But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer

 

 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."

So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."  Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."

 

- Luke 21:5–19 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to religious leaders in the temple, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

  Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  We have to imagine how extraordinary the beautiful and magnificent temple was at Christ's time.  It had been refurbished and expanded under the rule of Herod the Great (the father of Herod Antipas).  Herod the Great was also known as Herod the Builder, and the temple was his most ambitious project.  In its time it was known as one of the wonders of the world, not only for its grandeur but also the architectural beauty employed to adorn it.  Jesus' prophecy, "not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down," would manifest within a generation.  To be specific, in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  It was rumored that there was gold between the stones, and although the plans for the Siege of Jerusalem specifically excluded an assault on the temple, a fire began and eventually the temple was entirely destroyed and sacked.  Only one retaining wall remained, today called the Western Wall.

So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."  Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."  My study bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; the Book of Revelation; and this entire chapter of Luke).  Christ's repeated emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue, as opposed to constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  Here Jesus' first warning is about following false prophets, those who will claim to speak in His name.  Secondly He warns against fear, even midst rumors of wars, and other violent calamities.  But first He warns them that persecutions are coming.  The emphasis here, however, is that persecution becomes an occasion for testimony.  And here Jesus begins to give instructions under these extremely difficult circumstances.  There is a sense of complete reliance upon God, just as when He sent out the Seventy, and told them they would be as lambs among wolves (Luke 10:3).  But it is Christ who will give those under persecution "a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  This is "a mouth and wisdom" such as Jesus has been displaying throughout His time in Jerusalem during this Holy Week as He disputed with the religious leaders in the temple.  And yet, the promise is for persecution, betrayal even by one's closest family members, and being hated by all for My name's sake.  What then can He means when He says that "not a hair of your head shall be lost"?  Here is the answer:  "By your patience possess your souls."  

Often today we seem to be drawn into the idea that if God truly favors us, if our faith is on the right track, we will be validated in some sense by success, by things going our way in the world.  But we have to stop and pause when we read these words of Jesus, and consider that, in fact, His promise does the very opposite.  He's saying that what is in store for His followers is persecution.  And not only is it simply persecution  because of His name and their faith in Him, it is so much more than that.  He describes it all here in vivid detail:  betrayal even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends;  some put to death; and hated by all for His name's sake.  That is not success, applause, and all the rewards in the world one can get.  Moreover, persecution -- even being delivered up to authorities and to prison -- is an opportunity for testimony.  And here is a great sense of what is important in Christ's view that should put us all at attention.  Testimony is a cherished opportunity, a place that is exalted in His view expressed here.  We are to be entirely dependent upon God (again, just like the disciples when they were sent out on their first missions).  We don't need to meditate beforehand on what we will say; it is He who will give us a mouth and wisdom with which to testify, which our adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  Imagine that in this world in which so many seek to be validated through worldly success our greatest opportunity is instead an occasion to testify, and that under persecution.  How do we reconcile these points of view?  I find that in thinking in a worldly sense, that of the person who will childishly demand some sort of "proof" of the wisdom of our faith, we lose all sense of what is actually of great importance to Christ, at least as is reported here in the Gospel.  We can spend lots of time debating how these seemingly anomalous attitudes evolved in Christianity, but that is a long and complex history, I fear, that isn't all-that-easily sorted out as many people think.  What we can say for certain is the unmistakable emphasis that Jesus gives here that it's not really our social status or standing in the society that matters most, when all things are considered.  Neither is it even our good standing in the eyes of our neighbors, or even relations with our closest friends and family members.  Even the worst of persecutions -- the possibility of being put to death -- do not amount to a higher importance than the blessed opportunity Jesus speaks of here:  that of offering testimony, of expressing not necessarily the dogmatic assertions of theology in their loftiest forms nor even the most learned defense afforded by higher education, but of a humility that relies instead fully on Christ and therefore on faith.  It is at this moment of a great test that Christ finds our best opportunity that He speaks of here.  And we should not forget that.  It doesn't matter whether or not we are under formal persecution, or life offers us great wealth with which to endow or help our faith and its expression in the world.  If we are blessed to live in peacetime, and not within the chaos and persecutions and wars that Christ speaks of here, we still should not forget His words.   Because it is my belief that persecutions and betrayals might come to us in all sorts of forms, and opportunities for testimony do not simply come at times of formal persecution by state authorities.  There may be times when we have to choose between friends, even relationships with relatives.  We might have to consider giving up a job or even changing a career, because times come to us even in the most personal of ways that will ask for our testimony.  We may even have to testify by "voting with our feet," so to speak, and walking away from something that seems good but which conflicts in that place where the deepest convictions of our soul rest, where it is Christ who gives us a mouth and wisdom with which to speak, one way and another.  No, it really doesn't matter whether or not we can see around us the nominal signs which Christ speaks of here, because there will always be persecutions of faith, and wars seen and unseen, even an inexplicable hatred which we may incur simply for His name's sake.  In times of seeming peace we should not be surprised if there are occasions for testimony afforded by circumstances in our lives, simply because we have faith in Christ even if only openly expressed in a place deep in our hearts.  One way and another we must keep in mind what He teaches, even if it comes in forms we don't easily recognize and that are all too personal.  Let us always recall what He says is most important, including the humility in those times when we are simply to rely upon Him, without great preparation in advance, for our response to the world.  His greatest desire is that by our patience we possess our souls.

