Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me

 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the Holy angels."  And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

- Mark 8:34-9:1

Yesterday, we read that Jesus came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to the house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  My study bible tells us, "After Peter's confession, Jesus injects a new, solemn tone into His ministry by speaking about suffering and by teaching the people and the disciples the cost of discipleship:  self-denial, carrying one's cross (a symbol of suffering), and obedience to Christ.  By saying let him deny himself, and take up his cross, Jesus means His followers should separate themselves from their sins and from the inclination of their hearts towards evil (Genesis 8:21), crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24)." 

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."  A note in my study bible tells us, "To save one's life means to base one's earthly life on self.  This is the opposite of self-denial, and ultimately results in the loss of eternal life.  To lose one's life is to accept suffering and sacrifice for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom, which ultimately brings salvation.  Discipleship is costly:  it requires giving up all claim to everything the world holds dear."

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  A note here reads:  "Soul (Gr. psyche), also translated 'life' (v. 35), can refer to our spiritual nature or the whole human being.  Nothing is more valuable to us than our souls."    This soul (psyche) is like the breath of God, the breath God breathed into us to give us life.  Our lives, the implication is here, transcend far beyond the material and the worldly, all the things we tend to base our fears and anxieties on.  There is a much greater issue of survival and life beyond the things we're usually consumed with.

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the Holy angels."   Sometimes the things we suffer for Christ make us ashamed in the sense that they may call us out of the norm, the group, a worldly sense of belonging.  You may find yourself standing up for things others don't care about, even against the things others are concerned with.  Some examples come to mind of including those who are not as socially desirable as others in a particular group, or perhaps standing up for a scapegoat or bullying victim, because we choose to follow Christ.  But more pertinently, He's speaking to them as the One who will be a stumbling block because He will suffer and be crucified.  Will they be ashamed of Him?  Will we be ashamed to say that the material life and all the status, for example, that goes with it, isn't everything?

And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."
  My study bible says, "The kingdom of God present with power is connected to the previous words about the Son of Man coming in glory.  A foretaste of this glory is granted at the Transfiguration [tomorrow's Gospel reading], which anticipates future revelatory moments of God's great power:  the Resurrection of Christ and Pentecost, as well as the consummation of the Kingdom."

Christ's words about self-denial hit home.  We always have to ask ourselves, "In what way am I called to carry my cross?"  I think that His words tells us that in all times and places there are ways in which we, too, will be called to carry our own crosses in following Him.  Perhaps the type and shape and meaning and form of that cross will vary from generation to generation or place to place.  Most likely it will vary from person to person.  The emphasis on the cross that belongs to each one (that is, He doesn't tell us to take up His cross, but the separate one that belongs, in some sense, uniquely to each of one us) tells us that somehow, in ways that might be unique to each of us, we'll be called upon to take up our own crosses, and thus doing so, we will be following Him.  It kind of doesn't matter in what way we are crucified; that is, in each of our lives there may be things we hold dear and precious that we have to let go of, we should consider losing, because this is the way that we are called by Him, in order to follow Him.  If you value a social reputation beyond all else, there may be times in your life when you are called to suffer as outcast, simply because in that place you will find life -- the things that are beyond what you hold dear, where Christ is still with you.  This thing that my study bible calls the focus on the self is really a kind of tiny and limited version of ourselves, one constructed by the thoughts based purely on worldly things rather than the things of God (as Jesus told Peter in yesterday's reading).  The soul, the psyche in the Greek, on the other hand, is something we're given by God.  And that is eminently flexible and capable of growth far beyond the limitations of our worldly sense of ourselves, the self that only knows its own constructions, and cannot imagine the places Christ will call us to go.  This is a life -- the life of the Cross -- that consists of transcendence:  transcendence of the things that limit us, and keep us away from becoming more like Him.  The mystery is in the nature of that process with its continual stripping away, that sense of sacrifice that is in fact opening us up and emptying us in order to be filled with that which is far beyond our own sense of ourselves -- taking us to a place where Christ has us become like Him.  The journey of faith may call upon us to give up many things we cherish.  Perhaps we hold certain relationships dear that call us to wear blinders.  Perhaps there are ways we think of ourselves that need to change.  Perhaps we're used to giving in, when we need to stand up to someone or something in truth.  Perhaps, in other ways, we're used to defending ourselves, and we need to let things go.  Whatever it is, in that place of giving up, of sacrificing, of crucifixion to the "old self,"  we find the discipleship in His words telling us to "Follow Me."

Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men

 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to the house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

- Mark 8:22-33

Yesterday, we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"

  Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to the house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  My study bible tells us:  "Jesus leads the man out of town, to a private place once again, for another special healing.  This man is healed in stages, just as our ability to know God grows gradually.  Again, He wishes His messianic secret not to be revealed."   In yesterday's reading, Jesus questioned the disciples:  "How is it you do not understand?"  In the Greek, it reads more literally like "You haven't put it together yet?"  They've had plenty of experiences for them to understand something, and yet still fail to grasp it.  The gradual sight of the healing blind man in this story is a parallel to the ways in which spiritual sight comes to believers.

 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  A note in my study bible says, "Ceasarea Philiippi, a major city rebuilt by Herod's son Philip, who named it after Tiberius Casar and himself, was located some 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus chooses this Gentile area to challenge His disciples with the messianic question in private, apparently wishing to avoid popular repercussions among Jews."

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  My study bible says, "Peter, on behalf of the disciples, confesses Jesus as the Christ.  The Hebrew equivalent of Christ is 'Messiah,' meaning 'the Anointed One.'  Because this title was fraught with popular nationalistic misunderstandings, Jesus uses it only rarely, but accepts it when questioned at His trial before the Sanhedrin (14:61-62).  The understanding of Christ's identity cannot be gained through human reason, nor do miracles divulge it.  It comes only by revelation from the Father in heaven (Matt. 16:16-17)." 

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  He spoke this word openly.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  Immediately after His real identity is revealed to them, Jesus begins to teach about what is to happen to Him.  This must be entirely shocking to the disciples, for whom the Christ is expected to rule as king.  My study bible says that "Son of Man is a veiled Old Testament messianic title (Daniel 7:13) which Jesus uses frequently as it is more suitable than 'the Christ' for this stage in Jesus' ministry.  Jesus must suffer:  This is the inscrutable divine will, and the very heart of His redemptive work.  Suffering marks Jesus' redefinition of messiahship (see Isaiah 53).  Peter is shocked by this unprecedented notion.  But Jesus is preparing His disciples -- and Christians today -- for adversity."

But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  A note in my study bible tells us, "Peter unknowingly serves the intent of Satan other than the plan of God in attempting to lead Jesus away from the path of suffering."

Repeatedly we learn from the Gospels, and the Gospel's central story of Jesus' life, death, Resurrection and Ascension, that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways are not God's ways.  Here the disciples finally understand Jesus' revealed identity to them; He is the Christ.  This title of the Christ is one that will shake up the establishment, and make it clear to many in power that their desire is simply to be rid of Him.  It is considered a threat to the power of all who rule that the Christ is here in the world.  Such are the expectations of the One who would be the Christ.  But instead, what are the disciples told?  That He will suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  How is it even conceivable that the disciples can take in this news after the amazing revelation of His identity as Christ?  They are battling against popular ideas about what the Christ will do, nationalistic expectations of a deliverer in a political sense.  They are expecting a worldly kingdom that will rule over all others and liberate Israel in this way.  This is why Jesus tells Peter that he is thinking about worldly things, and has not got his mind on the things of God.  God's ways are not our ways; God's thinking is not our thinking.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we spoke of  "acceptance."  There are some times when we just will not understand what is happening, what is the message, what is the thing I am supposed to take away from this?  We really do have to understand that "our ways are not God's ways" in the sense that God's thinking is so far beyond what we can conceptualize that there will always be mysterious reasons for things.  Why do the good suffer?  Why do saints suffer?  Why has Christ died upon the Cross?  There are many ways we can answer these questions for ourselves, given what we understand of spiritual history.  There is no doubt that God will call His servants at times to suffer.  Here, Jesus' deliberate informing of the disciples, and His very strict rebuke of Peter, tells us the true story of what is to happen, what is to come.  Our redemption comes somehow through His suffering the things of this world.  His divinity assures us of His suffering.  This is quite the opposite of human thinking!  Why the Cross?  Jesus is with us in our most betrayed times, in the times of our great suffering, in all the places that the world will let us down, disappoint us, and abandon us.  In this sense, we can understand the transcendence of God through the Cross:  nothing stops the power of the life He has to give us -- not death, not suffering, not anything that the world (and its ruler or prince) can throw at us.  There is a kind of transcendence here that implies something more than material power, and implies more than material manipulation, but goes to the heart of the truth that is within us, and asks us what we love the most.  This is the heart of the Gospel.  What do our hearts dwell on?  Where do our thoughts go?  What are we willing to change in our own minds to accommodate the One whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are not our thoughts?  If we love the truth of God's love, there may be times when we share with Christ the suffering that is done on behalf of love.  But to get there, we follow Him, and we first know that He doesn't judge the way the world judges, that He is the author of love, and that we are gifted with His love.  That is how we get to the place of acceptance.  That is what makes disciples of all of us.  The blind man who sees people like trees, in this sense, resembles each of us as we find our way to His ways.

