For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many

Deesis (Supplication) mosaic; Hagia Sophia cathedral, Constantinople, 13th century.  Virgin Mary and John the Baptist on either side of Christ Pantocrator

 

 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.  Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And however of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

- Mark 10:32-45 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."  Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack:  Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were astonished at His words.  But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.  Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."   This is Christ's third prediction of His Passion.  My study Bible says these repeated predictions were intended to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events they would face.  They also confirm that Christ was going to His death of His own will and choosing.  

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  My study Bible comments that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple and shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God.  In Matthew's version of this story,  it is the "mother of Zebedee's sons" who requested this honor; however, John's and James' own involvement is revealed as Jesus uses a plural "you" to address them there in Matthew's Gospel, and also here in Mark's reporting of the story.   Jesus calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  My study Bible explains that the Cross is a cup because He drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is baptism, for He was completely immersed in it, yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  Christ's prophecy of John and James participating in the same cup and baptism shows the life of persecution and martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost.  Christ's declaration that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give does not mean that He lacks authority.  Rather, my study Bible says, it means that they are not His give arbitrarily.  He will, instead, give them to those for whom God has prepared them.  With regard to sitting as equals on the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, St. John Chrysostom teaches that there is no one who could fulfill such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can be given to human beings, my study Bible reminds us that the icons of the Orthodox Church universally depict the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women - Luke 1:28) and John the Baptist (greatest born of women - Matthew 11:11) holding these places; see the icon above.

And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And however of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  My study Bible explains that the phrase for many is an Aramaic expression which means "for all."

Jesus explains the sacrifices of the Kingdom.  They are not sacrifices considered to be good in and of themselves, for the sake of sacrifice or a sort of discipline.  On the contrary, they are expressions of love in obedience to God's will, for a proper way of doing things which are good and right.  Christ's mission essentially is to set the world right, to bring salvation into the world, to once again bring human beings closer to God, in communion with God, and this mission is one of love.  It is done through love and as an expression of love for human beings.  It is hard for us to reconcile, considering the suffering Christ will bear, and especially in the Cross and His Crucifixion, but His voluntary death and suffering is part of the plan.  In a very real sense, God sacrifices and suffers of Himself, so that God both draws closer to us, and at the same time draws us closer to God.  Whatever we see and know of Christ's mission into the world is born of love and done in love for us, for what is good and right for human beings and human life; indeed "for the life of the world" - John 6:33, 51.  So is the spirit in which Jesus tells James and John Zebedee that the places on His right and left hand (that is, traditional places of "greatness" in an earthly kingdom which we might today translate to the highest cabinet positions in a modern country) are not His to give.  That is, Jesus expresses His own humility and love of the Father in everything He does and says, and conveys this also to John and James.  That these are not places He can arbitrarily assign, such as a way that a politician or figurehead would hand out power to his supporters or those to whom He owes favors, means that they are positions prepared by God and meant to be for the ones who can most further this plan of life and love for all of creation.  In everything, it is God, who is love, who comes first and lays the foundation for all that must follow.  And in this, Christ also asks our voluntary cooperation, just as here He asks it of James and John.  Christ Himself will be the first to literally lay down His life in that kind of obedience and love in this mission of love, and it is only then that He asks us to follow -- after He sets the first and foremost example -- and we are able to join with Him in that.  Indeed, James Zebedee would be the first among the apostles to be martyred (Acts 12:2), and John would go on to a long life of persecution, producing a Gospel, three Epistles, and the Revelation for the posterity of the Church.  These are services of love, and joining in a mission of love.  And this is the mission into which we are invited to join.  It is love in the same sense that parents will sacrifice time, attention, effort, means, and all kinds of other things in expressing love for their children, and in nurturing them.  It is the same sense of sacrifice for love one makes in caring for an elderly or infirm parent.  It is our love for God, the love in which we share and which is given in abundance, that leads us forward in the ways for us which are right and good, which are meant to heal us and our world.  Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments," as He promises to send us a Helper who will dwell with us (John 14:15-18).   Even so, we may be constantly reminded of His love, just as the disciples knew it for themselves.  As followers of Christ, we do not live lives of "what ifs" and fantasies.   We live lives in which everything we do and experience -- including even the hardships  or suffering -- is given to God and serves the life of the Cross meant for the life of the world, and so we may join in this mission of salvation, with Him.

