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

 

 Then 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 of 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 teacher; 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."

 

- Matthew 23:1–12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'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."  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him any more.  

 

 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying . . .  Here begins Jesus' final public sermon (which makes up nearly the whole of chapter 23).  It is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees.  There are several themes He involves.  My study Bible sums them up as follows:  First, the Jewish leaders have God-given authority and teach God's Law, but they are personally ungodly and cold-hearted.  So their teaching is to be honored, but they are not to be imitated.  Second, God is our true Father and Teacher.  A teacher or father on earth is one who leads people to God.  The scribes and Pharisees do the opposite, placing themselves in God's position.  These themes are covered in today's reading.  The rest of the chapter will cover an eightfold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees, in which Jesus charges that they invert God's values, they are mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and they are blindly self-righteous.  My study Bible adds that while these charges were directed against the Jewish leaders of Christ's day, every word applies to those in the Church who behave in the same ways.

 

 "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."  To sit in Moses' seat, my study Bible explains, means to hold the succession of office down from Moses himself.  In the synagogue, the teacher spoke while seated as a sign of this authority . My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary, in which he said that the scribes were depraved in thought and in heart, yet Jesus still upholds the dignity of their office, as they don't speak their own words, but God's.  So also within the Church, clergy are to be shown respect for they hold the apostolic office, although they are also sinners.  Moreover, the sins of the clergy do not relieve the people from their resonsibilities before God.  Let us note here the cold-heartedness Jesus describes of those who bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders -- and yet will do nothing to help in the slightest.   This is in distinct contradiction to Christ's teaching in yesterday's reading (above), in which He cited the second greatest commandment as that in which we're told to "love your neighbor as yourself."

 

"But all of 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.'"  Phylacteries are small leather pouches which contain passages of Scripture and are worn on the arm or forehead.  The concept is to keep God's Law always in mind (see Exodus 13:9).  But instead the Pharisees used them for a false show of piety, making them increasingly larger and more noticeable.  

 

 "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 teacher; 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." My study Bible says that Christ's warning against calling hypocrites father and teacher is not meant as an absolute prohibition against using these terms (as some teach).  These terms are applied to people many times in the New Testament, and all of these usages are inspired by God.  "Teacher" is used in John 3:10; Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; and 2 Timothy 1:11.  "Father" is used in Luke 16:24; 1 Corinthians 4:15; and Colossians 3:21.  From the earliest days of the Church, bishops and presbyters have been called "father" not in order to take the place of God, but rather for their fatherly care of their flocks:  they lead people to God, and exercise fatherly authority within the community. 

 

Jesus teaches in today's reading, "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."  This is one of several occasions in which we read similar statements or teachings in the Bible.  See also, for example, Luke 14:11, 18:14; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 18:4, 23:11. There are many other occasions of such sentiment found in the Bible but using different language.  But in this context, this statement is given regarding use of the terms "father" and "teacher."  Jesus' statement is telling the disciples (and their spiritual descendants), who would come to be both "teachers" and "fathers" in the Church that they are not to be like the hypocrites.  This statement by Jesus suggests to us that if any of us, or if anyone in the Church, wishes to be thought of as teacher or father (or perhaps mother as well), then the only way to do this is to be a servant to others and to humble oneself.  It is in this way that teachers and fathers come to be exalted in the Church.  Oftentimes, we call such people saints, both literally and figuratively.  To be both humble and to serve is a way to curb the tendency to hypocrisy, as such discipline is counter to the goal of doing good works for the express purpose of simply being seen by others.  Human nature such as it is makes it difficult to both be concerned with serving others and also to tamper our desire to be seen as doing good.  The real emphasis here is on one's chosen aim or profession.  Do we really desire to teach?  Do we truly deeply desire to care for others with a "fatherly" (or motherly) care?  Or is our highest priority to be praised by others and to judge ourselves only through their eyes, rather than the eyes of God?  Every parent likely knows the dilemma of being a good parent -- and so sometimes having to say "No," imposing rules, and delineating boundaries, and wanting a child's love without their disappointment or disapproval.  Ultimately -- again, as in the teaching of the two greatest commandments in yesterday's reading (above) -- our highest priority needs to be loving and pleasing God, for in this way we do seek to be true teachers and fathers (and good parents, for that matter).  For this is where we go to be dedicated to truly learning love and goodness, what really serves, and what truly teaches.  There our desire can be met with God's care for our goals, and for the disposition of our souls.  Hypocrisy, living as an actor behind a mask (a literal understanding of the word's Greek roots) prevents us from assuming the humility necessary for sincerity, for the pure heart Jesus desires for us (Matthew 5:8).  A good teacher, just like a good father or mother, has for their primary concern the welfare of those under their care, and their first priority is not their own gain, well-being, or capacity to impress and lord it over others.  We are blessed in the Church to have a long history of many teachers, and many fathers, notably among those whom we call saints, but a myriad more whom we don't know.  Ultimately, as Jesus indicates, we have one true Teacher (the Christ) and one true Father (He who is in heaven).  We might call Christ the Teacher of all teachers, and God the  Father is the Father of all fathers.  But through humility and love we can learn to grow in likeness to them.  Let us start with Christ's first and greatest commandment, the love of God, and how love of neighbor (the second great commandment) can be expressed through all the teachers, fathers, and mothers of the Church.  Let us strive to become like them. 

