Transfiguration

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

- Luke 9:28-36

There are many things written about this moment, the Transfiguration, and many things that we can find written into this text of a highly symbolic nature. Moses and Elijah, respectively, reflect the Law and the Prophets. The cloud that covers the disciples is reminiscent of the cloud on Mt. Sinai, and leading Moses and the Israelites to a new land - a symbol of God's presence. The voice coming from the cloud also a reflection of the story of Moses and the leading of the Israelites through the wilderness, and God's extraordinary presence to them. Peter's asking to build three "dwellings" is a recollection of the Festival of Tabernacles (or Booths) which is a festival celebrating the coming of a new Kingdom, which would make sense given Peter's religious background and understanding of this moment. Finally, again paralleling the journey of Moses and the Israelites, the word "departure" in Greek is exodos - Jesus' "departure" from Jerusalem (his crucifixion and resurrection) is the exodus into that new kingdom.

For the Orthodox church (I am currently visiting Athens, Greece), this is a very special event because it is considered a theophany, a revelation of the Divine, and especially of Jesus' divinity. But it's also important in the sense that Jesus' transfiguration in this divine light is a reflection of our own transformation to which we aspire, and also a foreshadowing of all those who will dwell in the kingdom. This glorification is seen as a reflection of life in that kingdom - and Moses and Elijah as the presence of the communion of saints in that kingdom, where God is the "God of the living and not the dead." We are all unified in that light and that cloud, all hearers of the word from that voice, and all witnesses to this revelation of the divine nature of Christ.

The icons of the Transfiguration portray this light as something different from what we normally experience as light in the world - it's given a blue tinge to symbolize its divine, ineffable origin. (See icon above, by Theophanes the Greek, late 14th cent.)

But I think the most important part of this story for us all, today, regardless of our religious backgrounds, is that this light is meant for us all. This light, with its divine origin, is something into which we can all enter, and at moments of transfiguration in our own lives, we seek its divine energy, resources and rejuvenation for ourselves. At times when we are alone and pray, we too ask for such transfigurative and revelatory experiences. We ask for illumination in the form of wisdom, or a better way to live our lives, or the way forward through our own wrestlings with difficult choices. We seek the strength and resourcefulness to put new plans from "outside the box" into action, or help in exchanging our own behaviors or old ways of thinking for something better. If we seek that which the Divine wishes for us to do in order to bear this light in the world, we also seek such experience, however subtle or less than earth-shattering, except perhaps to ourselves as a saving grace. Our day to day experience of life as part of this kingdom must also include our own transfiguration through time, through our lives, one moment at a time. We too, may enter into participation in this kingdom through this divine light, at whatever level or corner of our lives - no matter how mundane - in which we need that light to shine for us.

I am with you always

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

- Matthew 28:16-20

Today we celebrate Ascension Day, and the reading is appropriate to the day. I think it's important to consider the elements of this passage from Matthew in the context of the fact that Jesus has become now fully revealed as Divine, fully vested with all power and authority. He has completed his successful mission in the world, his preaching and public ministry as a human being is over, and a new chapter begins for the apostles and disciples.

There are several things to consider in terms of the power and authority that Jesus has now been given and that are revealed as His nature to his apostles. First of all we have to consider what it is that he has now completed. This is significant because he announces to his apostles that "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." This is an annunciation that seems to indicate a specific and significant time or event has occurred. In the epistle reading for today, from St. Paul's letter to the Hebrews (Chapter 2), Paul writes:

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.

Jesus has completed this mission of suffering and death. It is not until he has completed this mission as incarnate human being that all power is vested in him in terms of the complete authority he now assumes. While we trust his divine nature was already full as the incarnate Jesus, it is clear that the completion of his "perfection through sufferings" has given him a new status, or more fully vested him with the authority and power of the Son who is an equal and co-creator with the Father and has been given "all authority in heaven and on earth." It is his mission to us and for us that has given him this status, this fully vested condition of authority he now assumes that is announced to the disciples. I don't think that time applies to the nature of Spirit and the Divine in the same way that it applies to us, but it is clear that this full vesting of power is realized or made manifest because of his mission to us and for us in this world.

I think it's important to understand the full nature of redemptive power inherent in this story of Jesus, and its ending with Ascension - and Jesus' annunciation of the fullness of his power and glory. It is now that the apostles worship him, for he has become fully Lord in the Divine sense. It is Jesus' service to us through suffering and death that has assured this fullness of divine power, authority and status.