 

 

With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible

 

 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."  Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack:  Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were astonished at His words.  But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

- Mark 10:17-31 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples departed from Capernaum and came to the region of Judea by the other side (east) of the Jordan.  And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.  The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.  And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"  They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'  'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.  So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."  Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.   

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God."  My study Bible notes that this man does not come to test Jesus, but rather to seek advice from one whom he considers to be no more than a good Teacher.  Jesus' response is not to deny that He is God, but rather designed to lead the rich man to this knowledge.  

"You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'  And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."   My study Bible comments that formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God.  It says that this man had an earnest desire for eternal life, and sensed that he still lacked something; therefore, he continues to press Jesus for the answer.  

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack:  Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  It's very important that Mark tells us that Jesus loved him.  Therefore His next word to the man, to "sell whatever you have and give to the poor," and have treasure in heaven, and to take up the cross, and follow Him, is a product of Christ's love.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells him to do these things "if you want to be perfect."   To "be perfect," my study Bible comments, one must willing sacrifice all and follow Christ.  Nothing is gained unless this is a sacrifice which is given freely.  The specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person, it says.  As wealth had such a great grip on this rich man (and his identity), his only hope was to sell and give away all of his possessions.  In the commentary of St. John Chrysostom on the similar passage in Matthew, he tells us that to give away possessions is the least of Christ's instructions here.  To follow Christ in all things is a far greater and more difficult calling.

Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"  And the disciples were astonished at His words.  But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  My study Bible comments that various interpretations have been suggested for the impossible image of a camel going through the eye of a needle.  For example, that the word was not camel, but "rope" (which sounds similar in Aramaic); or that the eye of a needle was a city gate through which a camel might barely squeeze if it were first unloaded of all of its baggage, which symbolizes wealth.  In the Talmud there is the expression "for an elephant to go through the eye of a needle."  Whatever this phrase is referring to, it shows the impossibility of salvation for those who are attached to riches.  This is clearly evidenced, my study Bible says, by the disciples' response, "Who then can be saved?"  But by God's grace, what is impossible for human beings can come to pass.  

Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."  My study Bible comments that Christ is not commanding believers to divorce spouses and abandon children.  St. John Chrysostom says that this refers to keeping faith under persecution even if it means to lose one's family.  It also means to accept that unbelieving family members may cut off ties because of the believer's faith (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).  Believers are promised a hundredfold of houses and relatives not in an earthly sense, but rather in a spiritual sense -- the fathers and mothers of the Church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and houses of worship and fellowship.

