Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, 

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

 

- Matthew 5:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: . . . My study Bible states that in the Old Testament, only a select few were chosen to hear God directly (see Exodus 19:3-13).  Here, it is God Incarnate who is speaking to the multitudes face to face.  The mountain is a place where divine action enters into human history; this is the place where God reveals Himself to human beings (Matthew 17:1; Genesis 22:2; Exodus 3:1, 19:2; 1 Kings 18:20).  Additionally, to be seated is the traditional Jewish position for teaching with authority.  Some early Christian preachers, such as St. John Chrysostom, sat while the people stood.  My study Bible tells us that St. Matthew using the expression that Jesus opened His mouth emphasizes that this teaching is "one way," that in fact He has come to speak with authority (Matthew 7:29), and the disciples are not there to discuss or to debate, but to listen.

 

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  To be blessed in the sense that Jesus uses it here in the Beatitudes indicates heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  My study Bible explains that in Hebrew, "poor" means both the materially poor, and the faithful among God's people.  Those who are poor in spirit are those who have the heart of the poor; that is, the same attitude as the poor, and complete dependence upon God.

 

 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  Those who mourn, my study Bible explains, sorrow over the sufferings of this life (Matthew 9:23), the sufferings of others (John 11:35), the state of the world (Luke 19:41), and their own sins (Luke 7:36-38).  All of these are comforted by the power of God both in this world and in the age to come.  My study Bible adds that holy sorrow is part of repentance, conversion, and virtuous action, and is the firstfruit of infinite joy.  This is distinguished from ungodly sorrow, a sadness that leads to despair (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).

 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  Meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  This is an imitation of Christ, my study Bible says, who is the one who told us, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  My study Bible further explains that the meek are those who are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  It notes that meekness is not passive weakness, but rather strength directed and under control.  The earth that will be is to be inherited by the meek is not power or possession in this world, but it is the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  

 

 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."  My study Bible tells us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness see the presence of God and God's Kingdom as the most important thing in life.  It says that they have a desperate craving for what is right before God, comparable to a starving person's craving for food (see Matthew 6:33).  

 

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  What does it mean to be merciful?  Mercy is love set in motion, according to my study Bible; that is, love expressed in action.   It says that God's mercy in taking our sufferings on Himself in order to grant us God's Kingdom sets us free from captivity to the evil one.  In view of God's mercy to all, we in turn are to be merciful to all.

 

 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."   According to my study Bible, to be pure is to be unmixed with anything else, unadulterated.  The pure in heart are those therefore who are completely devoted to the worship and service of God and accept no compromises.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, those who achieve purity practice all virtue, have no conscious evil in themselves, and live in temperance.  This level of spirituality, it says, is attained by few, but all may strive for it.  When the soul's only desire is God, and a person's will holds to this desire, then that person will truly see God everywhere.  

 

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  As Christ is the source of peace, He found no price sufficient for peace other than to shed His own blood.  In this sense He is our sacrifice shared in communion, and reveals Himself as the Reconciler, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14-16).  According to my study Bible, the Holy Spirit gives peace to those who imitate Christ.  Therefore, peacemakers share God's peace with those around them, imitating Christ's sacrificial love and participating in His work.  By God's grace, peacemakers become sons of God themselves.  

 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  My study Bible declares that children of God uphold truth, refuse to compromise with the ways of the world, and give themselves to no other (Matthew 6:24, 33; see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Like Jesus, these will be persecuted for righteousness' sake (see John 15:18-20).  Christ's kingdom is the crown which awaits the righteous. 

 

