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.  

 

 

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

- Mark 8:27-9:1 

 

Yesterday we read that the the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"  Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch Him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

 

 Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?"  So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"   Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."  Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.  Here Jesus is once again in nominally Gentile territory; that is, places where there were populations of Jews but the towns established with strong Gentile presence and influence (as we can tell from the name of the region).  He and the disciples are once again traveling in the region east of the Sea of Galilee.  My study Bible comments that "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question a person can ever face, because it is the question that will define Christianity.  It says that Peter's correct answer to this question prevents the Christian faith from being seen as merely another philosophical system or path of spirituality, as it names Jesus as the one and only Christ.  In Matthew's Gospel, Peter adds, "the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).  This excludes all compromise with other religious systems,  my study Bible explains.  Peter's understanding cannot be achieved by human reason, but only by divine revelation through faith (Matthew 16:17; 1 Corinthians 12:3).  Christ means "Anointed One" and is equivalent to the Hebrew title, "Messiah."  My study Bible also asks us to note that Christ first draws out erroneous opinions about Himself which were popular at the time.  This is done in order to identify these incorrect ideas, as a person is better prepared to avoid false teachings when they are clearly identified.

 

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."  After Peter's confession, Jesus reveals the true nature of His messiahship:  the mystery of His Passion.  My study Bible comments that it was expected that the Messiah would reign forever, so the notion that Christ would die is perplexing to Peter, and still remained scandalous to the Jews after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  It says that Peter unwitting speaks for Satan here, as the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save humankind through suffering and death.  

 

 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."   The cross was the dreaded instrument of Roman punishment; but it is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  That is, as my study Bible puts it, we practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  In this sense, any suffering which we encounter in our lives can be given over to the Cross to be seen in its light as to how we approach our suffering.  Accepting suffering, then, becomes neither a punishment nor an end in itself.  Instead, as my study Bible puts it, it becomes rather a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).  

 

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."  My study Bible comments that the central paradox of Christian living is that in grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal; but in sacrificing everything in this world (that is, in giving up our lives to Christ and His gospel), we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9). 

 

 "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."   My study Bible tells us that this question emphasizes the utter foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power, for none of this can redeem man's fallen soul, nor benefit a person in the life to come.  That is, we focus our goal on the cross and Christ's gospel, and it is to this  end that our lives -- and all that is a part of our lives --  are dedicated.

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."   This is a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-13, our next reading), as well as to those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's kingdom.  

How do we take up our cross?  How do we give up all that is in our lives to Christ, and to the goals which Christ would prepare for us?  It is an even more profound question for us to begin to ask how our own suffering can become transfigured in the light of the Cross of Christ, as part of His mission in the world.  These are important and central questions to what it means to be a Christian believer.  In a certain sense, all suffering that we undergo in life can be used as an occasion for witnessing, for testimony to our faith.  We should remember, also, in this context, that the word "martyr" is actually the Greek word that means "witness."  It is the root of the noun that means "testimony" and the verb that means to "give testimony" or to "witness."  So we must consider how we live our lives in the light of the Cross, and how that life itself, the way we choose to live, becomes witnessing for the gospel.  When we undergo any kind of suffering in the world, enduring that suffering in the ways that our faith would teach us, dedicating ourselves to prayer and to seeking God's way through it, becomes a form of witnessing and participation in Christ's Cross through our own cross we bear in life.  We may recall that St. Paul also prayed for some firm of infirmity to pass from himself, but was told by God, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."   St. Paul's response:  "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (see 2 Corinthians 12:8-9).  Sometimes, also, we will suffer directly as a result of our faith, as the result of "witnessing" according to the teachings of Christ and our faith in Christ and what Christ would ask us to choose and to do in our lives.  We may stand up for values that are important to us via our faith, and this results in types of suffering, such as shunning by others, even family members.  But in this context we recall His words, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26), or Christ's teaching from the Sermon on the Mount:  "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:10-11).  Each occasion in our lives becomes an opportunity for witnessing and testimony, because every occasion is a choice for an offering to live our lives through the light of the Cross, through God's guidance and teaching to help us find our way.  Thus, we may glorify Christ and the Kingdom through our choices.  When we suffer, the great genius of God's gifts to us is that we are offered a choice to participate in the Cross with Christ through our own cross -- or we may choose to see ourselves as merely a pawn of fate, a victim of the world without recourse, without choice, and without meaning.  The illness of a parent becomes such an occasion, for example, when one may choose to either prayerfully address such a circumstance or to abandon it to fatalistic thinking, or too much faith in material means, or simply a tragic error of suffering in a meaningless life.  But Christ calls us to something much, much greater than that.  He asks us to step up, and to join Him at the Cross, each in our own way.  Why?  Because our own soul is worth so much more than even what the whole world would or could offer us instead.  He offers us our souls, and a Kingdom that has no end.

