The Texts for the 1st Sunday in Lent, March 9th, 2014

First Reading: Genesis 2:15–17; 3:1–7

Chapter 2

¹⁵The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.  ¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;  ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

 

Chapter 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  ²The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;  ³but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'"  ⁴But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die;  ⁵for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  ⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.  ⁷Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Second Reading: Romans 5:12–19

¹²Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned —  ¹³sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.  ¹⁴Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.  ¹⁶And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.  ¹⁷If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.  ¹⁹For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Gospel: Matthew 4:1–11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  ²He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.  ³The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  ⁴But he answered, "It is written,

'One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

  ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,  ⁶saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

'He will command his angels concerning you,'

and 'On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

  ⁷Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;  ⁹and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."  ¹⁰Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

'Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him.'"

  ¹¹Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

he Text in Greek - Pr. Fourman

Matthew 4:1-11

v1 ανηχθη (αναγω) aor. pas. "[Jesus] was led" - Matthew's choice of word, as distinct from Mark and Luke, probably has exodus overtones. Jesus was led into the wilderness as Israel was led into the wilderness.

πειρασθηναι (παιραζω) aor. inf. pas. "to be tempted" - The infinitive expresses purpose, "in order to" (Mark and Luke use a participle). Note how Matthew has the temptation after the 40 days, while Mark and Luke has it during.

του διαβολου (ος) "the devil" – literally "the enemy; the tester, the accuser, the evil one".

v2 νηστευσας (νηστευω) aor. part. "after fasting" - adverbial, note how Matthew fills in the details of fasting, ie. going without food for a period, possibly pointing his readers to the "fast" of Israel in the wilderness (Ex.34:28, Deut.9:9). 

υστερον adv. "afterward”;  temporal adverb; he was hungry later – so not a symbolic fast.

v3 The first temptation - stones into bread. As with all the temptations, this is a test of faith. Will God supply Jesus' needs in the journey to the cross or should he rely upon his own ingenuity? Israel failed this very test in the wilderness so, the first temptation tests Jesus willingness to rely upon God's provision.

ο πειραζων (πειραζω) pres. part. "the one testing”. A descriptive of the devil's persona; he tempts to an evil end, can do more than tempt?

προσελθων (προσερχομαι) aor. part. "having approached” 

ει + ind. "if" - a conditional clause 1st class, where the condition is assumed to be a reality; so maybe “Since you are the υιος "the Son [of God]" - not "a son of God."

ινα + subj. "so that [these stones become bread] - a dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Jesus should speak.  Sop the tempter is suggestion the content of his speech here, not his actions (this power belongs to God, not Jesus).

  
v4 ο ... αποκριθεις (αποκρινομαι) aor. pas. part. "the one {tempted} answered”. 

γεγραπται (γραφω) perf. pas. "it is written" - The formal introduction to quotations; literally “it stands written”.  Soooooo; Jesus’ first defense to the temptation of interpreting God’s will to favor his own needs is to default to Scripture?  Horrors!

v5 The second temptation – at the pinnacle of the temple, note that in Luke the order of the next two temptations is reversed, although Matthew's order seems more appropriate given the devil's "worship me" is the most serious temptation. 

παραλαμβανει (παραλαμβανω) pres. "took him" – the present tense is probably historic, used for dramatic effect.

το πτερυγιον (ον) "the highest point" – an actual place by the way, although the actual meaning here is unclear, tip or high-point of a building is commonly accepted but it has been suggested it simply describes the position of the temple itself, given that it was held to be the highest point in Israel and the center of the world.

v6 οτι a dependent statement of quotation. The Devil can also use Scripture, in this case the Psalms.  But now the reversal, and Jesus interprets Scripture, of course he does this b y USING Scriptures – and where have we heard this principal applied before? Oh wait, I remember!  Funny how quickly we forget own training and values.

v7 Jesus' quotes Deut.6:16, a verse which goes on to refer to the testing of God by Israel at Massa, Ex.17:1-7. It was there Israel questioned God's covenant promise for their security and sought to dictate his provision. The Deuteronomy reference encourages Israel to do better.

εφη (αφιημι) aor. "[Jesus] answered" – literally, he ‘revealed what he was thinking”.