My study Bible tells us that the sense of blessedness conveyed in the Beatitudes indicates a heavenly, spiritual exaltation, rather than earthly happiness or prosperity.  In our every day lives, we think of our blessings as all the things we might possess, or perhaps our talents, or health.  But these are the blessings of the Kingdom that Jesus is telling us about, and the Kingdom does not necessarily operate as does the world and our material lives.  In fact, it is these blessings of the Kingdom that may color and add light, or illumine, our experiences of the world.  The things we might think of or experience as loss might not feel as loss according to the Beatitudes of the Kingdom, the blessings we may very well experience, that don't necessarily make worldly sense.  This is akin to the "peace that passes understanding" found in Philippians 4:6-7.  That's a peace that doesn't necessarily correspond to worldly understanding of peace, and may even be found in the midst of tribulation and difficult circumstances.  It is a sense in which these beatitudes, or blessings of the Kingdom, transcend not only circumstances but even time, for they come from Christ's eternal kingdom.  These blessings are not simply transcendent, but they are also transformational.  Like Christ's presence, they transfigure whatever they touch.  A sad circumstance, like the illness of a parent, or the struggles of a child, can be transfigured through our perception of such blessings. When we practice mercy, we find an added dimension to life, another meaning layered over whatever we are experiencing, a giftedness of blessing even in a sad or difficult circumstance.  When we learn meekness, or perhaps we should say the particular kind of "meekness" implied here, we grow in learning both humility, and to perceive capabilities inherent in a perhaps limited circumstance that we didn't see before.  We give up manipulation when we are not able to change something, but in exchange find some grace that allows us to change and accept God's plans wherever we are.  To be poor in spirit is to accept God's kingdom and dominion, authority and power, as the fullest expression of authority we know, reaching into the places of grace and transcending everything else.  We are meant to live for this kind of life, this kind of blessedness as our experience, for this is what it is to "walk with God," and to know Christ in our lives.  Let us consider what it is to be poor in this sense, to exchange our fullest dependence upon the riches of the world, and accept instead the great grace of the blessedness of God, which remains even when all else is gone (Matthew 5:19-20).  There are many wealthy people who can tell us how hollow and empty such a life can be in and of itself; but with God all things are blessed.  

 

 

 

 

They brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them

 

 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  

 

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

- Matthew 4:18-25 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, / By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, / Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

 

  And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.   My study Bible asks us to understand that these first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and so they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, it notes, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to the be the wisest of all.  

 

 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  My study Bible says that we should note that these crowds do not swarm Jesus when He commands repentance (as in yesterday's reading; see the final verse, above), but only as He begins to heal and work miracles.  This fact, it says, shows that the people misunderstand the true nature of His Kingdom.  It also shows Christ's concession, according to Theopylact, "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the fickle multitudes.  

 

Jesus reveals the presence of the Kingdom with Him in the healings that He does.  He heals diseases and torments, epilepsy, paralysis, and of course this goes hand in hand with casting out demons from those who were possessed.  This is all an expression of the Kingdom very present with Him, and of course, a manifestation of His power and authority in His identity as Son.  But, as we discussed in yesterday's reading and commentary, all the things that Christ is, and that entire presence of the Kingdom that encompasses all that He teaches and will do, including even Judgment, are part and parcel of what comes with Christ.  We can pick and choose healing, or casting out demons, but we can't leave out repentance, for this is basic and fundamental to His gospel message.  It is a sad and tragic thing when people suffer; when they suffer from diseases that afflict in terrible ways, when people die.  These things are "not fair."   In the historical understanding of the Church, these afflictions are a part of the effects of sin in the world, and that includes death and all that comes with it.  But each one of us will contend with death in one way or another, and what that means is that the ways in which we meet death, or any of the varied forms of death we encounter in life, such as illness and suffering, injustice, and the entire gamut of myriad things that are detrimental to life, must first of all be the encounter with Christ.  He is the One who transfigured death on the Cross, defeated it, but in His suffering created meaning and purpose.  We also, turning to Him in our distress, must meet all of our suffering and ailments with Him, and the fullness of what He is and teaches us.  Many people look to the amazing healings described in the Gospels and think that prayer's effectiveness is only about those times of trouble we have and the banishing of that trouble, like using a magic wand to fix our problems, or saying particular words that will have this effect.  Some see Christ's preaching as teaching us that all we have to do is believe that we have what we want, and call on His name, and it will be manifest.  But this is not the fullness of His ministry and message.  Even St. Paul writes that he had to accept an affliction, for he had received so many blessings and revelations, and been granted so many graces by God that, as he says, "a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure."  Praying about this "thorn in the flesh," this "messenger of Satan," he was told by God, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Can we, in our quest for healing, accept what St. Paul says here?  That his own thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, was allowed intentionally for the greater glory of God, that his weakness was in fact a way through which God's strength is made perfect?  How many of us can accept so fully this gospel that we could meet our own afflictions this way, finding meaning and even intention and purpose in our suffering?  But St. Paul met his suffering in prayer, and embraced the message that God had for him.  He concludes, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  It is a healthy and good thing to seek life, to reject death in all its forms, and to find the good and abundant reality of creation which God has given us and of which we are a part.  But when we substitute something else, an idol even of something nominally good, for the fullness of Christ and the meanings and grace to be found in the transfiguration of life possible through faith, then we're missing the mark -- we're failing to find what God has in mind for us and the beauty therein.  None of us wants to suffer; even more so, none wants to see their loved ones suffer in any way.  The mother of God, Mary, comes to mind when we think of her watching her Son suffer and die.  This kind of agony we wish upon no one.  And yet, she accepted God's reality for her; it was her faith that guided her response to even the worst cruelties of life.  These things are also great and profound mysteries; they are difficult to fathom, more difficult even to see when we are in distress.  But prayer will see us through them, even in the times when God's grace must be sufficient for us, when God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, or that of someone we love.  An acceptance of the potentials of meaning even within suffering shifts our perspective to one of compassion, and transcendence.  We find a dignity in forbearance but most of all in our capacity for care in the midst of imperfection, a beauty in seeing the grace that is still possible in the expression of faith and of love and the strength made perfect in weakness.  For we are on a journey to God which takes us through all kinds of things in life, even the sad things of this world.  Let us find His way and the comfort in His easy yoke, and light burden (Matthew 11:20).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned

 

 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, 

Galilee of the Gentiles:

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned."

 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

- Matthew 4:12-17 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and,  'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'" Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.   And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. 

 

 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  Note that the Gospel gives us a sense of the "handing off" of ministry from John the Baptist, the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament type prophets, to Jesus, who brings the New Covenant through His ministry.  John is titled the Forerunner, the one who prepared the people for Christ's ministry.

 

And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, / By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, / Galilee of the Gentiles: . . .  My study Bible comments that the term Galilee of the Gentiles indicates that many non-Jews lived in the region of Galilee.  As Galilee had a mixed population, it was not considered a genuinely Jewish land, although many Gentile residents had converted to Judaism during the Maccabean period.  Because many of the Jews there had been influenced by the Greek culture and its customs, my study Bible says, they were generally considered to be second-class citizens by the Jews of Judea.  

 

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, / And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death / Light has dawned."   Darkness, my study Bible explains, means ungodliness.  Here it is representative of the Gentiles' unawareness of God and the Jews being under the shadow of the Old Covenant.  To sit in darkness means to be overcome by spiritual ignorance.  The great light, it says, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."   This is Christ's first word of His ministry, echoing that of John the Baptist, "Repent" (see this reading).  The kingdom of heaven, my study Bible says, is present wherever Christ is.

 

 My study Bible comments that the kingdom of heaven is present wherever Christ is.  At the moment when Christ first comes preaching this word, people have yet to see the unfolding of His ministry and His teachings, His miracles and His criticisms of the religious leadership.  The people who hear Christ in the beginning of His ministry don't yet know about what is to come in Holy Week, His Crucifixion, nor His Resurrection.  They don't know about Pentecost and the Church to come.  But when we listen and know and accept in the Church that "where Christ is, there is the kingdom of heaven" we need to think about all that this means.  For where Christ is, there is also the whole of Christ.  There is the Man who taught us that to follow Him is to take up our own crosses.  There is the One who was Crucified.  There is the One who died and resurrected and who ascended into heaven, even divinizing human flesh, so that we could follow Him there also.  So when we hear the command "Repent" used by Christ, let us hear all of its meaning for us.  For it does not come in a vacuum to us.  We are not the people of Galilee who first hear Him preach and have no familiarity with Him except perhaps as One from a town of not much reputation, Nazareth, a son of a carpenter.  To repent in our context, as those who must hear echoes of the fullness of Christ's mission and ministry in what He preaches here, we must understand that the command to repent is asking us to be conformed to Him in our love for Him, the same way that in a solid marriage of love, we find spouses conforming to one another out of love.  But He is our Bridegroom, the head of our family, the One who teaches us what we are all about, gives us His Creed, and encourages us in turn to bloom in that repentance, in following Him, as each one may do with whatever they have been given in life, created as a unique soul by God.  To repent, in the true meaning of the Greek term, is to "change one's mind."  But this is a special kind of changing of one's mind.  This is a change of mind that comes through the influence of Christ, of that kingdom of heaven that exists wherever He is.  And let us not forget that where He is, so also is the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of the kingdom of heaven in the great cloud of witnesses testified to by St. Paul.  We "repent" or change in terms of the influence and effect of our closeness to Christ in all of that fullness, just like the disciples will who follow Him in the stories of the Gospels.  Let us remember when we pray, when we turn to the Cross, in all our moments when we seek Christ, that there is the kingdom of heaven, and His mission and ministry meant for us to dwell there also, and to help to bring it into this world through our faith in following Him and bearing His light within us.