 

  

Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation

 

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

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

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

 

- Mark 8:11-26 

 

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

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."   My study Bible explains that a sign from heaven means a spectacular display of power.  The time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but the Pharisees have not recognized the signs already being performed because their hearts were hardened; they ignored the works happening all around them.  Let us note also that Jesus refuses to give a special sign on demand as proof of His authority for His ministry; His life is an expression of the Father's will, and His identity as Son.

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"   My study Bible says that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture there are many uses of leaven as an image:  it is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as it is here.  In either case, leaven is a symbol of a force which is powerful enough (and frequently subtle enough) to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  

 

 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch Him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  Matthew's Gospel tells us that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (see Matthew 11:21).  Therefore, my study Bible explains, Jesus leads this blind man out of the town in order to heal him, so that the people would not scoff at the miracle, which would bring greater condemnation upon themselves.  That this blind man was healed in stages ("I see men like trees, walking" . . . he was restored and saw everyone clearly) shows that he had only a small amount of faith; for, according to my study Bible, healing occurs according to one's faith (Mark 6:5-6).  Nevertheless, this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Jesus.  Christ's command not to return to the town, my study Bible says, symbolizes that we must not return to our sins once we have been forgiven.

As we continually read in the Gospels, faith is an indispensable condition for Christ's healing.   Without it, there is seemingly no "connection" to Christ; there is no conduit for His healing power to work within a person.  It is as if we ourselves need to give permission, to say our own "Yes" to the acceptance of this power of God, in order for God to be able to work in us.  This condition is often tied to our freedom of will with which God has endowed us.  God loves us more than we can imagine, for love is the very nature of God (1 John 4:8).  Like the father of the Prodigal Son in the parable found at Luke 15:11-32, God awaits our return with great desire; so much so, that in the parable describing this love, the elderly man runs to meet his son from afar off, an act considered undignified -- even inappropriate -- in the culture in which Christ first told this parable.  But this is the love of God and God's desire for us simply to return that love.  But God, like the father in the parable, will not force us to return God's love.  God does not compel us to love God.  Thus, this is what we call our free will, and accept that this is part of God's freedom established for us.  So, one may consider the act of faith to be a consent to the working of God within us.  Somehow, for Christ to be able to perform miracles, faith must be present first.  It makes sense in the context of today's reading, in which Christ will not provide miracles on demand for those who challenge Him to prove His identity and divinity, the authority that comes from God for His ministry.  Just as God does not force or compel us to love God, God also does not force faith -- this communion through which we have relationship with God -- upon anyone.  Faith must come from a willing "yes" somewhere within us to God's love and action, to God's mercy and grace.  It simply does not work without our consent.  Sometimes, it seems to me, we are unaware of the depths within our own spirits, which may long for God and God's presence even when our conscious minds would shut God out.  Nonetheless, there are depths to us through which work love and faith, our own ties to the Mystery of God.  See, for example, Jesus' exclamation at the confession of Peter that He is the Christ:  "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17).  I would submit that it is doubtful that in Peter's confession of faith, Peter was consciously aware of having had a revelation or communication from the Father; nevertheless Christ tells us that it is so.  Clearly, there was a depth in Peter that responded to God the Father with an affirmative reception to this communication or revelation.  And so it might be with each one of us, where the depths within us accept faith in some mysterious way unknown and misunderstood even by us in a conscious sense.  But nonetheless, our acceptance is there accompanying faith.  So it works with the healing miracles and other signs performed by Christ:  there must be some level of faith present for God's power to be at work, not a challenge for a proof.  As my study Bible points out about this healing of the blind man, even a little faith will do to start.  We could consider it just a crack in the opening of the door at which Christ always knocks ("Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" - Revelation 3:20).  The Holy Spirit can get through our own walls in surprising ways; all it takes is a chink in the armor with which we surround ourselves.  The importance of faith is made very clear in the fact that, as in other circumstances (such as with those who ridicule at the healing of Jairus' daughter -- see Mark 5:40), Jesus seeks to separate the newly-healed man with his restored sight from the townspeople who scoff.  For those of us who come to faith all of these centuries later, these lessons still remain.  Let us not surround ourselves needlessly with people who scoff at our faith, or who would challenge the things we know through some mysterious process at work in our lives.  We are made of much more than simply conscious memory, "facts" at hand, efforts at proofs of things which exist far beyond our capacity to know in some objective or scientifically measured way.  We nonetheless have parts to ourselves with which God may communicate, and we may receive the things of God, knowing their mysterious effect in our lives, the capacity to heal, a guidance we can't explain in a conventional sense.  Let us be aware of how precious that faith really is, and make every effort to protect it just as Jesus does, following His instructions just as He guides the formerly blind.

