This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’ He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, “Honour your father and your mother,” and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” But you say that whoever tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God”, then that person need not honour the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:

“This people honours me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.” ’

Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’

- Matthew 15:1-20

The "tradition of the elders" is the interpretation of Mosaic Law by Jewish teachers. In this case, the issue is ritual purity. Once criticized, Jesus - contrary to our often-held image of the meek and mild Christ - turns the tables immediately upon the Pharisees and scribes with an accusation of his own. 'And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?' My study bible points out that the commandment to honor one's father and mother is the first of the Ten Commandments which deals with human relations. To quote from my study bible: "A work of service or devotion to God is of no value if in carrying it out one ignores personal responsibility to others. Right human relationships are a necessary element of Christian devotion."

To put this into context, Jesus is referring to a practice which, as I understand it, was something like a trust. By claiming one's property was consecrated to the temple, one was therefore excused from using one's goods to support elderly parents without means. In so doing, property owners reserved their goods for their own exclusive use. So, Jesus is condemning a practice that refutes the design or aim of the Commandment for a supportive society, one in which the helpless or needy have some sort of safety net of protection and care. As he so often does, Jesus is pointing to the aim of the law - and criticizes those who find ways to practice in some sense what is deemed to be the "letter of the law" and avoid the entire purpose for which it was given, and thus the character of the God it honors and by whom it was presumably given. There is no love or mercy in this interpretation, but rather it is self-serving while claiming to honor God.

Jesus quotes from Isaiah to illustrate the difference in practice and interpretation from the true aim of the given law:

“This people honours me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.”

One of the most important teachings of Christ we have is his discourse on what defiles a person. It is not what we eat or drink but rather defilement is a concern of the heart. Ritual purity doesn't depend on the stomach. Nor does it depend on what a person does or doesn't do. Rather the heart, the center of all that a person is, becomes the place on which we should focus in order to guard ourselves from evil and keep ourselves pure in a spiritual sense. We are told elsewhere that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" and that "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." We must be aware that to produce good fruit, we're not dependent upon rituals but upon what is truly within us. The real, deep practice of our spirituality is about what we are in our hearts, what we choose to guard there, to keep there, to jettison or to treasure. Who we are as people is the deepest place we go - and yet, all of Jesus' teaching points to this place of what is real and what is true and meaningful. And it is there he asks us to go. I don't think we can avoid what this is and how deeply we can continue to go in coming to terms with what is meant by this deepest place of the self, and of identity, in spiritual terms.

'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.' Here, Jesus goes further, and pronounces that that which is not truly rooted in the good soil of the heart will be uprooted. He warns his disciples and in effect the Pharisees and scribes that the teaching of false doctrines will render the teacher obsolete. What is not of the lasting value of true spiritual reality will be uprooted. The blind can only lead the blind for so long before their blindness catches up to them.

As with Saturday's reading, where Jesus walks on the water and bids Peter to "come," Peter pushes for more here and asks for an explanation. Jesus once again complies with Peter's request and answers: 'Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.'

We can make all the rules we want for ourselves, live a clean life, wear the best clothes, a spic and span home, support the right causes, voice the right opinions, model ourselves on our appearance of virtue. But the life of the Spirit will always call us toward what is in the heart and to examine what is there. This is the field of Spirit, the ground of our orientation to the divine. We make choices. We clearly have the capacity, as far as Jesus is concerned, to make such choices and to be aware of what we guard in our hearts and what we choose not to value. We always make choices. We can make a choice for awareness, to begin with. We can place our emphasis on what is in the heart. What do you value? Where is your treasure?

Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

- Matthew 14:22-36

Yesterday we read of the great miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Today we come to another astounding miracle here in the middle of Matthew's gospel: Jesus walks on the water. There is the revelation here of dominion over nature, a sign of his divine nature as Messiah.

I think that the details of this story are very interesting. In the first place, after giving so much of himself, and so much sustenance to others in the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus withdraws. He goes up the mountain by himself to pray. He even sends away the disciples. Jesus has told the disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side. In all of these stories of his ministry so far in this gospel, Jesus has made various attempts to be somewhat less public - to go into a home, to send out his apostles in his place on their first mission - but never alone. This story very specifically says that he withdrew to be alone to pray, and sent away both the crowds and his disciples.

