Be quiet, and come out of him!

Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.  And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone!   What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst,
 it came out of him and did not hurt him.  Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

- Luke 4:31-37

In yesterday's reading, Jesus had begun His Galilean ministry after being tempted in the wilderness.  We read that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.  So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:  "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 he blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"  He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."  So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  My study bible tells us that Capernaum was a major city on the northern shore of the Lake of Galilee.  This will function as His Galilean ministry headquarters.  We note the ministry:  His habit is to teach on the Sabbaths in the synagogue, just as in yesterday's reading He was in the synagogue in Nazareth.

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.   Again, the Gospel reflects on yesterday's reading.  There, His neighbors from His hometown of Nazareth could not take in the gracious words from the one who was the son of Joseph the carpenter.  Here, His authority is also astonishing.  My study bible says that "Jesus derives His authority from His messianic identity -- unlike the scribes and Pharisees, who claim authority because of their academic credentials as teachers of the Law."

Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.  And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone!   What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"   My study bible notes that "the demon and the possessed man speak in the plural we, expressing their fear before the divine presence of Jesus.  The demon recognizes Jesus as the Holy One of God, but is rebuked for his hostile boldness."

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.  Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.  Yesterday, we read about the gracious words that came from Jesus' mouth.  In today's reading, we get another example of "gracious words" for these are words of healing by the authority of God.  It is yet another example of God's "condescending" to be with us, an effect of His word and of His authority.  My study bible notes that there are many ways in which we will witness Jesus healing in the Gospels:  through touch, through the power of His word, and other various methods.  But, it says, "all of Christ's miracles manifest His redemptive ministry on behalf of ailing humanity."

Jesus' rebuke today causes a healing; it is a correction.  In effect, it's microcosm of His ministry into the world:  He is here to heal what afflicts us, and to remove the presence of the "strong man" or "ruler of this world" because He is the stronger.  His mission is one of love; He is here to bind up what ails us and afflicts us.  As the word from Isaiah said, which Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth in yesterday's reading, "To proclaim liberty to the captives" . . . and "to set at liberty those who are oppressed."  This He will do in a number of ways.  It instructs us to take a look at the episode of this demon cast out in the synagogue in Capernaum, and the fear with which both the demon and the man (in the plural "we") respond to Christ.  He is there to heal, but when we are bound and afflicted by something oppressive our sight's not quite right.  We can't see what afflicts us, and may be so bound by what ails us that our perspective is also that of sickness.  Fear is like this.  If we fear a rebuke from a loving Lord then we have to consider why we would fear love.  To be healed isn't always an easy nor simple journey.  Many times we can't really see what ails us, and we see from the perspective of the illness and affliction, like the known psychological syndrome in which someone who's a captive comes to see things from the perspective of his or her captors.  In this way Christ also fulfills the words of Isaiah, proclaiming "recovery of sight to he blind."  Let us remember that a rebuke from a loving Lord isn't to be feared; it's likened to a medical procedure that may entail something unpleasant but in the end is necessary for good health and restoration and for enjoyment of life.  Today's lectionary reading also contains a key passage from the First Epistle of John, perfectly relevant to today's Gospel reading:  "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).  Let us not fear the loving correction of God, which may come to us in many ways, especially through prayer and a willing heart open to God's love and the personal change Christ calls us to.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me

 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

"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 he blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"  He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."  So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

- Luke 4:14-30

On Saturday, we read about Jesus' time in the wilderness, of fasting and of facing temptations:  Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"  Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,'   and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.   Just as Luke has told us that it was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness for the forty days of fasting and temptation, the Spirit returned Him to Galilee, and here His public ministry begins.  Luke is careful to point out that He was glorified by all; it is a successful ministry.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:  "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 he blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."  My study bible tells us,  "Isaiah speaks of the anointing of Christ by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of the LORD descended descended upon Jesus at His baptism.  Jesus will bring blessings long awaited by the Jewish people, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah." Cyril of Alexandria has written that "'Acceptable' is that year in which we were received, when we took kinship with him, having our sins washed away through holy baptism and becoming partakers of the divine nature through the sharing of the Holy Spirit. Or 'acceptable' is the year in which he revealed his glory through the divine miracle attesting the message"  (Commentary on Isaiah 5.5.61.1–3).

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"  My study bible says that they "marveled at His words, but could not believe that Jesus, a fellow villager, could be the Messiah."