All these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had

 

 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

 

- Luke 20:41—21:4 

 

Yesterday we read that some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

 

And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"   Reversing the questioning against Himself, Jesus decides He will question His adversaries.  He cites a passage from Psalm 110:1.  The first reference here to the LORD applies to God the Father, as my study bible explains it, and the second term my Lord is a reference to Christ.  This question is answered in that Christ is the Son of David in His humanity, but David's Lord in His divinity.  To answer properly, one must not conceive of the Messiah, or Son of David, as simply a mortal human being.  But King David would not address another person as "Lord" -- this title would apply only to God.  Therefore, the Messiah must also be divine.  

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."   In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus delivers His final public sermon on this subject.  It's a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23:1-39).  But here, in a sort of condensed version, we're given Jesus' critiques of the religious leaders and their hypocrisy.  The message is all about position and appearance, the "praise of men, rather than the praise of God" (John 12:43).  The outward appearance of honor hides greed, even a willingness to victimize those who are without protection.  The word devour indicates a predatory nature, one that more rightly would belong to a "ravenous wolf" (see Luke 10:3, Matthew 7:15).  Their long prayers are for mere pretense.  And once again, Jesus indicates a judgment that is not of this world (John 18:36), when He speaks of the greater condemnation in store for these religious leaders.

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."  My study bible says that according to patristic commentary, this passage is traditionally interpreted and understood as teaching that the Lord accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back.  So, the poor widow is counted to have given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself.  Those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty back for themselves are counted by God to have given very little.