Paul continues:

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

Somehow it is inherent in Jesus' ascension that he is fully Lord because he has also been human, and on human terms has endured the sufferings and evil that we struggle with in our world. If we follow the divine law that seems to be at work here, we see that it is only through service to those who suffer and struggle that true authority and status are conferred. If the Creator is reflected in the creature, it is also the Creator who, by his own nature, must bear the sufferings of the creature in order to fully realize the completion of the full power and authority of Divinity. The holiness of God is fully manifest because of God's suffering with us.

Redemptive grace is truly the element that fully restores Jesus as Lord. The Greek word for the status of this Risen Lord is "Pantokrator" - all powerful. When we face our own tests in life, we should remember that even the Divine Lord could not fully realize his power and authority until death and suffering and evil were defeated by him in the person of a human being. It is for us to understand that, as St. Paul has written elsewhere, God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. Jesus has fully realized his power as Divine Being as redemptive savior who has shown us the way to bear our own sufferings, and invited us to share in the journey of redemption, and the spiritual struggle of "the good fight."

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Consider the lilies

He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
- Luke 12:22-31

These daily readings are arranged quite complementarily, I find. Although the passages from yesterday and today do not immediately follow one another in the gospel, in today's gospel reading we have a "balancing over" in the words of Christ to the teachings on prayer of yesterday's reading. While yesterday's teaching on prayer emphasized the kingdom and its nature, and what those who seek it must pray for, today's teaching is another way to view the cares of the daily world we normally have. Yesterday's teaching on prayer emphasized the spirituality of that for which we pray, and what we should emphasize. Today's readings are a teaching about unecessary worry and anxiety.

It's interesting to note all of this teaching on what we might call detachment - the futility of excessive worry and over-absorption with accumulation. It seems to me that Jesus is teaching his disciples what their priorities are - that they should first seek the kingdom, that this should be their goal. Over-worry and dwelling on purely material acquisition is not the right priority, it's got to be put into its place, falling behind what we seek first, the keys to the kingdom and the wisdom of Spirit.

In this (and overall in the gospels) I don't see Jesus discounting for a moment our needs and our abilities to work, to create and to build a good and healthy and beautiful life in the world. Instead I see this as a ranking in priority, a setting down of life's order. If we seek wisdom, if we seek the Spirit of wisdom and truth, and we lay our lives in service to the Good, then the material must follow. The famous passage about the beauty of the lilies (which inspired my choice for my blog's photo, above) is famous because we all understand the truth in the statement. Creation is beautiful, the world is full of beauty - that which we worship is not blind to our need for beauty and care. But we must dwell on the source of that goodness, that creation, and so the rest is a part of that life in which we share a perspective of the immanence of that goodness in the creation. Our minds can create and plan and develop endless resources and ideas for a good life in this world - but this must follow service to meanings and values and goals that set down order and beauty, and give us purpose.

It is my point of view that in prayer we must understand that what we seek is something to be added to the day to day, that unlimits us in terms of our cares and concerns. It is like adding an extra layer of experience and beauty to life to focus on the gifts of Spirit, and seeking wisdom as part of that gift, so that we may know how to plan our lives better and use resources wisely and for good purpose. A focus purely on the mundane gives us a kind of existence where greed and limitation purely to selfishness can flourish, and all the accompanying behaviors and social ills we know too well. If we set our priorities straight in prayer, we are able the better to appreciate the beauty of life, and the splendour that we can find in our world. We should remember that Beauty is one of the names of God, and so that which we seek does not discount the bounty nor the immanent beauty of life in our world. But we must get our priorities straight, and understand that it is for the revelation of this kingdom to us that we pray, and that we have the strength and proper priorities in order to build it and use our talents wisely, and with good purpose. If we seek the Good, and the wisdom and discernment of Love, might we not use our capacities in a better way?

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Give us this day our daily bread

He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.’
And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

- Luke 11:1-13

This passage in Luke comes after several important passages of teaching and missionary activity. The Seventy are sent out on another apostolic mission, and Jesus tells them they have power over many things - that prophets have sought to know what they know. There has also been the passage of the Good Samaritan, and other significant teachings. One thing of note in English translations is the phrase in the Lord's prayer, "but deliver us from evil." For some reason, this phrase is missing from several modern English versions (although not from the King James), but because it's definitely there in the original Greek, I leave it in. It's also important to note that often this is translated in Greek Orthodox texts as, "deliver us from the Evil one" because in Matthew (which contains the version of the prayer used in the church), the word "evil" is in the nominative form. In other words, Jesus is referring to Satan. Since this is significant in the original language, I don't think it should be skipped over.

