Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, is it nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13-26 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, is it nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  My study Bible comments here that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding Him as well.  So, therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."   These warnings begin the last part of this final public sermon of Jesus.  Nearly the whole of chapter 23 is taken with it.  My study Bible comments that the warnings which begin in this section (and will continue in tomorrow's reading) are especially important to Orthodox Christians.  It notes that the Church has maintained the ancient practices of tithing ("These you ought to have done"), sacred vessels "you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish", and holy rites following the tradition handed down from the ancient Church through today.  These practices can be expressions of deep faith, it notes, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation ("hypocrites!").  My study Bible explains that to "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" is a reference to a practice in which the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming any ritually unclean substance.  

 

 There are a few things we might want to pay attention to in today's reading, for they reveal patterns which Jesus condemns on the part of these religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees.  First of all we should place this section of chapter 23 of St. Matthew' Gospel in context.  This full chapter is an exposition of Jesus' final public sermon, and so it is noteworthy to begin with 6:simply on that basis.  It is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees, and in particular their hypocrisy.  It's notable for us that between the different parties that made up the ruling Council of the Jews (all of them religious leaders, and centered in the Jerusalem temple), the ones whom Jesus criticizes were perhaps the ones closest to Him in spiritual outlook and opinions.  The Sadducees are left out of this particular critique; they are the ones of whom He said they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (in this reading from Saturday).  It was a lawyer, in the second half of Saturday's reading, who approached Jesus with a question regarding the greatest commandments in the Law.  This lawyer was a Pharisee, and so we should keep this in mind.  For that Pharisee clearly understood Jesus' response to His question, and approved.  But the hypocritical practices Jesus condemns in today's reading show a clear violation of what Jesus called the first and greatest commandment ("You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind," which comes from Deuteronomy 6:5).  For these men in their hypocrisy pay lip service to piety, to devotion to God, but they don't practice it in what they do.  By their hypocrisy they take on pupils whom they mislead with their practices, and so "you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."  As we reviewed in yesterday's reading and commentary, it's their job as stewards of the people and their spiritual tradition to lead them to God, but in their practices they do the opposite.  As teachers they fail to uphold their supposed purpose as religious leaders, rabbis.   Even worse, they prey on the weak and powerless, thus violating the second great commandment Jesus had given ("You shall love your neighbor as yourself" from Leviticus 19:18).  Jesus tells them, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation."   Such terrible teachers are they that they "travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  They not only fail to lead toward God, but lead toward the adversaries of God.  So blind are they to the things of God, they fail to understand that it is God who gives value to all things; therefore they can't see the sanctification of God, God's the power of holiness, and instead value the material that is useless without it.  Finally they miss God altogether in their pursuit of pious-appearing practices:  they tithe, but they have "neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith."  Without the love of God in their hearts, they have form but not substance.  They pay attention to the tiniest detail in appearing holy before others, but they swallow whole what is unclean in their faithlessness.  They take care to appear perfect to others in their external legalism, but "inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence."   In St. Matthew's 15th chapter, Jesus speaks of them by quoting from Isaiah:  "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8; Isaiah 29:13).  What we see in the outcome of their hypocrisy is the cruelty of their practices, the opposite of the intentions of the Law, antithetical to the purposes of God.  They become allied with evil, teaching their proselytes to become "twice as much a son of hell" as themselves.  Again, we turn back to Christ's teachings to the disciples about authority, power, and greatness, and the need for the consideration and protection of the "little ones" among them.  The widows whose houses are devoured are among such "little ones," the powerless and dependent, and so are the proselytes who seek instruction of matters of God.  As always, we consider what these examples mean for us, for, as my study Bible points out, there is no one who needs to take consideration of these warnings and criticism more than we who value and cherish the traditions we inherit, the faith we follow -- for we might find ourselves also at the receiving end of this criticisms should we engage in such hypocrisy ourselves.  A pure focus on externals might find us, rather than fully practicing our faith, in the same place of condemnation as these men whom Jesus faces.  When confronted with the truth -- and He is the person who is the Truth standing in front of them (John 14:6) -- they respond only by seeking to destroy Him.  The weightier matters of the law, "justice and mercy and faith," fall by the wayside to the blindness of their ways.  Jesus teaches, effectively, that there are two ways.  One is toward God, and the other is away.  We cannot do both, and neither are we capable of standing still or being neutral.  Indeed, this would be the teaching of the early Church, such as is found in the Didache, and was already well-known in Judaism.  So let us place first things first, lest we also become blind to where we are leading, and take others astray with us as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