 

 

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also

 

 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  

 

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

 

- John 14:1-14 

 

 On Thursday, we read what is called Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the Last Supper.  Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.  I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

  "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."   The setting for the readings of this week is the Last Supper.  This is Christ's final discourse to His disciples. My study Bible comments that many mansions is a word-picture (a kind of parable) of an abundance of living accommodations around a central courtyard.  "Mansions" also speaks of the multitude of blessings that await those who enter the Kingdom of God.  

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  My study Bible comments here that the way we reach the Father is forever established in the Person and work of the Son.  The Son is the truth because He is the unique revelation of the Father.  He is the One who became a human being so that we might have life; as He is our live, not even death can keep us from coming to Him.  My study Bible adds that only in Christ can one come to know the Father, for only in Christ is the way of all truth and all life found.  

Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."  Here my study Bible explains Christ's remark ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father") as follows:  Our response to Christ determines our relationship with the Father.  If we reject Christ then we will never find the Father but if we believe in Christ and follow Him, then we ourselves will become "children of God," living eternally in the love of the Father (John 1:12).  While we are human beings are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26), Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son, is Himself the exact image of the Father (Colossians 1:15).  Christ does not say, "I am the Father" -- He is not.  Instead, what He declares is that He and the Father are one in essence and undivided in nature while being distinct Persons in the Godhead.

 

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."  To pray in God's name does not simply mean to attach the phrase "in Jesus' name we pray" to the end of prayers, my study Bible says.  Rather, to pray in God's name means to pray according to God's will.  Just as an emissary of a king can only be said to be speaking in the king's name if he says what the king would want him to say, my study Bible explains, so also we can only be said to be praying in the name of Christ when we pray according to what He wants.  The purpose is not to get God to do our will, but for us to learn to pray properly, according to God's will (Matthew 6:10).  

 

How do we know what to pray for?  We know that in this world things are often unjust, and that life isn't fair.  There is a long, long history of theology in which the questions of evil in this world have been addressed, and will go on being addressed.   It is part of what we live with.  But sometimes, perhaps in our modern consumer society much more strongly than in the past, we might be tempted to think that prayer is a kind of practice in which we just ask what we want.  This can, of course, extend from the mundane to the most deeply personal and important matters in our lives.  But it is a deep effort to learn that oftentimes we don't get exactly what we want, what is "right," or "fair," or even what we think we need.  In circumstances we can't control, we know that all things are in God's hands.  And yet, there remains an evil in the world, abuses, hardship, illness, and death.  Some friends right now are deeply struggling with a tragic illness of their son.  So many are praying for them, for him, and such strong faith is always present within the efforts of his parents.  But, just like some of the tragic stories we read in the Gospels, nonetheless his life stands in danger from this illness (like Lazarus or Jairus' daughter), but we don't all have Christ in the flesh to call upon to give us a miracle or miraculous sign.  I have seen and experienced my share of the miraculous connected with prayer, but this hard circumstance of this tragically ill child is far from certain.  What I have seen from prayer in my own life, however, is a promise of Resurrection that is always present, a gift from Christ on the Cross that must be unforgettable for all of us.  And that is that our suffering is transfigured through God's grace.  Even when we might not get the outcome we want, there is always a glimmer, a light, that shines in the darkness, and this much, I am certain is true.  Through my mother's long illness I learned prayer, even when alone and feeling abandoned, and how it gave me strength, and resources, that I didn't know I could have to continue on one more day, to find the right thing to do, to do what I had to do and care for her the best I could.  These are the blessings of the light that shines in the darkness, regardless of the outcome.  The tremendous love and strength, the resources, and shared community created out of this one family's struggle and their hurting child has been extraordinary to see and to watch, their love a tremendous blessing.  But in their sadness and difficulty, and potential devastating loss, that might be impossible to see.  God's love is there, no matter what the outcome, and this is our light we can share with one another at all times, although none of us knows our outcome.  But this love we know is God's will.  It's important to know that just prior to the words we read in today's Gospel passage, Jesus has said to the disciples (minus Judas), "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).  Perhaps it is in sharing that love that we do the greatest work of God we can do.  