He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."    My study bible says here:  "Jesus exposes their unbelief.  Through examples of God's mercy to the Gentiles, He warns them that their heritage alone will not save them."

So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.  Jesus has openly rebuked them for their unbelief, in some sense (as my study bible says) exposing what hasn't exactly been said, but was expressed through their exclamations of wonder noting His background.  The response is wrath:  they want to kill Him for His rebuke, His open stating of the truth about their response.

It's interesting to think about some of the words used here.  Jesus' fellow villagers of Nazareth marvel at His "gracious words."  These words are those of grace -- they are the things that come through His speech as a gift from God, a gift of grace.  It is linked to the sense which we spoke of in Friday's reading, of God's condescension, God's extension toward us.  It is God giving us joy, favor, a good gift, and these are the words proceeding from Jesus' mouth.  John's Gospel has told us that Jesus is the Word, Logos in the Greek.  What proceeds from Him as Son therefore are the words to live by, as in "every word of God" as Jesus quoted to His tempter in Saturday's reading.  Some dictionaries tell us that this word we translate as grace also indicates a "leaning toward" (as in condescension).  In other words, Jesus comes to them, bearing gifts, favor, and another word truly rooted in the Greek χαρις, translated as "grace" - and that is joy.   But how do His fellow villagers of Nazareth react?  They respond to His extension to them by retracting into their own thoughts, pulling back:  "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  The implication is that they are refusing this gift, this grace, by pulling back, retracting from the extended hand of God, spoken through the words of Jesus.  They turn to a limited perspective, limiting therefore the capacities (which are infinite) of God's grace.  They decide that it cannot be.  They prefer their own reality, outside the sphere of the unlimited capacities of God, even to extend God's grace through this human being.  How can the son of Joseph the carpenter be the One through whom this gift is extended?  It is a strange paradox to consider that God has been made one of us, that the Spirit anoints each one in capacity to be "like Him" through adoption, and that grace offers to us a gift that we cannot possibly qualify for but must instead simply accept, with love.  Can we make that great leap that these people fail to make?  Can we get outside of our own limitations to realize the great love that extends toward us?  Let us remember that we cannot put limits on God, that God's love is infinite and surpasses anything we can understand, especially on "worldly" terms.  A free favor of grace requires our freedom of us, the freedom to love in return, and to have our own limitations expanded beyond measure.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil

 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"  Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written,

'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,' 

and,

'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

- Luke 4:1-13

In yesterday's reading, we read about Jesus' baptism:  Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.  When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. My study bible tells us that "this exodus of Jesus into the wilderness following His baptism has a dual symbolism:  (1) the Old Testament type of Israel in the wilderness Exodus following the 'baptism' in the Red Sea; and (2) our new exodus of salvation from darkness to light, though yet in this world."

And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  Fasting, in many forms and in a variety of applications, still remains a viable part of our practice of worship and a practice of cultivating attention to God.  Lent remains a period of fasting for many Christians:  the fast is from all that distracts from the word of God, and God's way for us in our lives.

And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  My study bible tells us that "Satan's attempt here was to exploit the extreme hunger which the Lord experienced in His humanity.  The phrase, if You are the Son of God, shows Satan was seeking to generate self-doubt in Christ concerning His divinity, and to control His actions."

But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"   This is the point of practices such as fasting:  it is to focus on the word of God, the things that are essential, that come first.  If we think about the temptations to Christ here in today's passage, they serve as temptations to swerve off the course of God's word, Christ's mission.  They are distractions to what is truly of essence and importance to His mission in the world.  My study bible says, "The fullness of life sought by mankind is not found in material satisfaction, but in the revealed word of God."

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."   And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  A note here reads, "The devil claims to be the possessor of all worldly power and wealth, and attempts to turn Jesus from His true sonship and ministry.  Christ does not dispute the claim, but declares that man is to worship God alone."  In Jesus' response to the temptation of worldly power, we can see again the purpose of the forty day period:  it is focus.  What is His mission?  What is the thing God the Father has asked?  This is the point of true purpose, and that true purpose remains not just for Christ, but for each of us.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,'  and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"   My study bible tells us:  "The third temptation (second in Matthew's order) concerns self-aggrandizement and vanity.  Is Jesus to base His ministry on new, spectacular acts designed to get people's attention?  He declares one is not to tempt God, that is, to test His providential love and care by thoughtless and vain acts."