 

 "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 chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27–39 

 

On Wednesday we began reading Christ's final public sermon, an indictment of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.  In yesterday's reading, He continued that sermon, saying,  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  Here is Christ's vivid description of a hypocrisy that masks behavior that leads to death, not life.  

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." My study Bible suggests that the reference to Zechariah (as in Luke 11:51) may refer to the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), while there is another opinion it may refer to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  

 

 "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 chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"   My study Bible comments that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of His people, yet most do not want Him.  The desolate house refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, for "house" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19). Both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.  Noteworthy here is the feminine, loving, protective motherly image Christ gives for Himself as a hen who seeks to gather her chicks under her wings.  

 

 Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  In this image of the whitewashed tombs Jesus describes, we discover what we may look at as an illustration of what is called "the two ways."  These are the way of life and the way of death.  The two ways are specifically laid out for the people by God in the Book of Jeremiah, in which the prophet Jeremiah is instructed as follows, "Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death'" (Jeremiah 21:8).  In Jesus' preaching, we are taught about the two ways in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13).  My study Bible tells us that the description of the two ways was widespread in Judaism (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:18-19, 12:28, 15:21; Sirach 15:17), and also in early Christian writings (Didache, Barnabas).  In the struggle for the better way of the narrow gate, we as human beings wrestle against sin and human weakness in addition to spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12).  These varied forces and influences define the external focus of the religious leaders whom Jesus criticizes, who are like whitewashed tombs.  They are careful to appear to the world as pious and upholding religious law and doctrine, but their inner lives follow another way.  Hence Jesus' description, that all this beauty of the whitewash hides not only the sins done against others for gain (even "dead men's bones" that may allude to the prophets murdered by those in whose footsteps these men follow), but also their own neglect of their souls.  In Jesus words, they will "fill up the measure" of their "fathers' guilt."  Their hypocrisy, then, is a "way of death," another bad road leading to a bad end.  Jesus prophesies of those whom He will send out in the world:  "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city."  But this bad road of hypocrisy in which, despite their words to the contrary, they follow the priests who stoned and killed the prophets before them, will lead to a particular end.  Jesus tells them, " . . . that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Those dead men's bones, and all uncleanness therefore includes not only the state of their souls in their turning from the love of God but also the sins of their ancestors whose ways they follow.  This is what it means that He calls them "sons of those who murdered the prophets."  We have to recall the repeated warnings to Israel by the prophets, constantly calling the people back to God, and persecuted and rebuked, even murdered, by those holding these responsible positions.  Jesus says to them that all this will come down upon this particular generation.  We must note that this passage ends with Christ's great, sad, and loving lament over Jerusalem, and her repeated refusal of the Lord's prophets who have been sent to her.  The Lord's "motherly" lament over His lost children echoes and expands upon David's mournful weeping over the loss of his rebellious son Absalom, and the transcendent love of the father for his lost son in Christ's parable of the Prodigal (2 Samuel 18:33; Luke 15:32).  Once again, we need to remind ourselves that these words of Jesus are not meant to simply teach us about the past, but to warn us about our own paths in life.  We are given grace to help us follow His light, to find His way of life for us (John 8:12).  I once spoke to a modern psychotherapist who put it this way; he said, "You're either going the right way or the wrong way."  In Christian terms, we follow the light or we don't.  To follow the light, as grace makes possible for us, is to find our lives in Him and where He leads.  To refuse is to find ourselves in darkness.  And this is what repentance is for, to come back to the way of life.  For He always awaits and calls us back.

 

 

 

The kingdom of God has come near to you

 

 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.  

"Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to haven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."

 

- Luke 10:1-16 

 

Yesterday we read that, when the time had come for Christ to be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."   