 

 

 

 

 

John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true

 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  

 

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), "do you say of Him who the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 

 

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 

- John 10:19–42 

 

In our recent readings, events have been taking place at the Feast of Tabernacles, which is an autumn harvest festival (John 7:1-10:21).  Among other things, the last, great day of this eight-day feast features the lighting of the great lamps in one courtyard of the temple.  They were so brilliant, they illumined the city, and so, much of Christ's preaching and His great sign of healing a man blind from birth emphasize Christ as "light from Light" (the Creed) and as the fullness of all forms of light.  It is now the final year of Christ's earthly life.  At this festival He has been disputing with the Pharisees and religious leaders, who have already unsuccessfully sought to have Him arrested.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  These verses take place at conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  My study Bible comments that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by Christ's signs, but they perceive the holiness of His words (see John 7:45-46).  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  The Feast of Dedication takes place approximately three months following the Feast of Tabernacles.  This feast is known as the "Festival of Lights" (or Hanukkah).  It commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1 - 4).  At this festival, my study Bible informs us, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds.  

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."  Jesus tells these men (the religious leadership), ". . . as I said to you."  My study Bible comments on this that it indicates these are the same Pharisees whom Christ addressed three months earlier (see yesterday's reading, above).  Note that both what Christ told them, and also the works He had done, have already answered the question they ask Him.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind (see this reading) or perform the miracles which bear witness to Him.  In the same vein, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ had.

 

 "I and My Father are one."  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have  shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus responds to their question ("If You are the Christ, tell us plainly") by revealing Himself to be fully God.  One means one in nature or essence, my study Bible explains.  Christ is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are, it says, indicates two distinct persons, while confirming a continuous unity.  The religious leaders clearly recognize Jesus has made a claim of divinity, and so they therefore accuse Him of blasphemy.

 

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), "do you say of Him who the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   Jesus quotes from Scripture:  "You are gods" (Psalm 82:6).  My study Bible explains that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"

 

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  My study Bible comments that, because Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (verses 17-18), His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (John 7:30; 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).

 

 John's Gospel is the one that reports to us Pilate's question to Jesus:  "What is truth?" (see John 18:37-38).  Clearly we learn from today's passage, which begins at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, that the truth is not self-evident to everyone.  This is perhaps very clear when we speak about spiritual truth, but one would be a fool not to notice it seems to be also a phenomenon in our every day lives as well, whether we speak of things physical, metaphysical, emotional, or otherwise.  Witnessing a real-time physical worldly event is also fraught with contradictions from witness to witness regarding the same event.  Our "filters" (to put it one way) seem to be always at work.  Perhaps, indeed, the great work of God in us is to refine those filters, to take away the things that keep us blind, that block the light of God from getting in.  In terms of the truth of Christ, our "freedom" comes from the depth of truth we can accept.  Jesus tells us also in this Gospel, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (see John 8:31-32).  But in the context of that passage, it's important that it's prefaced with Christ's words, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."  In other words, the depth and dedication of our discipleship is directly linked to the truth we can receive.  Just as we've just read Jesus' sixth sign (of seven) in John's Gospel, the giving of sight to a man who was blind from birth, in chapter 9, so perhaps we are to extrapolate and to understand that it is Christ who truly gives us spiritual sight, and it is through discipleship to Him that any of us receives sight enough to receive the truth that He is talking about.  Hence, Pilate's question, and his perplexity in trying to understand what Jesus is talking about.  Moreover, in talking about events in today's reading, perhaps it's most important -- in the context of this discussion about truth -- that we notice that Christ's truth, even the tremendous news and evidence before them of the giving of sight to the man blind from birth -- creates division.  Not everyone can accept Christ's truth.  In those "filters" of which we speak there may be many obstacles that cause darkness, even inspire human beings to cling to their own darkness so as to avoid that light, that truth.  In terms of the religious leaders in our story, they certainly have reasons to reject that Jesus could be the Messiah; their authority is threatened if Jesus is the Christ.  Many say that He has a demon and is mad.  But others say the obvious, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  We know that at least some of the religious leaders, including Nicodemus the Pharisee, are well on their way to being full disciples of Christ.  But these divisions tell us something important about truth.  We so often make assumptions that truth -- on any level -- is obvious to everyone.  But this is not the case.  As we are still in the period of Lent, and heading toward Holy Week starting on Palm Sunday, let us keep well in mind that it is through abiding in His word that we may come to know the truth, for this is what He says to us.  Let us continue our efforts at discipleship, so that we may truly know what it is to be free.  For it is discipleship that works on the filters that keep us from the light.  Let us note also the great significance of the saintly and faithful in today's reading, and consider the long lineage of the work of God among us.  For where is it that many believed in Him?  It is among those who heard the word about Jesus from John the Baptist.  They say, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  Let us bear in mind that it is John's Gospel which also tells us clearly that many of Jesus' disciples were first disciples of John, and that John sent them to Jesus the Lamb of God (John 1:29).  Let us abide in His word.