What do possessions mean to this man?  Certainly the disciples understand the great difficulty of salvation as reflected in today's story, as indicated by their question to Jesus, "Who then can be saved?"  The disciples, also, would go on to leave family and possessions behind for the sake of the gospel.  But this young man, whom we're told Jesus loved, is clearly tied to his possessions in a way that makes it impossible for him to think about parting from them.  Perhaps his whole identity, including that of his family and place in society, is likely bound up in those possessions, as we might assume they take the form of inherited wealth and property.  He is sincere, but the sacrifice Christ asks of him is something from which he doesn't want to part, and is dear enough so that he cannot make this decision.   If we look with a close eye on this text, we see that Jesus is reminding the disciples of words that He's said to them before:  "But many who are first will be last, and the last first."   In Monday's reading, we were told that the disciples were disputing among themselves while they were on the road about who would be greatest in the kingdom which they no doubt expect will be established by Jesus as an earthly kingdom of Israel.  Jesus said to them then, ""If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."   He then went on to vividly illustrate (in Tuesday's reading) the kinds of sacrifices they would have to be willing to make to be truly great in His Kingdom, and as those who will serve His Church as its leaders.  So, with this statement that "many who are first will be last, and the last first," He's reminding them of the sacrifices it takes to fully enter this Kingdom, and what will characterize those who will be "first" in it.  It is the attitude necessary for those who will be its most prominent members, its greatest and "first."  St. Peter adds a sobering statement that seems to take all of the apostles to the recollection of what their lives are now about, that they have left all and followed Him.  But then Jesus promises the "hundredfold" bounty of the Kingdom, the reality of His promise.  For me, this reality has proven true; although disappointed in "earthly" family or life in many ways, I have found great treasure in the Church, including the joy shared with many brothers and sisters and the love between them which is given by Christ, houses of worship numerous and more beautiful than one could have imagined, the glory of the saints and the illuminated beauty of holy books and holy art, and all the richness found in the Church in so many ways, so many languages, so many countless believers.  This is the glory of God and the Kingdom that we are given, but it does come with a responsibility, that we are asked to mature in Christ, to be willing to give up the things He wants us to leave behind, including those things that would seem to define our identity, things even that are precious to us.  As He illustrates in Tuesday's reading by speaking about amputation of hand, or eye, or foot, there are things that seem to be so deeply a part of us that they are inseparable, and yet we must decisively leave them behind.  These include selfish habits, those that hurt others, or in the case of this young man, the wealth that so has him in its grip, especially while he is yet unaware of the great joy to be found in faith in Christ.  Jesus does not minimize the difficulty!  We can be assured that He understands what He asks of each of us, and our own struggles in faith.  And yet, He calls us forward with Him, where all things become possible.

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it

 

 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan.  And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.  The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.  And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"  They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'  'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.  So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. 

 

- Mark 10:1-16 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His teaching to the disciples regarding treatment of the "little ones" or "little children" in the Church.  He taught them, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'   For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another." 

 

 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan.  And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.  The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.  And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"  They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'  'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.  So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."  My study Bible comments that, in contrast to the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and because of the misuse of divorce in that day, Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce (for example, in Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:8-9), and emphasizes the eternal nature of marriage.  In Matthew's Gospel, Christ mentions the possibility for divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality, which shows that marriage can be destroyed by sin, which includes abuse.  In the ancient Church, my study Bible adds,  the possible reasons for divorce were expanded to include threat to a spouse's or child's life, and desertion, in all cases acknowledging the spiritual tragedy of such a situation.  Jesus' quotations are from Genesis 1:27, 5:2; 2:24.

 

 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.   Once again (as in Monday's reading) Jesus uses little children as examples of those who will be in His Church.  My study Bible Theophan's commentary, who says that the disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing little children to Christ both because their manner was "unruly" and because they thought that children "diminished His dignity as Teacher and Master."  But Christ rejects this thinking, and sets little children as an example of those who inherit the kingdom of God.  Therefore, children are invited -- even as an example to adults -- to participate in the Kingdom through prayer, worship, baptism, chrismation, and Communion in the Orthodox Church.  My study Bible further cites Theophan, who comments on a similar passage at Luke 18:15-17, "A little child is not arrogant, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless.  He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from those in sorrows.  Instead, he lives in complete simplicity."