 

 

 

 

You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve

 

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,'

and, 

 'In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" 

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

 

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.   And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. 

 

- Matthew 4:1-11

 

 On Saturday, we read about the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. My study Bible explains that to be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  As in St. Mark's Gospel, here the Spirit leads, or "throws," Jesus into the wilderness after His Baptism to be tested by a struggle with the devil.  We who are baptized in Christ, it says, need not be defeated by temptations because we are also aided by the Holy Spirit.  Here the wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world.  That is, it is both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory. 

 

 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  My study Bible reminds us that the Israelites were tested forty years in the wilderness and proved disobedient and disloyal.  God humbled them by first letting them go hungry and then feeding them with manna to help them learn to be dependent upon God (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).  In today's reading, my study Bible says, Jesus is tested with hunger for forty days, but He does not sin.  In reading the passage, let us keep in mind that all of Christ's answers to Satan are from Deuteronomy, and they are all calling for loyalty to God.  My study Bible adds that Jesus fasted in order to overcome temptation, which gives us an example of our own power and limitations in the face of temptation.  The hunger of Christ's flesh doesn't control Him.  Instead, He controls His flesh.  Christ's fast of forty days is the foundation of the Church's traditional practice of a Lenten fast before Holy Week, and also before Christmas.

 

 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  It's important to note that the bedrock of all things is our love of God who loves us.  Here, the devil begins with a challenge of Christ's relationship to the Father.  He says, "If You are the Son of God" in order to call into question the Father's declaration at Jesus' Baptism (see Saturday's reading, above, in which the voice of the Father declares, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased").  My study Bible says that the devil wants Jesus to act independently and to detach Himself from the will of the Father.  In Christ's divine nature, He shares one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), apart from God the Father.  But in Christ's humanity, He has free will, and at all times must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father. 

 

  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  In rejecting this first temptation, Jesus is rejecting a purely worldly perspective and shows us not to pursue earthly comfort in the "food which perishes" (John 6:27).  In the poetry of the Bible, we see that Adam disregarded the divine word in order to pursue the passions of the Body (Genesis 3), and here the New Adam -- Jesus Christ -- conquers all temptation by the divine word, giving human nature the power to conquer Satan.  

 

 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and,  'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"   The holy city is Jerusalem.  Here the devil tries a trick; as Jesus was able to defeat him through the power of Scripture in the first temptation above, now the devil tries to use Scripture to put God's power of protection to the test.  See also 2 Peter 1:19-21.  

 

 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Jesus responds by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16.  My study Bible comments that trials and temptations come on their own; we should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to test or prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD. 

 

 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.   And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.   My study Bible reminds us here that God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions.  In the devil's test, Jesus was being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  The devil is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  Here Jesus refuses this road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world.  

 

Let us note that the last verse in today's reading tells us that then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.   It illustrates this nature of the wilderness in which we find ourselves.  There is tremendous beauty of God, there is the defeat in the temptations of the devil, high and low, exalted and debased.  We have saints and angels with us, we have the devil and the fallen demons who tempt us.  We are in the middle of a battleground, as my study Bible puts it, and when we forget that this is where we are, we forget what we are meant to be about.  Fasting is a practice in which we meet our temptations, as does Jesus here.  For each person, the temptations will vary, but if you ask a priest listening to confession, they are so often the same old things, just varying in pattern and details of a person's particular life experience.  We should say, to begin with, that fasting in the Christian context is not about going on a diet, not about willpower, not just about self-discipline in some athletic or stoic sense.  Neither is it about morality.  Fasting is something we do with God and for God; it is a way of both showing love and commitment to God (to Christ), and at the same time struggling against our own temptations to take shortcuts, to think it doesn't matter, to think of ourselves simply as thinking machines with bodies irrelevant to faith and to love of Christ and separated from our minds and hearts.  Fasting reminds us that we are all of a whole:  body, soul, and spirit, for it involves all.  When we fast we do it to shore up and rely upon that relationship to God, to understand that our dependency upon God gives us strength to rise above the worldly exigencies that press in upon us and to meet them the way God would ask us to, not imply to be controlled by them.  Fasting in this sense helps us to say "no" to the rest of things we need to discern and reject, and to say "yes" to what we need for our true strength and growth and development.  In that sense, all the disciplines in the Church are meant to help us to grow in our own identity as human beings, to come to know what it is to be formed and shaped by Christ to become more like Him, and to meet the challenges of bearing our own crosses in the world.  Let us note first of all that it is the Holy Spirit who leads Christ up into the wilderness to face these temptations.  This is preparation for His ministry to come.  When Jesus resists temptation in today's reading, He's doing several things we can observe.  First of all, He's setting limits on the devil, on what the devil can tempt Him to do, and on the devil's presumption to ensnare Him in his power, like a slave.  He defeats the devil by saying no to the temptations presented.  And Jesus does more than that.  He sets down the rules by which He needs to live His life, and carry out His ministry in the world.  When we say no to temptation, we are doing the same.  We are setting up our own protective boundaries, a fence that lines the road we intend to follow for not just our own good but for the life of the world, in following Christ.  We have the power to resist temptation and choose the path of Christ instead.  Faith practices such as fasting help us to mark that clear delineation and to know, as my study Bible says, that we have the power to do so, exercising and developing that strength in Christ through faith.  When we go through periods of testing and temptation, when we feel sorely pressed and without resource, let us remember what we read here, that Christ is with us, and angels minister to us, and that through our faith we have the power to say no to what is not good for us, the things that lead us away from God, the phony temptations that sound good but are a snare.  Let us remember that sin easily leads to our own slavery; as anyone struggling with addiction of any kind -- including to material wealth, power, or anything else we make into an idol.  Every false consolation leads us to a degraded and weak condition, and takes away from our humanity, what we can be as human beings created in the image of God.  Let us take heart and be like Christ, and follow Him.   He puts His relationship with God the Father first; let's remember where our love belongs and the One who will teach us more of love.

