For this purpose I have been sent

 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.  So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  And immediately she arose and served them.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.  And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

- Luke 4:38-44

Yesterday we read that, after speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth and being rejected there by his townspeople, Jesus 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.

 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.  So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  And immediately she arose and served them.  This passage tells us that Simon Peter is married, and that his family home in Capernaum becomes a kind of headquarters for Jesus' ministry in Galilee.  1 Corinthians 9:5 also indicates the activities and participation of Peter's family in ministry after Jesus' Ascension.  Regarding the fact that Jesus rebuked the fever of Peter's mother-in-law, my study bible quotes the commentary of Cyril of Alexandria:  "That which was rebuked was some living thing unable to withstand the influence of Him who rebuked it, for it is not reasonable to rebuke a thing without life and unconscious of the rebuke.  Nor is it astonishing for there to exist certain powers that inflict harm on the human body."  That Peter's mother-in-law immediately arose and served them tells us also of her participation in the ministry of Christ; her restoration is to her rightful place.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.  And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.   Healing and exorcism come under the same umbrella.  Once again, as in yesterday's reading (see above), the demons recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God!  And again, Jesus, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak.

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.  Jesus' primary mission is to preach the kingdom.  My study bible says that miracles and healings testify both to the truth of the message, and also to the identity of the Teacher (see 5:24).  The same pattern will also be true of the Church (Acts 4:29-30). 

 Once the mission and ministry of Jesus has begun, His acts speak for Himself.  They speak for the Kingdom He is bringing into the world, and when He is not ready to yet directly reveal His identity as the Christ, it is His acts that speak of this identity as well.  Well-noted in the Gospel, as we have read already, is His refusal to allow the demons to speak and identify Him.  Rather, it is His action of speaking, preaching, healing, exorcism, and ministry that speaks about Him, and speaks to the presence of God in the world.  He allows His actions and ministry to do the talking when it comes to identity.  In yesterday's reading, the people marveled that He gave a word with authority and power, and gave commands to the demons in the same way.  It is this acting, speaking, preaching, healing, and commanding with authority and power that also speaks to Jesus' true identity.  In all ways, Jesus will allow His ministry itself to speak for Him, before He reveals His identity to the disciples and to others.  It is not the expectations of the world that count; it is the mission, as given by the Father.  We should think about Jesus' way of being in the world and presenting Himself as a guide to our own lives.  How do our actions speak about who we are?  Do we live a prayerful life, as He did, following what we find in faith to do -- and the ways in which we need to act?  This is His center:  a life fully lived in conjunction with the will of the Father, where what He does speaks of Himself and also represents the Father in the world.  Our integrity also can depend on such a way of life, where what we do speaks for us, so long as we find guidance in the same ways that Christ does.  He doesn't act simply to follow an image, or a social code.  He doesn't speak about Himself in the ways we'd expect someone seeking fame or renown to do, as in a modern public relations campaign.  Instead, He lives.  He acts, breathes, thinks, preaches, and works in accordance with the ways He is direct to, in faith and relatedness to the Father.  Let us consider running our own lives in this same way, a kind of integrity from the inside out, rather than the outside in.  Let us truly live, and glorify God in so doing.

"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!"

 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

Yesterday we read that after His temptation in the wilderness,  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 the 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 this not 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 cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments that Christ begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  Jesus does not speak like the prophets of old, nor like the teachers of His own day, who taught in the third person ("The Lord says").  But Christ teaches in the first person ("I say to you").  See also Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount.

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!"   Everything that has occurred so far in this early ministry of Christ has been done through the work of the Holy Spirit, as our readings have attested (3:22; 4:1, 14).  But here, the spiritual world "breaks out" into the open, and it is clear there is a kind of battle going on, a war for a kingdom within a spiritual setting, in which we also dwell.   But Christ wishes to keep His messianic identity a secret ("Be quiet . . .!").  Isaiah foresaw His refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  My study bible says the reasons for secrecy include:  (1) the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders; (2) the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and (3) Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs. 

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.  One revelation of Christ's identity occurs through His interact with unclean spirits; He commands them with authority and power. 