In thinking about the model of a little child as one who expresses the character of a follower of Christ, one has to ponder what are these qualities that Jesus says belong to the Kingdom of God?   One may try to think back to one's own childhood, but that is not a simple nor easy thing to do -- there's not much objectivity in looking at oneself from the inside out.  The children around me are often fully exuberant:  that is, whatever it is they are doing, they fully feel it in every fiber of their being.  There is very little duplicity of thought, but rather simplicity in terms of sheer focus on whatever it is they're taken by at the moment.  When they greet a friend they recognize, it's without much inhibition of feeling or expression, no matter what their surroundings.  If a child wants you to go away, they will be very blunt about that too!   Purity of heart can be linked to a type of directness that is not related to immaturity but rather to the capacity for simplicity:  for being the same on the inside as on the outside.  Whatever is expressed to another is done without manipulation, double-talk, or intervening "smoke and mirrors," so to speak.  When Jesus sends the disciples out on their first apostolic mission, He tells them, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  In point of fact, when we look at the Greek of the text, this word translated as "harmless" (or often as "innocent") really means "pure."  It is literally "unmixed" -- meaning a heart that is not conflicted, nor tainted with ulterior motives or flaws.  It is akin to the purity of a perfect natural pearl, made purely of nacre alone.  This quality of the Kingdom of God is one of the purity to give oneself fully to God, nothing held back.  For those of us who seek this path of faith, all too often it seems it is par for the course to discover yet more within the heart that must be dealt with and reconciled to God, often requiring of us a sense of sacrifice (see especially yesterday's reading for the subject of this type of sacrifice).  There is always more that needs refining, as life's experiences, stored away deep within ourselves, will come up again for re-examination, and for giving up to Christ, laying our own assumptions and responses at the foot of the Cross.  To be like a little child is also possibly to have the humility to accept correction, that there really is an authority that knows better than we do, and especially the capacity to trust in God who holds that authority.  To have that trusting nature is the mark of a child, and to be able to have that kind of trust is linked to the real nature of faith.  In the Greek of the Scriptures, when Christ speaks of faith, it is a word whose root means "trust."  As adults, we might not meet many people in life we fully trust, but the heart we bear within us from childhood may reveal that trust to Christ, for that is the true root of faith, the face we can turn toward God.

 

 

 

For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt

 

 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where

'Their worm does not die,

And the fire is not quenched.'

"And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where

'Their worm does not die,

And the fire is not quenched.'

"And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where

'Their worm does not die,

And the fire is not quenched.'

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

 

- Mark 9:42-50 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day."  But they did not understand  this saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

 

  "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."  We remember that Jesus is still speaking to those who will be His bishops, teachers, and leaders in His Church (see yesterday's reading, above).  He is teaching them what it means to be great in His kingdom.  My study Bible comments that little ones include all who have childlike humility and simplicity, all who are poor in spirit. 

 

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your eye causes yo to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"   Jesus is still speaking about abuses of power in His Church, what kind of leadership or "greatness" He expects His disciples to have, as those who will be in charge of guidance for the "little ones" in His Church, the ones who will be in their spiritual care.  My study Bible comments that Jesus' repeated references to mutilation are illustrations of decisive action to avoid sin, and is certainly not advocating literal amputation.  It notes also that these are references to harmful relationships that must be severed for the salvation of all parties (see Luke 14:26, 1 Corinthians 5:5).  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 66:24.

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."  My study Bible says that to be seasoned with fire means being tested to see if one's faith and works are genuine (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  When He says that every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt, Jesus is quoting Leviticus 2:13, in which salt stands for the remembrance of God's covenant with God's people.  Jesus refers to His disciples as salt and light in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-16), where He calls them the "salt of the earth."  Salt had a sacrificial significance because of its preservative powers, necessity for life, and ability to give flavor, to which Jesus refers both here and in the Sermon on the Mount (see also Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty.  As the salt of the earth, my study Bible comments, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  