So, the disciples are on their own. But by the time it is night and dark, they are still on the water and having a hard time. The wind and waves drive against them, the boat is far from the land. Finally, early in the morning, Jesus comes walking toward them. The translation in my study bible (New King James Version) says that it is in the fourth watch when Jesus comes to them in the boat. The fourth watch is between 3 AM and sunrise. So the disciples have been in this boat pushed by the wind and waves all night.

Seeing Jesus approach, they're terrified and assume they're seeing a ghost! Jesus tells them, 'Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.' One cannot help but feel how comforting these words are. Isn't this the answer to all prayers that we hope for? Just to know that He is there? 'Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid' is one of the greatest messages that we can receive. We are told to take heart and be of good courage, we are told of His presence with us, and we are told not to fear. This great message in one small sentence is a gift for handling the difficulties of life if we could but remember to take these three things with us through all troubles.

Peter, however, being the person he is, and always full of his own exuberance of expression - no matter what he is feeling - takes it a step further. ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ Jesus' reply is the simplest there is: 'Come.' My study bible notes: "Come is the call of Christ in the midst of turmoil." He encourages us to take steps toward him in faith, no matter what the situation. In some sense, we can see this as a fledgling beginning of Peter's great future as the apostle he will become in faith.

Peter becomes frightened, and begins to sink. He cries out, ‘Lord, save me!’ There is a lesson here about what fright can do to us, despite our best intentions, in any difficult situation. Nobody has to walk on water to prove their faith! But in the context of the story, we can see what fear does - how it harms our faith, breaks our resolve. We may quite literally sink under our emotions by giving in to fear or by letting it rule our lives. "Lord, save me" is the shortest prayer in the bible, but a very effective one. The Jesus prayer, or "Lord have mercy" and its various forms are basically the same prayer.

Jesus reaches out and catches Peter, just as Peter starts to sink. ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ I have many occasions where the same thing could be said to me. My prayer life so often is like a conscience I don't follow, thinking that my faith is somehow not prudent or rational. And yet, the truth to be found there in my experience - such a potent truth that so often bluntly unveils what we love to soften for ourselves - is always just that in the end. It is what is real, what is seen with eyes opened to the light of love. That means, often, I find, that I also see what is not love.

"When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’ " Once the great drama and tribulation are over, the test of faith is over and they are back in the boat, the wind ceased. It is faith itself on display here, somehow. The waters and wind we can all take for the storms of life and the stormy nature of our emotions that are stirred up in difficulties - when everything seems to be against us. To conquer nature is a miracle. To conquer our own stormy nature, the call of spiritual life. Faith is the great help we have to get us through the difficulties of life, to help us make good decisions, and not to be overruled by fear. While our emotions will always be a part of our natures, it is a process of having faith that helps us not to be ruled by them - or worse, driven into shipwreck and worse difficulties. May you always be blessed with faith to follow the voice of Christ that says, "Come." And the knowledge that he is there and gives you courage - or better, heart - to get through it.

The loaves and the fishes

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

- Matthew 14:13-21

The story of the loaves and fishes, and feeding the five thousand, appears in all four gospels. What this tells me is how central it is to the notions expressed in Christian theology and how important it is as an example of who Jesus is, that reveals to us the nature of God.

My study bible, as it so often does, has a helpful note which I will partially quote here: "The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand ... shows Jesus feeding His people as God fed the Israelites in the desert. The Church Fathers see in this an image of the Eucharist, an idea also expressed in John 6, the discourse on the Bread of Life. ... Moved with compassion is used in very similar situations to show the Messiah's power and authority extending to those who suffer."

We can see many elements in this particular passage, the story of the feeding of five thousand with the loaves and the fishes, that characterize for us the nature of Jesus' persona, if you will. There is his great compassion, which, as noted in the study bible above, is quite characteristic of so many of his healings and manifestations of his power. This is the first thing that we must note. And then again we must also take note of the abundance described in the miraculous multiplicity of this food. Once Jesus has blessed what he is to give out to the crowds, it multiplies. It not only becomes many times over the amount he started with, but even the leftovers are there in abundance to be gathered. Surely this is another metaphor for the nature of the kingdom, just like the "faith the size of a mustard seed" that can move mountains, and the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. The kingdom itself multiplies, its action strangely hidden (as in our parables) but nevertheless we see its effects. As with the allegory of the Spirit to the wind, we witness its growth and know where it has been - but we don't know where it comes from or where it is going. And certainly, there is the important notion of feeding. Not only are we fed with holy food, just as the bread in the wilderness - the manna from heaven - came to the Israelites, but the holy food itself comes in many forms, including scripture and of course the Eucharist. Christ offers us all that he is and we are fed with that food of the kingdom.