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Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"

- Mark 8:11-21

On Saturday, we read that, in those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."   My study bible says, "A sign from heaven is an indisputable, spectacular act, the kind Jesus rejected in His temptations.  [See Matt. 4:6-7; Luke 4:9.]   Jesus has given countless signs by this time:  causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the dead to rise.  But these are not good enough for the Pharisees.  Jesus sighed deeply, for they seek a sign out of hardness of heart, daring Jesus to force them to faith."  This isn't the only time Jesus will refuse to "perform on command," so to speak.  At the time of His trial, Herod will also make demands, and Christ will refuse to comply.

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  They are on their way back toward Bethsaida, to the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.   It's really quite striking how we repeatedly have reminders that food somehow gets lost in the shuffle.  We've been told in this Gospel that Jesus and the disciples are in a house that is so chaotic with His growing ministry, no one can even eat bread.  At another time, just after Jesus has appointed apostles who've gone out on their first mission, we were told they are so busy they don't have time to eat.  In that same reading, we read about the first feeding in the wilderness, when 5,000 men (together with more women and children) have followed Jesus to a deserted place, and there is seemingly no bread to give them.  A similar story happens with the feeding of the four thousand.  

Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."   My study bible tells us, "Leaven is frequently (but not always) a negative image in Scripture, symbolizing evil.  Here it represents the erroneous understanding and evil intent of the Pharisees and Herod Antipas.  Though they completely misunderstand the revelation of God in Christ, the Pharisees influence the people.  Their teaching is like leaven; it permeates the whole.  Their blatant legalism and hypocritical actions damage those who listen to them."

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"  A note tells us, "Jesus is concerned about His disciples.  Men who do not yet understand the Lord's provision for them in the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand are men whose hearts are still hardened.  Discipleship without an understanding of Christ is unthinkable."

