaders will understand this, and therefore be offended by it.  His followers are those who drink the new wine and need it, for it heals what ails them, and they follow Him in the ways that He leads them.  But this wine needs new wineskins, which will expand with time and age and the powerful enzymatic properties of the wine.  As time passes, and the Church continues in the world, we continue to discover that these wineskins must expand.  We find new ways in which healing and repentance go hand in hand.  We discover that our own healing depends upon freedom from sin, not just limiting sins effects.  Real healing asks for a radical turnaround, and it needs what Christ gives.  Moreover, the Holy Spirit, the real new wine, must lead from there, always expanding, always producing new saints, always giving us its creative responses to what unfolds with time.  Let us remember we must be the product of that new wine, and continue expanding as it asks of us, for that is what repentance is for.  Today's reading is also a valuable and important lesson about the deceptiveness of appearances.  For the Pharisees and scribes are judging by what they see, and indeed Jesus is sitting with those who are considered to be notorious sinners.  But with the new wine we're taught that life is not always what it appears to be, and we must find God's way for us regardless of social appearances and pressures otherwise. With social media and new technologies, the powerful manipulation of image (and the demand that we pursue the same) is more potent and persuasive than ever.   Let us make that commitment with our covenant in the new wine of Christ, who teaches us to be wise as serpents and simple as doves, and gives us the Spirit for discernment midst all of the things we think we see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me.  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

 

- Mark 2:13-22 

 

Yesterday we read that again Christ 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!"

 

  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me.  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Levi is also called Matthew, and he is the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel we know by that name.  In the system of the Empire, Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who were then free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, as my study Bible explains it.  It notes that therefore, their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption caused other Jews to hate them and to consider them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Here Christ dining with them and also accepting a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me") is an offense to the Pharisees.  But Christ's defense is quite simple:   He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  He has come not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

 

 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting.  Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins."  My study Bible explains that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover, there were public fasts which were regularly observed, or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  However, the Jews saw the day of the Messiah, by contrast, as a wedding feast:  this is a time of joy and gladness.  Here, Christ is proclaiming that day, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom, my study Bible explains.  For Christians, it notes, fasting is not gloomy but desirable; it is a bright sadness.  For by fasting, we gain self-control and we prepare ourselves for this Wedding Feast.  In this light, we understand that Jesus uses the illustration of the old garment and old wineskins to stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.  

If we look closely at today's reading, we might see a kind of revolutionary concept at work between the Old and the New.  That is, once a person is identified as a sinner, or as someone detrimental to community, Christ's work is healing, rehabilitation.  His aim is to save, to redeem.  He says, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  As Physician, then, Christ is here to heal, and that healing -- most significantly -- is repentance.  One wonders, at times, if today we have lost sight of this teaching about repentance.  Forgiveness is God's glorious purview, but it is not realized without some significant action on the part of the one who is forgiven their sins.  First of all, we must couch all concepts about faith within the understanding that we are called into relationship to God.  This is the nature of the reality we inhabit, that we are creatures of God.  Of course, we have the freedom to repudiate this should we so choose.  But that road is not a road of repentance; it is moving in the opposite direction.  To forgo forgiveness is also possible for God's creatures -- even, it seems, for angels -- but the consequences of such choices remain.  Repentance is not a kind of "Get Out of Jail Free" card, which we can just pull up when we think we need it, but like all things concerning our faith and the deep things of God, it really depends upon the state of the heart.  Jesus most solemnly condemns hypocrisy, even in those who are meant to represent God on earth and shepherd God's people (Matthew 23).  So, therefore, in considering Christ's eating and drinking with tax collectors and other sinners, people who were considered to be harmful to the community and spiritually impure, we need to think about what this repentance is that Christ puts so much stress on.  Certainly the good news of Christ's gospel of the Kingdom is first that repentance is not only possible, but desired by God.  In yesterday's reading (see above), the scribes ask, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" and thereby make it clear to us that Christ possesses this authority to forgive and to judge.  But what is repentance?  How does it work?  Why is this the great good news of our Physician, the healing and liberation which He brings to us?  Perhaps as a result of 2,000 years of Christian history, often we find people who may be so assured that they cannot sin or endanger their spiritual welfare through their choices, because we now have been so conditioned to understand God's love and forgiveness.  But repentance, nonetheless, remains an important work for us to do.  Perhaps it is the most important work of all we should consider, for repentance isn't the same thing as simple remorse or regret.  Repentance is the action of change, of turning toward God to be more reconciled to God and the ways God would ask us to walk in life.  And this is indeed the great light we need in our lives.  To neglect this saving and healing work in us is to ignore the gift we're given of the light of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit at work.  To refuse to take this notion seriously is to refuse the gift, or to practice the hypocrisy Christ so condemns in the actions of the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew 23.  The New Covenant is all about recognizing our capacity for change and healing and renewal under the actions and guidance of the Physician who is Christ.  When we forget what a great wonder and marvel this is, we have only to turn to those systems in which forgiveness never seems to take place, where to cross a social rule or a particular value system or even a political opinion renders a person hopelessly assigned to oblivion -- and rehabilitation only comes at the expense of personal integrity and particularly of what one believes to be the truth.  Let us consider the great gift of the Physician, and remember the power of healing always present in Christ.  For if we are afraid to change, or admit our mistakes, or refuse this reconciliation in God's sight, we lose ourselves, we lose our spiritual health and understanding in God's light.  That is simply too much to lose, and bears all kinds of sacrifices to achieve it.  It's God's wisdom we need in order to determine who we are in our best sense of self, for to refuse is to lose one's life to delusion and fantasy, to a self-created idol rather than God's gift to us of true identity and spiritual health.  Let us rejoice within the new wineskins for the new wine of the wedding feast of Christ the Bridegroom, for He brings His love in order to invite us in where life is truly good. 

Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?

 

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

- Luke 5:27-39 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened when Christ was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins: -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

 

 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Levi (also known as Matthew) answers Christ's call, "Follow Me," and -- like the fishermen in yesterday's reading (see above), leaves his occupation to become a disciples.  My study Bible comments that from the beginning of His ministry, Christ has been a friend of tax collectors and sinners, which is one of the Pharisees' complaints against Him a little further along in today's reading.  Similarly again to Peter, James, and John, who were previously followers of the ministry of John the Baptist, Levi might also have been one of the tax collectors that Luke tells us were prepared for Christ by John the Baptist (see Luke 3:12).  

 

Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  My study Bible comments that this feast expresses Matthew's joy and gratitude.  It says that the guest register is a stirring demonstration of the fruit of Jesus' love and forgiveness.  

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"  And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."  Then He spoke a parable to them:  "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved."   My study Bible notes that Jesus' earthly life is a time of joyous blessings.  But, He indicates, there will come a time when His followers will practice the fast.  In calling Himself the Bridegroom, however, Jesus indicates His role as Messiah, and so the time that He is together with His disciples is one of joy and feasting.  After His Passion, the Jewish tradition of fasting would be transfigured in Christianity, a time of remembrance and participation in His Passion, a tool for self-control in discipleship, and a preparation for the Wedding Feast.

 

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  My study Bible remarks that this saying is included only in Luke's account.  It is illustrative of several things; notably the difficulty with which the Jews would accept the new covenant, the inner resistance a person faces in turning from a sinful way of life, and the general stubbornness of the human heart.  