Jesus' identity breaks through His own self-imposed silence.  There is a spiritual battle going on, a kind of war for the world.  Human beings are in distress.  In the action of the demons, there is all the symbolism and signs of an invading army:  occupation, brutality, violence, oppression, hostility, imprisonment, hostage-taking.  The unclean spirits impose harsh sentences and penalties upon those who are their victims.  There are many different "evidences" of demons presented in the Gospels:  a boy who's thrown into a fire, a man occupied by a "legion" of demons that destroys his life and his ability to live among people, and here, a man thrown down in the middle of the synagogue.  In all ways, the action of the demons parallels that of an occupying, hostile enemy force.  But in comes Jesus who comes to speak in the synagogue, and it prompts panic from this enemy force, who, unlike the human beings who deny Christ (as in His hometown of Nazareth, in yesterday's reading, above), know precisely who He is:  "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!"   The demons fear His power and they cannot resist His commands.  They wonder what He is doing here in our world -- if He's come to destroy them.  It's as if the world is a kind of wilderness where they may roam free, but all of a sudden the One who has the true power and authority to assert order and peace has come into the world.  Has He come to destroy them?  Not quite yet.  Our Savior has come to redeem us, to liberate us.  We needn't be hostages to this force which alienates us from God.  But we are meant to cooperate in our own liberation.  Our Redeemer does no healing and saving apart from our own cooperation and assent to this work.  We are part and parcel of His ministry, and He has come for us, not for the unclean forces that seek to draw us apart from God's love.  Love comes first of all to claim its own, the ones capable of loving in return, and who desire life with Christ -- and to follow where He will lead.  With Christ's word, His entry into our world, just as He enters into the synagogue, He offers us a choice, a freedom, a liberation that asks us to follow Him and make a choice for ourselves.  We are His own creatures, capable of using intelligence and will, and love will not compel us to follow nor love back.  This is a force of love, not manipulation.  We await a final judgment and reconciliation, but in the meantime His life is here, His forces are here, and He offers us this choice to realize who we are in relation to Him.  And this is our healing.  The signs are all there, but who is capable to read them and to know Him and follow? 

Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country

 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 the 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 this not 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

Last week, we began reading the Gospel of Luke. On Friday, we read of Jesus' Baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan.  On Saturday we read that 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 Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, here He returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and begins His Galilean ministry, in which He is 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 the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."   My study bible says that, being the eternal Son of God, Christ did not become the world's anointed Savior, but that He has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world (John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4).  Christ spoke through Isaiah the prophet to say, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1).  At Jesus' Baptism, the descent of the Spirit of the LORD like a dove (3:22), it was a sign that revealed the eternal truth of Christ to the people.   The acceptable year of the LORD is the time of the Incarnation, when the Kingdom of heaven has come to earth (see 2 Corinthians 6:2). 

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 this not 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.  My study bible calls our attention to the double response of the people to Christ -- of both marveling and rejection.  It is a frequent occurrence in the encounters with Christ (see 11:14-16; John 9:16).  That Christ is rejected in His own country is a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha.  It foreshadows Christ's rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  But Jesus accepts death according to the Father's will, not according to the will of those who will seek to persecute Him.  But here in today's reading, His hour of the Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).