 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.  My study bible notes that "in Luke's account of the temptations, the devil will bide his time for another opportunity to test Jesus."

Today's reading is all about temptations, temptations for how to use our capacities in life, worldly power, temptations to self-aggrandizement, and to swerve off the course of our focus:  that of God's service and God's love.  So how can we see mirrored through Jesus' life what is also essential to our life?  Jesus focuses on His mission.  Just after the Baptism, this is the first thing He does.  The fast, away from people, is a time of focus, of prayer, on the "facts of life" that really and truly matter.  It is a focus on mission and on service:  what does God call us to do?  How are we to change?  What is our true focus?  Fasting is a practice whereby we cease to make a fuss about the material things of life, and focus our energy and attention instead on the things that God is calling us toward.  Often this involves a shift in our perspective, a discarding of things that don't matter.  And in the example of Christ, it mirrors to us a shift to focus on labeling our temptations, focusing instead on what is more important, and discarding the things our "worldly" minds might suggest to us are important:  the material first, the acquisition of worldly position for its own sake before God's calling for us, the temptation to somehow "prove" we have God's grace, rather than to remain in the relationship of love where God places us and in which we abide.  Spectacular acts are not the point, and neither are they the point of fasting!  We don't earn grace; instead, the greatest lesson we can learn from this focus is that it is the love of God we put first, right where we are.  To abide in this love is to do the work of God.  So how can you put aside your temptations?  What practice helps to put the focus where it needs to be?  Can you get away for a time, for a minute or longer?  Can we put aside the fuss and bother of daily life, all the things that take up attention and time for a period of deliberate prayer, and focus in that love?  Let us think of love right where we are, and remember whenever we are tempted with the things of the world that distract us:  the point is God's love, to abide in that place, and to focus.  Let us remember that it is the Spirit that led Jesus to this time, and that it is the Spirit who may lead us also away for a time, to focus and sense what is truly of essence in our lives.

It came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened

 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

- Luke 3:15-22

In yesterday's reading, we begun the lectionary cycle into the Gospel of Luke.  We began in chapter 3:  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  My study bible notes that John the Baptist has a clear understanding of his own mission.  He "points to Christ as coming Messiah who will baptize . . . with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Although baptism is practiced by Jesus' circle of disciples, the prophecy here describes the baptismal gift of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  Fire in this context seems to imply judgment, the same as the images of the winnowing fan and of burning the chaff.  John understands that the coming of the Messiah brings judgment, as the Apostle John writes, 'This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.' (John 3:19)."

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.  Luke's historicity is once again made clear here, a reference is made to the political problems with the people because Herod Antipas had divorced his wife and married Herodias, his brother's wife, while his brother was still living - a break with Jewish custom and law. John's fearlessness is obvious in his denunciation of this marriage, adding to his widespread reputation as a truly holy man.  We note that it's not just the marriage for which John rebuked Herod, but also "all the evils which Herod had done."

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; . . .   My study bible points out that Jesus comes to be baptized, and hence in effect recognizes John's ministry.  It says, "Jesus does not need baptism for forgiveness of sins, for He is sinless.  Rather He is baptized to be revealed to Israel.  In this baptism, He identifies Himself with His church that is to be, prefiguring our going down to death in baptism.  By thus entering the waters of Jordan, He sanctifies forever the waters of baptism (and indeed, all of creation), by mystery restoring it to its original condition through union with Him."  This is a kind of honor to John's ministry, and at the same time the early Church saw it as a form of transfiguration, a prefiguring of our own and the world's baptism, by which Jesus sanctifies creation for God's purposes, and thus declares implicitly, as we read in Genesis, creation's basic goodness and value in God's life and purpose.

. . . and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."    The union with the waters of the world is a sort of baptism of the world, but especially a revelation of the whole meaning of Christ's Incarnation, for it presents us with the Trinity, and prefigures the anointing of the Spirit.  My study bible tells us that "the dove in bodily form is not an incarnation of the Spirit, but a temporary sign showing the invisible descent of the fullness of the Spirit on Jesus.  The voice of the Father testifies to the divine nature of Christ, completing the revealing (epiphany) of the Holy Trinity at the baptism of Jesus."  For the ancient church, this day was celebrated on January 6th; in the Greek called Epiphany or Theophany.