ουκ εκπειρασεις (εκπειραζω) fut. "do not put [the Lord your God] to the test" - do no tempt - an imperatival future tense. In the sense that forcing God prove himself correct is faithless at its center. 

v8 υψηλον adj. "high" (literally high) δεικνυσιν (δεικνυμι) pres. "showed" - Probably more in the sense "revealed", exposed the mystery of the secular world; apparently the devil has a doctorate in sociology.

του κοσμου (ος) gen. "[kingdoms] of the world" – interesting use of cosmos….

v9 The third and most powerful temptation - a kingdom without a cross. Jesus will rightly possess an eternal kingdom by divine right, but like Israel of old, the way to glory is through the wilderness. Satan's compromise will trouble Jesus at the end; in Gethsemane he prays; "if it is possible, don't let this bitter ordeal come to me", again, we have a test of faith, either rely on God and his promise or on the world and its comfortable compromises.

δωσω (διδωμι) fut. "I will give" - Is it the devil's to give; does he really have the “whole world in his hands?

προσκυνησης (προσκυνεω) "worship" - do obeisance. This word is sometimes translated "to serve" but it means "to adore" or “prostrate before."

v10 υπαγε (υπαγω) pres. imp. "away from me" – imperative, Jesus now commands.  And once again he appeals to Scripture; “it stands written”.

λατρευσεις (λατρευω) fut. ind. "you shall adore, venerate, worship”. There is some confusion over the meaning of this verb. "Service" is probably not its intended meaning - the parallelism of the text (προσκυνησεις, "to fall down before = to do obeisance") supports the translation "worship, venerate.”

v11 αφιησιν (αφιημι) pres. ind. "left/abandons him" (note Luke's addition, "until a suitable time."

διηκονουν (διακονεω) "attended/served”; durative, sustained action, originally a word applied to waiting on tables; (Acts 6).  The angels' presence calls attention to the victory of obedience, i.e. the angels come and take care of him.

Standards - Pr. Kruse

Yet temptations, though troublesome and severe, are often useful to a man, for in them he is humbled, purified, and instructed. The saints all passed through many temptations and trials to profit by them, while those who could not resist became reprobate and fell away. There is no state so holy, no place so secret that temptations and trials will not come. Man is never safe from them as long as he lives, for they come from within us—in sin we were born. When one temptation or trial passes, another comes; we shall always have something to suffer because we have lost the state of original blessedness. — Thomas a’ Kempis.

There is a strange “twofold-ness” of Jesus that is evident in the Gospels. No, not the fact that he is of two natures as good Caledonian formulations pose. Instead there is a twofold-ness in mastery over his foes. He commands spirits with mastery and indignation and they have no choice but to do has he commands. It is as if the spirits that beset the insane and infirm in the stories are but small nuisance critters that must be dealt with as any raccoon caught in the attic. Yet, with humans . . . 

The voice from heaven announced: “This is my son, with whom I am well pleased.” (3:16)  We sometimes argue who actually heard this voice. Only Jesus? Only John? The crowd? What seems to be certain is that the spirits heard. God’s announcement of Jesus at his baptism made one thing certain: The spirits now knew who he was and they would have to deal with him. They will loose at every turn. 

Even the prince on demons gets to loose. Unlike the Pharisees who continue their argument with him the entire Gospel long, the tempter realizes that he is not getting anywhere with his line of “suggestions.” He retreats accomplishing nothing only to behold humans to fully adopt his suggestions and in doing so brining on his ruin.

So, in the spirit world all was settled. Yes, our ancestors believed in spirits and gave them all the due needed to live safely. We are more advanced and have no good luck charms, lucky pennies, neither do we wear our favorite color shirt when we need an extra bit of support from “other” sources, nor do we wear our shirts inside out on game day because we believe that data has shown that when we do, our team will win, and when our team wins the Super Bowl then the stock market will rally the following week — or was that when the Stock Market is on the upswing the NFC team wins the super bowl? And neither is ghost hunting anything that would ever make it unto the television nor would there be ghost hunting tours of Gettysburg or old insane asylums. 

Anyway: in the world of humans it is another story. There the players are more a battleground than participants in the battle. There, Jesus does not work by command. There his work is done by belief or it is thwarted by the lack of it. (13:58) There the debate just never seems to stop (22, 23), disciples jokey for place (20:24), betrayal is a possibility (26:14), denial is an option (26:75), and the doubting never really ceases. (28:17) All of these are foreseen by Jesus but he seem content to let it be that way. In the human realm, he choses not to rule by force or command. 