Notable in today's passage is Christ's emphasis on faith in God the Father -- and particularly in God's word, as it is living and active and presented to us, as opposed to what we learn from ancestors, custom, habit, and the condition of the society.  What is familiar is incorrect here, because God's word (and Christ is the Word, see John 1:14) intervenes, and is present and living, standing in front of them.  And it is this that they cannot accept.  His familiar townspeople and neighbors know one thing, and God is presenting to them another.  They ask, "Is this not Joseph's son?"  Jesus is already well-known and well-received around Galilee.  The Gospel tells us that He is preaching in the synagogues, and is glorified by all.  But in His hometown of Nazareth, they know one thing and that is what they're sticking to.  They demand a proof, a sign, some great sign such as has been done elsewhere, as in Capernaum.  Jesus goes on the offensive, pushing for recognition of spiritual truth as it's been given in the Scriptures.  He tells them that there were many widows in Israel at the time of a great famine, but Elijah was sent to none of them, only a widow of Sidon, a foreigner, named Zarephath (1 Kings 17:9-16).   He reminds them also that at the time of Elisha there were many lepers in Israel, but Elisha was sent to none of them, and healed only Naaman the Syrian, another foreigner (2 Kings 5).  They understand what He's telling them about themselves.  Their outrage is clear; they wish to kill Him, to throw Him out of the city, and even over a cliff.  But God's intervention in our own lives could be met with the same outrage.  God will always come to call us to the truth, and to the reality of our own circumstances.  While the greatest of blessings come from above, even every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), God's blessings and love also come with the truth about ourselves:  where we need to go, what we need to do, how we need to step up to our own calling.  It may well give us correction, and even rebuke.  It will always ask us to expand the way we see things, and our own outlook on life.  The way that God is calling Christ's townspeople now is to recognition of the Christ in their midst, even as one of their own, whom they cannot recognize as anything but Jesus, the son of Joseph.  He announces Himself and His identity to them, but they cannot accept it.  They are outraged at what He claims for Himself.  They must be wondering how He can presume to tell them anything.  That Christ says to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country" is of such profound importance to our faith as given by Christ that it is found in all four Gospels.  Luke's Gospel has so far given us an emphasis on the pull of nationalism as opposed to the call of God to the recognition of holiness.  But this profound surprise and outrage goes even deeper than that.  It tells us something about God's work among us, in all of our communities and in our lives.  We can't rely on what is old and familiar.  The work of repentance itself is always a call to the new, the untried, what we don't know yet -- to reconsider how we've always done things, and to be willing to take the risk of change.  That is what faith is all about.  When we put our trust in God, we go where we are called, even if it is frightening, even unthinkable.  Have you ever been in a circumstance that called upon you to "step up" and try something new?  Has God called you to take a risk in trust and in faith?  Where has your prayer life led you?  Consider Christ's strong and harsh words, provoking such an impact of rage and wrath from His own townspeople.  You may find the same in your own life, but take heart and know where you are going, in faith.

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

 Yesterday we read that as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John the Baptist, 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 loose.  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 cites the dual symbolism of Jesus' exodus into the wilderness after His Baptism.  First, it fulfills the Old Testament type, in which Israel traveled in the wilderness for forty years after its own "baptism" in the Red Sea.  Second, it prefigures our own journey through the fallen world after baptism, as we struggle toward the kingdom of God.

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.'"   Each time Jesus rebukes the devil, it's done with the truth and power of the Scripture.  My study bible says that this teaches the faithful to become immersed in Scripture, so that we may resist and drive away each temptation (see Psalm 119:11).  Note that the temptations of Christ begin with If you are the Son of God . . ..   The challenge to faith and to identity is within the relationship of Christ to God the Father, and this temptation explicitly calls into question the declaration of the voice of the Father at Christ's Baptism (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study bible writes that the devil wants Jesus to act independently and to detach Himself from the will of God the Father.  In His divine nature, Christ shares one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), separate from the Father.  But in His humanity, Jesus possesses free will and at all times He must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father, sharing with us this human nature.  In His fast, Jesus is doing just that:  explicitly making choices in the face of temptation, giving us an example of our own power and limitation with our own struggles with temptation.   In rejecting this first temptation, Jesus rejects the pull of the worldly comforts of life (in the "food which perishes," John 6:27), in order to put first the kingdom of God in the way in which He must. 

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.'"  We observe the power of the devil, who showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  This is a temptation to a worldly kingdom and power, over the kingdom of God.  My study bible says that the devil is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), as the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  It notes that Jesus refuses the road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His mission -- and His suffering and death which are for the redemption of the world.  Note the authority with which Christ speaks:  Get behind Me, Satan!

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."  This is a temptation to God, to prove care and faithfulness.  My study bible says that trials and temptations come on their own; we shouldn't ever intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD.  Note that Jesus does not bother to argue or reason with the devil, merely to assert the authoritative command not to tempt the Lord.   Satan here tries to use Scriptures (as do the Pharisees in John 7:52), but without himself understanding their truth or power.  My study bible says that knowing and quoting Scripture without true understanding is worthless at best, and ultimately condemnable.  Without a real understanding (particularly through the perspective of the collective experience and wisdom of the Holy Tradition of the Church and the Holy Spirit at work through it), the Scriptures are robbed of their authority (see also 2 Peter 1:19-21). 

 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.  Temptation will repeatedly show itself throughout the ministry of Christ (see 22:40-46, 23:35; Matthew 6:21-23).