Jesus makes several references to sacrifice in today's reading.  We know the context of the sacrifices in the temple, and also Jesus' objections to the ways in which the system of animal sacrifices worked in the temple, especially in terms of money and the poor (see the cleansing of the temple at Mark 11:15-18; and His teaching regarding the poor widow, especially in contrast to His teaching on the scribes which immediately precedes it, at Mark 12:39-43).  In today's reading, Jesus teaches His own disciples His notions about power and its use  in His kingdom and, of course, in the Church meant to be a conduit of that Kingdom into the world.  They will be the leaders of the Church, and their leadership must be like His, contrasting significantly with the things He criticizes of the religious leadership in His time.  Jesus' whole ministry, and in particularly His own sacrifice on the Cross which is yet to come at this point in the Gospel narrative, will transform notions of power and how power is connected to sacrifice.   The sacrifices of the temple will come to an end, but Christ will make a once-for-all sacrifice of Himself for all the rest of us, of which we still partake in the Eucharist.  And the sacrifices He is demanding of His own disciples, especially as leaders in His Church, must also be their own.  In today's reading, He demands sacrifices of ourselves that do not literally concern hand or eye or feet, but rather what bad habits and practices we might do using our own capacities -- and that applies in particular to how the "little ones" are treated, or exploited, or abused.  A hand might reach out to grab what does not belong to us.  Let us note that among Jesus' criticism of the scribes at 12:38-40 includes that they "devout widows' houses," among other practices He disparages.  A hand may also reach out to harm, abuse, or exploit a little one, which we most significantly know from more recent scandals in the Church.  Let us remember that when Jesus uses this term, the "little ones," He isn't only speaking of the physically small, such as children, but all those who are to some extent powerless and trusting, without great standing in the world.  These are the vulnerable.  An eye may reach out with lust for someone or something that is not rightfully one's own to lust after or to covet.  A foot may tread where it is unwanted, across boundaries both physical and invisible, that rightly should be respected for other persons.   To hold power in His Church is to be a servant to all, as He said in yesterday's reading (see above):  "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  The sacrifices which Jesus asks of His followers, and especially His future leaders, are those we make which will be tested by the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns the impurities of our own hearts, and seasoned with the salt of our faithful fidelity to Christ.  The sacrifices which He asks for are those that will be demanded in service to Him and to the Body of Christ, to the little ones, which might include our own need for greatness in the eyes of others, the practice of "lording it over" others, and so many more types of sacrifices in the name of our own humility before Christ.  To put it in a modern colloquial vernacular, it is our own "egos" that will tested, that will need to make sacrifices, our habits that flatter or in other ways seemingly enrich ourselves, but at the expense of others, especially those who have no currency, no social clout, the "little ones."  We are asked to befriend such people, to invite those to our table who cannot pay us back (Luke 14:12-14), for the practice of real graciousness and kindness happens this way, figuratively or otherwise.  This is the true test of greatness, the sacrifice of fire and salt He asks of us.  As His followers, we are to be "like Him," for this is the purpose of His mission and the gracious expression of God's love He brings to the world.  Through His love, we each may also realize how rich we are, and what abundance we have to give, in following His teachings on what sacrifice is, and what He wants of us.  And lest we forget His final words in today's reading, this is also the way we will have peace with one another.

 

 

Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me

 

 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him. 

Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

 

- Mark 9:30-41 

 

On Saturday, we read that, returning from the mount of the Transfiguration, when Jesus came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

 

Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.  This is the second time that Jesus has predicted His death and Resurrection to the disciples (see also Mark 8:31).  My study Bible comments that He is showing that He will go to His Passion freely, and will not be taken against His will.  Note that the Gospel tells us that the disciples do not understand, and are afraid to ask Him about it.

Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."   Perhaps what the disciples have taken away from Jesus' second prediction that He will rise on the third day is that His Kingdom will manifest as a great earthly kingdom of Israel, as was expected of the Messiah.  Therefore, on the road they disputed among themselves who would be greatest in that expected kingdom.  My study Bible comments that their focus indicates a selfish interest in worldly power.  Jesus points to a little child as the model of true discipleship, emphasizing the virtues which are required for entrance into the kingdom of heaven.  My study Bible names these as humility, dependence, lowliness, simplicity, obedience, and a willingness to love and be loved.  Some Orthodox icons show St. Ignatius of Antioch as this child.

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."  My study Bible cites Theophylact, who comments on the similar passage in Luke by describing John's comment as regret, his conscience having been pricked by what Christ has just taught about discipleship:  "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."   But, on the other hand, my study Bible says, St. Ambrose views John as expecting full obedience to accompany such blessings.  In both interpretations, however, Christ's response shows that those who act in good faith are not excluded, even if they are not currently numbered among the disciples.  Theophylact comments, "See how divine grace is at work even in those who are not His disciples."  See also Numbers 11:24-30.  On those who use Christ's name without good faith, see Luke 11:23; Acts 19:13-16.