The Gospel is interesting in its reflection of a pattern of life.  It's telling us a story not just about them, the disciples and other characters in the Gospels, but about ourselves, and about the spiritual life.  Over and over again, the disciples themselves have been given plenty of signs about Jesus, about the ministry, about what is important and essential, and what is not.  Going back again to the idea of "bread" or food, we can see all the times when it has featured as part of a teaching of importance.  Ministry comes first, and all else is provided.  In His temptation and hunger, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy:  "Man does not live by bread alone; but by every word of God."  Jesus has also taken away an emphasis on foods by teaching that there is something more defiling to a person than eating the wrong foods.  Even after He has provided food and nourished groups of five and four thousand in the wilderness, the disciples still don't understand.  Jesus' question, "How is it that you do not understand?" could possibly be rendered literally in American English, "You haven't put it together yet?"   The Gospel contrasts the Pharisees (and Herod's) demand for a sign, with the disciples who have been given many signs.  Yet they still haven't "put two and two together," so to speak.   Why would He be upset about the bread?  They fail to understand His reference to the "leaven" of the Pharisees and Herod.  While others demand signs, the disciples who follow Christ everywhere still don't understand Him.  The last thing He really needs to worry about is food, that will be taken care of.  But spiritual understanding is something else altogether; that is the purpose of His mission.  Without our real perception and focus, where is the meaning in our lives, what's the purpose?  The disciples model for us our own lives.  Perhaps there are times when we have that "Aha!" moment in which several experiences are put together so that they finally make sense.  We finally "get it."  They are at that place where they have had several experiences that should have taught them something, and yet they still don't get it, they still haven't put it together.  In this we're given a strong and powerful message that, even as Jesus' patience is tested by them, even as He has to ask how they still haven't put things together, it's what is in their heart that matters.  It all comes down to questions of faith.  These disciples may not be all knowledgeable, but they haven't asked for proof.  The Pharisees may be experts in the Scripture, but they can't see Christ with the eyes of faith at all.  We go deeper into the heart here with this teaching, removed yet another step from our constant preoccupations with the purely material, with fears of scarcity, and anxieties and worries about things to a level that distracts us from a central purpose.  Here in this place where the disciples are still slow to understand there is relationship, there is discipline, and there is patience.  They're still responsible for what they fail to grasp, and He still remarks at their slowness of perceiving.  But He bears on with them, and they persist with Him.  In the times when we can't see the forest for the trees, let us remember that there is a purpose and a meaning behind the things that baffle us.  We must keep moving forward and through it when we still don't "get it."  It's faith that gets us through and keeps us in a place where we're ready to understand.  Giving up, sitting back, and saying, "Give me proof" isn't really the place we need to be.  Centering ourselves in this relationship with its patience and its love is the way.  Sometimes "acceptance" is just the place we need to be.  The Gospel gives us a gift by teaching us that, even for the disciples, there are times when we just don't have all the answers.  But He will always be there to provide us with new opportunities to figure it out!

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

- Mark 8:1-10

Yesterday we read that Jesus went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "be opened."   Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar."  We are now in Gentile territory, in the Decapolis (as reported in yesterday's reading).   This is a place of mixed populations, a sort of mosaic, with a history of Greek and Roman culture.  In the Greek, "Decapolis" means "Ten Cities" and it's a region -- a kind of ring -- of ten cities to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee.    What we first notice in this reading is the fact that these people are so desirous of the word that Jesus is offering that they have continued with Him for three days.  They have nothing to eat:  but their hunger has been for the life He offers through His word.  His compassion goes out to them; He is a caring Teacher.

Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"   This is an echo of the Psalms:  "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? . . . Can He give bread also?"  (Psalm 78:19, 20). 

He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.   Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  We see an echo of the earlier feeding of the five thousand men in the action that happens here.  The actions of Jesus and His disciples very much echo the Eucharist.  The difference here is that now those fed include many Gentiles.  "Seven" (as in the seven loaves and the seven leftover baskets) is a number of fullness, completion.  Jesus' mission isn't complete until the whole of the world, both Jew and Gentile, are included.  My study bible points out that feeding the multitude in the wilderness is a messianic sign, fulfilling the prophesy of the psalms, quoted above.  It adds, "This miracle has special significance:  seldom does Jesus refer back to a miracle He has performed, but to the feeding of the four and five thousand He does (8:19-21)."