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

 

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

 

- Mark 8:1-10 

 

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

 

  In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  We have already read that Jesus fed a multitude of five thousand men (and more women and children) in this reading from Thursday of last week.  This is a second feeding of a multitude which should not be confused with the first.  They are two distinct miracles in the Gospels.  My study Bible comments that there is a significance in the variance of the number of loaves.  In the first feeding miracle, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (for the Five Books, the Penteteuch or Torah).  But here there are seven.  Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness; here it signifies spiritual perfection.  So therefore, in the first instance, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  Participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

 

 There are some other things we need to note about today's reading in addition to the ideas which my study Bible offers.   Mark's Gospel has just reported to us two significant events of Jesus' ministry which took place in what is Gentile territory.   In yesterday's reading (see above), we read about the Syro-Phoenician woman who begged Christ to cast the demon from her daughter, and then in the Decapolis, he healed a deaf and mute man, "opening" his ears, and "loosing" his tongue.   In today's reading, we can presume that this event takes place in what is nominally Gentile territory; that is, it is likely a region still on the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  (We're told in the end of the reading that Jesus and the disciples sailed to Dalmanutha, likely just opposite to the place where this feeding took place, in lower Galilee, and so closer to home territory for Jesus.)  In light of the Gentile influence which would be present (even if those who follow Him are Jews), we can look at the number four thousand and see its correlation with the wider world.  The number four signifies the four points of the compass, the four directions; magnified by one thousand, it tells us of the great multitudes of the world.  While Jesus is sent first to the Jews, also instructing the disciples to do the same (Matthew 10:6, 15:24), and "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22), the text seems to open up the ways that Christ (or rather, His word and gospel) will eventually go out to the whole world.  The number seven in the amount of the loaves, in this respect, is significant, as my study Bible says it signifies spiritual perfection, as contrasted to the five loaves representing the Law in the feeding in Jewish territory.  "Spiritual perfection" would indicate that regardless of where the gospel message goes, Christ's spiritual teaching will bring all to perfection, whether that be those who begin with the understanding, for example, of the Hellenistic world of the philosophers and pagan myths of the Greeks and Greek-speakers, or out to the world beyond.  In whatever place, beginning with any spiritual tradition, it is Christ who will bring understanding and spiritual perfection out of the cultural concepts and practices which people already know.  While the Jews already have Jewish spiritual history, and know and understand the Lord through their Scripture, whatever is true or good or beautiful in other traditions will be brought to spiritual perfection through Christ's message and teachings as the gospel is carried to the world.  He has said that He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), and most certainly He is the One about whom they testify (John 1:45), but Christ is also the Lord of all -- God of gods, King of kings, Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14, 19:16).  Let us note that for these people also, Christ says, "I have compassion on the multitude," just as He had compassion on the previous five thousand who had followed Him into the wilderness from His home territory in Thursday's reading of last week.   The whole world needs His compassion, and this has never been more true, and will always remain so.  In the Psalms we read the people's question, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?"  (Psalm 78:19).  In today's reading, we learn that what Jesus offers is food for the world (John 6:51), for all in their own wilderness.