Over the course of the past few readings, Luke's Gospel has been concerned with the issue of sin and discipleship in Christ's new ministry.  There was first of all the episode in which Jesus told Peter, James, and John to lower their nets for an extraordinary catch of fish, and Peter responded in his astonishment and recognition of Christ's holiness, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  (in Monday's reading).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus both forgave a paralyzed man his sins, and then healed him of paralysis -- because of the faith of the man's friends who brought him before Christ (see the text of Tuesday's reading, above).  In today's reading, Jesus calls as disciple, and then keeps company, with people understood in the society as notorious sinners.  It is in this context that the Pharisees begin to question Him.  Tax collectors worked for Rome, often using their power of their office to collect more than was their due from their fellow Jews.   As Christ and His disciples share a feast with Matthew and those who come to his house, the question of fasting arises as well.  We should understand that the Jews typically fasted twice a week, on Monday and Thursday.  Moreover there were regular public fasts which were observed, such as the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19), and also occasionally proclamations of fasts would be made.  In today's reading, Jesus makes clear that He is the Bridegroom who is with His people, hence the feast -- but that the days will come when they will fast.  Since we have already observed Jesus' forgiveness of sins (in yesterday's reading), we may begin to get a sense of what it means to be the Christ, the Bridegroom.  In the context of Christ's ministry, forgiveness is possible through the encounter with Christ, through repentance and the renewal possible via faith.  This is the new wine of the New Covenant being introduced.  We may be struck by Peter's sudden awareness of his sinfulness in Monday's reading, a recognition before Christ of the truth of his life and a need for discipleship.  In yesterday's reading, the faith of the paralyzed man's friends and the forgiveness of his sins by Christ are both linked to his healing from his ailment -- and both are made possible through that faith.  Here in today's reading, Jesus sits at what might be called a preview of the Wedding Feast to come at the end of the age, when Christ returns for His Bride, the Church.  We can see the response of the Pharisees as they are both perplexed and concerned at this expression of His ministry, and also their questioning of why He and His disciples do not fast.  The life and ministry of Christ, as noted above, would transfigure the entire notion of the fast, and produce a different kind of fasting in Christianity.  In the Orthodox tradition, fasting is often called a "bright sadness," because in it one looks forward to the wedding feast.  In the Christian tradition of fasting, we fast for the reasons noted by my study Bible.  We fast in preparation for the times of feasting.  We fast in discipleship in order to learn our own capacity for choice and for self-control and to develop our own power of detachment.  We also fast in participation and remembrance of Christ's Passion (on Wednesdays, and more commonly on Fridays) and His own refusal of temptation in the wilderness (during Lent).  Fasting practices differ from place to place.  But they are meant to be times of controlled abstinence from certain things, such as particular foods, or a limited time of eating altogether (possibly even for part of a day), and also of abstinence from sinful behavior, such as backbiting and gossiping, things we know might harm our discipleship and our communities.  In short, fasting is a time to "remember God," to make space for an awareness, like St. Peter, of our reverence for Him and what He asks of us.  It is not a question of how well we follow rules, but a question of simply renewing and dedicating ourselves to our faith.  We do the best we can, and it helps us to learn that we are not simply compelled by our appetites and passions in life, as we make choices for that discipline.  The fasting practices of the Church become tools for helping us to break addictive behaviors, and to rely on more deeply on Christ and our faith.  They help us to remember humility, and to remember those who of necessity must make do with less -- as times of fasting are also times that call upon us for charitable activities as well.  In the modern "developing" world of greater abundance than in the past, fasting is often misunderstood, forgotten and discarded.  But it might be wise in our modern context to learn its practice, and its benefits to us -- to remember that it's not about the rules, but about our own struggle for ourselves and our souls.  We have a forgiving, loving Savior -- but He calls upon us to take up our own crosses, to practice discipleship, to remember who we are and grow in that remembrance and discipleship.  We are called to know ourselves, and to come to repentance for things we need to change.  Fasting becomes a practice for learning that we can discard old habits and practices that aren't really good for us.  Our Bridegroom will be with us again.  But let us remember His words about how attached we may grow to the old wine, while He offers us the new wine of His Kingdom and His covenant.

 

 

 

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?

 

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their own ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

 

- Matthew 22:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to the religious authorities in the temple in Jerusalem:   "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:   'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come."  In today's reading, Jesus gives yet another parable to the religious authorities.  My study Bible notes that this parable also (like the preceding one in yesterday's reading, above) also proclaims the transfer of the Kingdom from the faithless Jews to the Gentiles (note that operative word "faithless" -- we should remember that all of Christ's followers and disciples are also Jews, as is Jesus).  It is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see Matthew 25:1-13), as Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29).  St. Paul also uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  The repeated sending out of servants, my study Bible says, shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom.  This first group invited here in these verses is interpreted to be Moses and those with him. 

"Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their own ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them."    This second group of other servants is interpreted to be the prophets.  They also call those initially invited, the Jews.  The oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represents the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant, my study Bible says.  The word for "fatted" is better translated as "wheat-fed" or more literally "formed from wheat."   In the tradition of the sacrifice, male calves were raised on wheat in preparation for religious offering, but here we understand the symbolism alluding to the sacrifice of Christ.   Therefore we understand that both the Old and New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.  

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is here prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and therefore attributes this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.   Jesus will do the same more specifically when He mentions the "righteous blood shed on the earth," particularly the prophets killed before Him, and attributes the same murderous spirit to these religious leaders in chapter 23, especially verse 35.  See also Christ's lament over Jerusalem at the end of that chapter.  Nonetheless, my study Bible notes, God showed His patience by waiting some forty years from the time of Christ, giving the entire generation a chance to repent.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests."  This third group of servants who go out into the highways to invite all they find to the wedding, gathering together both bad and good, represents the apostles sent out to the Gentiles.  That is, those who were not initially invited, but now are called.