Another important note of translation here is the word that we use as "daily" (as in "daily bread"). The original Greek word used here is epiousion. This is a very rare word, which seems to have been created specifically for this literature of the gospels. One Greek Orthodox commentary uses the word "essential" to translate the meaning of the word as used. If we take its literal form, it seems to translate "suprasubstantial." At any rate, this particular bread that is being referred to is spiritual bread - again reminding us of the manna in the wilderness and the feeding of the 5,000. But more importantly, the Eucharistic bread - the spiritual food with which we need to be fed to sustain our spiritual lives.

So from our efforts at noting important aspects of translation, we see here two important ideas: there is the focus on the allegory of bread to spiritual food, and also the understanding of what it means to be delivered from that which is evil; and in such focus the spiritual nature of these words, in my opinion, becomes more clear and more stressed. Quite often we think of praying for what we want in some physical sense of need or desire. But it is my opinion that Jesus is emphasizing that which once again is hidden in allegory: those who want the kingdom are eligible for its rewards. Just as in the passage from Matthew we were given recently, the things Jesus is referring to that we seek are spiritual things. Jesus' life and activity has been taken up with bringing in new workers for the kingdom, and sharing his spiritual power with them so that they, too, may do the missionary work he has brought into the world. So when we see the word "bread" used here, we must think of the spiritual focus of this word as analogy to that which we hunger for as spiritual seekers, as those who really want (and need) this gift.

Of course, Jesus makes this clear in the passage when he says, If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! I believe that we who read these passages now must focus on the spiritual nature of these words and this prayer. These are not magical incantations for whatever material desire we set our sights on, but rather are prayers for initiating and sustaining the spiritual life, with the focus on worship. In addition, it's important to note the form of the prayer in first person plural: Our Father... give us this day our daily bread... forgive us... , etc. This is a prayer for a particular community. I think we have been assured elsewhere that Our Father is aware of all of our needs: physical, spiritual and otherwise. But here (and there) the focus is on the primacy of putting membership in this kingdom first, as the great gift we've been given. If we think of this prayer as a sort of roadmap of the journey forward into a life that is responsible to the Good, and that asks to participate in building this kingdom, we will set our sights on an understanding that we are asked to be further initiated into wisdom and enlightenment as to how to proceed and live our lives. We ask for guidance and the discernment we need to live a good life of meaning and devotion. We should not forget that it is this for which we pray: for that which will give us a suprasubstantial life, one packed with meanings and values which multiply with time, for life in abundance.

Let them take up their cross daily

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’

Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’

- Luke 9:18-27

In this passage, Jesus continues the theme we encountered in the previous passage of Luke (on Saturday), when Herod asked who Jesus was and began to be curious about him. Jesus is becoming now a public phenomenon; there are rumors swirling about who he is. Here again, the apostles report to Jesus what the crowds say about him; they are the same rumors heard by Herod Antipas. I read in commentary that the crowds are seldom correct in the gospels - in fact most frequently the opinion of the crowds is discounted and downright wrong. This mission for the kingdom is not about pleasing the crowd. Jesus and his disciples are now in a sense outsiders knocking at a door - the leaven brought into the crowd will change it in a certain way, and there will also be those for whom this word will not take fruitful root. I think it is important to note this sense of "outsider" status; that our worship of God is not just following along with the crowds, and the apostles learn this important lesson in this passage.

Furthermore, although Peter understands and discerns who Jesus is, Jesus tells his apostles they must not announce Jesus' identity to the crowds. Although they are healing in Jesus' name, they are casting out demons, and preaching the good news of the kingdom - they are still not to identify Jesus as the Messiah. From my perspective, this is quite remarkable to note. This mission is about the kingdom: as much as we today identify this kingdom with Jesus himself, Jesus' interest is in the unfolding of this preaching, this word, the seed of the kingdom, in the proper way. I read (again in commentary) that Jesus doesn't want the imposition of the expectations and political misunderstanding that would come with the crowds if his Messiahship were the public focus of the ministry. I can quite understand why this would be a problem. It also tells me that there is a time for things to be revealed, and a time to engage in a process with patience. This is a type of unfolding that must happen in the proper sequence and in its own time. Again, going back to Jesus' parables, this kingdom must manifest itself not by radical action, or any type of hard-hitting imposition, but by a kind of "natural" process, as the leaven reaches into all the flour, as the seed of a mustard bush takes root and grows.