 

 

He could not be hidden

 

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

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

 

- Mark 7:24-37 

 

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

 

 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  After His conflict with the scribes and Pharisees in Saturday's reading (see above), Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region.  For this reason the text tells us that He wanted no one to know it.  But it also illuminates for us the reality that Christ could not be hidden.  We might speculate that this shows what it is that Christ is both human and divine; it is His divine nature that cannot remain hidden.  Jesus' response, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs" is thrown into relief by a detail of Matthew's report of this (Matthew 15:21-28), in which Jesus comments, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24).  These are the children to whom Jesus refers.  But, as in Matthew's version of this story, this woman is extremely persistent, and will not be put off by Jesus' remarks, so she responds, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."   She is at once humble, accepting what Christ has said, and persistent in her faith and her love for her daughter.  For this expression of both humility and faith her daughter is healed.  

 

 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and who had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on them.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."   My study Bible comments that Jesus' sigh is a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature. 

 

Immediately his ears were opened, and this impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."   There are visceral implications here of the repressive nature of evil, and the signs of Christ's action of liberation, of freeing.  This man's ears and tongue were in a sense "locked" and "closed."  Jesus commands them to be opened and loosed.   My study Bible comments that Christ's admonition to tell no one shows that we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  But interestingly, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ in this situation as a good example, that we should proclaim those who have done good to us even if they do not want us to.  It is, of course, one more example of Christ's desire to remain hidden, and yet He cannot do so.

In both of today's stories, we witness an interesting contradistinction of Christ's humanity and His divinity.  In His humanity, He wishes to be hidden; He has just had an open conflict with the Pharisees and scribes who came from Jerusalem, the center of the religious authority.  He withdraws to the Gentile area of Tyre and Sidon, but He cannot be hidden.  Later He returns roundabout toward Galilee, and He's in the Decapolis (meaning "ten cities" in Greek), which is a Greek-speaking region in which both Roman and Greek culture are mixed with a Jewish population as well.  We can look closely at the oppression that exists among these Gentile peoples in today's reading:  the young daughter of the Greek-speaking Syro-Phoenician woman is oppressed by a demon.  The woman falls at Jesus' feet and repeatedly begs Him for healing because of this oppression of her daughter.  In the Decapolis there is a man who is both deaf and also unable to speak (having an "impediment in his speech").  In the Greek word describing this impediment, the root meaning includes that of "laborious toil," something imposed which makes speech terribly difficult for him.  "Laborious toil" is also a key component of the meanings of the Greek word for evil, or "the evil one."  The language used in today's text for healing by Christ describes liberation:  His act of healing "opens" the man's ears, and His tongue is "loosed," just as the demon has "gone out" from the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman.  While the malice and envy (also archetypal hallmarks of evil) of the Pharisees and scribes forces Jesus to withdraw and seek to remain hidden for a time, His divine nature remains powerfully liberating for those with faith, and there is no impediment that stands in the way of this powerful healing work that is part and parcel of Jesus and His ministry in the world.  Nothing stops this force for liberation, for healing, for salvation.  Its action is always at work.  It's as if we can parse out this text to tell us that while human nature will find ways to sin under the influence of the evil one, the powerful force of God to liberate and heal is always at work in our world through Christ and His ministry, through the redeeming influence of the Holy Spirit and all the forces of God at work for us.  The powerful implement by which this transforming power remains available and at work is faith; it is something in us that, through even the powerful impediments that seek to block our good and suppress our connection to God, we may find our thread, our way in life, through faith which brings us back and into communion with Christ, whose action is to liberate.  As we take a closer look at these stories, we may also think back upon our own lives, and how Christ's faith has worked in our lives.  It does not necessarily preserve us from encounters with evil or temptations to fall into traps of fear, or even the malice and envy of others, but it does work through faith to help us through what seeks to oppress and to oppose God's power in our lives.  We are not spared the difficulties of the world, just as the we have read of the disciples going through difficulties such as windstorms and terrifying experiences.  But it is our faith that keeps us tied to Christ, and the work of the Spirit and all the power of holiness in those with whom we pray, that great cloud of witnesses described by St. Paul (Hebrews 12:1).  We can look back at our lives and see the ways that the thread of faith leads us through difficulties, and remember the unstoppable nature of God which works through all things, even the impediments.