Lent is a good time to ponder humility.  Traditionally, it's a time for us to think about where we come up a little short, or maybe to emphasize that we need to get closer to God, if possible, even to allow for the possibility that there might be things we're missing where we need improvement.  It's a time to strip down to simplicity in our lives, to focus on prayer, to put our mind and our time into the spiritual side of life more deeply than we usually do.  We see that Jesus' chief aim in instructing the disciples about the authority and power they will wield in the future has everything to do with humility -- with the need to treat others, even the littlest ones among them, as those who deserve respect.  Jesus teaches them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  Not only is He teaching them even to treat little children kindly -- meaning those with the least power or currency among a social group -- but they are to receive that child not as if they receive Jesus, but as if they receive God the Father, the final and full authority for Christ's mission into the world, "Him who sent Me."   This notion of the use of power in a way denoting humility, this concept of "greatness," was absolutely in contrast to the great men of the kingdoms and structures of power in Christ's time.  All we have to do is look at the examples in the Gospels, such as Herod the Great who slaughtered the little children of Bethlehem, of Herod Antipas (and his wife and her daughter) who beheaded John the Baptist in order to fulfill a rash oath, or Pontius Pilate who knew Christ was innocent, but allowed His Crucifixion anyway and washed his hands of the guilt for the sake of stability under Roman rule.  Clearly, brutality was the way of worldly kingdoms and empires.  But when I look around today at the world, although we still have violence and coercion as tools of power, in my personal life one of the most humble people I know is possibly the one with the highest salary.  He's a professional, but I am certain that it is his humble demeanor that allows him to "keep it real," makes him a good person to work with, and also an honest one.  His humility works for him to make him trusted, responsible, and enables his particular integrity.  So when we look to role models, we don't have to contrast the bad apples of this world with the saintly.  There are ways in which Christ's teachings, applied to our own lives, become recognized and valued by others, and let us hope for that recognition to remain a part of our society, and to grow.  It is up to us, for Christ hands to us this responsibility regarding how we treat one another as human beings.  To be humble doesn't mean one must grovel, or tell flattering lies, or engage in any form of manipulative behavior.   It simply means to treat each one with the respect Jesus recognizes belongs to the human soul, regardless of what rank they hold in a power hierarchy.  This is a formula for a good world and a good life, except for the bad apples whose company we don't want as an influence anyway.

 

 

 

This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

 

- Mark 9:14-29 

 

Yesterday we read that after six days (that is, six days between the day of Peter's confession and this event), Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"   Jesus has returned (with Peter, James, and John) from the mount of the Transfiguration, to find the rest of His disciples, and a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  We notice He first seeks to defend His disciples in front of the multitudes by intervening, asking the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  Sickness in Scripture, my study Bible comments, is often connected to demonic activity.  While the disciples also lacked faith, my study Bible says, Christ rebukes the man for placing the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  This father shows humility in his tears, and by saying, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."   This kind, my study Bible says, refers to all powers of darkness, not simply those that cause a particular illness.  The banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting,  for there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Beginning with the Didache, the  has taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  