 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Records of these seventy disciples exist through Church tradition, and the stories of these disciples are known to us from among the places where they would evangelize and do their missionary work.  Among the distinguished names are many who would become bishops of the Church, having served this mission as apostles throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.  Notable among them are Barnabas (Acts 4:36), who was the first to seek out St. Paul when all else were afraid of him, bringing him to the apostles.  Also among them was Titus, whom Paul called his brother (2 Corinthians 12:18) and his son (Titus 1:4).  Let us note that these seventy were appointed to go two by two to every city and place where Christ was about to go; they are heralds who will announce the kingdom of God, in the same way that messengers would be sent to announce a monarch or noble, proclaiming the doctrine or message of the king.  This is the very origin of our understanding of  "gospel" -- from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion, to "evangelize" is to tell of the good message of the kingdom.  The same word was used for announcements of Caesar; so it became our word for the message of Christ's Kingdom.

 

Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  My study Bible points out that here in Christ's instructions we are to pray not only for the harvest of converts to Christ, but also for the laborers who will reach them.  

"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves."   According to my study Bible, lambs suggest the sacrificial life of the apostles and of all followers of Christ.  The wolves are those who seek to frighten and devour those who follow the Lord (John 15:18).  

"Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you."  We observe the "lamb-like" behavior with which they are to carry themselves on their apostolic mission.  They are not to carry great amounts of supplies, money, or clothing with them; neither are they to make ostentatious greetings such as a party of those of high rank would do.  Their conduct is to be humble and representative of God's peace.  Note that wherever they are received, they are to offer a blessing of peace -- but this blessing will not remain unless a son of peace is there.  They are not to trade up lodgings for better accommodations, and remain as humble as the household and what is offered to them.  My study Bible points out that twice here Christ commands them to eat whatever is offered to them ("eating and drinking such things as they give," "eat such things as are set before you").  It says that this has a twofold significance.  First, the apostles must be content with whatever is offered, even if the food is little and simple.  Second, the gracious reception of others' hospitality takes precedence over personal fasting or dietary disciplines.  These are important teachings about hospitality and charity.  My study Bible adds a note about St. Cassian the Desert Father, who said that when he visited a monastery, the fast was always relaxed to honor him as a guest.  When he asked why, he responded, "Fasting is always with me, but you I cannot always have with me.  Fasting is useful and necessary, but it depends on our choice, while the law of God demands charity.  Thus receiving Christ in you, I serve you with all diligence, and when I have taken leave of you, I resume the rule of fasting again."  In this way, ascetics would obey Christ's command here and also His command that we not "appear to men to be fasting" (Matthew 6:18; see also Romans 14:2-6; 1 Corinthians 10:27; Hebrews 13:2.

"And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' "  My study Bible clarifies that the gospel message is not simply that there is a Kingdom in the future, but that this kingdom of God has come near.

"But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city."  If the kingdom of God has indeed come near, the effects of its presence are clear -- the rebuke of wiping off the "dust of your city" will have its effect in the Day of Judgment.  

"Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to haven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  Jesus compares the places where He has made manifest the power of His ministry among cities in Galilee near His "headquarters" of Capernaum, and the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  My study Bible comments that judgment is severe for those who reject Christ after experiencing His grace.  In contrast, it says, those who have never known Christ due to genuine ignorance are without sin in this regard (John 15:22-24), and they are instead judged by their God-given conscience (Romans 2:12-16).  