It's interesting to think of these two feeding miracles.  Certainly their importance can't be minimized as they are so central to the Gospels.  Jesus' word is food, His gift to us is life.  He said to His tempter in the wilderness:  "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."  (See Deuteronomy 8:3 as the source of His quotation.)  Here we are in yet another wilderness place, as in the first feeding of the five thousand men.  But the difference here is that it is a mixed population; many who are following Him now come from different cultures.  So it is a kind of wilderness where even the same spiritual tradition may not be available to people, and it once again tells us about this ministry.  Jesus' teaching is to make due with what we have, and to allow Him to multiply our resources, to shape them into ministry with His help.  As always, He provides the example by giving thanks first:  all things come from the Father.  In this way, we, too, may use our resources at all times and wherever we find ourselves.  It's not right that we find ourselves in places where we think God is far away; it may seem so, but it is not the truth about our lives.  At all times, prayer can reach to God.  This is a very tough lesson to learn.  Indeed, after the previous feeding, we were told in Mark's Gospel that the disciples' hearts were hardened, and they hadn't understood about the loaves.  We will be reminded of this again in a reading from next week, when Jesus Himself will take up this issue of their hardened hearts which do not yet understand Him.  And there again, we have another form of wilderness:  our own failure to comprehend and know all the things of God.  It's another emphasis, hidden as a kind of parable,  a gem hidden in the Gospel, that no matter where we are, we start with what we have, and God multiplies.  The same is true of the disciples:  Jesus chooses those at hand; it is God that multiplies the ministry, their faith and understanding, and all things that unfold.  In yesterday's reading, we spoke of the mystery of the holy, of the Spirit at work.  And here it's contained, too.  Not only is God at work in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, but in the struggle within the apostles to come to know what they and Jesus are about, in the bringing of the multitudes who are hungry for what Jesus has, and in the ministry of Jesus that spreads itself in regions far beyond Jewish territory, which is so powerful that He cannot be hidden.  It's that element of the holy, that mysterious, elusive, wind of the Spirit, that flows through everything, that we can't control nor predict, that moves and takes shape in this ministry.  And it moves and takes its shape in our lives, too.  We can't predict what it will do; we can't guide and control it.  But we can take comfort in prayer, we can make our connection in faith and ask for our hearts to be illumined and opened to its message and its truth.  And we, too, can take this lesson from now two feedings in the wilderness:  wherever we are, and whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, there is ministry there to be present to and to attend.  There is God's word, even in prayer, in isolation, in solitude.  Far away from resources there is what we have at hand and God's help.  There is the Holy Spirit, which (to quote a prayer that begins all Eastern Orthodox worship) "is everywhere present and fills all things."  This is what we recall ourselves to; and its remembrance is what makes us truly mindful of the things that are present to us, and aware of the greater dimension of life that is there whether we "know" it or not.  True mindfulness adds this understanding to all our situations.  In that sense, there must always be "bread in the wilderness."

He could not be hidden

 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "be opened."   Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

- Mark 7:24-37

Yesterday, we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Jesus, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the  tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."  He said to them, "All to well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  Tyre and Sidon are Gentile cities on the coast of Palestine, to the northwest of Jesus' home territory of Galilee.

And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  Repeatedly we read in Mark's Gospel that Jesus seeks solitude, but He can't escape the fame that follows Him.  Even here in this Gentile territory, He can't be hidden.   The interesting thing about the way this sentence is structured, is that it seems like Jesus wants to hide Himself, but He hasn't got the power to do so. 

 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  My study bible says, "That the mother kept asking Him for her daughter's deliverance teaches perseverance in prayer.  Jesus resists her, not to make her persuade Him, but to test her faith.  Such persistence the Lord seeks from all."  The word translated as "dogs" here in the Greek indicates a little puppy, a house dog, one that would be under the table (grown dogs in the Middle East were not historically indoor pets).  Therefore the emphasis here is on her persistence in pestering Him!  Like a puppy, she's begging at His feet.  The almost playful or sassy nature of her reply in kind to Him, of which Jesus heartily approves, emphasizes this "puppy-like" quality.  But let's not forget the serious nature of what she's asking for, how crucial it is that she get help for her daughter.  It's not the only memorable teaching of Jesus about persistence - nor the only example of a relatively powerless woman in whom persistence is proclaimed a virtue (see the parable of the Unjust Judge).

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  The Decapolis is another Greek-speaking area, made up of Ten Cities (the meaning of the word "Decapolis") of Greek and Roman culture, in which populations were mixed.  This is to the southest of Galilee.

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.   A note in my study bible says, "Jesus heals in various ways.  Sometimes He speaks a word [as with the Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter, above], sometimes He commands people to act [i.e. take up a bed], sometimes He touches people [see the healing of the leper here].  Here He takes a man aside for a private and unusual act of healing.  The ways of God at times do not make sense to us, not because He is illogical, but because His nature transcends our capacity to understand."

Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "be opened."   Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.   My study bible tells us:  "Looking up to heaven is a sign of intimacy with the Father in prayer.  He sighed out of deep compassion for the mans pitiful character."   The "impediment" of this man's tongue translates as a kind of bond, a binding.   Jesus' act is to liberate, to free, to unbind, just as He "opens" the man's ears.

 Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."  My study bible says, "Here Jesus' attempt to keep His messianic identity secret is foiled by the people's enthusiasm.  The gospel is so powerful that it simply cannot be contained." 

In today's reading we're twice reminded, with the two different healings, that almost despite Himself, Jesus cannot contain the fame of His ministry, the spread of the word about Him.  First He goes into a house and desires to be hidden.  The question that comes to mind is, "Can light be hidden?"  Well, John's Gospel answers that question when it tells us that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehends it not (meaning both to "understand" and to "take in").   In the second healing in today's reading, He forbids people to speak of what has happened, but it is He who performed the liberating action of opening up the deaf man's ears, and loosing the bond of his tongue.  So we get a sense of the holiness of Christ, that it is something far beyond the human Jesus that is at work here, and that something simply cannot be contained, as my study bible puts it.  It puts us in mind of the woman who, unbeknownst to Him, touched the hem of His garment in the crowd as He was on His way to Jairus' house.  We were told there that Jesus felt the power go out of Himself, and asked His disciples, "Who touched My clothes?"  So there is holiness at work in Jesus that has to do with the Source of all things, with this mission that isn't just about the human being Jesus, but about the work of God in the world.  All of Jesus' miracles are signs of that holiness, that power that is beyond what we know and can't be contained, that isn't always consciously at work as a product of Jesus' human desire, but rather works with Him and through Him.  That Christ is both human and divine is still a great mystery; we can't define it perfectly or know exactly how this works.  But we can observe its reality in the Gospels.  We can start to think ourselves about what makes something holy, how we observe holiness, and what holiness is and means.  It's a great mystery, but one thing is clear:  it is something far beyond us, something that works in and through our world and all the things in it.  Holiness can touch us in ways that come out of the least expected time or place.  It's not something that "comes with observation."  Prayer is our way to connect to this place:  it's in the pestering of the Syro-Phoenician woman above, and it was in the faith of the woman with the blood flow who touched the hem of His clothing.  It's our faith and our petitions that make that connection with the holy, that releases its power to be at work in the world, that makes a connection somehow.  We can't control it, nobody owns it.  Nobody owns title, or rights to its name.  It doesn't work via human perception and understanding.  Jesus taught, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes."  This is a play on words, as the word pneuma in the Greek can mean either wind or Spirit.  This was in John's Gospel, when He taught Nicodemus about being born of the Spirit.    What we observe today in Mark's Gospel is the uncontainability of this holiness, of this Kingdom.  This wind blows where it wishes, but we can't tell where it comes from or where it goes.  Our connection to it is through faith and prayer, and it is this connection with us that releases its power in our world and into our lives.  Even to the human Jesus, at times, its working is mysterious, and He always takes time for solitude and prayer, for communion with the Father, at all times in His ministry.  So deep is the reverence for the Spirit that He has taught that all things will be forgiven, except blasphemy of the Spirit.  It is the reverence for this work of holiness in the world that we must remember and think about, that the Gospel here in today's reading calls us to ponder.  How do you see the wind?  How do you know where it's going or where it came from?  Holiness opens up unimagined possibilities, a world where the rest of our rules don't apply, where we are not in control.  We can't contain it.  We can't necessarily predict what it's going to look like.  And yet, it is so easily overlooked, and forgotten about in our pursuit of what makes for a faithful life.

There is nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the  tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

"For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."

He said to them, "All to well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

- Mark 7:1-23

Yesterday, we read that after feeding the multitude of 5,000 men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, and having sent His disciples back across the  Sea of Galilee, when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and Jesus was alone on the land.  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.  When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.

  Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the  tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  My study bible has extensive notes on today's reading.  Of this passage, it tells us:  "The issue here is not Jewish customs or traditions.  Jesus does not prohibit them (Matt. 23:23).  At issue is the raising of human tradition over the tradition or commandments of God.  The tradition of the elders is a body of interpretations of the Law handed down orally, which for the Pharisees and the scribes is as authoritative as the written Law of Moses.  According to this tradition, purification -- cleansing oneself from defiling contact with Gentiles or sinners -- occurs by the outward act of ceremonial washing."