 

 

 

Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?

 

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 

- Luke 20:1–8 

 

On Saturday we read that as Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 

  Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  My study Bible comments that these things about which Christ's authority is question by the religious leaders include Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:35-38), His cleansing of the temple (in Saturday's reading; see above), and His preaching (they questioned Him as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel).  These elders confront Jesus, my study Bible explains, as it was the duty of the priestly descendants of Levi to manage the temple.  Christ is descended from the Judah (Luke 3:33), but He is the High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4), a priestly line which is much greater than that of Levi, for His authority is from the Father. 

 

How do we think of authority?  Jesus acts with His own authority, a kind of autonomy, which is unheard of to these religious leaders in the temple.  They don't recognize that He is the divine Son, even though He refers to Himself by a messianic title, Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14).   As my study Bible points out, He's not a part of the Levitic priesthood.  (That is, those who inherit the priestly roles in the temple.)  So, this question of authority becomes all-important when we consider our faith.  But to think about the question appropriately, we need to consider where any and all authority comes from in the first place.  Jesus Himself gives us an example of authority to consider when He mentions John the Baptist.  Like many prophets before him, John didn't have a mandate from the powerful in high positions in the society to carry out his ministry of baptism and repentance in preparation from the Messiah.  He had no recognized authoritative position.  Although John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, was a Levitical priest, and Luke's Gospel tells us that his mother, Elizabeth, was "of the daughters of Aaron" (Luke 1:5-7), John the Baptist followed a different pattern, a path set for him by the Holy Spirit, and lived a life of radical poverty dedicated purely to God and the message entrusted to him.  So where did his authority come from?  Jesus poses this question to the religious authorities to posit a kind of authority that is only recognized through a willing perception of the things of God, a response from a heart capable of responding to God.  In his Epistle, St. James, "the Lord's brother" (Galatians 1:19) and first bishop of Jerusalem, writes the following, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures" (James 1:17-18).  Verse 17 is famously included in the Prayer Behind the Ambon, a prayer that is included in every Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Churches.  If "every good and perfect gift" comes from above, from the Father of lights (our heavenly Father), then we must consider God the Father the Source of all, as is declared in the Nicene Creed.  So, this would include the gift of authority, true authority.  Clearly this is the guiding principle of Christ's entire ministry, as He speaks over and over again of His loyalty to God the Father, even invoking the Father in His response to the temptations of the devil just prior to beginning His public ministry (Luke 4:1-13).  When Christ begins His first public act of ministry, He reads from the Book of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to  preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."  Subsequently, Jesus says to those who listen, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," a declaration that He is anointed by the Spirit to do what He does (Luke 4:16-21).  Tellingly, Jesus is immediately and violently rejected by His neighbors in His hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30).  This anointing is witnessed by John the Baptist when he baptizes Jesus and the Spirit descends "like a dove" upon Him (Luke 3:21-22).  So, we have a sense of Christ's authority and where it comes from.  When Jesus brings up John the Baptist to the religious authorities, let us note how once again it is the deep-seated response of the people to the truth of John's ministry that these leaders fear.  Jesus wisely senses this, of course, and so the men who question Christ will not respond.  Let's take note also of Jesus' response:  He says, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  We are repeatedly told that the Lord responds in kind to our own impulses; in order to be forgiven, we must forgive, for example (Matthew 6:15); here, these men refuse to answer a direct question from Him, and so neither do they receive an answer.  Psalm 18 reads, "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd, for You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks" (Psalm 18:25-27).  If we look once again at the Prayer Behind the Ambon, written by St. John Chrysostom and composed nearly completely of Scripture, we see that it begins this way, addressing God: "O Lord, who blesses those who bless You and sanctifies those who put their trust in You."  Christ lives all His life by the authority of God, turning to the Father for each new step of His ministry, for every direction, even those He will be loathe to take (Luke 22:42).  He tells the disciples, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father . . . The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves" (John 14:9-11).  Christ's authority comes from the Father, an authority which conveys all other authority, just as every good and perfect gift comes from above -- even though there are those who are deaf and blind to the gifts from heaven.