One thing we can note from today's passage is the power of the kingdom of God "come near."  What does this mean?  Has the fullness of the kingdom of God manifested to these people?  We know that the world remains the world, and we expect a fullness of the Kingdom at the end of the age, when there will also be a judgment by Christ.  But what does this mean that the kingdom of God has come near to the people to whom this announcement is made?  Somehow it is clear that the kingdom of God is present with those who are sent out on this mission of Christ.  The kingdom of God is at work in their ministry, and we can read in Christ's words its effect as well.  The blessing of peace that goes upon any house which the disciples enter remains with those "sons of peace" who may reside within.  But if such a one is not a member of the household, the blessing does not remain upon the house.  This is but one aspect that gives us a hint about this kingdom of God.  There is a judgment that comes with it, that asks of us a type of response -- and its rejection also has an effect due to its power.  Somehow the energy or power of this Kingdom interacts with something within us; it responds to faith or the rejection of its message, what we might say is a lack of faith.  Ultimately Christ's message here is about faith and the lack of receptivity not simply to the message of the Kingdom, but even to the presence of the Kingdom itself, the energies and spiritual reality that accompanies it.  This is not a question of signing a loyalty oath or swearing allegiance as to a king of emperor or head of state.  It is a question of how we respond to these energies of peace, the power of Christ's charity and presence within the kingdom of God that is carried within faithful people such as these Seventy who are sent out to bear that message and that Kingdom into the world, as "lambs among wolves."  Their peaceful and humble demeanor are in some way a part of the working of that Kingdom, and perhaps they are even essential to the power of its energies, even to judgment by Christ.  This is something we should consider always in our own conduct, for each one of us, if we carry our faith within us, is ostensibly a part of this Kingdom, and a part of its ministry, its evangelizing, its good news.  As we can read in the instructions given to the Seventy by Jesus, there is a way we are to conduct ourselves as carriers of this Kingdom and its message; there is a way that God's power works in us and among us, there is a way we are expected to conduct ourselves as those with whom, like the disciples, He may share His power and authority through grace.  We should observe these careful instructions, and especially their iterations of peaceful and humble behavior, conduct that is gracious, and the aspects of charity they convey.  We should understand that this is part and parcel of the Kingdom and its message, what is required of us to be effective carriers of God's blessings, and even God's grace and power in the world.  For how could judgment possibly be true unless we are effectively true to Christ?  Moreover, we should take seriously what it is to be given the grace of Christ and also effective judgment of rejection.  All of these things take gentleness, the sensibility of discernment, and humility to embody in the world.  It is an experiential Kingdom, not simply one of ideas or concepts, for grace does not work merely through intellectual choice, but within a greater spiritual reality that encompasses the various aspects of our lives and the fullness of being.  It is here in Luke's Gospel that Jesus declares to the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21).   Let us consider the Seventy sent out into the world, who would continue their apostolic journey through all the parts of the world they could reach, for we have the records of their lives in each of these disparate places.  They shaped Christianity and in so doing become models for us today, for each of our lives has the challenge to bear that grace, the presence of the Kingdom, the reality of faith to others, and we are to learn as they did how to do so with humility and peace.  Jesus says to them, "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  We must always consider how we bear Christ's image into the world, how we bear God's kingdom near, so that this remains true for our own generation of laborers to serve the harvest. 

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13-26 

 

Yesterday we read the beginning of what is known as Christ's final public discourse, which continues in today's reading.  Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  My study Bible comments that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  Therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (see James 3:1).  Let us notice that the examples Jesus chooses here emphasize the centrality of God, whether we are speaking of holiness (sanctifies the gold) or power and authority (he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it).  When Christ speaks of the leaders who make their proselyte twice as much a son of hell as yourselves, He's speaking of the importance of correction, for whatever bad path we're on, the further it is traveled, the worse the condition becomes.  Above all, Christ's condemnation is for hypocrisy. He says they devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers -- evidence of predatory behavior covered with appearances of piety.  The work of false teachers hinders and misleads those who truly seek God:  He says they "shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study Bible comments that these warnings are especially important to Orthodox Christians (and by extension they apply to the practice of all traditions in Christian churches).  It says that the Church has maintained the ancient practices of tithing, to which Jesus refers here when He says "These you ought to have done"; sacred vessels; holy rites; and following the tradition that we've inherited.  It says that these practices can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  In all ways, throughout this discourse, Jesus emphasizes the condition of the heart and the state of our love for God.  Note that when Jesus speaks of those who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel, He's referring to the practice of the Pharisees of attaching strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance.  But we should take note of the value of the metaphor!