 

 

 

 

 

Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness

Baptism of Christ, 15th cent. from Kythera;  Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece 

 

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  

 

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 

- Matthew 3:13-17 

 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.   But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 

 

  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  My study Bible comments that Jesus does not need purification.  He makes the purification of humanity His own, and thereby washes away humanity's sin, grants regeneration, and reveals the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  So, therefore, Christ's baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation.  St. Gregory of Nyssa comments, "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."

 

 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  My study Bible says that the Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Genesis 1:2).  Now, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove in order to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at this beginning of the new creation.  Jesus does not become the Son of God here on this day.  What is happening is that He is revealed to all as the Son of God at this occasion.  The Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  The feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation) or Theophany (meaning a manifestation of God), is celebrated on January 6th.  In the Eastern Churches it commemorates this occasion.  In the most ancient practices of the Church, Theophany and Nativity (Christmas) were celebrated together on January 6th; in the Armenian Apostolic Church, this practice is maintained today.

 

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."   This quotation is from Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son, / Today I have begotten You."  My study Bible asks us to note how the Baptism of Jesus reveals the great mystery of the Trinity -- the Father speaks; the Holy Spirit descends; the Incarnate Son is baptized.  

 

In a particular sense, we can think of the occasion of Christ's Baptism as an icon, and it is among other things an icon of the Holy Trinity.  There is the voice of the Father, identifying Christ as God's Son, and the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God) descending like a dove, all together, and declaring the tripartite God; that is, one God in three divine Persons.  This great mystery is revealed in this "icon" of Baptism, in which God has chosen to manifest God's realities for us human beings.  This greater revelation of God comes as Jesus encourages John the Baptist to baptize Him in order to fulfill all righteousness.  So here, at this very beginning of Christ's ministry, we are immediately offered a manifestation of God, the Holy Trinity.  That is, a revelation of God in an expanded sense.  While in second temple literature in the Jewish tradition, from the centuries just immediately prior to the coming of Christ, there existed opinions that there might be more Persons of God than One, here that is confirmed and expanded.  So this beginning of Christ's public ministry both reveals God in greater fullness than was known before, and at the same time inaugurates His preaching and teaching mission.  It's a way that we understand that He is the One who is Sent among us, as the Beloved Son.  So even as Christ is fulfilling all righteousness by being baptized by John the Baptist, the fruits of ministry have begun, and humanity is enlightened into an understanding of God in a fuller way than before.  As Christ's ministry unfolds, He will teach us that to see Him is to see the Father, and we will also witness the effects of the Spirit, even as Christ's ministry prepares us for Pentecost.  Let us take a moment to think of these gifts given to us, this illumination brought by Christ who is Sent, and manifest to us through the Holy Spirit, and be grateful for what we have been given, for even in this moment, the world is transformed and Christ's gifts and effects continue among us.  Christ is placed in the waters of Baptism, sanctifying the waters of the world for Holy Baptism to come, transfiguring what we know of God, giving us gifts that will continue to give and will not stop coming.  Let us not be dismayed by the evil that works in the world, for we know that He has come to enlist us in the fight for this world, and all that He does is for us.  Let us be blessed with this knowledge, this revelation, and with the gifts of the Spirit that continue to bless us, including baptism, holy water, our prayers, and all the sacraments and mysteries this moment offers and opens up for the Church to come.  Let us learn from this icon of the Holy Trinity that where One Person of the Trinity is present, so there are all Three among us, with Christ who brings us this depth of connection to God.  For the whole world is blessed as sacrament from this moment fulfilling all righteousness.