Furthermore, there's a test that happens here: Jesus wants true believers. He doesn't want those who are swayed by title or rhetoric, but who will love truth. He wants true relatedness, and true relationship - love. He knows of his future persecution and the reasons for it, and it is important for his purposes that people act on what is on their hearts. For me this is a signal that he truly begins the time of Judgment with his advent as a human being in our world. We are still in a time of judgment, where the weeds and wheat grow side by side, and we must not forget this. It requires our discernment - but we leave the ultimate time of its manifestation beyond our abilities to know or discern. We are still in this period of time initiated by Jesus' ministry.

But now, here in this passage, Jesus elaborates on what it means to follow him. There are times of trial that await those who follow. This process of leavening happens through the choice to follow the word, to enter the kingdom, and to allow this sacrifice of the old self to proceed at every junction, with each choice. We must learn to renounce ourselves, in the sense that when we take up a cross, we are then given new identity through this process. We expect to be changed, to transform by our "yes" to the word as our lives "naturally" take shape through this influence, as the seed grows to a great bush in which even the birds can make their nests. It requires of us a type of diligence and detachment, an awareness that change in us means that we must be prepared to put aside notions of who we think we have to be -- the "shoulds" and "musts" that tend to go along with the overvaluing of the opinions of the crowds.

As Jesus prays alone, he shares this knowledge with his apostles, his inside circle. We too, must remember what it is like to be alone in prayer with the Word, and to take definition of self and truth in our hearts sincerely, and with detachment from the crowds, and discernment for the wisdom that teaches us how to grow in the way of truth. We must make room for this in our lives, and let this word take root in ourselves.

The kingdom of heaven

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’

He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.

- Matthew 13:24-34a

Jesus' parables are interesting simply by virtue of the fact that I try to picture myself listening to them as one of the crowd. Since he spoke in these "riddles" to the crowds, we must understand that rather than the preaching and explanations and extended doctrine and understanding we're treated to as believers, the crowd only would have heard these parables. As we've said here before, the parables themselves work as seed: those who thirst for more will find the word taking root within them.

Here Jesus first expands on the parable of the Sower (see commentary here). After the word, the seed, the truth, is sown, comes the adversary, sowing falsehood. Commentary I read points out that the false resembles the true: the weeds and wheat are similar - they resemble one another, and it's difficult to uproot one without uprooting the other. After true prophets come false prophets, and after Christ, Antichrist. The "enemy" (the devil) comes while everybody is asleep, reminding us always that we need to "pay attention to how we listen" so that truth magnifies in us and we are able to use discernment. Clearly whatever doctrine and teaching, true and false, will come about during these times before Judgment is to be allowed to grow together, the good and the bad, the false and the true - and this applies, obviously, to all of us. To create upheaval trying root out the one will disrupt the other. So, it's up to us to be aware ourselves, and to understand we don't live in a perfect world, but we do share responsibility for our own discernment.

Jesus goes on to teach two other parables, about the properties of the kingdom of heaven. These properties reflect the properties in the story from Luke yesterday of the distribution of food to feed 5,000 people. The small grain of the mustard seed, planted in a field, grows to become a large shrub so that it even shelters the birds. Mustard seeds are one of the tiniest, and the shrubs grow to be large and hardy - enough to shelter the birds. According to a Wikipedia article: "Their growth is persistent and powerful enough to crack cement when growing." That's quite a good metaphor for the word that grows and expands to include so much over time. Jesus is telling us a parable about himself and his word - despite the weeds, it will take root and grow.

He compares the kingdom to a little yeast, which leavens three measures of flour. The message here is clear - that the word Jesus is preaching has potency - it will grow and magnify and transform all that is around it. The weeds will spring up, but they will not defeat the word, and those who carry that word in them must be persistent. He's giving us faith in the potency of that word and the energy it uses in this world to build itself and to sustain us. These parables also work as analogy on the individual scale: if we persist in pursuit of that faith as a seed that's planted in us, we will find ourselves and our lives hopefully transformed over time, and bearing fruit, growing - despite our own natural flaws.

Perhaps what I like best about these parables, aside from their obviously intriguing (and to me, delightful) way of drawing us into mystery, asking us if we want this thing he's teaching us about - is the faith that is put into a highly natural process. Naturally, we will have weeds with which to contend. Naturally, we must take the bad with the good. Naturally, leaven mingles with the flour, and naturally the small mustard seed grows remarkably into a hardy great bush, with formidable and tenacious gradual growth. These are things that reassure - this is not a great, dangerous upheaval; the Judgment and fire come in a time that we don't know and aren't to concern ourselves with at this time. This is now a time for growth, and patience, endurance and persistence: and gently, for it's a natural process, not harsh. It's in tune with the world and its ways of growth.