"And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"  My study Bible explains that the wedding garment would have been provided by the king, and therefore there was no excuse for this man for not wearing one.  Therefore the man is speechless.  His refusal to wear the garment that was provided is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, or who want God's Kingdom on their own terms.  Specifically, my study Bible notes, the garment refers to our baptismal garment, and by extension, a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.  

"For many are called, but few are chosen."  For many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."

In this parable of the wedding feast, Jesus teaches that the third group of servants who called people to the wedding went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.   This is a kind of parallel to Christ's parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30).  In both we're given an image of a world in which all are called toward God's salvation, the light of the word of Christ.  There are those who will accept it, and those who will not.  In Christ's beginning parable, that of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23), He symbolizes Himself as one who sows seed, and then depending on the kind of ground the seed falls on (within human beings), spiritual fruits are either produced or not.  So this sense, of all being called and gathered together, "both bad and good," is an image of the world during this period which began with the Incarnation of Christ and His ministry.  All are called through the word of God, which continues today through every means of communication available.  Christian ministries proliferate across the globe through mass media and all other forms of reaching out to people and places on all the "highways" of the world, include virtual ones.  Regardless of denomination, we should see this parable as one that continues to unfold its truths and its reality in the world.  There are many who speak of a "post-Christian" reality, but it seems that all of this -- both evangelization and rejection of Christ's gospel -- is foreseen in the parables of Christ.  This is the condition of the world in which we presently live both from the perspective of the Church (note the capital C) and the Gospels:  the invitation continually goes out to call all to the wedding feast.  The outcome (the judgment of who wears the proper wedding garment and who does not) is not known to us, and we are neither the Judge nor the king in the parable.  But we should not be dismayed by whatever we think we see, for it's all included here (including the heresies symbolized in the Tares, as one traditional interpretation teaches).  Christ's Incarnation began the present period in which we live, and all of it is considered to be the period of "the End" -- the time in which we live in preparation for Resurrection and Judgment.  This is the time in which we are all called, and we will all be seen at the wedding feast either as having accepted and worn our wedding garment or not.  Do not be dismayed by rejection and hatred of Christ or the Gospel, but know that we live in this period of both the bad and the good.  We are not the judges, but we're each given a calling and a command to endure in our faith and the duties to which we're called to love God and neighbor, to be faithful servants of Christ, and to love one another as Christ loved us.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 

 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

 

- Luke 14:1-11 

 

 Yesterday we read that some Pharisees came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'  Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  Dropsy is a form of edema, a problem of fluid retention in soft tissues of the body.  Once again, Jesus challenges the rulers regarding healing on the Sabbath (see also Luke 6:6-11, 13:10-17).  Jesus builds upon His illustration from chapter 13, in which He said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?"  

 

 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   Jesus teaches two parables (the first of which is here, the second of which will be in the following reading), regarding gracious, God-like behavior, specifically directed to those with authority who are sitting at this meal in the home of one of the Pharisees, but also meaningful for us today.  This first parable is directed toward guests.  My study bible comments that, in imitation of Christ, perfect humility is expected of guests, and boundless charity is demanded of hosts (see James 4:6).  

Jesus teaches about gracious behavior, and more.  Perhaps if we keep in mind that He is speaking to what is likely to be a group of Pharisees (invited to a meal at the home of a Pharisee), or those in high positions among the religious rulers, we should consider His addressing an attitude among those who would lead others, especially those who seek to serve God in doing so.  It is illustrative, first of all, of the gracious nature of the healing on the Sabbath they've just witnessed.  Moreover, in a sort of hidden or symbolic way, it seems to address their presumed authoritative positions of honor, suggesting they make room for One who does not seem to hold as high a worldly position.  Jesus suggests that it is better to receive honor through humility, rather than to claim honor through arrogance or assumption.  The setting of a wedding feast for the parable is another clue that Jesus is speaking in a veiled or hidden way about God's judgment, the time when the Son of Man returns as Son of God, in a way that is clear to all.  Then will be the time when the positions of honor in the Kingdom of God will be clearly shown and recognized by all.  Jesus suggests that in getting there, we would all be better to embrace humility as a way of life, and as a way of being elevated by God and by God's judgment.  We can read it as  gentle way to teach that although these men think they are in the elevated seats of the kingdom of God, Jesus teaches that they may find themselves not in the positions in which they think they are going to be, and that it is only humility that will save them in preparation for that wedding feast when the Lord returns.  It is a lesson to us all, as well, especially those who hold positions of authority of one sort or another, that we need humility in order to most clearly perceive our places before God.  That is, it is through humility that we understand God's word to us, and where and how we need to more deeply come to terms with that reconciliation, our true places in the Kingdom.  Let us take Jesus' teaching as a model for our behavior, and even more clearly, as a message for the one true way we can find ourselves in the places to which God calls us, and to receive those places which might be prepared for us.  The notion of gracious behavior has been given us by Christ, couched as it is in humility which Christ elevated to a virtue.  This was not the case before Christianity; humility was seen only as property of the weak, an undesirable position.  Today more than ever we need to remember where the goodness of gracious behavior, and all our notions of grace truly come from, and honor that in all our dealings.  Let us remember humility's great value as elevated by Christ, as teaching for us to emulate.  Jesus teaches us that when we are in doubt about where we stand in life, humility is always the best way to start.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 14:1-11