 

 

 

 

 

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

 Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.   But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

- Matthew 3:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the wise men who came to find the Christ Child had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male  children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  My study Bible comments that the wilderness of Judea is the barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea (see this map).  It says the preparation for the Savior's ministry begins with John the Baptist's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face.  The word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) means literally to change one's mind, or more generally to turn around.  Repentance, my study Bible says, is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart.  That is, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  This is the necessary first step in the way of the LORD, but it is an ongoing process throughout one's lifetime of movement more deeply toward God.  My study Bible tells us that it is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, and it's followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change.  

 

 Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  John the Baptist's ascetic life conformed to that of Jewish sects such as the Essenes.  My study Bible explains that they lived in the wilderness, and their purpose was to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  John is distinguished in his clothing as an image typical of a prophet (2 Kings 1:8).  The monastic movement in the early Church took inspiration and was patterned after John's manner of life.  

 

 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.   The confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New, my study Bible says.  But John's baptism was a sign of repentance and the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not give the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God; that will come with Christian baptism.

 

  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  My study Bible explains that Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class, who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  It says they denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees formed a lay religious movement centered on the study of the Law and on strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead, and they also cherished a messianic hope.  But they taught that righteousness is based on the strength of one's works according to the Law.  Moreover their understanding was that the Messiah would be a glorious man.  John calls them brood of vipers here, but Jesus will later do the same (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  My study Bible adds that this term indicates their deception and malice and their being under the influence of Satan.

 

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . . "  My study Bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance; in other words, a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life doesn't follow, it notes, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  Therefore in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is imaged chopping a fruitless tree (verse 10).  

 

. . .  and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  This warning that from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim) is a play on words.  My study Bible says that God will not admit fruitless children into His house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.

 

 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  This first reference to fire (every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire) refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  Christ baptizes in the fire of Holy Spirit, which my study Bible calls the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  But the fire of judgment is the same fire of the Holy Spirit; it burns what cannot stand in it and enlivens and enlightens those who will receive it.  John says that he is not worthy to carry Christ's sandals: in John's culture, a slave would carry the sandals of the king, so John is declaring himself to be lower than a slave of Jesus.  His inability to carry Christ's sandal has a second meaning cited by my study Bible, and that is that carrying another's sandal once meant to take someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  So John is showing that he could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and also that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  Winnowing is a metaphor for divine judgment, as it separated the threshed grain from the chaff, and thus images the separation of good and evil.

 