What is temptation really all about?  In the Psalm that is known as a chief prayer of repentance, the psalmist confesses to God, saying, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Psalm 51:4).  Temptation is primarily an invitation to walk outside of the path of God, away from that narrow gate which Jesus describes in Matthew 7:13-14.  While we are assured of God's love, remembering God and keeping ourselves within that communion of faith is a difficult journey in a world that offers so many ways not to do so.  Temptation is just that:  the "oh-so-much-better" ideas, the shortcuts, the ones that seem to make so much more sense, that everybody else would seem to find pleasing, the million-and-one ways in which we forget about God and just take the route that seems to present itself in the way that is the most pleasing.  What Jesus emphasizes against temptation is not about worrying what everyone else will think, or how others will view Him, or even how He will impress anyone with His feats alone here in the wilderness.  He simply returns again and again to His relationship with God the Father.  And so it is with us:  primarily, temptation is all about asking us to forget about God.  Whatever form it comes in, we can be sure that it is designed to do that.  In John's Gospel, at the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service" (see this reading).  As the Gospels fully attest in the story of Christ and His own persecution, the notion of service to God can be used even as a way to draw us away from God.  How is this possible?  Jesus offers us a way within a communion, in a Kingdom, in a particular sense of how we understand what God wants of us.  This "straight and narrow" way involves the heart, the whole of us, a desire to know what God wants of us, and a willingness to go through difficulties should we be called there.  In the great paradox of our faith,  Christ has gone that extraordinarily difficult route as one of us, going to the Cross in His loyalty to God and His love for us.  In His Ascension, the Church through its tradition has understood that His humanity ascended with Him, glorifying human beings, making us capable of being like Him.  The adoration of the angels, found in so many testimonies of saints and theologians, hymnologists and faithful in the Spirit, teaches us something extraordinary:  that His wounds in sacrifice for love of God and of human beings made Him extraordinarily beautiful.  In the eyes of the Spirit and the holiness of our faith, then, the resistance to temptation that would draw us away from this love in itself constitutes an act of beauty, just as Jesus repeatedly refers His time of Crucifixion as that which "glorifies" (John 12:27-33).  In today's reading, Jesus offers us a way through temptation.  He repeatedly asserts the relationship between Himself and the Father.  He "remembers God."  As we walk through life we will find a thousand "good reasons" why we should forget about such a struggle, and the difficulties or sacrifices we may make to do the same.  But our beauty is within this love, our truth remains there, our identity secure in that place of love which knows us best.  Let us find the way to be like Him, and come to know this faith and path for ourselves and in our own lives, even if our temptations are nothing at all like His.  Let us remember that it is the Holy Spirit at work in Jesus' time in the wilderness, and seek to find this Helper for ourselves, and rely on His word in our hearts.  Our faith is not simply written in stone, but a living realization ongoing in our lives.

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"

 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 loose.  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

Yesterday we read that 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 for 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 loose.  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.   In this context, my study bible says, fire has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This fire will be given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  It furthermore is a declaration of the judgment of Christ, in which the faithful will burn in a spiritual sense (see 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8).  This fire of both the Holy Spirit and the one which burns the sinful is one and the same.  It is the same Power and the Same spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless, my study bible says.

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.   Herod had divorced his own wife and married his brother Philip's wife while Philip was still living.  John the Baptist openly criticized this as a violation of Jewish Law, and was imprisoned and will be martyred as a result.  Herod the tetrach himself "posed" as a Jewish leader; his father Herod the Great was a non-Jew who called himself the king of Judea, ruling for the Romans.  But Herod the tetrarch also known as Herod Antipas) was not convincing to his subjects as a true Jewish king; elsewhere Jesus compares him to a fox (13:32), a ritually unclean animal. 

 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."   My study bible explains that Jesus Himself does not need baptism.  But in the act of being baptized, Christ accomplished several things.  First, He affirmed the ministry of John the Baptist.  Second, He is revealed here by the Father and the Holy Spirit to be the Christ, beloved Son of God.  Third, He identified with His people by descending with them into the waters.  Fourth, Jesus prefigured His own death in this baptism, which gives baptism itself its ultimate meaning.  Fifth, He entered the waters and by so doing sanctifies the water itself for the whole world's Christian baptism.   Sixth, Jesus fulfills the many "types" of Him which are given in the Old Testament, such as when Moses led the people from bondage through the Red Sea (Exodus 14), and when the ark of the covenant was carried into the Jordan so the people could enter the Promised Land (Joshua 3; 4).  Finally, Christ opens heaven to a world that was separated from God through sin.