Yesterday we read that on the same day He was preaching about the "narrow gate" of the kingdom, some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'  Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.  This is a repeat or continuation of a fight between some Pharisees and Jesus, and His illustration builds on His words in 13:15 (see this reading for that earlier healing on the Sabbath).  The fight is over what is considered to be work, but as Jesus points out, it was considered acceptable to save the life of an animal on the Sabbath, so why not a human being?  As happens so often with Jesus in debate with His opponents, they simply cannot respond.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  My study bible says that in this parable of a wedding feast (and those that will follow in Monday's reading), Jesus directs His teachings first toward guests (in today's reading), and then hosts (in the verses that will follow).  It says that, in imitation of Christ, perfect humility is expected of guests, and boundless charity is demanded of hosts (see James 4:6). 

 Jesus gives a parable about the wisdom of behaving with humility, but we also can't help but think that it's directed to these men who may not be aware of the One who is seated with them.  He has struggled with the Pharisees over this issue of healing on the Sabbath.  So important is it to Jesus, that He has made a deliberate confrontation over it, and repeatedly.  His skills not only as orator but one who debates theological meanings are so sharp that He reduces these learned men to silence, as we read several times in the Gospels, and most notably in the events of Holy Week.  In this parable of the wedding feast that He tells them, after their disagreement over healing the man on the Sabbath, one cannot help but recall that the wedding feast is the time of joy which suggests the wedding of the Bridegroom (Christ) with His Bride, Jerusalem.  Coming so shortly after yesterday's reading, in which Jesus lamented the disloyalty and lack of returned love from Jerusalem, it seems there is another suggested meaning here, found in the image of the wedding feast.  These men consider themselves as the arbiters of the faith.  They are experts in the Law and in the traditions that have been built up around the Law by men such as themselves; they have inherited and zealously guard this tradition.  And who is Christ?  He is a teacher from Galilee, not one of their numbers, not of priestly rank.  He has no education at the foot of a famous rabbi that He can claim for Himself as the authoritative teaching He cites when He speaks.  But at this point He is famous for His healing, for exorcisms, and for preaching.  He has a movement of those who follow Him, a ministry that has gone throughout Galilee.  When Jesus speaks about taking the lowest places at the wedding feast, so that they may be invited up by their host and receive glory from all, it is clearly suggestive of the judgment and the great day of the Wedding Feast that is to come.  He is not simply telling a parable about the benefits of humility to us (which is certainly true), but there is a hint here to these authoritative men that they may not understand who sits with them, and that they must take care that their own "exaltation" does not do them in.  It opens up the question of just who is the host and who is the guest, and who might be the greater man at the table.  In Jesus' role as Son of Man, He is the Lord who attends a banquet entertained by those who are unaware of this identity.  As Lord, He is clearly the "host" of all of us in this world, in which all that we have and our very lives are His gift.  We are stewards of His creation.  Therefore, there is yet another sense in which this parable is for all of us; we are always guests at this banquet to which we are invited, and therefore our proper conduct is one of humility in this sense as well.  We forget in whose presence and at whose invitation we sit at a table of life, at whose invitation we are invited to share in the bounty and goodness of this Kingdom.   The real question opens up for us a sharp look at our modern concepts of social standing.  How do we value humility?   Can we grasp Jesus' teaching for ourselves?   How many ways do we need to undo our own social mores of this time in order to accept His teaching on the value of humility?  At the very least, do we consider the banquet to which we're invited and the wisdom of Christ regarding an attitude of humility?  Popular images today seem to glorify social standing and "popularity" even more than in Christ's time, and so in accepting this value placed on humility by Jesus, we do have our own personal work cut out for us.  Let us consider His timeless words, and the virtue He espouses, and how it may play out for each of us as we grasp what He's getting at in our own lives.