Today's reading may prompt us to wonder, what is a prophet?  Both St. Matthew and St. Luke report Jesus as saying of John the Baptist, "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet" (Matthew 11:9; Luke 7:26).  In accordance with the traditional view of the Church, we could call John the prophet of prophets, or perhaps even more literally, the prophet to end all prophets.  It is John, after all, who is the last in the line of Old Testament prophets, for he is the one proclaiming the time of the Messiah and the Kingdom at hand, preparing the people for Christ's public ministry.  As my study Bible points out, John comes dressed in the clothing distinctive of the prophet Elijah (John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey).  This is a reflection of the prophecy that Elijah would return before the Messiah came.  In the prophesy of Malachi we read, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6).  Jesus will later tell the disciples, "I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."   Through this the disciples understood He was speaking about John the Baptist, who came Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist, who came "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17).  In all of this understanding, and more, John is considered to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  But what is the function of a prophet?  Is it simply to tell of future events?  When we look at the prophets of the Old Testament, what we see are servants of God calling the people back to God, reminding them of the promises to Abraham and his descendants, and challenging their lack of loyalty to the Lord.  These prophets are the ones who warned of hardships to come for the people's lack of fidelity to God, a community's failure to stick with the Lord who loved Israel.  But then, the return to the Beloved is also found in the prophecies, and the redemption of Israel's fortunes.  So John's warnings come not only with the great good news of the coming of the Lord, but also with the warnings to those whom he calls a brood of vipers, the religious leaders who betray their calling with corruption.  Repentance is the word given here, and it is a word given to all:  in repentance is found the preparation for the Lord's coming into the world and for His ministry.  For in repentance we find a commitment to turn and face God, to shake away or burn off the things that cannot stand with God, to turn from the things God wants us to leave behind, and to find God's way forward for us.  A call for repentance from a prophet cannot be without this reminder, this knowledge that we need to prepare for the time, and to take it seriously, for there are effects created by our choices.  Why do people so often seem to wish to see prophesy only as that which can "tell the future" as if some grand thing will be gained by knowing the time of Christ's return, or what new thing will happen that we don't yet know about?  So often, no one wants to hear the warning and the message of repentance, to look in the mirror or even toward the Cross and to say, "What do I need to do for You?"  Let us consider that it is the love of God which calls us forward and our own refusal that holds us back.  For as Jesus said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:36-37).  Replacing all the prophets of old, Christ teaches repeatedly that we are to be awake and aware, prepared for His return (Matthew 25:1-13), and above all that we are to endure in our faith through all things, for just like ancient Israel, the Lord is our first love and the One upon whom we must depend.  So every day, we may prepare the way of the LORD; and make His paths straight, even if the cry comes from a lone voice in the wilderness of the world.  For we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, and that promise also will be kept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more

 

 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."

 

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male  children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

"A voice was heard in Ramah,

Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,

 Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted,

Because they are no more." 

 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

- Matthew 2:13-23  

 

Yesterday we read that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah;  For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"  Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

 

  Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  My study Bible points out that Egypt is where Israel once took refuge; as Joseph of the Old Testament once saved God's people by bringing them to Egypt (Genesis 39 - 47), now Christ's stepfather Joseph finds safety for the Savior in Egypt.  It is probable, it adds, that the gifts of the magi paid for this journey.  

 

 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."   This quotation is from the prophet Hosea (Hosea 11:1).  It refers first to Israel being brought out of captivity.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible explains, "son" can refer to the whole nation of Israel.  Here Jesus fulfills this calling as the true Son of God by coming out of Egypt.  

 

 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.   My study Bible tells us that the cruelty of Herod was prefigured by Pharaoh, who, in an attempt to destroy the power of Israel, commanded the death of all the newborn Jewish boys (Exodus 1:16, 22).  

 

 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."   The prophet Jeremiah recorded the people of Jerusalem being led away into exile (Jeremiah 31:15).  On their way to captivity, my study Bible says, they passed Ramah, which was near Bethlehem, where Jacob's wife Rachel lay buried.  In his prophecy, Jeremiah saw Rachel, even from the grave, moved with compassion for the fate that had come to her descendants.  St. Matthew writes that Rachel once again is weeping for her children, and according to my study Bible, it shows that the saints in heaven have awareness and compassion for those yet on earth.  These slaughtered children are regarded as saints and martyrs in the Church and are known as the Holy Innocents.  Just as Rachel was told that her children would return from exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 31:16-17), so Jesus will return from His exile in Egypt.

 

 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  According to historical records reported by my study Bible, Herod the Great died in 4 BC.  So, the date of Christ's birth on our current AD (Anno Domini, Latin for "year of the Lord") calendar is based is off by four years.

 

 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  My study Bible cites Augustus Caesar having banished Archelaus for his cruelty in AD 6.  This cruelty, it says, was revealed as a warning to Joseph, hence the detour to Nazareth.  This town was in Galilee, and governed by a different son of Herod the Great, whose name was Herod Antipas (see Luke 3:1). 

 

 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."  My study Bible tells us that this prophecy cannot be precisely identified.  It has been taken as a reference to the rod (Hebrew neser) in Isaiah 11:1, and to the Nazritie (Hebrew Nazir) of Judges 13:5.   It says that St. Matthew might also have been alluding to passages in which the Messiah was despised, since Nazareth did not have a good reputation (John 1:46).  