So often we seem to simply assume that faith is something we either have or we haven't.  As a gift from God, it seems to be entirely out of our own hands -- and beyond anything we can work at -- in terms of the quality of our faith.  But today's Gospel passage teaches us that this is really not so.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus first responds to the disciples' question, "Why could we not cast it out?" with a rebuke:  "Because of your unbelief;d for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."  He then goes on to speak of the necessity of prayer and fasting for "this kind."  Let us note that He speaks to the nine disciples left behind when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to the mount of Transfiguration, from which they returned to find the scene in today's reading.  But Jesus stresses here that there are things that we can do to shore up and to build our faith.  The practices the Church has offered:  our worship services, prayer, fasting (such as was traditional during Lent), almsgiving, etc. are all practices which are designed to build upon our faith and strengthen it -- prayer and fasting are the two which Jesus names here (as well as in Matthew's version of the story).  Prayer we all seem to know about, but we don't understand a lot of about fasting, generally speaking, as not all denominations routinely practice fasting any longer.  The Orthodox have maintained this tradition, and others do in varying forms.  But we should ask ourselves why fasting would be effective in building a strong faith.  It is a lack of understanding of the purpose of fasting that leads to its disuse (besides the fact that in a consumer-oriented society it seems somehow counter-intuitive).  Dieting we understand, but what of fasting?  Fasting is not about a physical goal, but rather about developing the capacity to say no to that which is harmful, especially spiritually.  We are meant to fast not simply from certain foods during a period of time, but to fast from practices which are harmful.  Lent is a traditional time for fasting, and many fast from -- for example -- social media at this time.  We also fast from gossip and backbiting, from jumping into controversies and contention which isn't good for us.  We refrain from joining in practices which take us away from a focus on where Christ would want us to go, from our own sobriety and well-being, and from people who draw us into those practices or have a bad influence upon our lives.  In short, fasting is a practice designed to help us with discernment and the discipline to say no to the things which are detrimental to our faith.  Jesus in all ways encourages us to effectively use such practices, just as He exhorts the disciples in this.  Faith isn't simply a sort of roll of the dice of fate in terms of our own levels of faith; it is something we must engage within and work out, making commitments, and using the practices we're given in order to strengthen it, build it, protect it.  Let us note that prayer is always meant to accompany other practices like fasting.  Constant prayer is a goal mentioned by St. Paul, as is the practice of gratitude  ("Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  As we look toward Easter and the celebration of Resurrection, we are each meant to be working on such practices to build up our faith and our discipline in living and protecting our faith.  What are you working on today?  How are you building faith and practicing discipline?  Do you remember to pray?  There are no hard and fast rules, simply a challenge to work at this, to build up one's faith and the Body of Christ through such efforts at discipline.  We will find that we help ourselves in a number of ways by making such efforts, building up our own capacity for personal discipline, for commitment, and the use of our skills in many dimensions.  Let us not neglect that which Christ has recommended and commanded.

He was transfigured before them

Transfiguration icon, Theophanes the Greek (1340-1410), early 15th cent.

 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  

 

Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

- Mark 9:2-13 

 

Yesterday we read that 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.  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."

 

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  Mark tells us this event of the Transfiguration happened after six days -- that is there are an intervening six days between the time of Peter's confession of Christ and Christ's exposition to the disciples that He will suffer (see yesterday's reading above), and the event described in today's reading.  Thus, Luke's Gospel says it is "about eight days" afterward (Luke 9:28).  Therefore we may understand the Transfiguration to be an event of the "eighth day," giving it the significance of a glimpse of the realities of the life of Resurrection, the eternal day of the Lord.  A high mountain, my study Bible tells us, is often a place of divine revelation in Scripture (Matthew 5:1; Genesis 22:2, Exodus 19:2, 23; Isaiah 2:3; 2 Peter 1:18).  Christ's transfiguration is a revelation, called a "theophany" in Greek, meaning a revelation or manifestation ("showing forth") of divinity. 

His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.   This is a display indicating an ontological reality; that is, a revelation of the truth of Jesus Christ in His divinity.  This shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten clothing is a display of Christ's uncreated, divine energy.  It is a revelation to the disciples coming soon after they are made to understand the suffering Jesus will undergo as Messiah.  John's Gospel teaches us that God is light (1 John 1:5), and therefore this exceedingly white, shining light coming from Jesus and His clothes demonstrates that Jesus is God.  In some icons, this light is shown as beyond white:  a blue-white, ineffable color, which indicates its spiritual, not earthly, nature and origin.  (See the icon, above.)

 

 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  My study Bible tells us that Elijah represents the prophets -- and since he did not experience death, all those who are alive in Christ.  Moses represents the law and all those who have died.  It says that their presence shows that the law and the prophets, the living and the dead, all bear witness to Jesus as Messiah, the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament.   