Although there is a chapter break between Jesus' criticism of the scribes and the story of the poor widow that Jesus notices putting her two mites, or two coins of small worth into the temple treasury, we really cannot miss the contrast between the poor widow and the scribes whom Jesus describes as those who "devour widows' houses."  A widow is often highlighted throughout Old and New Testaments , and in a noteworthy way in the psalms, who -- together with orphans -- are a group who are of special concern to the Lord.  This is because they were generally considered to be helpless or poor (the two conditions frequently going hand in hand).  For the majority of the world and the majority of its history, a widow is a person dependent either on the generosity of family, especially children, or others.  In an earlier time, before the development of systems of pensions or other kinds of social supplementation of income, and before modern justice systems, one's own potential for self-defense against fraud or other predatory crimes really depended upon clan and kinship, systems of relations who could help get justice or rectify a grievance.  Widows and orphans, therefore, are images of the "least of these," those who are dependent and yet may not have those upon whom they can depend for much at all.  A widow, then, in the image here, would be one who had little social recourse and possibly even fewer rights or means to start with.  With Christ, it is important to remember "the least of these," those for whom resources are scarce, strength or power or any other form of currency is slight or even nonexistent, and justice is hard to come by.  Yet in comparison with the powerful scribes, who are described by Jesus as those who go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, but who also devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers, the widow who has only two mites to give to the treasury is far more generous and by far the more gracious donor to the temple.  I think it is a question of comparison of gifts to God and those who are ostentatiously celebrated for their support of the temple:  penny for penny, hers is the more generous gift.  It is this kind of "equal measuring stick" in the eyes of Christ that becomes the real way to measure justice.  His is an equalizing force that measures all people by true measure, and Jesus is the One for whom there is no falsehood in judgment.  For His is the only eye that sees truly with a lens that carves out all the extraneous falsehood and miscellaneous details that might distract from the real story of what is going on.  Purely and simply, while others grandiosely measure themselves in the eyes of the public by a great show of authority, position, and honor, God sees those who truly give more generously and with, in fact, much greater gifts even in a monetary measure, because they give so much of what they actually have.  All the extraneous details meant to impress fellow human beings don't count for much, if anything, with God, and especially in the eyes of Christ which are given us here in the Gospel.  When all is said and done, we should be grateful that His is the judgment that counts, and His way of seeing the true measure of us all.  We have a hard time seeing what He sees, for even today we fail really to own up to ourselves to what extent there are those around us who might be dependent in ways we don't see, who have very few resources in fact or struggle against hardship we don't know about.  We hear harsh judgments all the time about some person or another, we judge by appearance seemingly more than ever, and we have plenty of those who seek applause in the images they can create for others while they may "devour" what belongs to those who cannot fight back behind the scenes.  We are invited by Christ first of all to understand that He sees what we can't see and don't see, that it is His judgment that will count at the end of the day, and His condemnation that will truly see through all things and measure what is real.  He asks us to practice the compassion that sees the widow's true state, and to aspire to know what God knows about her generous gift.  We are asked not to be fooled by appearances or swayed by whatever it is that impresses the crowds.  Somehow, in our passage for today, we seem to be told to understand that real authority cannot be seen simply by institutions of power, but requires another kind of sight that is willing to see what God is asking us to see instead.  Jesus is telling us that if we really want to see what is in front of us, we need to look with eyes not easily fooled by predators in sheep's clothing, to cling to Him in our dependency and need for good judgment, to remember that the heart is the place of true gifts.  As we enter into the Christmas season, let us keep in mind the power of the small over against the great and mighty, a tiny gift of two mites that is greater than all the generous gifts of others.

For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him

 

 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

 

- Luke 20:27–40 

 

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus told the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers against them, the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.   

 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  And the first took a wife, and died without children.  And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become?  For all seven had her as wife."   The Sadducees were members of a high priestly class, for the most part what we might call an aristocratic group of landowners around Jerusalem.  It was their responsibility to maintain the temple.  They believed only in what is called the Written Torah.  Unlike the Pharisees, they rejected the oral traditions built up around the Law.  Neither did they hold with the concept of resurrection and of angelic spirits.  As a class, they disappeared after the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  From their perspective, we can see how questions of inheritance and a very "earthly" notion of marriage,  in combination with their rejection of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection, would bring about this strange question as a test for Jesus.

Jesus answered and said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.  But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.  But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."  Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  But after that they dared not question Him anymore.  Jesus explains that there will be a resurrection, but not of the sort the Sadducees imagine.  Their question is framed in a very earthly idea of life, including marriage, but Jesus explains that in the resurrection, the change of life is total.  The understanding of the resurrection is contained in the Scriptures, as Moses calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, indicating all live in God although they lived at different times on earth and are physically dead -- which they fail to understand.  Therefore the Scriptures themselves contain an indication of the total transfiguration of life after death.  My study bible says that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.  