 

 

 

 

Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?

 

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

 

-  John 10:31–42 

 

In our recent readings (from the beginning of chapter 7), Jesus has been attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  It is the final year of His earthly life.  There He has disputed with the religious authorities, and restored the sight of a man who was blind since birth.  Yesterday we read that there was a division again among the leaders because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   At the end of yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus responded to the question of the religious leaders, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  He answered clearly when He said, "I and My Father are one."  For this they take up stones again to stone Him.  (We recall that the term the Jews is most often used in John's Gospel to designate the religious leaders, and not the people.)   In so doing, Jesus reveals Himself to be fully God.  To be one with the Father means one in nature or essence.   Christ's opponents clearly recognize this claim of divinity, my study Bible says, and therefore accuse Him of blasphemy.  

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in our law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   My study Bible comments on Christ's quotation from Scripture, "You are gods" (Psalm 82:6):  People who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  St. John Chrysostom paraphrases Christ as effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  Again, Christ cites His works as witness to His divinity and His union with the Father.  

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.  As Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (verses 17-18), those who accuse Him cannot arrest Him until He is ready (John 7:30; 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).  

 

In today's reading, when Jesus goes beyond the Jordan (that is, east of the Jordan River, the place where John was baptizing at first), the people say, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  Note how, in the people's response to Jesus beyond the Jordan, it is first of all His works that speak as witness for them.  That is, the things that He does prove that John's word about Jesus was true.  Moreover, we are once again given John the Baptist as effective witness, for the people now see for themselves that all the things John spoke about Jesus were true.  So, in subtle ways, even though the religious leaders don't believe Christ, and don't accept His witness (nor the people or things He names as witnesses to His divinity), the people believe.  They accept Him, and affirm that the things John the Baptist said about Him were true.  This seems to be clearly the perspective of the Gospel, at least among those who have faithfully pursued the holy ones dedicated to God, like the prophet John the Baptist.  Perhaps there is a lesson here about witnessing and truth, in that these things teach us that the acceptance of truth also depends not simply upon witnesses, but also upon the disposition of the heart of the beholder in the first place.  If a person is dead set against accepting someone or something, then no amount of witnesses will be entirely persuasive.  This is especially true if there is a particular reason of self-interest or group interest for people to reject a particular truth.  Such things can form a compelling reason to deny or reject truth.  In the case of the religious leaders and Jesus, He criticizes them freely.  They stand to lose their positions of authority, and He also alludes to their corruption.  They have a tight control on positions in the temple and even for some faction of the ruling Council, on the wealth and property around Jerusalem.  So important is this aspect of faith that John the Evangelist begins this Gospel with verses that focus on the rejection of light for darkness (John 1:1-5).  At any rate, Christ's emphasis on repentance comes in here as an important aspect of His preaching, because in the sense of the Greek of the Gospels, the word translated as "repentance" means literally "change of mind."  In this context of witnessing and belief (or, more accurately, trust), the possibility of changing one's mind, the minimal awareness that there is perhaps something one cannot be absolutely certain about, is the one thing that opens one to the places God may lead us.  In the story of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), we read that the Pharisee prayed "with himself," while the Publican's position of humility at least allows for the possibility that there is something he has to learn, something left undone, something God calls him to that he doesn't know.  To be at least capable of changing one's mind means that God's work within us is still possible, and we know that this is important because -- especially in our recent readings -- Jesus has emphasized God the Father's role in drawing us to Christ (see above, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand").  In yesterday's reading, Jesus also said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Without the possibility of "changing our minds," of allowing for the unknown and unexpected, how would we hear Christ's voice?  For God will always call us to what is greater than we know, what we haven't considered, or perhaps especially what we need to reconsider in our own choices and behaviors.  For God will always be asking us to grow, leading us forward into what is greater than what we think we know.  Even the works that Christ does, those "signs" such as healing a man blind from birth, ask of us to open our own minds to accept them, and especially to accept what they mean about Christ's divine identity, and the kingdom of God present with Him.  Let us consider what it is to witness, and how we receive that witness.  For how will we be prepared to understand and accept the evidence that is before us?