Many are called, but few are chosen

 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.  And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."

- Matthew 22:1-14

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, as He spoke to the leadership in the temple in Jerusalem:   "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and leave his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready.  Come to the wedding."'  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them."  In the readings from yesterday (see above) and Tuesday, Jesus has given parables in which, like this one, He gives a message of the transfer of the Kingdom from the Jews who place no faith in Him to the Gentiles.  This one is set as a joyful wedding banquet (see also 25:1-13).  Christ is often called the "Bridegroom" (9:15, John 3:29), and St. Paul uses a marriage analogy for the Kingdom (Ephesians 5:21-33).  Here in the parable, the repeated sending out of servants shows the Father's great desire to have His people with Him in the Kingdom, my study bible says.  This is similar to the many servants sent and abused in the parable of the vinedresses in yesterday's reading.  The first group of servants in today's parable is interpreted to be Moses and those with him, while the second group is composed of the prophets.  These groups call those who are initially invited, the Jews.  The third group represents the apostles sent to the Gentiles, those who were not initially invited but are now called.  The oxen represent the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, while the fatted cattle represent the eucharistic bread of the New Covenant.  (Fatted from the original Greek would be better translated as "wheat-fed" or even more literally "formed from wheat.")  So both the Old and the New Covenants are fulfilled at the wedding of Christ and His Church.

"But when the king heard about it, he was furious.  And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom here, who teaches that Christ is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, thereby attributing this destruction to an act of God rather than simply to that of human beings.  Nevertheless, there is patience and mercy shown by waiting forty years from the time of Christ, giving the whole of the generation a chance to repent.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?'  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  For many are called, but few are chosen."  The wedding garment would have been provided by the king, so therefore the man had no excuse for not wearing one.  Thereby he is speechless.  My study bible says the refusal to wear the garment that was given is an illustration of those who refuse God's hospitality, or who rather want His Kingdom on their own terms.  Specifically, this garment refers to the baptismal garment, and by extension, a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity.  Without these, my study bible says, a person will ultimately be cast into outer darkness.  As in 20:28, for many is an Aramaic and Greek expression which means "for all."

Since Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem, His actions have spoken of the consequences of rejection of the Kingdom, the lack of faith in those who have been well-prepared to receive Christ.  Of course, each of these conversations have taken place in the context of confrontation with the religious authorities, the religious leaders of the people, and so the impact of these parables and Jesus' statements is meaningful before these men who are fully prepared to receive and know the Messiah.  The parable itself, in today's reading, illustrates the fullness of preparation, and the lack of excuses, the extent of the king's mercy and efforts so that all are included and prepared for the wedding feast.  But the refusal of the king's servants, the failure to respond to repeated invitations, and the lack of a wedding garment among those who do come, ultimately has an effect and does not go unanswered.  The question here is what we are to think about God's mercy.  How long do we refuse it?  Can we listen to the words of Christ, can we understand the goodness in His ministry, and refuse?  Suppose we are the religious leadership of the people, those who teach and are responsible for the words of the prophets, the fullness of the Scriptures, and the transmission of all of Jewish spiritual heritage to the people.  Would we be responsible for our response to Christ?  In the cleansing of the temple, and in Jesus' reply to these authorities regarding their treatment of John the Baptist, we see and hear a Jesus who finally declares that the time has arrived for judgment to be known.  It doesn't imply that God's mercy is finished.  But it does imply that for these men and for their generation, the time is now to pay attention.  This is Jesus' hour.  His time has come.  He is in Jerusalem for a purpose, and He knows that this is the final week of His life, and that the Passion is to come.  His ministry has continued until this point for three years, but now these men will plot successfully to put Him to death, and it is the hour of His glory.  While God is always prepared for our repentance, there comes a time when we have received sufficient warning and preparation for us to make that decision, and our failure becomes a refusal.  It is important to understand that this cuts two ways; it's not simply that we are able to make a choice, but that we diminish our own capacities for making good choices by continual refusal of mercy and love.  In the language of the Scriptures, our heart becomes hardened.  We can neither see nor hear spiritually, and this is something to take very seriously (13:14-15).  Christ gives us to understand that we are all called to this place of reception of the Creator, this wedding feast for everyone, but our repeated and continued refusals have consequences.  God's love and mercy are endless, but our time is limited.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we remarked upon St. John Chrysostom's understanding of the difference between one who stumbles upon the stone which is Christ, and the one upon whom that stone falls.  We know of God's mercy, but do we understand the consequences of our own choices?