How can we understand the total transfiguration of life that occurs in the resurrection?  Moreover, this concept is linked to our understanding of the communion of saints, with whom we pray even as we pray in this world?  How can we understand our liturgical worship, and that the angels worship with us even as we worship in our churches?  This "mystical" (if you will) aspect of our faith remains with us, and is undeniable, although so many today would also seek to reject it.  Perhaps, like the Sadducees in some sense, our material focus is so great in our present modern world that it is much easier to dismiss notions of life existing beyond this world, in ways we can't "scientifically" test and prod or prove, and so it is just simpler to reject it.  Nevertheless, Christ's teaching here form part and parcel of our faith.  They remain alive to us today, even as in our worship services we pray for those who have passed, we commemorate saints of the past, we hold memorials for our loved ones, and all are contained and, indeed, alive in the reality of the Church.  When one venerates an icon, it is not a form of worship but rather a form of prayer; we invoke the prayers of the saints, our loved ones, and angels even as we would ask a fellow believer to pray with us or for us.  St. Paul calls the communion of saints the "great cloud of witnesses" in Hebrews 12:1-2.  For his contemporaries, he invokes this great cloud of saints as those who help us, as believers in the world, to run our race of faith, to persist to the end and to endure despite the hardships, even as Christ endured the Cross.  This is a very real and concrete testimony of help -- an active and present help for our faith coming from this communion of saints, connected to believers always through prayer.  In our worship services, we evoke the great song heard by Isaiah in the worship of the angels and the Lord's glory filled the temple:  "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (see Isaiah 6:1-4).  When we hear this hymn in our own churches, we are to understand that this heavenly worship continues with us and among us, and that the vision of Isaiah was for all, at all times, and remains present with us.  The point is that, contrary to the assumptions of the Sadducees, and of people today who'd prefer that we leave out anything that can't be explained through Aristotelian level science, our faith is one that remains couched in mystery, or the mystical, however one would want to put it.  We interact with beings we don't see with our five senses, we worship together with those who have passed and who yet "live to God."  The whole of the kingdom of heaven remains a mystery, in the sense that it is unknowable in its entirety, as God also remains unknowable in God's entirety.  And yet this Kingdom lives among us and within us, and is populated by those with whom we pray, both saints and angels uncountable, in their entirety unknowable and unnameable.  It is just the way Jesus described the work of the Spirit to Nicodemus, even as He attempted to teach the mystery of Holy Baptism:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  What we mustn't forget is that our faith is one that will always include mystery; we participate in the life of Christ, and even that is not explicable and knowable in its entirety.  We walk and pray and persist in our faith with the great cloud of witnesses which is beyond our grasp, and yet we "know" all of this, for it dwells even in our hearts.  We live and pray and "run our race" (as St. Paul puts it) completely in participation with all of these things, with God who is at once unknowable and yet closer than our hearts.  We live with this mystery, we "seek the Lord, in the hope that [we] might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:27-28).   Life opens to us in all dimensions; we are sadly lost if we leave out the mystical, and the reality of this Kingdom which is even still present to us, and alive.

Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's

 

Peter Paul Rubens, The Tribute Money, ca 1612.  Legion of Honor Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.  Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. 

 

- Luke 20:19–26 

 

 In Luke's Gospel, we are now reading through the events of Holy Week.   As He taught in the temple daily, He was questioned by the scribes and chief priests and elders of the temple as to His authority for His ministry and preaching.  Yesterday we read that He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

 

 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.   If we look at yesterday's reading, we see that Jesus has just told a parable against these rulers of the temple, even a threat -- that the owner of the vineyard will destroy the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others (see the parable in yesterday's reading, above).  It is clearly understood by these rulers that it was told against their leadership, and in the public hearing of the people.  So they begin to plot against Him.  Their plan is to find a way to deliver Christ to the power and authority of the governor; that is, the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate.  We could surmise that because of the people and their feelings toward both John the Baptist and Jesus as holy men, these rulers do not want to have Jesus' death on their hands in an obvious way.  So they seek to "set Him up," so to speak, in a way that will have the Roman state execute Him.

Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Show Me a denarius.  Whose image and inscription does it have?"  They answered and said, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people.  Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?  This is a question which is designed to trap Jesus.  Taxation was compulsory to the Roman state.  If Jesus answers "Yes" then it would turn the people against Him.  If He answers "No" it will bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  Christ's answer, according to my study bible, defeats their cunning and also shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  As the coin which Jesus demands be shown bears the image of the emperor, and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises, my study bible says, when the state demands that which is contrary to God.

The painting shown at the top of today's reading and commentary is called "The Tribute Money."  It is by Peter Paul Rubens, and was painted on or around the year 1612.   Since 1944, the original has hung in the Palace of the Legion of Honor, one of the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco, California.  I first saw it in the vestment room at the California Mission in Carmel, California, just off the beautiful Basilica, which also is a shrine to St. Junipero Serra.  Each time I return to this beautiful Mission I am struck by the painting, and it intrigued me more every time I saw it.   Clearly it is a copy, but I wondered why it was there and who put it there.  There is a beautiful icon, Byzantine in origin, of Mary the Mother of God, titled in the Roman Catholic tradition Our Mother of Perpetual Help.  In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, this icon is titled Theotokos Amolyntos.  Theotokos in Greek means "God-Bearer."  Amolyntos means "without taint" or "spotless" indicating her purity.  In the Eastern tradition, it is an icon of the Passion.  (Here is an interesting history of the tradition of this icon.)   A beautiful icon in a passage right next to the Basilica is something marvelous to contemplate and to pray with.  But entering into the vestment room, and turning around, one sees above the door the painting of Rubens.  Each time I visited the Mission I pondered why it was there.  Certainly in their role as missionaries, the mission fathers must have struggled with the demands of the Spanish state and military, especially as regarded their charges, the Native Americans of California.  And therein one can understand the reminder, as the priest prepared himself in the vestments for services, of the depth of choice that was always standing before them.  To whom does the soul belong?   What are the things that are Caesar's, and what are the things that are God's?  This no doubt was a clear struggle for these men of God who also had to work with the demands of the state -- including the demands for taxes, whatever the productivity of the missions.  I am no expert on this history, but I think the painting gives us a hint of the struggles of the mission fathers.  Since it appears now just above the door inside the vestment room, one presumes it was there for the private contemplation of the priest, the struggle in his own mission for those who were in his care.  The long turbulent history of colonization -- even across the world and in and by various countries -- is a subject which holds this question wherever it has taken place.  In films and literature, we find a varied representation of the struggles of pastors for their flocks, and the demands of the state.  That would include varied denominations of the Church, and also varied states, languages, governing systems, and militaries, and on different continents.  (For fictional representations more or less based on history one can read a novel from Nigeria, titled "Things Fall Apart," by China Achebe; or view a film called "The Mission" set in South America.)  Many modern, or one might say fashionable, political theories are quick to dismiss the sincerity of the Spanish mission fathers, but I am not one who ascribes to such thinking.  I am inclined to believe that theirs was a mission of faith and self-sacrifice for the love of God and love of their charges -- and also that their conflict with the demands of the state was real. Eventually, the missions would be secularized, and put under complete control of the military.   This was also not unusual for many colonies of different origin.  But this question Christ asks remains real for all of us now as well.  Then and now, the struggle between the demands of the state and our loyalty to and love of God remains with us.  Christ posed this question in this way not simply to defeat the machinations of those who wanted to entrap Him, but in order to expose the deeper layers and complexities of life in the world, life for His Church, and for those who would follow.  How are we in the world, but not of it?  How do we care both for our own souls and for the souls of others, and make decisions accordingly?  Everything belongs to God, for all of life is a gift of God, but where do our duties to the state lie, and where do they end?  I was grateful to see this painting at the mission, and understand the struggles of the fathers.  The state and its organization may change with the times and the place, but the struggle for faith remains the same, even as the demands of our secular communities and governments will change and differ from place to place and time to time.  Let us also, like the fathers, remember this question every day.

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder

 

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:

'The stone which the builders rejected 

Has become the chief cornerstone'?