During His time being questioned in the Temple, in this final week of Christ's earthly life, Jesus has been quizzed by one of the experts in the Law as to which was the greatest commandment.  See Tuesday's reading and commentary.  Jesus' answer was to give two great commandments, in ranking order of first and second, but which go together.  His formula was simple but entirely profound:  "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  In today's reading, in which He criticizes from a long list of the failures of the religious leadership, He puts down the example of what it is to fail to live these two commandments.  Why is the love of God with all one's heart and soul and mind the first great commandment?  Because this act of love in the heart sets down the pattern for all of life and the rest of our relationships.  Without the depth of connection to God (Who is love) in our hearts, the rest of the practices will fail to be meaningful.  From that love of God, we are taught love and the correct relationship to creation, including our neighbor.  Hypocrisy comes from an outward appearance which seeks to convey an image, but couple with an emptiness in the heart.  Christ's focus is always with an emphasis on the heart and the state of the heart, the condition of the heart.  And this is particularly given in the context of relationship to God, the foundation of love and our understanding of love and good relationship.  So let us take this in the context in which it is given.  Jesus is not seeking to tear down the Temple nor the whole of Jewish spiritual tradition;  He is criticizing the corruption of these authorities and the practices that stem from that.  His byword here is hypocrisy, and this is therefore the thing we most need to note.  This is His greatest warning to us, His followers, and the things we also need to guard against in the practice of our faith and worship.  Let us note also that this is not simply a credal statement, a system of belief, or a philosophy, but what Jesus speaks about is the life He lives and teaches us through His Incarnation.  That is, it is a living, dynamic, mystical relationship of love. This is a reality of the heart that informs, empowers, and shapes our behavior as we live our faith and the trust we put in God, in Christ.  In short, it shapes us and our lives.  This is always the basis for Christ's emphasis on the state of the heart and its relationship to how we live our lives.  So let us do our part to guard against hypocrisy.  Let our worship and prayers be meaningful, and let the love of God in the heart -- that place where we know God's love -- inform the ways in which we live our faith and how we approach the world.  When Jesus teaches that one must first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also, it is a clear metaphor about us and about our lives.  He's not telling us to throw out beautiful or traditional worship practices, such as tithing or almsgiving, but that these you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  

 

 

The kingdom of God has come near to you

 

Seventy Disciples, Greek illuminated manuscript miniature, 15th century

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.' But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

 

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

- Luke 10:1–17

 

Yesterday we read that when the time had come for Him to be received up, Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.  Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Once again, as in yesterday's reading (see above), there is an emphasis on a kind of imperial mission, an outreach of a type of authority and power of a kingdom, which proceeds before His face.  That is, a kind of heralding of a royal figure and the Kingdom He represents and embodies.  We read yesterday that He sent out messengers before Him, after He decided in an open formal sense that He was going toward Jerusalem.  Now there are these additional seventy men, sent out on a particular evangelistic mission for the kingdom of God.  These Seventy are apostles, those "sent out" on a mission.  These were true disciples who would take this apostolic mission throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.   In the Orthodox Church, they are commemorated as a group on January 4th, although many also have their own saints' days.  In the tradition of the Church, there are records of all of their work.  Prominent among them were Barnabas (Acts 4:36), who sought out Paul when everyone else was afraid of him, and brought him to the apostles.  He was the cousin of Mark.  Also among them were Titus, whom Paul called his brother (2 Corinthians 12:18) and his son (Titus 1:4).  Titus was educated in Greek philosophy, but after reading the prophet Isaiah he began to doubt the value of what he had been taught.  He traveled from Greece to Jerusalem and sought to hear Jesus.  He was later baptized by St. Paul, and became an apostle to the Gentiles, eventually becoming a bishop in Crete.  Many others of the Seventy are mentioned in the books of the New Testament and the letters of St. Paul, such as Aristarchus, Sosthenes, and Tychicus who became bishops in Syria and Caesarea.  Simeon, son of Cleopas the brother of St. Joseph the guardian of Jesus, succeeded James as bishop of Jerusalem.  Aristobulus (Romans 16:10), the brother of Barnabas, preached the gospel and died peacefully in Britain.  

 

 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  Jesus instructs the Seventy, and by extension all of us who would be His disciples, to pray not only for the harvest of converts to Christ and loyalty to this Kingdom, but also for the laborers who will reach them.   