He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."   Here is a kind of nugget of faith:  Where is our faith?  Is it in the heart, where we can perceive the things of God?  Or is it in the "traditions of men" that may obscure those given things, the word that opens our eyes to life beyond this world, and to the grace and love of God?  At issue here is the conflict, when one obscures the other.

He said to them, "All to well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  This is an example provided by Jesus of one thing (traditions) obscuring the other (the Law given or revealed to Moses).  We understand the essential goodness of respect for valuable relationships, the sense behind the commandment.  In our modern world, we may not all understand the complete dependency elderly parents have on adult children in such a society.  My study bible continues here on the tradition of the elders:  "Offerings to God may be made by promises.  Thereby one could dedicate property or earnings to God (Corban) to prevent their use by one's parents, but continue to use them oneself.  These secondary traditions obscure the primary commandments of God and obedience to them.  Traditions not from God must never supersede traditions from God or Holy Tradition (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6).  Unlike Holy Tradition, human traditions can prevent people from coming to God (Rom. 2:24, Col. 2:8)."

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"   Here, Jesus speaks to the crowds who gather to hear Him speak.  Jesus has a different word for every audience.  We've first listened to a dialogue with the Pharisees who criticize His disciples.  Here, similarly to the audience for parables, He speaks to the crowds around Himself.  The crowd is invited to think about His sayings He presents to them, in the same way it is invited to think about the parables.  My study bible notes:  "Jesus teaches that nothing is of itself spiritually unclean.  God makes all things good.  Sins committed of our own free will, what comes from within us, defile and make the heart impure."

When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."  My study bible says here, "All these evil things are not what God created.  We will them; we produce them; they are our sins coming from within us.  They are a perversion of what God has made."    As with the parables, Jesus explains privately to the disciples, who also need further illumination of His teachings of mysteries.

In all ways, Jesus seems to emphasize personal accountability, and it's an accountability before God, before the things of God.  The religious leadership is especially criticized because they are the ones who are supposed to lead the people to God.  But they have traditions (which also happen to enrich their group or class) that obscure the things of God, as my study bible puts it.  Whereas God's law given to Moses sought to emphasize the importance of relationships, here Jesus points out that particularly in the case of elderly parents, there are traditions that enrich the religious institution but leave parents with nothing.  They enforce selfishness rather than the intentions of the Law.  The same is true of His teaching on the things that truly defile a person.  We can say, in a very modern context, "I've been on this diet or that," or "I watch what I eat" and satisfy ourselves that we're good people, responsible and doing the right things somehow.  But the things of the heart, if obscured by this adherence to the outward things, may remain untouched.  Accountability would have us look deeper, to the things that Jesus names:  "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."  These are all things we can choose to be accountable for.  Which ones of them do we nurture without thinking?  We may refrain from certain foods, even fasting religiously in an impressive way, but if we let our satisfaction with such an outward show obscure the inner work of fasting from the things named by Jesus, and instead feed inwardly on those things, are we following His commandments?  Where is our true accountability?  I think it's important to remember that it's human weakness to let the outward obscure the real inward job here that Jesus emphasizes for us.  At the root of all things, Jesus consistently emphasizes the heart and the condition of the heart.  It's with the heart that we perceive the things of God, and it's with the heart that our spiritual eyes and ears function clearly and sharply.  Too much emphasis on what's outside -- and especially how we appear before others (especially whoever we consider to be in our "group") can lead us down the wrong path, and away from the things God would emphasize, the things that make for true relationship and discernment.  Even worse, those who are to lead others to God may in fact lead them astray with this false emphasis that neglects the more important matters.  It really doesn't matter whether or not we are talking about the society Jesus lived in 2,000 years ago, or today's world, this teaching is always new.  It always invites us to examine what we are doing and how we are living, what we put an emphasis on, and whether or not we really look to the heart, the place that God dwells in us, and we are making a home that is clean and open for that Word.  Let's not let the outward emphasis, filled as we are with images today with which we must keep up, obscure the place where God calls us to honor the least of these, the ones whose eyes don't necessarily count as much as the ones who assure us of our social status, our wealth, our position.  Accountability before God teaches us about the laws of truth and love and righteousness.  In any circumstance, we may be invited in to such a struggle, or obscured from that place where the struggle is engaged. 

Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid

Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.