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

 

- Luke 20:9–18 

 

Yesterday we read that, on one of those days of Holy Week, when Jesus taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel,  the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  "The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.'  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  My study bible explains that in this parable, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard is a reference to God's people.  The vinedressers are the leaders of the Jews, those to whom it has been entrusted to care for God's people.  It is they to whom Christ speaks, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders who have just questioned Jesus about His authority to teach, preach, and perform the works He has performed (see yesterday's reading, above).  Each servant who is sent by the owner represents an Old Testament prophet, who comes to call people back to God.  But the beloved son, finally, refers to Christ Himself.  When the Son is cast out of the vineyard in order to be killed, it is traditionally understood on two levels.  First, that Jesus was killed outside of Jerusalem (that is, on Golgotha, which was outside of the city walls at that time.  And second, that Christ was crucified by foreign soldiers, and not those of His own vineyard (the Roman soldiers).  The others who later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles who are brought into the Church, and by adoption are enabled also to become God's people, no longer an exclusive possibility.  

Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22.  The stone referred to is Christ Himself.  My study bible explains, through the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, that this saying is an illustration of the two ways of destruction.  Those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the effects of their sins while yet in this life, thus leaving an opportunity and possibility for repentance.  But those upon whom the stone falls are the unrepentant, who become powder in the final judgment.  

It's interesting to think about all the "stones" that have been mentioned in various recent readings rather close together in the Gospel.  Jesus spoke about the stones that would cry out if the people were silenced in their reception of Him as He rode into the holy city, Jerusalem, at the Triumphal Entry (see this reading).  In prophesying what would come in Jerusalem within a generation, we were told in Jesus' lament that "days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation" (my italics; see this reading).  Jesus' prophecy quite literally came true, as Roman soldiers believed there was gold between the stones of the temple, and all that remained afterward was what still remains, one retaining wall of the temple now frequently called the Western Wall, but for many centuries referred to as the Wailing Wall.  And here in today's reading, we again hear of stones, this time the stone which the builders rejected but which has become the chief cornerstone.  Amidst all this talk of stones, we should also keep in mind St. Peter's allusion to the living stones who will build up Christ's church in the world.  He writes, "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:4-5).  All of these allusions to stones are tied together:  the destruction of the temple, the rejection of the stone which will become the chief cornerstone, and the living stones which not only would shout out praise should Christ's joyful followers be silenced, but which will go on to build Christ's Church, with Him as the chief cornerstone.  St. Peter himself, in his confession on behalf of all of the disciples, becomes the rock upon which the church would be built, "and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (see Matthew 16:16-18, John 1:42).   That is, to be explicit, the rock of faith.  But apart from the living stones who form the holy priesthood which builds up a spiritual house, the greatest metaphor regarding a stone is the one that Jesus offers today, that head cornerstone about which Jesus says, "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  For this is Christ's teaching about power and judgment, and it is in fact a response to the questions regarding His authority for His ministry which the religious leaders posed to Him in yesterday's reading.  Ultimately, a failure to recognize the true authority here will result in a judgment.  As St. Chrysostom's commentary elucidates meaning for us in this statement, we understand that one either falls on that stone during one's lifetime in this world, and thus are afforded an opportunity for personal change, or beyond that, the one upon whom it falls it turns to powder, an allusion to oblivion, the loss of all existence and memory of existence.  Then, questions of authority, quibbling over what "right" one has to ministry or healing or preaching become moot, because real authority is not one conferred only by human beings, regardless of what the world may say or think or believe.  A real authority is the same one by which John the Baptist preached and baptized a repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.  A true authority is one that works because God the Father, Son, and Spirit interact in our world, dwell among us and within us, effectively working with and through our faith to make us living stones, a holy priesthood, a Church that lives even where it isn't seen, a Kingdom that comes without observation (Luke 17:20-21).  It is this kind of authority we seek and we know, this authority that works in the human heart, in human affairs, seen and especially unseen.  And as we await now the celebration of our Lord's birth, our thoughts should turn to this Kingdom and the faith that dwells within us, for we need to be aware of it more than ever, or so it seems at least to me. 

Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things

 

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  "The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 

- Luke 20:1-8 

 

On Saturday we read that as Jesus drew near Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.   

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  My study bible tells us that these things refers to Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as Messiah (19:35-38), the cleansing of the temple (19:45), and Christ's preaching (verse 1 of today's reading).  These men, the elders of the temple at Jerusalem, confront Christ since it was the priestly descendants of Levi to manage the temple.  While Christ is descended from Judah (3:33 in Christ's genealogy as given in Luke), He is also High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4), which is a priestly line far greater than that of Levi, as Christ's authority is from the Father.

 

But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  "The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  Jesus' answer is designed to draw those who would answer to the obvious response, that both John's and Jesus' authority comes from God.  But clearly the priority for these leaders is their own position as rulers in the temple, the authority and regulators of the faith and thereby the people.  They fear losing this authority, as the people all believe John to have been a prophet.  Jesus' concise and colorful debating skills trap them in their own response, no doubt to the delight of the people who could participate by listening to an open dialogue.

In much of the discourse during Jesus time teaching in the temple -- be that in the Synoptic Gospels and what takes place during Holy Week, or the debates in John's Gospel which occur at various festivals throughout Jesus three years of ministry -- we're told that the people are afraid to participate themselves, even to engage in dialogue, because of their fears of the leadership whom they know by this time seek to kill Christ (John 7:12-13).  Even among the leadership, we're told, many are afraid to speak openly although they believe that Jesus is the Christ (John 12:42).   And yet, Mark's Gospel tells us that the people heard Jesus with delight as He debated the leaders in the temple (Mark 12:37).  Perhaps this is one of the very reasons why Jesus' dialogues and debates with the leadership became so very well recorded for the Gospels, because they were made in the hearing of the common people -- who, while they themselves could not speak openly for fear of the leaders, nevertheless heard Jesus gladly.  In the available public forums for debate (and even entertainment or drama, if we want to think about it on those terms) there wouldn't be much place for people to participate in this kind of open dialogue, except in private and among themselves.  But Jesus takes His teaching to the people and always has.  He has publicly preached in synagogues and to large crowds, and on many occasions the leadership has come to openly question Him.  If there is one signal we can take from Christ, it is in this place of freedom and free debate.  As far as He is concerned, the truth is meant to be proclaimed from the housetops -- so long as it is at the right time, of course.  The truth about Him as Son of Man and Son of God -- His identity as Messiah -- that must be heard in the fullness of His ministry; that is, in the fullness of God's revelation through Him and His mission.  It is only in that context that the fullness of truth is present for proper understanding.  Jesus tells the disciples, "Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops" (Luke 12:3).   Perhaps simply because Jesus was an outsider, not one of the ones with the "authority" the religious leaders question Him about, His dialogue and sermons come to us in the Gospels.  Had he been an insider among the Sanhedrin, no doubt those debates would have been more private and within an inner circle.  As it is, Jesus came to the world in a time and place that facilitated everything about what He has given us.  In the Roman Empire roads stretched far and wide to connect the entire empire for trade and commerce, which in and of itself extended to spread news and the Christian movement.  Jerusalem itself was the Holy City, the one Jesus says "kills the prophets and stones those sent to her" (Luke 13:34), but also at this time a place where civilizations meet, where Roman rule could at any time assert its authority to keep people under control, and which depended upon the religious leaders themselves to maintain that control or else political rebellion could get out of hand.  In this context, we read the open debates of Jesus, and must come to understand the threats to the places of the religious leaders, the anxiety of the people who both feared the oppressive, tax-imposing Romans and waited for a Deliverer/Messiah, and frequently mistrust their own authorities in this context.  But Christ comes, nevertheless, freely proclaiming Himself and the gospel of the Kingdom.  He knows what will happen, but that through all things He is the One who is sent to do precisely what He does.  He gives us the power of the Word, and He is the Word, and we should never forget where our basic values regarding this kind of freedom come from, nor that He is the One who taught us both that the truth makes us free, and that He is the Person who is truth (John 8:31-22, 14:6).  In these open debates in the temple, and as they are presented to us in the Gospels, we can find a confidence in the truth, that the truth makes a difference.  Not only does it make a difference, but Christ teaches that it makes us free:  free because we are no longer slaves to falsehood and no longer slaves to half-concepts of truth that stand outside of the fullness of communion in Him.  In these words we find not only a positive definition of freedom but also a liberating concept of truth, and we find the foundations for what we claim today if we are those who seek the freedom for ourselves He proclaims.  These open debates before the people make it clear, moreover, that Christ places confidence in the power of that truth and in His message to the world.  It is, and becomes in His hands and preaching, a truth that belongs to each of us, a truth which is aimed at each human heart and soul.  He calls to all of us, and we delight to be called.  The question becomes, in some sense as parallel to the elders here, if we can understand the authority in that truth, or not.