The great offering, of course, is Christ himself. In so many ways, he has come into the world to give himself to us. He will die a martyr's death on the cross in his Passion, he will leave us with his Spirit, his teachings and all the many things which we receive because he emptied himself to fill us. And I think this is the most important thing we have to consider. As human beings, we hunger and thirst for so many things we need. We should always remember how much we need valuable and true objects of worship. We all thirst for worship, whether we wish to see this about ourselves or not. I consider it part of the human need, just as we need food and drink. If we do not choose wisely or well those objects of worship, we choose things in the end that do us harm. The greatest gift we could have are those things to worship that make all the difference between life and death, good values and bad. We choose a God of love and compassion, or gods of violence and selfishness. One leads to expansion and great multiplication of values and meanings and choices and builds up our lives. The other nihilistic, divisive, destructive. Jesus was here to feed us with so much spiritual food, so much wealth of values and good things. We have a great treasure of images to draw upon to feed our hearts and minds, from which we draw inspiration for living and building our lives. Not only do we have the scripture of the New Testament, but we have in Jesus an illumination, expansion and fulfillment of the Old for us to draw upon. Our very notions of love and compassion - all over the world, by Christian and non-Christian alike - are greatly informed by his legacy and the story of his life.

I've been reading about stress and the associated health concerns and difficulties that can result. A tremendous therapeutic exercise is apparently to keep a gratitude journal: a place where one systematically writes down each day things for which one is grateful. It seems to me that we have a great deal to count among our blessings that is contained in scripture. In the story of the loaves and the fishes, and the great love and compassion we are taught are the characteristics of God and those who would be like God, we have a wonderful abundance for which to be thankful. What are you grateful for today?

This is John the Baptist

At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

- Matthew 14:1-12

John the Baptist is known as the Forerunner: he is the herald who proclaimed the One who was to come. John preached a baptism of repentance, Jesus the baptism of salvation. John was the last - and, in Jesus' words, the greatest - of the prophets. Jesus was the beginning of the new vine.

So, in this story of John's death, John once again is the Forerunner. He has come first in this story of death by martyrdom for the kingdom. Herod's fearsome foreboding that John the Baptist has been resurrected in Jesus has as its parallel a great truth: John has come first. We recall Jesus' complaint to those who criticized both he and John: that they criticized John and his disciples for fasting, while the same people criticized Jesus and his followers for eating and drinking.

My study bible once again has a helpful note: "The beheading of John the Baptist is permitted by God. In a world of shameful wickedness, the righteous are afflicted and suffer death, though they are great in the eyes of God. Through John's martyrdom the coming of the Savior is announced to souls in Hades, for John is considered to be a forerunner of Jesus there as well as on earth." While everybody may not be oriented toward some of the things in this note, I find it immensely helpful, and in keeping with an appropriate interpretation of what we read in this scripture as literature. John will go forth before Jesus. He has played his role to the end as forerunner, as an archetypal martyr as herald of this new kingdom. I myself have thought a lot about suffering today, as a family emergency has taken me away for most of the day to the emergency room of my local hospital. One can ask, "Why do we suffer?" "What does it have to do with sin?" Most recently, I heard a theologian lecture on this notion of sin and suffering. He said, "Suffering is caused by sin, but not necessarily our own sin." In John's example, we have an early, prefiguring story of martyrdom by someone who has seemed to take on the sins of others. The callous behavior of Herodias and her daughter, the vain pride of Herod, the cruelty of the court, are the sins for which John suffers, just as Jesus would suffer for the sins of the world.

I tend to think that my study bible is right when it comes to the idea that the righteous suffer in a fallen world. The sins of those who cannot or do not wish to change, who resent the martyr's righteousness in the face of their own choices, are so often visited upon the innocent - just as evil and bad intentions belonging to those who do harm are so often projected upon those who suffer for their values. I think about pain and suffering today, and wonder about its causes. Surely we can see the suffering directly caused by those who do not wish to change and who resent righteousness in others. In the same archetypal way we can link Jesus' eventual crucifixion to this sin that began with rebellion in heaven, so we can link it to those who resent John for his righteousness. Herod's fear that John has returned is linked to Herod's own guilt, and on the cycle of violence goes.

Is not this the carpenter's son?