What do we make of Jesus' baptism?  One thing is clear, it is also an expression of His condescension; that is, His great love for humanity (also in the person of John the Baptist who lives and works through the Spirit).  Jesus "condescends" be to baptized by John, even though John the Baptist has told us that Christ is the One "whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose."  But of course there is purpose to this "condescension," and that is so that the waters of the world can be blessed and sanctified, prepared to receive the Spirit, to be a vehicle by which all can be baptized into the Spirit.  So God's purposes and gifts work through all things, in ways we can't predict but which are only known to us through Spirit, through the things that are given and revealed.  But above all perhaps today we can take this understanding that the things of this world are made to be living in union with God, to be sanctified through the love of God, through and in the gifts of God to us, and by the action of the Spirit.  Jesus' baptism teaches us not only that our world is fundamentally made and created by God as "good", but to be in union with God, to be purified, transfigured and "saved" through God's love.  Christ, as incarnate human being, is in the world and obeys by being baptized; but in so doing, reveals to us the fullness of that promise in His baptism.  It is the first glimpse, in revelation, of the meanings of His life in the world, and the gifts with which He leaves us.  These are gifts to be shared and enjoyed every single day.  Let us remember that in the midst of the world's corruption (as in the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias) we are still blessed with that which transforms and transfigures, we still live in a world that is meant for union with God, and we are blessed every single day -- at each moment when we can realize this revelation in some sense through our own lives.  Let us be mindful that our baptism is renewed at all times, in all circumstances, and that we call on His help and His promise that starts here and now.

Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

- Luke 3:1-14

Over the course of the past several readings, we have been finishing the current lectionary selections on the Gospel of John.  Last week, we read through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His Apostles.  See  In My Father's house are many mansions;   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you;  I am the vine, you are the branches;  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you;  When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth and That your joy may be full.   This week, we have read through Jesus' final prayer to the Father before His betrayal and arrest.  On Monday, Jesus prayed, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  On Tuesday, He continued, regarding His Apostles and those to follow, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all 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."

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.   Today the lectionary cycle again takes us through readings in the Gospel of Luke.  Luke is careful to set us down historically in the place where we start reading in the Gospel.  My study bible has notes on the several figures mentioned here.  Of Tiberias, it notes that he "ruled as sole Roman emperor in A.D. 14-37, but had authority over the provinces from A.D. 11 on.  Thus the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus began sometime between A.D. 26 and 28.  Pilate was governor of Judea from A.D. 26-36."  "Caiaphas," it notes, "was the sole official high priest (A.D. 18-36), but people recognized behind him the power of his father-in-law, Annas, a previous high priest deposed by the Romans."  We note the language here:  the "word of God came to John . . . in the wilderness."  We call the Gospels the word, as Scripture is the living Word.  But above all, as John's Gospel revealed to us, we know Christ as the Word.  There are all kinds of ways in which "the word" comes to us:  but where the Word is there is also the Spirit and the Father.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  My study bible tells us that "the call to repentance was typical of the Old Testament prophets, but John's baptism for the remission of sins sounds a deeper note:  a symbolic washing away of sins, prefiguring that which will come.  As Paul writes in Rom. 6:1-6, those who come to Christ will be buried with Him in baptism, rising to new life."  Of the quotation from Isaiah (40:3-5 and 52:10), it tells us, "Isaiah the prophet foresaw the momentous significance of the period of the Messiah and the preparation necessary for it." 

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  My study bible tells us, "Ethnic or 'spiritual' ancestry does not guarantee security in the face of God's judgment.  Only faithful repentance and good works worthy of it bring salvation.  Stones symbolize Gentile Christians who became children of God."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  The emphasis here is on "making the way straight" for the Lord.  The types of action John suggests to the people who practice repentance here are all ways of expressing that "every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth":  that is, those with wealth shall help to care for those who haven't, the tax collectors should not extort extra money but do a fair job and require honestly only as much as people truly owe, the soldiers should not use their power to collect from others through intimidation, false "protection" or false accusations against others.  In each way, this is "leveling" and "making the way straight" for the Lord.