If the spirits can oppress and the Tempter can misguide and coerce, and if Jesus can command them and is therefore more powerful, could he not do the same and even more to us than the spirits and the tempter? The questions might be asked: “why don’t he,” and “what might it mean that he does not?” 

Those questions can also be turned around. The demons see him and know they must obey and even their prince is bested by the Word that comes from his mouth. How is it that we do not obey the word when we hear it but argue, twist, and dice the Word? (23:1-36)

Under the best and most ideal conditions for faithfulness and allegiance to God, Adam and Eve met the tempter. Even in the idyllic life with everything going for them, they failed. In a world where things are much less clear do we really want to claim we have a chance to do better than they? No, we twist, we argue, and we ignore and as a result fall into sin, death, and the ever deepening sway of evil. Under that sway pharisees argue and die, and sin becomes the new normal, the glasses through which all things are seen and the new standard by which all things are judged. That standard admires power and is blinded by it so much as not to see the evil that is being worshipped by pursuit of it. That standard finds the amazing and amusing things of life worthy of exclusive attention and therefore overlooks the angels that point to the truly heavenly things in mangers. That standard finds the legitimacy of its actions in its own will and not in the will of God — it is the world of auto-nomianism. 

Wealth, possessions, honors, and pride. These are the ideals of the tempter.  He whispers to us that we need the praise and acceptance of others, and tells us that because of our successes, we deserve honors. He wants us to adopt the attitude of “look at me and what I have done.”

Christ instead calls his followers to go out into the world and lead everyone to freedom from precisely this. Spiritual poverty, insults, and humility. (Matt 5:1-12) These lead to true freedom. This means we live a life recognizing and accepting that all that we have is a gift from God. Possessions are not something to be worshipped. In regards to insults, we are to let God’s love lead us through the illusion of self-satisfaction and approval of others to a life of serving others. We are called to a life of selflessness, and such a life will put us at odds with the world, which could result in insults and rejection. Finally, Christ calls us to a life of humility, a life of unconditional love and service for God and others. (http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-spiritual-exercises/how-the-two-standards-meditation-can-help-outside-of-a-retreat/)

It takes different eyes to see heaven and to discern hell. We do not have those eyes. Jesus does. He can and did see the temptations for what they were: an invitation to sin, death and the devil. The Gospels show us his resistance to them to say to us, much like the voice at his baptism and on the Mountain: This is the one to follow. He knows the way. Listen to him!

We are to be free. This is God’s hope and will. It is also the reason why we are not commanded like demons who will never be free. No, we are being led to freedom by Christ, the one who crushed the serpent’s head because he knew him for what he was — he knew him as our jailer and he came to set us free.

The Texts for Sunday March 2nd, 2014: Transfiguration Sunday

First Reading: Exodus 24:12–18

¹²The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."  ¹³So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.  ¹⁴To the elders he had said, "Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them."

¹⁵Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.  ¹⁶The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud.  ¹⁷Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.  ¹⁸Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Second Reading: 2 Peter 1:16–21

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.  ¹⁷For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."  ¹⁸We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  ²⁰First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,  ²¹because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Gospel: Matthew 17:1–9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.  ²And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.  ³Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.  ⁴Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  ⁵While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"  ⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.  ⁷But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."  ⁸And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

What the Text Says Matthew 17:1-9 - Pr. Fourman

THE TRANSFIGURATION: Matthew 17:1-13

v1  μεθ (μετα) + acc. "after" - after [six days]. Temporal, possibly "on the sixth day", is more likely that the phrase "after six days." This purposely draws on a Sinai motif: the glory of the Lord was on the mountain six days / Moses was with the Lord on the mountain six days, cf. Ex.24:15-18.

παραλαμβανει (παραλαμβανω) pres. "[Jesus] took with him" only the inner circle of apostles(Peter, James and John) get to witness the inner-workings of Christ's mission.

αναφερει (αναφερω) pres. "led up" - as with Moses, Jesus leads his disciples up the mountain to confront the divine.