 

"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you."    My study bible points out that lambs speak of the sacrificial life of the apostles, and of all followers of Christ.  The wolves are those who seek to frighten and devour those who follow the Lord (John 15:18).  This Kingdom they bear and present is not like a worldly kingdom.  Their conduct is to be one of humility:  no great caravan of possessions, and no ostentatious greetings.  Let us note the emphasis on peace as hallmark of those who desire to be a part of this Kingdom.  This is the peace of the Lord (John 14:27), a deep desire for the things of God.

"And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you."  My study bible notes that Christ twice commands the apostles to eat whatever is offered to them.  It says that this has a twofold significance.  First, the apostles must be content with whatever is offered, even if the food is little and simple.  Second, the gracious reception of others' hospitality takes precedence over personal fasting or dietary disciples.  My study bible also notes that St. Cassian the Desert Father said that when he visited a monastery, the fast was always relaxed in order to honor him as a guest.  When he asked why, the elder said, "Fasting is always with me, but you I cannot always have with me."  [Note the resemblance to Christ's explanation of His disciples' non-observance of the fast when He was with them in Luke 5:34-35.]  "Fasting is useful and necessary, but it depends on our choice, while the law of God demands charity.  Thus receiving Christ in you, I serve you with all diligence, and when I have taken leave of you, I resume the rule of fasting again."  In this way the ascetics would obey Christ's command here and His command that we not "appear to men to be fasting" (Matthew 6:18; see also Romans 14:2-6, 1 Corinthians 10:27, Hebrews 13:2).   Once again, we also note that the emphasis is on humility; this is not a worldly Kingdom they bear into the world as messengers before their Lord's face.

"And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' "  My study bible asks us to note that the gospel message is not simply that there is a Kingdom in the future, but rather that this kingdom of God has come near.  Moreover, let us note -- at least in this verse -- how it is once again connected to healing.  As Jesus stated in yesterday's reading, their mission is to save lives, not to destroy them (Luke 9:56).  Again, this is not a kingdom of conventional worldly might, but the kingdom of God and of God's peace.

"But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city."   There is a price to be paid for refusal of this Kingdom, but it is not at the hands of its emissaries, ambassadors, and messengers, save to testify by wiping off the dust of that city.  There is a Judgment to come, to which Jesus refers by the phrase in that Day.  Of "that Day" Jesus has said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

"Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  My study bible comments that judgment is severe for those who reject Christ after experiencing His grace.  In contrast, those who have never known Christ due to genuine ignorance are without sin in that regard (John 15:22-24), and are instead judged by their God-given conscience (Romans 2:12-16). 

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."   In the "unseen world" of the heavenly Kingdom, Christ has clear power.   That is, the name of Christ.  Again, this is something synonymous with the authority of a kingdom:  a name of a monarch or ruler carries the authority of their person, their power, and their authority.  The effects of the name of Christ -- just as the power and authority of the name of Caesar -- carry far and wide, and in surprising ways. These effects might not all be seen in a worldly sense, or apparent to all, yet nevertheless they are understood and known.  Christ's authority given to these apostles is an authority that is effective even to the extent that the demons are subject to them.