 

In these early "chapters" of Christ's life, we see that His entry into the world as Human Being was anything but simple and easy.  First of all, His pregnant mother and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem for Caesar's census.  This cannot by any means have been an easy journey.  Then, for the Savior of the world, there was no place -- no place to stay and to be born.  So He was born in a cave, used as a barn for animals, where the shepherds, informed by angels, came to adore Him (see Luke 2:1-20).  As we have read so far in St. Matthew's Gospel, the wise men have made their way from Persia to find this Child born under a star which foretold a tremendous identity and destiny.  In Bethlehem they are brought before Herod to tell him about the Child, but they manage to escape Herod when leaving through divine warning in a dream.  This is after they bring Christ their gifts of gold for a King of the ages, frankincense for the God of all, and myrrh for One who is Immortal and yet will be three days dead.  Shortly after, based upon the information he was given by the wise men (or magi), Herod orders the death of all male infants under the age of two years.  But Joseph -- similarly to the wise men -- has been divinely warned in a dream to take the Child to Egypt, and so they must live in exile until King Herod is dead.  Then this holy family returns, but the fear of Archelaus, new ruler of Judea, keeps them from going to Bethlehem, so they turn to Galilee to establish themselves there, where Jesus will be raised.  As my study Bible points out, Jesus will meet with disapproval and suspicion, even contempt, because it will be known that He is from Nazareth, a town which holds little importance in terms of prophesy and spiritual history.  But that, of course, will come from people who do not know that He was born in Bethlehem, the city of King David.  So let us start here, with all of these difficulties, present in simply the first few years of Christ's life.  We should note, too, that they are difficulties for His parents, His mother and earthly guardian Joseph, who take all precautions and take on hardships to protect this Child.  What does it say about the Incarnation story?  If you and I were writing a story about the King of all, the Lord of the universe, come into the world and born on planet earth in the form of a helpless baby, what would we write?  Could we even imagine these difficulties?  Would we write such a story of exile, of being despised and being hunted?  Would we invent a story of the wise men who come to honor Him but who are also in mortal danger for doing so, and must leave the country by evading King Herod?  I hardly think so, for our ideas about majesty and grandeur are not compatible with God's plans and the truth of the Gospels, and indeed, of the whole Bible.  One thing we can say is that most certainly, in His Incarnation, Christ most definitely experiences the dangers of life that we are subject to -- and maybe even more so than most.  Even as an Infant, He's subject to the hatred and envy of those in power and who wish to simply kill Him because He is already a perceived threat.  There are those who come to adore and worship Him, and even His mother knows not simply to marvel, but that she "kept all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19), the way a loving mother pores repeatedly over pictures at various ages of her child, and landmarks in his childhood kept in a scrapbook.  Mary kept them all in her heart to ponder.   We can only imagine her distress to come after Jesus begins His public ministry.  But this is the story of our Lord.  This is the way that God has sent His Son into the world -- not to have an easy, simple, or comfortable life, but to share our fears, our dangers, our woes, our worries.  He shares our vulnerability to abusive power, to coercive military might, to cruelty, and to death.  He shares everything we share in a world beset by the effects of sin with which we cope every day, and the ongoing hatreds, lies, envy, injustice, and vicious behaviors we know and may experience.  He is also born into a world beset by temptations and the malice of demons, but that will become a special hallmark of His presence -- effects that will become immediately discernible to people once His public ministry starts.  But as we go on to read about Christ's life, let us first take a minute to consider these dangers and fears that we all experience that are already borne in upon Christ, even as a little Child.  Let us consider the sacrifices and love of His parents, and know that God's plan was not for worldly greatness, but for something quite different.  And in this inclusion in our subjection to the same difficulties and dangers, let us know that this is shared with us so that we are also born into a mission if we are His followers.  He did not come to be treated "like a King" but to show courage against the adversary, to teach us His way, give us His light and the Holy Spirit, so that we bring in a Kingdom into this world that is His together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We are invited to share in a mission with Him.  And when we face a world shaken by senseless violence, malicious hatreds, cruelty that we can't imagine, and a host of evils and effects that frighten and terrify, He has been here with us and this is somehow, in ways we can't imagine, a part of the plan.  Midst all this strife and even senseless things to our minds, we  have a role to play, something important to do, and the salvation of the world even perhaps depends upon it.  There have been countless saints, martyrs, confessors, and unknown faithful who have lost their lives and faced perils for the sake of His name and His gospel.  Let us take up His mission and know the power of His Cross, the courage that He gives, the strength of His truth, and the meaning even in His suffering and that of those who follow.  For God's ways are not our ways, nor God's thoughts our thoughts, but His Kingdom is ours when we meet Him at His Cross, and carry our own His way. Nothing we know of in history has had the impact of Christ and His followers upon the world; let us continue to seek His way with prayer and through the living faith He teaches.  And remember that even the sparrows are known to Him, even the hairs of our head (Matthew 10:29-31).