 

 

 

 

 

I and My Father are one

 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

- John 10:19–30 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is an eight-day autumn festival which commemorates the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, and dwelt in tents or "tabernacles."  The chief priests and Pharisees have sought unsuccessfully to have Him arrested, and they have also sought to stone Him and failed.  Since then, He has healed a man blind since birth, and the healing was on a Sabbath.  On Saturday, we read the continuation of Christ's dialogue with the religious leaders.  He said,  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leave the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of the fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father." 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Once again we recall that most often, the use of the term the Jews in John's Gospel is meant to denote the religious leadership.  Here, it's clear that Jesus' truth has sown division (Matthew 10:34-39); we read the controversy He has caused and the conflicting perspectives.  At this backdrop to this autumn festival, and now in this final year of Christ's life, we see the effect He has had on the people as reflected here.  My study Bible notes here that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of His words.  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.   Here, Christ attends another festival.  The Feast of Tabernacles is held in autumn; this is the Feast of Dedication which takes place approximately three months afterward.  This is also known as the "Festival of Lights," also called Hanukkah. It commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Macabbees 1 - 4).  At this festival, my study Bible explains, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds. 

And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."  My study Bible comments that both what Chris told them and the works He had done have already answered the question these religious leaders pose to Him.   For only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind (no other miracle story of the healing of a person blind from birth occurs in Scripture), or perform these miracles or "signs" that bear witness to Christ.  Similarly, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ does (John 7:46).

"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."   Christ's words, "As I said to you . . ." gives us the assurance that He is speaking to the same Pharisees He addressed three months earlier at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 10:1-5).   Here as He begins to respond to their question, He reveals Himself as fully God.  To be one together with Father, my study Bible says, means one in nature or essence.  So, Christ is God before all ages, He remains God after the Incarnation, and for all eternity.  Jesus says, "I and My Father are one" -- the plural verb are indicates two distinct Persons, and at the same time confirms a continuous unity.  We will witness the response of the religious leaders in our following reading. 

Jesus today returns to a theme He has continually gone back to already:  His relationship with the Father.  Nothing could be more affirming of their unity than the statement "I and My Father are one."  For this, of course, the religious leaders have already sought to have Him arrested and to stone Him (see John 8:58-59).  But here Jesus speaks of unity with the Father once more in order to emphasize the power of the faith of His sheep, for it's to emphasize that there is nothing anyone can do if the Father wills something be so.  He says,  "But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."   In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, when St. Peter makes the confession of faith on behalf of all, the same thing is affirmed, but in different words.  In that passage, Simon Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  And Jesus replies, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  We first hear from Jesus that it is the Father who has revealed this faith in Christ's identity to Peter, "and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  That is, the powers of the devil or the evil one cannot prevail against the rock that is found in that faith.  For, just as Christ was surely both fully divine and fully human, there is another type of divine-human connection here that Jesus is pointing out, and that is the Father at work within human beings revealing the Son, and the faith that is born of that.  That divine-human connection of faith, of what is revealed in the human being by the Father, is such a bond that Christ describes it as a rock.  Here in today's reading, Jesus speaks to the religious leaders who wish to be rid of Him, who cannot "hear His words" because they are not His sheep, because they do not hear the Father nor this revelation of the identity of Christ.  Their hearts are far from God, even though they are the chief religious leaders of all of Israel, the custodians of her spiritual history and life.  But they work with the one who opposes God:  Jesus has said to them, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44).  This is why they are not of Christ's sheep, they cannot hear the words He says, they cannot understand what He is talking about nor accept it.  But despite all that they do to defeat Him, His ministry, and His followers, they will not prevail, for Jesus and the Father are one, and no one can snatch the sheep from His Father's hand.  For the Father is greater than all, and it is the Father who gives the faithful to Christ.  So, when we ponder this divine-human connection, let us consider how God works among us and has come to us -- not only in the Person of Jesus Christ, both divine and human, but also how the Father continues to reveal faith within and among human beings, and how powerful that true revelation is.  Let us consider how we are so elevated and exalted as to play a part in the redemption and salvation of the cosmos, for God the Father works in us sheep as well.  It is in our humility that grace truly works most powerfully of all.  

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

 

 Then 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."

 

- Matthew 23:1–12 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week in Jerusalem.  Jesus has made His Triumphal Entry into the holy city.  He has cleansed the temple.  He has been quizzed by the religious leaders as to His authority to do so.  He has verbally sparred with the religious leaders, teaching parables against them.  The Pharisees have sought to entrap Him in a question regarding paying taxes to Caesar, which He has skillfully answered in a way to teach.  On Saturday, we read that on that same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said to that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'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."