In some way we can see reflected in the words of Isaiah the song of Mary at the Annunciation, which comes in chapter 1 of Luke's Gospel.  The lectionary cycle now starts at chapter 3, but let us go to chapter 1 to teach us about Mary and her song:  "He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant . . . He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty."  We have, in so many ways in the Gospels, the lifting up of the lowly, the leveling of the ways of the Lord, the making the crooked ways straight.  And we can see this reflected over and over in the Gospels in many dimensions and through many teachings and meanings.  Jesus will teach, in Matthew's Gospel (20:25-28), "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  The Lord has a way of lifting up the lowly, of bringing down those who are too high to relate as they must, of accomplishing His methods through what is straight and not crooked, including the hearts that are pure and capable of love, and those characters that are straightforward in loving the truth.  All of this is a sign that points to the greatest truth of the Gospels, the manifestation to us of the Word Himself in human form.  St. Athanasius of Alexandria has written,  "For He was made man that we might be made God"  ("Section 54", On the Incarnation) and St. Augustine has told us, "If we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods" ("Psalm 50", Exposition of the Book of Psalms).  So these great Fathers of the Early Church are teaching us about what is often called the condescension of God to us, although the word "condescension" now means something quite different in common parlance than the great love and truth that it is meant to teach us.  God lifts up the lowly in the ways that are beyond our understanding.  Out of love God comes to redeem and to make new, to transform, to turn us all into children of God should we also respond back with our love.  The "stones" that my study bible tells us are symbolic of the Gentiles are those which can be used to pave this road, to prepare this Way, to "make His paths straight."  As children of God, anything is possible with God.  Let us remember His condescension and love, let us remember the Word, and why, and how, in so many ways, it is present to us and is waiting for us.  Let us practice His love and truth, as He has taught us, and become sons and children of God through His adoption.

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

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all 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."

- John 17:20-26

Last week we read through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to the disciples.  See  In My Father's house are many mansions;   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you;  I am the vine, you are the branches;  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you;  When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth and That your joy may be full.  This week, we are reading Jesus' prayer to the Father.  On Monday, we read that Jesus prayed, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  In yesterday's reading, He continued:  "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 may all 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."   My study bible tells us, regarding "who will believe:   Jesus prays for the future Church, which participates in the life and glory of the Father and the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Christians enjoy two kinds of unity:  vertical, with the Trinity, and horizontal, with one another, the latter rooted in the former."  This "cross" formed by the vertical and horizontal to which my study bible refers is an embodiment of Jesus' "greatest commandments" -- to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Jesus summed it up in last week's Farewell Discourse when He revealed the new commandment with which He's left us:  "Love one another as I have loved you."

 "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."   Glory and love are intertwined in Jesus' statements here, just as we are intertwined in relationship through Him:  with the Father as He is in us and the Father in Him.  How is the world illumined and enlightened?  Through this glory that is lived through love, as we fulfill the mission upon which He's sent us (via the Apostles):  God's glory is reflected through us when we learn to love as He loved us.

"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."  Throughout John's Gospel, we have been repeatedly promised this depth of togetherness and relationship to Christ:  that where He is, so He will be with us as well.  This is the promise of eternal life, of a dwelling place "in My Father's house" where there are "many mansions."  But Jesus' desire comes from this great beginning of all things, the love of the Father.  It is a prayer of a depth of intimacy only possible through such relationship of Father and Son, "for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."  We are aware of the prayer of one Divine Person to another, but it is the prayer of intimacy and tenderness reserved even for the depth of a human heart.

"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."  A note reads, "We cannot have love for God the Father, or receive His love, apart from the knowledge of (communion with) the Father.  The purpose of the knowledge of God is to impart the love of God."  I really can't sum it up better than what my study bible tells us, that "the purpose of the knowledge of God is to impart the love of God."  Jesus' fervent prayer here is of one deity to another, Son to Father, but it is with the fervency of a depth of love to which we all can relate.  So great is His love for the Father, that His true will is to express that love to the world through His disciples, so that the Father may be glorified through them.