As the Seventy are sent out to proclaim, "The kingdom of God has come near to you," we see the effects of the power and authority of Christ, the head of that Kingdom.  He is not merely a ruler like other rulers.  Instead, what we are to understand is that the power and authority of the Kingdom are always present to Him and with Him, and with His name, even if we don't always discern or see this.  Even the demons, the Seventy proclaim, are subject to them in His name.  Where Christ is, there His Kingdom is, there is the presence of the communion of saints, of the Church, of the Holy Trinity, of healing and exorcism.  If we act in His name, similarly to a government making a decree in the name of the entire country, then there is power and authority and effects that go with the presence of His name.  These are things we are to understand from today's reading.  But we would be making a mistake if we assumed this means that Christ's power and authority is going to be something we can understand simply from knowing worldly power, empires, rulers, governments, and the might and power that go with them.  For Christ's kingdom is something that works entirely differently.  His emissaries do not go out into the world with formal credentials that everybody recognizes and to which all must submit as they would to a worldly authority with a military or other forms of material power to back them up.  In contrast to worldly ambassadors, Jesus sends out the Seventy on a mission of peace.  That is, the peace that only He can offer.  This is not an ephemeral or intellectual concept, but a true spiritual reality that is part of the kingdom of God, which others can receive and reject.  He sends them out, He says, as lambs among wolves.  Their entire conduct is emblematic of humility, and bear the hallmarks of what we have come to understand as truly gracious behavior, for it is grace they bear into the world.  That does not, however, mean that a rejection of the gospel has no effects, for we are all responsible for what we are offered and what we reject -- and that is also part of the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God.  Jesus alluded to the same when He began to preach in parables.   When He first teaches the parable of the Sower, He adds, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 13:1–23, Mark 4:1–20, Luke 8:4–15).  This responsibility for how we hear extends to our capacity for salvation and healing in Christ.  He explains in Matthew's Gospel with a quotation from Isaiah:  "Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them" (Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 13:14-15).  "But," He adds to His disciples, "blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Matthew 13:16-17).  The Gospels are consistent in the indication that to have "ears to hear and eyes to see" this Kingdom is to receive a great blessing.  To fail to receive also results in a true spiritual loss that impacts our lives, even for those who may not recognize such or who do not care.  And there is where we start with this Kingdom that works in a kind of palpable peace we may bear with us and as a gift of grace.  Jesus tells the Seventy, "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  The power of the name of Christ is not one that befits a kingdom of this world (see John 18:36).  But it is one nevertheless that has profound effects, both in the lives of individual believers of each generation of the past, present, and future, and also in the world and throughout history, in more ways than we can count.  But true to Jesus' word, that Kingdom still needs laborers for the harvest.  We who seek to bear the Kingdom into the world as its emissaries and ambassadors may still be as lambs among wolves.  We may still carry Christ's peace with us and within us, and offer it to others who will reject it.  And we are still called to humility and gracious behavior.  We are still called to testimony, to His truth, regardless of whether or not it is accepted or rejected.  Christ's word remains true, and we walk in the footsteps of so many who have gone before, and the many to come ("I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors" - John 4:38).  Let us remember the power of Christ's peace, the power of His word and His name, the presence of His kingdom.  For we are all called to testify, called to faith, and called to His healing power.  And the kingdom of God remains near in those who will bear it, and His name, into the world.

How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"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 chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

- Matthew 23:27-39

In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem.  It is Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' earthly life, and the last Passover He would attend.  Yesterday, we continued reading His final sermon:  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar,  swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them, " For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  But here, He goes even further in the description of what kind of hypocrisy He sees in them.  The filth inside isn't a matter of dirty dishes and utensils, but tombs filled with decay and death and uncleanness.  It is a warning to all of us about a hypocritical life, and how seriously we should take this flaw, a kind of fallen state in which we become blind to our own spiritual death.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Jesus' condemnation of the leadership continues to build.  Not only are they responsible for the extremes death and uncleanness within themselves, but they take on the guilt of all before them who have passed on this way of being untrue to the love of God, the hypocrisy that murdered the prophets while posing as the righteous.  All of this in which they freely chose to participate will come upon this generation.  It is not completely clear which Zechariah Jesus refers to here, but some teach that He refers to the father of St. John the Baptist, whom patristic tradition says was murdered in the temple.   Others teach that it was the prophet Zechariah at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22). 

"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 chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study bible says that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of His people, but most do not want Him.  The desolate house, it says, refers both to the temple and to the nation itself.  "House" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).  Both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ has departed.