 

 

If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes

 

 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him. 

 

- Luke 19:41–48 

 

Yesterday we read that, after teaching this parable, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.' "  So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.  But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?"  And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus.  And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:  "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

 

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  My study bible comments here that Jerusalem means "foundation of peace."  Only faith in Christ, it says, brings true peace.  This is a truth which is hidden from a city that will soon rebel against its Savior.  We should note that there are two kinds of peace.  A false peace (to which Christ refers in 12:51)  is a shallow harmony that results from ignoring issues of truth, or the imposition of a kind of peace that comes through military might and suppression or intolerance of opposition.  But genuine peace is reconciliation to God through faith in Christ, and surrender to truth.  Genuine peace has division as a byproduct, my study bible says, because not everyone wants truth.  In the fallen world, divisions are necessary for truth to be manifest (see 1 Corinthians 11:18-19).  Jesus prophesies here the destruction of Jerusalem which would come in AD 70.  My study bible tells us that this also describes the spiritual end of every person who lacks faith. 

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.  Those who bought and sold in the temple were  trading in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  Jesus quotes from two prophesies:  Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.  My study bible comments that this cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), it's also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  

Jesus speaks of peace, but it is a particular type of peace.  It is the peace that is found in reconciliation with Him, in faith, in His teachings and His love, and in the place in the heart where it is guarded and kept watch over by those who know us and love us, beyond our understanding.  This is a very mystical kind of peace.  It is a peace that can be found through prayer, a refuge in the things of God.  St. Paul writes about it in the letter to the Philippians, from which we quoted in yesterday's reading and commentary.  St. Paul writes, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).  This is a particular kind of peace.  Often it is a type of peace that is met by hostility from others.  It might be a type of peace that teaches us to stand up for things others will find challenging.  On the other hand, it is also a type of peace that may ask us to withdraw from contests or debates in which everyone around us seems to be participating as if it were the most fervently necessary combat in existence.  This peace is the union we have, and the one we seek to deepen, without our faith in Christ.  It is a peace that connects us to a much greater world beyond this world that we know:  to the communion of saints past and present, to the world of the Kingdom in which space and time are not barriers, to the love of Christ and all the saints, the cosmos seen and unseen, the Trinity, the uncountable numbers of angels, to all those who love God.  This is where we start with our peace, the place into which we take refuge and "guard our hearts" as St. Paul writes.  Why, we must ask here, is it so important to guard our hearts?  Jesus speaks of not knowing the things that make for the peace of Jerusalem, as He weeps and laments over the city:  "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes."  In this holy city, it was possible for people to be blind to what God held for them, the things that make for the city's peace.  So it is possible also for each one of us in our own day, at whatever time and place we find ourselves when we need God's peace.  Let us remember the words of Christ and the words of St. Paul.  Because, without this peace, it seems we miss what is extraordinarily real and pertinent, the things we need, and especially the guarding of the heart that keeps our hearts where we need to be.  We need to protect and preserve our faith, so that we know where we are and where we are headed.  Without this awareness, we may choose the road that makes not for peace but the sword.