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke, to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

- Luke 14:1-11

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus journeyed toward Jerusalem, some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'  Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.  And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.  And Jesus, answering, spoke, to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  But they kept silent.  And He took him and healed him, and let him go.  Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"  And they could not answer Him regarding these things.   The issue of healing on the Sabbath keeps returning for Christ.  This is something against the traditions built up around the law by the Pharisees and scribes, and by now He has already faced their readiness to accuse Him on this charge, more than once.  Jesus' answer to them, questioning whether or not they would help an animal on the Sabbath, builds up on His earlier response (13:15).  To save the life of an animal was 'legal' on the Sabbath.  Why not heal a human being?  Dropsy is an old fashioned term for a type of edema (perhaps taken from the word in Greek, hydropikos, rooted in the word for water),  which is a swelling of soft tissues due to water retention associated with disease. 

So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:  "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'  Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   Jesus speaks here to the guests invited to the home.  He teaches about humility.  (In the following reading, He will teach a parable aimed at hosts.)  My study bible says that in imitation of Christ, perfect humility is expected of guests, and boundless charity is demanded of hosts.  It quotes James 4:6, in which James writes of grace, paraphrasing Proverbs 3:34:  "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  The New King James version of that verse in Proverbs reads, "Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble."  It would seem that Jesus is addressing those who would judge Him.  In this context, we should note that Jesus speaks of a wedding feast, symbolic of the time of judgment and of the union of God with God's people.  This is a very particular perspective He's teaching them.

Jesus' teachings on humility remind us all of its importance.  As noted above, here in today's reading He gives one teaching to guests in a home, but in the next reading He addresses hosts.  In both cases, the teaching involves humility and emphasizes community.  If we look closely at Jesus' healings, they seem to include this component of creating or restoring community -- in particular, restoring the healed person to their place in the community.  Part of the affliction is often exclusion and isolation in one form and another.  Humility is a key component, as Jesus points out here, for an understanding of and a creating or building up of community.  Here, humility assures that a person is in a rightful and accepted place, and it is, in fact, community that elevates the person to a more exalted position.  It may be a subtle way of teaching these "great men" (for they are all in positions of authority in their community as lawyers and Pharisees) that true greatness would be found in humility rather than in their coveted positions.  Perhaps, more to the point, humility would allow them to truly see Him better.  What we must understand now is that these teachings most certainly apply to all of us.  Humility is necessary for a truly healthy and balanced life.  Narcissism is a component in many diseases of the mind.  It takes us away from seeing ourselves as we need to, and in particular from seeing ourselves as a part of community -- something we also need for good health and well-being.  Humility is not about denying God-given skills and talents, nor is it about denying our hard work at whatever it is we have developed in our lives.  It not about groveling before other human beings, nor is it about self-derogation.  On the contrary, humility is first and foremost a conscious understanding of our place before God.  (The wedding feast setting of Jesus' parable underscores this.)  It's an awareness that we're always in a place where our true judgment and assessment of who we are rests in the sight of God.  And that awareness tempers the way that we approach community.  Community does not define absolutely our worth; but it is Jesus who teaches about how we each in turn play a role in community to support it or tear it down.  His teachings and His healings give us a good understanding about how we are to treat "the least of these" and their place in community.  His healings often build an inclusion where there was not, a restoration to community.  It's in those bonds of love as taught by God and given by grace that we really find the key to Jesus' kind of humility.  Righteousness means right-relatedness, and we only find an understanding of that through God's love.  It is grace that illumines how we work in community and help to build and create it.  This is not an abstract theory or set of laws but active mercy and love, given to us as a gift of grace.  It is only through humility that we can truly be illumined in terms of how to live a gracious life; there will always be things we need to learn about love and relatedness.   We cannot assume perfection -- that is a core teaching about the value of humility.  He is here to teach, and our own humility is the first step to learning more.