I love the image of the mustard seed - may the tiniest seed grow for you to a great and hardy bush, so that the birds may nest and sing in its branches. Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. May this process be as gentle and as intriguing for you as Jesus' parables would be to those crowds. There is nothing heavy-handed here - without a parable he told them nothing - the seed will grow in its own time, in the good soil.

Feeding the Five Thousand

Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, ‘John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he tried to see him.

On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.’ But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’ They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

- Luke 9:1-17

Blogging the daily readings, I never plan in advance what I'm going to write. I read the readings in the morning (which I receive via email - see "Daily Lectionary" link at left), and I post them on a blank blog post screen. I read what commentary is at hand, in reference books or online to get some facts straight that scholarship can provide. Then I read them through thoroughly and carefully and see what ideas come to me. I have a degree in English, and so I tend to approach the text the same way I did the literary texts in my college years, sensing what meanings are there for me. It's always a surprise what I find, and always worrying that I may have exhausted any ideas I have on these readings long before the present one, especially as stories repeat themselves in different gospels. Today was similar; and also, similarly, after I begun reading there were so many ideas in this passage that struck me. To include them all would make the passage much longer than I wish for - so I'll have to save something, hopefully, for the future.

First of all, it's always been striking to me about this particular passage that Jesus instructs his apostles - here sent out on the first apostolic mission - not to take any care for physical provisions: no extra clothes, no extra money, no planning in advance of where to stay. This is a journey where all dependence is on God, and clearly a journey of faith. The journey itself is made in an extension of Jesus' spiritual power: he has invested his disciples with his spiritual power - to preach, to heal disease and to cast out demons (all of which can be seen as forms of healing). They are to stay in whichever home is first offered, and if there is no room offerred and no one wishes to listen in a town, they are merely to shake the dust off their feet and move on. I think this is quite an example for us today, in the sense that we should remember that people are free to listen or not, and we should remain detached in the same sense. This blog is not a form of strict biblical scholarship produced according to doctrine of one church or another (and I have no degree in any theological field), and all are free to read or not, and I like that. But I am free to persist as long as there seems to be something to write. But back to the apostles, Christ is extending himself through them, and he is beginning to share the work of the kingdom - giving us the example of how spirit works as delegator. This spiritual power is shared and spread through relationship and community. The world wide web may serve also as our virtual interlinking of communities, and all are free to "listen" (read) or not.

Herod Antipas hears of all the goings on and wishes to meet Jesus. He wonders who Jesus is; he's very curious about him. This is the same Herod - a ruler of Galilee under Rome - who will be present at Jesus' trial; he will meet Jesus when Pilate sends Jesus to him. The kingdom is in its birth; it is becoming publicly known as an entity with which public figures will have to contend.

In Jesus' feeding of the five thousand, we find a continuation of the understanding of metaphor to the church. The apostles are sent out, bearing spiritual power and the message of the kingdom, just as the churches do today. The feeding of the hungry is a metaphor for spiritual power to feed us in ways in which we hunger and thirst, that the world alone can't necessarily provide for us. Jesus divides up the bread out of his own power (a mastery over nature) as they are in the wilderness - there is the same lack of dependence on material provision, the thoughts in these passages are for the work for the kingdom alone. He has the group of 5,000 divide themselves up into 100 groups of fifty each: an appropriate metaphor for churches. The leftover baskets of broken pieces are twelve - as are the apostles just returned from their first mission.

The breaking of the bread, with Jesus giving thanks and looking to heaven as he does so, is clearly a metaphor for what happens in the Eucharistic service - and also for the feeding by manna in the wilderness, so it is also a clear sign of Messiahship to the crowds. The two fish we must remember are already a metaphor, as Jesus told his fishermen that they'd become fishers of men. The fish would become an early symbol of Christianity via its classical Greek form - transliterating into English we'd spell it IXThYS (pronounced "eekh-THEES"). It worked as an acronym, with each letter standing for a word in the phrase: Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior (Iesus Xristos Theou Yios Sotir).

Finally, I'm reminded of the beautiful words in the Eurcharistic Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which the priest is to say as he breaks the bread for communion:

The Lamb of God is broken and distributed;

broken but not divided,

Forever eaten yet never consumed,

but sanctifying those who partake.

Just as Jesus' spiritual power is distributed to the disciples, to the churches, to us today, and we are fed with spiritual food, so it is the nature of this eucharistic life and this gift. I wonder in what ways we can see this nature of spirit and spiritual power at work in our own lives, and a eucharistic spirit apply to our lives in the world today. I don't think its nature has changed, but we must also be alive to it in ways it works in our own lives, even (and perhaps especially) when we feel ourselves to be in a wilderness of any kind.