When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house.’ And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

- Matthew 13:53-58

Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, and he teaches in the synagogue. We know that he has had great success with his ministry elsewhere; in fact, so much notice has been taken of him already that he has enemies among the religious leadership who have begun to plot against him. But, here in his hometown, he encounters an obstacle. Those who know him as a part of a particular social system already reject his identity as a teacher and as a prophet.

My study bible notes: "Even in his own country, Nazareth, Jesus finds not acceptance but rejection. In their envy, although they can find no fault in his words and miracles, the Nazarenes dismiss him on the basis of the unimportance of his family." We are also referred to John 1:11: He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

So, there are different elements at play here. How do we discern between a "worldly identity" - designed for us by where we fit into a family, social or economic system (for example), and a spiritual identity? The verses following John 1:11 read as follows: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The verses in John 1 we usually take to mean human creation, in a general sense, as "children" of Christ the Word. But we can see how, helpfully, my study bible's reference to this passage gives us an idea of its application in a very specific sense in this example. "His own did not receive Him." And it is because they are stuck in a worldly perception of "natural descent" (or, as it says literally in the Greek, "of blood") rather than having spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear. They cannot discern Jesus' spiritual identity, his spiritual reality of the kingdom. We note the hierarchy of the worldly values at work: Jesus' neighbors say, "We know his family and who he is" and they are not of the significance necessary for them to treat even his teachings with respect. My study bible tells us that this is envy at work, the great archetypal sin behind yet another archetypal event, the rebellion in heaven.

The poetry in the gospels once again strikes us in this example of the profound and absolute, and the specific and humble. We have the depth of archetypal realities: the great notion of the Word and His Creation - we, as creatures of this world, after all, are the children who crucified Him. The "accuser," the "enemy" we read about in recent parables such as the parable of the Wheat and Weeds, commits his rebellion out of envy. And yet, we return to the simple and the humble, the things of this world down to its tiny daily details - with which we are so familiar: the scene in the synagogue, the neighbors who've known him all their lives, the carpenter's son. "Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?"

I've been reading about the lives of saints lately. I'd like to share a quotation from the official biography of Thomas Merton (Michael Mott, The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton): "Merton praised 'Kierkegaard’s remarkable intuition that the greatest and most perfect saints are those whose saintliness cannot be contained except beneath some exterior that appears totally mediocre and normal, because it is an incommunicable secret.' " And yet, Jesus calls us, through the gospels, to have the eyes and ears to see and hear saintliness, to perceive what is holy, what is of the Spirit, to understand a spiritual truth and presence of the kingdom. What I think is important to realize about being born of Spirit is precisely that we cannot predict the form of holiness we may find around ourselves, and we cannot take for granted what holiness or saintliness looks like. We cannot define it via our worldly expectations. It cannot be contained in the hierarchies we seek to assign in a worldly sense. Over and over again, as in this poignant example from Jesus' hometown of Nazareth (that surely bears a great resemblance to home for all of us), the great error is confounding worldly expectation with the brilliant revelation of the kingdom. Those that do so in the gospels are blind to the brilliance of what is in front of them, the "kingdom of heaven that has come near" to them. We learn the lesson repeatedly that spiritual envy is born of limitation, on so many levels.

Jesus has also told us that the servant is not above his Master: whatever he has experienced in the world, so will his followers. I think this applies as well to this blindness. He is the Master. We accept his identity as Christ. But as his followers who seek to be reborn in Spirit, we also share something of all of those characteristics his earthly life teaches us. We must learn the benefit of humility. We don't know exactly where holiness will reside. Just as his recent parables and teachings on Judgment tell us that we grow together with the weeds, with those who bear resemblance to the good wheat, so we need discernment to see the good, the exceptionally beautiful, the reality of spiritual values that may be hidden to us because of our reliance on our more mundane capacities for perception, our reliance on worldly values. And the same may be true about our expectations of ourselves and those around us: the influence of this birth in Spirit may bring out reality, values, conditions, a blossoming and potential that a worldly perspective cannot encompass, cannot broaden itself to receive. So, just as with scripture, we must have the right perception - or the means of perception - to see things that may be hidden to us, that unfold out of what we take for granted or for certain, or can see and touch and feel with our worldly senses, the things that "break in" upon our assumed reality. "Hidden" behind the reality we know is yet another dimension, something of endless depth that may reveal itself - if we seek the means of perception. That is, if we seek to become His mother and sister and brother.