- Mark 6:47-56

In yesterday's reading, we read that, after completing their first mission,  the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.  Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.  (See Bread in the wilderness.)

Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.   Jesus has sent His disciples back across the Sea of Galilee, toward familiar home territory of Bethsaida.  Jesus has remained behind for solitude in order to pray.

 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  It doesn't matter where He is; His concern is for them, and they are struggling.  He sees what they're engaged in.  At this point in His ministry, we remember they've just completed their first mission (apostle means "sent out" on a mission), and in yesterday's reading they began with a few loaves and fishes and distributed what Jesus blessed to feed a multitude in the wilderness.  He's sent them back across the sea on their own.  His disciples are fledglings and learning what ministry is to entail when He is gone from them in the flesh.

Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.   The fourth watch of the night is about 3:00 A.M.

And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."   My study bible says, "It is I, literally, 'I am' (Greek ego eimi), especially used in the Gospel of John, is Jesus' own testimony to His deity.  It reflects God's name as revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:14).  Only God is self-existent, uncreated, the only being whose existence depends on no other but Himself; therefore He alone can truly say, 'I am.'"

Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.   A note in my study bible tells us:  "The knowledge of Christ is a matter of the heart.  When our hearts are illumined by God, they become the seat of divine presence, grace and knowledge."  It also notes that  in all the ascetic writings of the Eastern Church, the heart is known as the "seat of knowledge."

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.   And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.   They set sail for Bethsaida, but wind up a little further West, at Gennesaret, after crossing the Sea of Galilee, "straining at rowing" against the wind.   The plain of Gennesaret was known as a very fertile place at the time of Christ.  The Sea of Galilee is also called the Lake of Gennesaret, which gives us some idea of its importance also to fishing.  In contrast to the wilderness where Jesus has just fed 5,000 men (and more women and children), this is a bustling place which is teeming with agriculture and fishing industry.  The harvest of this ministry here is great; faith indicated by these healings is in abundance, so that everywhere Jesus goes, people beg even to touch the hem of His garment, and are made well.

I think it's important that we contrast the struggles of the disciples rowing across the Sea with our own journeys of faith, because everything in the Gospels, and perhaps we could say everything in Scripture, teaches us about ourselves and about the spiritual life of faith.  It's important that we note that the apostles have just returned from their first mission, which was quite successful, and we get a picture of the ups and downs of ministry.  They find themselves in a wilderness area, drawn away by Jesus in order to rest and tell of what has happened. But they're so busy, we read in yesterday's reading, that they don't even have time to eat.  And the crowds follow Jesus even to the wilderness.  But it's a time of great opportunity:  all four Gospels tell us of this feeding miracle, of bread in the wilderness.   But immediately afterward, after this great teaching opportunity of the feeding and multiplying of what is on hand, the disciples are sent again off on their own, and have a terrible time of it, even these experienced fishermen native to the Lake rowing hard against the wind.  In the midst of it is Jesus, who even at 3:00 in the morning, knows what is happening to them.  His words, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid," are words that teach us about faith.  We will always face difficulties, even in the midst of the most successful endeavors.  We will face our fears, we will need courage (in the Greek, that which is translated "be of good cheer" also has the meaning of "take courage").  But He is there with them, and He is there with us.  Alone and struggling across stormy seas, even those which we may have experienced many times, we still need His comfort.  It's faith that fed the multitude in the wilderness, faith they need across the seas at 3:00 A.M., and faith that gives the bountiful harvest in the fertile place of Gennesaret.  Mark's gospel tells us that the disciples had failed to recognize and understand this dimension of the feeding in the wilderness, and so they are given yet another experience in the power of faith.  Everything becomes occasion for teaching and learning, growing in their capacity to minister.  So we should also look at all events in our own lives.  Can we put our faith in Him through our adversities?  Do we remember He's there?  We may not know the outcome of every mission, but the Gospels teach us one thing through all events:  with Him, we are always on a road, we are always in a place of learning and growing and teaching.  Our real learning curve is in deepening our faith and opening our hearts, through all things.  Included in today's lectionary reading is this verse from Psalm 119:  "I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad."  The outcomes may seem perfect or not, but our real success is in the limitless learning of this journey.