The maternal image that Jesus gives here of Himself is an astonishing one in a number of ways.  Or, rather, perhaps we could say that it is one which we must sit up and notice.  It is a picture of Christ, the Lord, having watched over Jerusalem like a mother hen throughout time, throughout the history of God's people.  It is important that we have this understanding of the maternal and feminine characterization of Christ's love, care, grace, and tender mercy, because it tells us something about what it means to be fully human as one who is created in the image of Christ, and who must learn to be Christ-like.    The fullness of our Lord includes this maternal image, one of comfort and care and protection  and eternal mercy.  He characterizes Himself as One with the care of a deeply devoted and loving mother, but whose love, concern, and care is not reciprocated by her children. In this extremely moving lamentation over Jerusalem, Jesus teaches us about who He is as Lord of a universe, the One to whom we are to turn, and who longs for us to do so.  But the most devoted care and protection cannot function through rejection, and repeated rejection.  Jesus teaches us that even in His majestic identity as Creator and Lord of the universe, He is maternal and loving, with the tenderness of a mother hen for her chicks.  He inspires us to know what a balanced life really is, with its capacity for love and devotion -- and for the heartbreak of rejection and failure of one's beloved children.  Let us consider all that He teaches us, about Himself, and about what we ourselves are to imitate.  The depth of care and protection that He teaches are His here belong to all who find Him, and are capable of reciprocating even the smallest sense of that love.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar,  swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

- Matthew 23:13-26

In our current readings in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem.  It is what we know as Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' earthly life, and Passover Week for the Jews.  Jesus has made His Triumphal Entry, He has cleansed the temple, and has debated with the leadership in various challenges as to His authority and teachings (see the readings from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Yesterday we began reading what is known as Jesus' Final Sermon.  He spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  My study bible says that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God will hinder others from finding God as well.  Therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).

 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar,  swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  Jesus' emphasis here is consistent with all of His teachings on the focus of the Law and the Prophets.  In Tuesday's reading,  Jesus was asked by the Pharisees what was the greatest commandment.  He gave two, but He said the first and great commandment was "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  Once more, His consistent emphasis is on God first.  It is God dwelling in the temple that sanctifies the gold.  It is God dwelling on the altar who sanctifies the gift.  In all things, Jesus teaches the devotion to God as the first and great commandment.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"   Jesus refers here to a practice whereby the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a substance that was ritually unclean.   My study bible tells us that all of the warnings that are given here, and which follow in this final sermon of Jesus, apply to Christians.  They are particularly emphasized for Orthodox Christians and others for whom the ancient practices of the Church have been maintained, such as tithing, sacred vessels, holy rites, and patristic tradition handed down through time  ("These you ought to have done," Jesus says in verse 23).  These practices, it says, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  To cleanse the outside of the cup and dish is to make a nice appearance.  But Jesus teaches us that true purity is from the inside out, with hearts toward God as the One whose judgment counts, and to whom we are always called.

What does it mean to do "holy acts" for show?  For a pretense, as Christ puts it?  All of the actions He ascribes to hypocrites have something to do with the emphasis on making an appearance before others.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus says of the hypocrites, "But all their works they do to be seen by men."  And this is the key for us.  It seems to be the exact opposite of Jesus' teaching that it's really God's eyes we should be concerned for, and God's judgment rather than the "judgment of men."  Jesus seems to emphasize this over and over again in His varied teachings.  Even the teaching on authority and greatness among His own apostles reflects this understanding.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus has taught them, "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Service and humility require of us to put behind ourselves consideration for the importance of how we look in the eyes of others.  To "love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi'" reflects a consideration for one's status in the eyes of others as a prime motivator in life, and it is part and parcel of what makes a hypocrite.  Once again, we recall that the word hypocrite in Greek was actually the word for "actor."  It literally means "below the mask," as the ancient actors all wore masks to delineate their characters.  To truly consider a life where God comes first is to experience the humility of service.  If it is God we are going to please, then all the opinions that others may form of us, our position in worldly eyes, our place in some sort of scheme of competition, is really going to come second.  Sacrifice is so often a sacrifice of that place in the eyes of others.  Christ on the Cross, humiliated, scorned, suffering, and ridiculed is the greatest example we have to teach us by example just what is truly of importance and what is not.  Jesus' saving and sacrificial work was not so we admire Him, but in order to save a universe.  Can we put His priorities first?    It is for the failure to do so that Jesus condemns these religious leaders as hypocrites -- even as He tells His apostles to respect that they sit in Moses' seat.  They teach the word of God, but they are not to be imitated.  This is the standard He sets, and it remains, indeed, a high bar for us all to measure up to.  But the key is that we put the love of God as our first and great commandment, then all else follows.