The master of a household brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

- Matthew 13:44-52

In today's passage we have a collection of parables about the kingdom, denoting different aspects of it. In recent readings, Jesus has preached the parable of the Sower, and the parable of the Wheat and the Tares (or Weeds), and he has also given his disciples private explanation of the meanings of these parables (see subsequent readings following both). Here, Jesus elaborates through new parables about different aspects of the kingdom and its life than he has already revealed via the parables of the Sower and the Weeds.

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Two new parables, giving us the great value of what we seek when we seek the life of the kingdom. My study bible notes, "The driving desire of men for wealth pictures the desire of the soul for heavenly riches. The jewel is described as hidden because it requires faith and perseverance to discover it." I find the notes in my study bible very helpful, and so I often quote them here. In this case, we understand how our human desires lend themselves to desire for the spiritual reality that is available in the life of the kingdom. Moreover, we come to understand the nature of this kingdom: it is part of mystery. It is part of what is "unseen" and yet necessary for us to seek "for the life of the world." The "pearl of great price" is worth risking losing everything else. We exchange our worldly life for this great treasure - all our assumptions, everything we think is important, becomes secondary to this.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Once again, we have reference to the end of the age and to Judgment, as in the parable of the Weeds. The fishing net that is the kingdom will gather the good and the bad, as in the Wheat and the Weeds growing together in the field. My study bible notes, "The point is that the final judgment will finally disclose and separate the wicked from the righteous." We are to understand that we all grow together here in the world, and that God is the Judge who will separate at the end of the age. This is a very important lesson for us to understand about how we are to grow and live in this world. It applies to all of us, both in and out of the Church.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’

My study bible notes: "Jesus does not reject the Old Testament; rather, he commends it and calls it a treasure. Fulfillment is found, however in the New Testament, which leads to a complete understanding of the Old. This parable describes how Matthew, a Christian scribe, composed his Gospel." We are to come to understand not only the present teaching, but also how it sheds light on the past, and is reflected there as well. I also recall the saying that Jesus spoke from our reading on Saturday, when he described his preaching in parables.

‘I will open my mouth to speak in parables;

I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.'

Jesus' use of this phrase itself is an example of treasure in both "what is new and what is old." It is a quotation from psalm 78, used to illustrate what Jesus does with his preaching style in parables. Matthew's gospel, characterized as "Immanuel," or "God with us" was composed for an audience with many Jewish members in mind. So, in fulfillment of the parable here, Matthew has brought together treasure that is new and old. One is fulfilled in the other, one reflects on the other: just as Christ himself preached that he was here not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. I also feel that this beautiful metaphor of treasure new and old tells us about time, and timelessness. In the reality of a spiritual kingdom, time as we know it does not always apply. God's time is an eternal time: what was valuable once retains its value in the reflection of the light of glory. It is just that new facets of truth may reflect light in ways in which it had not been revealed to us before. Together, treasures old and new not only retain their value, but illumine that which we had not seen and give us a fuller picture of beauty and truth and meaning.

I hope that you enjoy the beauty of these parables. They are so simple, just a few sentences, some paragraphs. But there is so much meaning and beauty in each. Taken all together, scripture forms for us a picture of a kingdom, "hidden from the foundation of the world" but nevertheless revealed to us in God's time. They form, these illuminations, an eternal shining reality to those who wish to apprehend them, to develop ears to hear and eyes to see and a heart that is open to them. I urge you to think about treasure and the value it retains and even gains through time. The pearl of great price will always be so for us, and one new treasure illumines and expands the value and meaning of the old.

The harvest is the end of the age

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

- Matthew 13:36-43

Just as Jesus has previously explained the parable of the Sower in private to his disciples after he told it to the crowds, here Jesus explains and elaborates on the meaning of the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, or Weeds. As before, we're now given to understand that He is speaking in private with his disciples, after he has preached this parable to the crowds.

Most definitely, now, the introduction of the notion of Judgment has made its appearance in Matthew's gospel. We know that as "Son of Man," a title by which Jesus has made reference to himself, he alludes to the Messiah as an apocalyptic figure out of literature from which this title is derived, particularly the Book of Daniel. My study bible has an interesting note, which emphasizes the fact that after the good Sower comes sowing the good seed, the enemy comes. In the same way, after the wheat begins to grow, so do the weeds. The point of that particular note is that after the truth, the good, the authentic followers comes distortion, untruth, misleading teachings and people who will seek to mislead. As seed, it's difficult to tell them apart, as growth the weeds resemble the wheat. If we look around us, we see the significance of this: Jesus words elsewhere about "wolves in sheep's clothing" resound for us here. We must be on our guard, we must be watchful, and try to practice discernment. But beyond this, to uproot one from the other would be too disruptive to the good growth, according to this parable. And so, we enter into the notion of Judgment and of the age to come.