 

  Then 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."  Here Jesus begins His final public sermon, which is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees.  There are various themes to this sermon, which comprises the whole of chapter 23 of St. Matthew's Gospel, and constitutes an eight-fold indictment of their works.  We begin here, where Jesus notes that they have God-given authority and teach God's law, but personally they are ungodly and cold-hearted.  To sit in Moses' seat means to hold the succession of office down from Moses himself.  In the synagogue, my study Bible explains, the teacher spoke while seated as a sign of such authority.  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, the scribes were depraved in thought and in heart, but Jesus still upholds the dignity of their office -- for they speak God's word and not their own.  Like wise in the Church, my study Bible notes, the clergy are to be shown respect because they hold the apostolic office, although they also are sinners.  Moreover, the sins of the clergy do not relieve the people from their responsibilities before God.  

"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.' "  My study Bible explains that phylacteries are small leather pouches which contain passages of Scripture, and are worn on the arm of the forehead.  The purpose is to keep God's Law always in mind (see Exodus 13:9).  But here Jesus expresses the idea that they have been instead used as a show of false piety, as the Pharisees made them increasingly larger and more noticeable.  In the ways described here, Jesus elaborates on the theme that while their teaching and authority comes from God, these are to be honored -- but their own behavior is not to be imitated.  

"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."  My study Bible notes that Christ's warnings against calling hypocrites father and teacher is not an absolute prohibition against using these terms (some teach this is so).  These terms are applied many times in the New Testament, all of which usages are inspired by God.  "Teacher" is used in John 3:10; Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; and 2 Timothy 1:11.  "Father" is used in Luke 16:24; 1 Corinthians 4:15; and Colossians 3:21.  Since the earliest days of the Church, it notes, bishops and presbyters have been called "father" not because they take the place of God, but because in their fatherly care for their flocks, they lead people to God, and they exercise fatherly authority within the community.  Additionally, my study Bible comments on this passage that God is our true Father and Teacher.  On earth, therefore, a "teacher" or "father" is one who leads people to God.  The scribes and Pharisees do the contrary. Through their self-righteousness and hypocrisy, they put themselves in God's position. 

It is worth taking a closer look at Christ's final words in today's reading,  These teachings have a heightened importance to us because they reflect something that Jesus has repeatedly sought to teach the disciples throughout His ministry.  He has tried to emphasize to them that their leadership in His Church must be suffused with the notion of service and humility.  They are chosen not to be self-righteous, and not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees and scribes of Christ's time.  The emphasis here is on humility first of all, recognizing who they are and how they must all relate to one another in the Church (echoing the teaching on the first and second great commandments in Saturday's reading, above).  First is the One:  the Teacher, the Christ; and second, they are all brethren.  One is our Father, and this Father is in heaven.  "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."   Each time the disciples began to question Christ about what their own positions of "greatness" would be in His kingdom, He corrected them with teachings about how they are to care for the "little ones" of the Church.  See the whole of Matthew 18, and also Matthew 20:20-28.   He has repeatedly warned all His disciples against self-righteousness, noting the importance of personal change, casting aside the habits and patterns of behavior to which we cling that are in fact harmful to others, especially the "little ones," those of lesser stature, the humble in the Church.  See Matthew 5:20-42; 18:8-9.  These issues arise once again here, as Jesus seeks to contrast the behavior He teaches to them with the hypocritical behavior of the scribes and Pharisees.  Like those who sit in Moses' seat, the disciples will also be given a mantle of authority which will be extended to their successors, and they will teach what Christ has given them, building and extending, transfiguring the teachings in the Torah as revealed through Him.  In this sense, Jesus' teachings regarding the scribes and Pharisees here in chapter 23 will all apply within the Church.  Those who are to be His followers, even those who will be called teacher or father (or mother), must also be held to a higher standard.  In fact, we all need to be on guard about self-righteousness; we all need to understand the powerful remedy that humility is for all things.  For it is there that we remember our true Teacher and Father, and our need to follow in faith and adhere to Christ's word.  For we are all brethren, as He teaches.  Jesus says, "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant," echoing earlier teachings.  Then He adds, "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  This is the sin of making oneself a "god," to take the place of God.  It is what the kings and rulers of the ancient world would do; it is the ways in which pagan worship would often work.  In this vein, let us not neglect Jesus' key statement regarding a necessary element for hypocrisy:  "But all their works they do to be seen by men."  However, we must always be mindful that it is God who sees us.  In a time when so many seem to think we can structure reality through media of all kinds, through a screen that reflects the image we project and demands we think only of what others see about us, let us not forget this.  Jesus brings us a reality, a picture of the true structure of Creation, and the love that constitutes and makes it all.  This is a true picture of who we are, how we are called, and how indeed we find ourselves.

 

 

 

 

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to His works.  Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

 

- Matthew 16:21-28 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 

 

  From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  My study Bible points out that after Peter's confession, Jesus here reveals the true nature of His messiahship:  the mystery of His Passion.  It explains that expectations were that the Messiah would live forever, so the notion that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter, and it would remain scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Here Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan, for the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save humankind through suffering and death.  