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  Peter's seemingly confused response comes out of an association that makes sense; he is grasping at the reality of what he and the other disciples are witnessing by proposing the building of tabernacles such as occurs at the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the feast of the coming Kingdom.  These serve as symbols of God's dwelling among the just in the Kingdom, as God dwelt in the tabernacle (or tent) among the Jews as they followed Moses toward the promised land.  Note that Moses and Elijah are immediately recognizable to Peter and the other disciples, and they speak with the Lord, a manifestation of the communion of saints (Hebrews 12:1). 

And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"   Here is again a complete theophany in this occasion of the Transfiguration of Christ:  Christ is revealed as Son by the Father.  The divine brilliant light which surround Him and in the bright cloud reminiscent of the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22), the visible sign of God being extraordinarily present, reveals the Holy Spirit.  The Father's voice bears witness from heaven concerning the Son.  "This is My beloved Son" is a statement of an eternal reality, outside of time, indicating that the divine glory they witness is Christ's by nature.  My study Bible states that from eternity past, infinitely before Christ's Baptism and Transfiguration, He is God's Son, fully sharing in the essence of the Father:  God from God, as the Creed proclaims.  We are also commanded by the Father to "Hear Him!" for He is the Word (John 1:1).

Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."   After the experience of the Transfiguration, the disciples are now able to understand Jesus' words that Elijah has also come, as referring to John the Baptist.  Their eyes have been opened to the fact that Malachi's prophecy (Malachi 4:5-6) refers to one coming "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17), rather than to Elijah himself (Matthew 17:13). 

 

The revelation of Christ in the Transfiguration is a revelation of true reality.  That is, it is a revelation of the foundation of all reality, the eternal truth of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As the disciples have recently been taught that Jesus will suffer and die (and on the third day rise again, which they could not understand), they are now given a taste of an eternal reality as distinguished from the worldly reality that will come.  They are thus now more prepared to accept the meaning and the reality of the Resurrection that is to come after Jesus is in the tomb.  But what of this contradiction between the realities of the world and the eternal reality of God?  How are we to understand the distinct difference between the suffering Christ will undergo in the world and on worldly terms, and the truth of His divinity as has been revealed through the Transfiguration?  Perhaps it is this tremendous contradiction that so magnifies the state of our human condition for us, the place for the faithful believer in a world which is so full of suffering.  When we consider the astonishing beauty we can read into the Transfiguration -- especially the dazzling divine light, of a character that reaches beyond a worldly light but still expresses a beauty to us we seem to grasp -- then we can somehow come to terms more deeply with the love of God.   Because of the Transfiguration we are able to discern more viscerally the love of God for human beings, the extraordinary and unfathomable love that would have to be there for Christ the Son to voluntarily take on human life, and live and suffer and die the painful death He would endure in order to bring us closer to God, to give us a way to enter into God's life as well.  This is the astonishing beauty we take from the Transfiguration, because have to ask ourselves why Christ would live as one of us once we understand Him through this revelation of His true identity and divine origin.  It is this astonishing transfiguration that also gripped the minds of our Christian ancestors, coming to understand God as love and light but who loves and seeks us out to share in that love and light.  We need to discern how we are loved even within a world of imperfect sorrows that accompany sin in the form of lies, manipulation, hardship, toil, oppression, injustice, and so much more -- even as we know that God has brought brilliant, divine, heavenly love and light to us, so that we can also experience God's love for us.  This isn't simply conjecture or theory, but God's manifestation -- this theophany of the Transfiguration (and other occasions such as Christ's Baptism) -- has brought God's life to us in ways that we may also experience through prayer and the mystery of God drawn near and become one of us.  Our Church worship services and traditions are also meant to facilitate that place of mystery to us as spiritual experience, and this is why the ancient services and framework of mystery truly invite us in to an experience of God such as we are capable of accepting, even as the disciples John, James, and Peter were taken up to the mountain for an experience -- a taste -- of the reality of God, even if we are incapable of knowing God fully, as God knows God.  But let us ponder a moment to think about God's reality as one so far beyond us, a light and intelligence beyond our capacity to discern, and the tremendous love that can breach that gulf.  For Christ comes into the world as one of us, suffers as one of us, but leads us forward to His promised life with Him in the dazzling light so far beyond what we know.