In the figure of John the Baptist, we see a figure of Israel and of the Law.  He is a prophet in the order of the prophets of the Old Testament; considered by the Church to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  John stands for righteousness.  Above and beyond all the impact of the world upon Israel at this time, John is a radical lover of God.  He lives and ministers in the wilderness, away from the cities and the power structures of the time, away from the politics of the nation.  In this way, he is a prophet among the prophets of old, in which all of life is focused on mission.  His message is simple:  the Messiah is coming, be prepared through repentance, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah.  He is the "voice" of Isaiah 40:3-5.   This repentance he helps to facilitate through a ministry of baptism, a symbol of death and rebirth, and his baptism will be fulfilled in turn -- first through the Baptism of Christ which we read about in today's reading, and second through Christian baptism, facilitated through Christ and the gift of Holy Spirit.  John is a radical reformer in a powerful spiritual sense, calling people back to God, but also declaring to Herod -- as no one else could dare -- the unlawful conduct of Herod's marriage to Herodias.  He is our original image, in the long line of the Old Testament prophets, of "speaking truth to power."  But this truth is a spiritual truth, born within an Israel torn apart by wars and endless skirmishes of kingdoms and powers, and now under the rule of Rome, the great imperial power whose empire was continually expanding.  It is a time of expediency, might, and power, and the rule of law enforced brutishly through disciplined force.  Israel itself is in its own kind of turmoil, caught between the Roman rule, the need to compromise, and the powerful forces of its own faith and spiritual history, and religious rulers seen by the common people -- and expressed through John the Baptist and Jesus to come -- working first for their own places.  There are indeed righteous among all of them, but all of Israel awaits the Messiah.  Everyone seems to have their own expectations of just what the Messiah will be and do; the people wonder if John himself is the Messiah.  And in this midst of all of this is the Baptism of Jesus, the great and holy wonder of Christ who gives us in return the manifestation of the Trinity, the sacramental holiness of water consecrated for our own baptism, and the gift of the holy fire of the Spirit.  Let us give thanks for the greatness of God, who turns all of the mundane world to a place of sacrament and revelation -- and above all, a place for God the Word to come to us.

Teacher, what shall we do?

 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 for 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

In our recent readings, the lectionary has given us John's Gospel, and specifically the events of the Last Supper.  We have read through Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples, and also what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.  In yesterday's reading, He concluded this prayer:   "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 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, . . ..  Luke writes with an orientation toward a Gentile audience.  He is very careful to place the Gospel in a worldly, historical setting, establishing for us the dates in the story of the ministry of Christ.  This Herod is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great.

. . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  My study bible says that Caiaphas was now the sole high priest, but people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas, a previous high priest who was deposed by the Romans.  The setting of the Gospel in its historical time and place, midst the power and authority of the Roman Empire, assures a faithful Gentile audience that this, indeed, remains a setting in which the word of God comes into the world, to the holy ones who desire to receive it.  John is, of course, John the Baptist.  He is in the wilderness, set apart from the world in total devotion to the word of God; his radical poverty for the love of God will be a model for the early desert monastics.  Many of Christ disciples were first disciples of the Baptist.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, . . ..  My study bible says that the call to repentance was tradition for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all.  But it was a preparation and prefiguration of the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   John, my study bible says, is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally, "put away") sin.  However, both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.

. . . 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.'"  The Baptist fulfills one aspect of the prophecy of Isaiah, from which he quotes (see Isaiah 40:3-5).  He ascribes to himself the role of the voice in John 1:23.

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 notes that while parents and ancestors help to impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself doesn't make one worthy of God.  Every person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance, as the Baptist emphasizes here.  Stones are symbolic of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18, see also 1 Peter 2:4-6).

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 for 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."  John's emphasis is on relatedness and community, as the Law also emphasized as its goals.  He addresses those who "have" (two tunics, food) and how they treat the "have nots."  He addresses the tax collectors, who would commonly use the power of the Roman state to extort additional monies for themselves.  Soldiers come to him also, and again John's emphasis is on ceasing to use violence and manipulation to extort, being content with their wages and just to the people.  Hidden within these questions to John is the conflict between serving or doing business with the Roman state and being a loyal Jew, which will also figure in Christ's Crucifixion.  In his responses, John gives them a fair and just "way" to live their lives in accordance what is understood as righteous in the Law (as opposed to nationalism), as Christ will also, and emphasizes repentance and change of sinful behavior.  It is a profound testimony to the figure of John the Baptist that these people (the well-off, tax collectors, soldiers) come to him for repentance and preparation for the Messiah.  It also teaches us how strongly the Jewish nation felt the fervor and desire for the Messiah, and how high expectations really were, the setting in which Jesus will begin His public ministry.