We can't separate knowledge of God from the love of God.  That is, we can't separate out knowing God from knowing God's love and thereby sharing God's love, practicing God's love.  All are inseparable, and thus the truth of Christ is inseparable from the love of Christ.  John's Epistles teach us essentially the same thing, when he writes that God is love and love is of God:  "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love"  (1 John 4:7-8).  If we take this to its fullest extent, we must also consider other words that Jesus teaches us about His truth, in John's eighth chapter:  "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   If Christ's truth is love, then our real freedom is the freedom to love.  In this way we show the glory of God.  Whatever gets in the way of that love and our realization of that love diminishes the glory of God as it is or may be revealed in us, through us, to the world.  And that's where we take the "crux" of our mission; it is the heart of the Cross:  that the world may try in all kinds of ways to get in the way of this love and its realization in us, but that He has overcome the world.  They, the disciples, have been "taken out of the world" in order to be like Him, to become more like Him, and so, through them, may we.  In this is God's glory reflected into the world and illuminates the world.  It all depends on how we understand this mission.  The love of God, beginning with the great and tremendous love of the Father to which Jesus testifies in His prayer today, takes us on a journey.  We are in this journey together, inseparable from Christ, from the Father, and the Helper, which is the Spirit of truth in John's Gospel.  In this journey we are on a road, His Way, to learn what it is to love from the Father, and to become more like Him.  How do you practice this love?  We learn it from the Father, through prayer, through encounter, through our own love of God.  With that, we take the world and give it to God, so that what is assumed in that love is healed -- but it starts in us and in this way is given to the world.  Let us remember Jesus' prayer that we may reflect God's glory, and that we may be one in this endeavor.  What obstacle does that love pick up for you today?

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth

"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.

- John 17:12-19

Last week we read through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to the Apostles.  See In My Father's house are many mansions;   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you;  I am the vine, you are the branches;  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you;  When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth and That your joy may be full.  In yesterday's reading, we began reading Jesus' prayer to the Father concerning His disciples.  John's Gospel tells us:  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."  My study bible tells us that "the son of perdition ('destruction') is Judas Iscariot.  Old Testament prophecy (Ps. 41:9; 109:2-13) alludes to Judas.  Judas's actions also herald the 'falling away' that will occur in the last days (see 2 Thess. 2:3, where 'son of perdition' refers to the Antichrist)."


"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."  A note reads:  "Inasmuch as Jesus comes from the realm of divine existence, He confers a heavenly identity and life on those who are joined to Him.  In fellowship with Him, the disciples attract the world's hatred.  The second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states:  'Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world.'  Reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5).  Yet their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one.  'Remember, O Lord, Your Church to deliver it from all evil . . . ' (Didache 10:5)."

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."   To sanctify, in the definition my study bible provides, is to "consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use."  It tells us, "St. John Chrysostom interprets this verse:  'Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine.'"

"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."  What is the purpose of discipleship?  Surely it is to follow in His footsteps, in His word (as He has taught), to abide in Him.  But abiding in the Son also means abiding in the Father and in the Spirit:  where One is so all the Trinity are found.

Today's reading speaks much of sanctification.  According to Abbott-Smith's Lexicon of the New Testament, to sanctify is to "to make holy, consecrate, sanctify; to dedicate, separate."  It also means to set apart for God's use, as my study bible implies.  So to be drawn out of the world, as Jesus speaks of here in today's passage, is to undergo a sort of transformation with a particular purpose.  Jesus "takes us out of the world" in the sense that we are transformed from just the product of our environment, of our genetics, and all that we understand of the world, into something that reflects also God's love:  that is, God takes all that we are, everything in all our resources, our whole being, and puts us through a process of salvation.  What God has created is good:  but abiding in Him we are taken on a journey, where everything we know and everything we are is taken into a light that the world can't teach us.  Things we've learned through difficult experience, for example, might be responded to in a different way - in that light of abiding in Him - than we might learn from the world around ourselves.  Most of all, we remember that to abide in Christ's word is to abide in His love, and therefore to learn His love.  St. Paul will talk about spiritual gifts, in 1 Corinthians 13: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing"  (v. 1-3).  Truly to learn what it is to love, to truly live a loving life, is not easy nor simple -- at least, not in my experience.  But to love is of God, and therefore it is the journey of being "set apart," of not necessarily relating as the world would teach us, a gradual kind of taking of all that is in us and in our lives and turning it over to God for God's purposes, as the definitions of sanctify teach us.  It may mean we don't go along with a crowd, we don't live to please the world, but to please God is to live in His love, to abide in Him, and to follow His commandments.  Let us remember His final commandment, to love one another as He has loved us in the persons of the Apostles, and in the presence of the Helper, the Spirit of truth of which He's spoken in these last weeks through John's Gospel.  In this way, we remember, we remain in the Father's name as well.  The world itself becomes transfigured through this process, as our sanctification means we share the love we learn, the truth He gives us.