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  The cross was a most dreaded instrument of Roman punishment, but, as my study Bible puts it, it is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  We therefore practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  To accept this type of suffering is not punishment, and neither is it an end of itself.  It is rather a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom, and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."  My study Bible calls it the central paradox of Christian living:  that in grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal; but in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9).  

"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to His works."  Christ's questions regarding the soul emphasize the total foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power for its own sake -- none of this can redeem a fallen soul, nor benefit a person in the life to come.  

"Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."  My study Bible says this is a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9; in tomorrow's reading), as well as those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.

In today's reading there is a deep and repeated concern with exchange.  Christ asks, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  Here Christ gives us a statement of exchange:  "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."  There is the attempt to save which results in loss of life; and the willingness to lose which results in finding.  But Jesus juxtaposes the things that make up this exchange in His first response to Peter's remark that He should avoid the Cross:  "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  There are the things of God and the things of men.  Moreover, Peter's remark has the tinge of Satan, who does not desire Christ's salvific sacrifice and mission.  So there is the question posed to us:  what do we exchange for this heavenly reality, this grace that comes and permeates life so that we, also, may be participating in the kingdom of heaven?  What is the exchange that redeems the soul, that gives it values and meaning so that we enter into a movement of deepening closeness to God, and one which can stand us in good stead at that time of Christ's reward of each according to his works?  Of course, we have the image of Christ on the Cross so strongly in our minds and consciousness; this was the ultimate sacrifice for us all, so that each of us may be redeemed into this Kingdom to be with Him.  But what are we asked to give and to exchange?  We participate with Him on the Cross also, as He indicates when He says that we each must take up our own cross.  If we think about it, there is practically nothing in this world which we know of that can be gained without sacrifice.  If your dream is of owning a home, then one must give one's time to work for that.  Even theft, while always a sin, requires some effort (and unrepented sin may result in the loss or sacrifice of one's soul, opening ourselves up to Christ's question -- what is worth that?).  But if we tell ourselves no sacrifice is necessary in life for any reason, then we fool ourselves entirely.  Even the lives of the indigent are filled with burdens of simply trying to survive.  In this context of understanding and accepting that sacrifice is simply a part of life on any level, let us revisit Christ's words and accept them as promising something much, much more infinitely valuable than anything we can know which is purely "worldly."  That is not to deny that all of creation is of God and is therefore good, but rather it is to say that without God, without the saving nature of grace, creation falls into a state of something without its intrinsic beauty and timeless value that is offered to us therein.  We won't see it, we won't find it for ourselves and our souls.  There's an interesting concept in the letters of St Paul.  In two places St. Paul advises his flock to "redeem the time."  This is another emphasis on exchange, and we'd do well to pay attention.  In the letter to the Colossians, St. Paul writes, "Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one" (Colossians 4:5-6).  In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul says something similar:  "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).  A redemption is an exchange; to redeem is to gain something by some form of payment, but it has the added sense of repurchase, gaining value that was otherwise lost, salvation.  In these references to redeeming the time, St. Paul speaks of the great gift of our lives, our time which is given to us by God, with which we may redeem the world through our choices of exchange.  We may use our time to walk in wisdom, and thereby to continually give glory to God, effectively exchanging our worldly time for securing the things of God in the world, God's grace that may be at work in us even through the smallest things.  If the "days are evil," as St. Paul writes, then we may "walk circumspectly, not as fools but wise" and thereby redeem the time.  These small statements are mighty powerful in their allusion to the idea that we may redeem the substance of our lives and the lives of others through how we use our time, how we walk in the world.  They are compact illustrations of what it means to exchange a worldly set of purposes for God's purposes and make them effective even in redeeming the world, redeeming the time of our lives and even of others' lives whom we touch.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  This is St. Paul's redemption of the time, a way to exchange the things of men for the things of God.  It is the way to live Christ's teaching to take up our own crosses, and sacrifice one for the other, redeeming the time of our lives which is inseparable from our place in the world and all that is in it.  On the passage I've cited from Ephesians, my study Bible comments, "The goal is not to abandon the world, but to keep oneself in Christ and salvage as much as possible from the evil world.  Christians renounce the fallenness of the world [my italics], not creation itself."  Let us follow Christ in sacrificing fallenness for the things of God, and redeem the time.  Let us consider carefully that sacrifice will be asked of us no matter what, by that which seeks to enslave and give death, and by the One who comes to make us free and give us life (John 8:31-36).  Which is your preference?