In our time and place we have our own conflicts between seeming to serve what we might consider an "evil" entity, and being loyal Christians.  If the state in which we live also commits errors, or what we consider to be sin (such as, for example, unjust war, extreme violence, extortionate taxes, unfair and discriminatory polices, extreme penalization for wrongdoing, oppressive or corrupt practices), is our option purely political?   That is, do we serve the good by various means of political resistance?  Let us presume, for a moment (and purely for the sake of hypothesis), that we live in a state we consider to be hostile to our faith.   Should we never take a government job?  Should we isolate ourselves from such government, not obeying its regulations and laws?  What role does our citizenship play in our lives?  John the Baptist takes us out of such a dilemma by emphasizing the truth of the Law, the holy and righteous behavior which the Law sought to emphasize and through which the Law sought to create community among the people of God.  Our duty, in such a model, and through John's advice, is first to God.  That is, we consider the commands we have been given, what we already know to be the good, and the desires of God for our holiness.   We have just finished reading the High Priestly Prayer of Christ, found in chapter 17 of John's Gospel (see the final reading in the prayer above).  Christ's overwhelming emphasis was on a kind of community that surpasses all other community.  This is the community of the love of God, found first is the love of God the Father, to which Christ's life and ministry is a testimony, and the gathering up of the people of God into this communion of love.  This is where we start and where we finish.  When we have a question, when we have a problem, we take it to that place in the love of God, where we know we are held and loved beyond all measure of worldly or selfish love, and we seek that place for guidance -- because  it is in that kingdom that we wish to take our true identity and meaning for all of life.  This is our true direction.  Let us consider the struggles of John, of the people, the wealth and power of a state which knows nothing of the history of the Law or the people of God, and the depth of God's love that reaches to all of us, all the time.

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

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

- John 17:20-26

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Last Supper.  He has given His Farewell Discourse to the disciples, and now He is praying what is known as the High Priestly Prayer, His prayer to God the Father before He goes to His Crucifixion.  Yesterday we read that Jesus prayed, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."  Jesus prays for those who will believe; that is, the faithful of the future.  My study bible declares that the Church in every generation participates in the life and glory of the Trinity.  It states that Christians enjoy two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another -- with the latter rooted in the former.   Let us make firm note of the love that is the cause of all of this, and all that Christ's declares.  He magnifies that love with His final statement here:  that is desire, moreover, is that those whom the Father has given to Him may be where He is -- so that they may behold the glory given to Him by God the Father who loved Christ before the foundation of the world.  This is the desire to share with us an eternal future and reality beyond what we can know in the world, a completeness of love.

"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."  My study bible tells us that the ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and even of life itself, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person.

In Christ's High Priestly Prayer we have an extraordinary testament to love.  In His words we hear the voice of a Son devoted to His loving Father, who wants to share that love with the world -- and wants the world to see that love for themselves.  He declares, "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."   These are the words of a Son who deeply loves and reveres His Father, and wants His friends to see all that His Father is going to do for Him, so they will appreciate how loving and great His Father truly is.  We are given not only a picture of unity, and not only a picture of grace, but a view on the tremendous grandeur of God's love, its immense quality, its extraordinary character.  It is the inverse of an uncaring world bent on its own selfishness and isolation and hostility.  Christ not only offers us this tremendous picture of His generous and loving Father, but He wishes for us to share in that love, and He is the link to it.  This is our great gift, one in which we take our own understanding of His love, a love inseparable from who we are through faith.  It is in this love that we take our identity as adopted children and heirs, because we not only may share in it, we may also become more like Him.  This is a love that magnifies its gifts, that adds even more onto whatever it is we are willing and able to accept.  It is a love that rejoices in all circumstances, because there is joy in it at all times -- and it is not a fickle kind of love, nor tinged with selfish and hostile motivations.  It simply is.  More than that, Jesus gives us the ground of our being and of the whole universe.  The hostility and selfishness of the world is aberrant in this picture; it is not "natural" at all that we live in a fallen world.  It is the love of God that is our true natural state, for it is our origin and destination.  It is in that generosity and beauty that we take our joy, and in which we are given our peace which cannot be taken away.  We know we are loved, and we will grow in the experience of that love.