I was listening to a talk about the notions of the Judgment, or the age to come, and its impact on the outlook of Christians, particularly in the early Church. This of course is a huge topic and one can find opinions and discussions and outlooks that vary widely all over the place. Particularly now, I think, as the world has become a much smaller place, with various types of threats that may impact the world as a global problem, we now have an angle or perspective that causes many to think about what this means. But the image or idea of Judgment or of an age to come in which wrongs are righted, and a different spiritual life comes to the world, has always been an idea central to the Church and the Christian perspective. It is a frightening idea to many, and of course we know that rather than follow Jesus' words, all too often human beings have assumed the role of Judge. But despite the dangers of failing to follow Christ's teachings on this subject, I think it's important to keep the role and power of Judgment in mind.

Early in Christian history, an orientation toward this understanding created an important focus. Life is not merely about the here and now: we also have a future to consider and to look forward to when we make decisions now. Judgment is not merely a substitute for the parental authority of childhood, as some would dismiss it. It is, on the contrary, about a kind of Reality and a set of values that may differ extraordinarily from those we encounter in our day to day concerns and cares -- so much so that notions about Judgment and Its Reality may completely oppose the way we live our day to day lives. A God, as represented by Christ and so many of the prophets and saints both before and after him, that teaches us about the importance of taking care of one another, and the supremacy of love as the most potent force in the universe, is completely the opposite of the idols we may worship which proclaim by their values that all that counts is our image before others, the things we collect that add attraction to ourselves, how we "Lord it over others" (a direct contradiction to biblical teaching), how many achievements we can count that belong to us as material or tangible possessions (as opposed to the things that moth and rust can consume). I hope I needn't comment as well about the violence done in the name of all of this way of thinking and its opposition to the teachings of Jesus. But clearly, if we juxtapose the things we are taught to do to "be somebody" in the world and the ways of thinking it produces, with notions of God's will that we are taught especially through Jesus' life, then we have an entirely different picture of what the consciousness and awareness of Judgment should produce in us. This is not at all about self-righteousness but about awareness, consciousness, of a force of spiritual reality - this kingdom - that demands of us an awareness of what we do and how it impacts ourselves, and the world, and the spiritual kingdom Jesus is trying to build up through his life and his ministry in these gospels. The notion of Judgment should, rather than causing us to be considered as judges of others, make us aware of just how much effort we are to put into understanding what it is to live a life of love and integrity in that love and in those teachings we read about in this gospel. It is an awareness, not just of the worldly, but of something beyond the world that adds to our sense of perspective on how we treat others and relate to the world as caretakers - rather than merely as competitors and consumers.

In this sense, I see Judgment as an essential component to Christian identity. The fact that it has been exploited to do harm and evil should not deter us from approaching this subject with integrity and understanding about where it should lead us, and how it should lead us to consider the concepts of love in our lives and in our hearts. Rather, we must see those who would exploit any Christian or spiritual concept - those teachings intended to bring justice and the practice of mercy into the world - for their own gains, and to practice that which is against the teachings of Jesus, as the Tares or the Weeds in this story. We cannot leave out the important concepts we don't like; rather, we are to take a look at them and to correct our understanding about them. We are to practice discernment and to pay attention to Jesus' teachings as clearly as we can for ourselves.

When I think of Judgment, I think of this great consciousness that it should bring to us of our actions in our day to day lives. The awareness of a God of love must shape a perspective that asks us about our daily lives based on notions of competition or exploitation. It must certainly confront actions of cruelty and bullying and extraordinary levels of violence. It must ask us why we don't consider instead the importance of an attitude of love and care or helpfulness to one another, the practice of kindness, opportunities for mercy. Jesus teaches us to practice "good judgment" by following this will. The two notions are linked; we must come to understand what it is to become "mother and brothers" to Jesus. We cannot dismiss the notion of justice from the idea of a life lived to help to bring about this time of redemption and freedom from what ails the world, and its rootedness in the practice of love - and especially its hope and participation in building the time of the age to come.

I urge you to think about this notion, take a moment and watch how it may come to influence your perspective on choices you make, and on how you view others around yourself. Watch how it may inspire you to seek that will more deeply for yourself, to enter more deeply into a prayer life. More importantly, does it ask you to open up your heart to receive, to gain discernment about how we practice what is preached in these gospels?