υψηλον adj. "high [mountain]" - again the Sinai motif although no particular mountain is identified. Some suggest Meron between Caesarea Philippi and Capernaum, others Hermon north of Caesarea Phillipi, some Tabor between Carmel and Galilee.

κατ ιδιαν "by themselves" an idiom for “privately”.

v2 μετεμορφωθη (μεταμορφοω) aor. pas. "he was transfigured" - visibly changed, a divine passive, ie. God does the changing. The focus is Jesus' face, but Matthew tells us his whole presence (cloths and all) radiated. There are some scholars who consider this a misplaced resurrection account. 

εμπροσθεν + gen. "before [them]" λαμψεν (λαμπω) aor. "shone" - another Sinai motif; Jesus' face glows like the face of Moses in Ex.24:29-35

λευκα adj. "white" - Bright white clothing is a common Biblical motif for the garb of heavenly beings (Dan.7:9) and resurrected righteous. 

v3 και ιδου "And behold” another idiom meaning "just then".

ωφθη (οραω) aor. pas. "there appeared to" – intransitive; a word used of beings that make their appearance in a supernatural manner.

συλλαλουντες (συλλαλεω) pres. part. "talking with" – There is a certain surreal quality of this scene, like looking at a Picasso and trying to puzzle out the painter’s intent.  It is meant to be opaque in the sense that they can ;’see’ what is happening, but they are not privy to the ‘private’ conversation occurring between these three figures. The conversation about his “exodus" (a la Luke) is not mentioned by Matthew.

v4 αποκριθεις (αποκρινομαι) aor. pas. part. "[Peter] answered [said] τω/ Ιησου (ους ου) dat. "to Jesus" a dative of indirect object, Peter does not dare speak to either Moses or Elijah..

κυριε (ος) voc. "Lord" - Mark uses "Rabbi" and Luke has "Master" (επιστατεσ) In each case it is an address to the teacher.

σκηνας (η) "tabernacles, tents, booths, dwellings” another allusion to the Exodus, literally the “Feast of Booths” or Sukkoth.

v5 λαλουντος (λαλεω) pres. part. "while [he] was [still] speaking" with whom’ Peter or Moses & Elijah is unclear.  The point seems to be God gets the last word, not Peter or the prophets.

νεφελη (η) "a cloud" - a sign of God's OT presence, his Shekinah glory; another Exodus  image, rthe “pliiar of cloud by say” (Ex.19:9, 24:16-25).

ο υιος μου ο αγαπητος "my son whom I love" - a divine word to the disciples and not just to Jesus at his baptism. This is sometimes taken as an allusion to Ps.2:7 (the crowning of the messiah and his victory over the nations) or Isaiah 42 (the suffering servant). Mark 9:7 and Luke 9:35 omit εν ω ευδοκησα, "with him I am well pleased." What seems unlikely is that the term "beloved son" (more literally unique/one and only son) expresses a filial relationship with God - the reference is messianic.

v6 ακουσαντες (ακουω) aor. part. "when [the disciples] heard " επι + acc. "[they fell facedown] to [the ground]" - - a descriptive way of saying "they did obeisance"

σφοδρα adv. "terrified" a STRONG Greek word, referring back to the terror that the children of Israel felt when God spoke to them from the cloud covering Sinai.

v7 αψαμενος (απτω) aor. part. "touched" - the function here is more adverbial; "Jesus came forward and having touched them said" perhaps an idiom “he raised them to their feet saying…”

μη φοβεισθε (φοβεω) pres. imp. "don't be afraid" again, a connection, foreshadowing? of the resurrection account. 

v8 επαραντες (επαιρω) aor. part. "when [they] looked up" – the Shekinah was gone. 

v9 καταβαινοντων (καταβαινω) gen. pres. part. "as [they] were coming down [the mountain]" – a transitory clause, what goes up, must come down, literally and theologically.  

ενετειλατο (εντελλω) aor. + dat. "commanded” 

μηδενι ειπητε (ειπον) aor. subj. "don't tell anyone". Jesus maintains the so called “messianic secret” for this is the fifth time Jesus has commanded secrecy (here only till the raising of the Son of Man). But the reason for his is unclear, so this is likely an old tradition passed down uncritically.  

το οραμα (α ατος) "what you have seen" - the vision requires a midrash; which is the resurrection, εως + subj. "until ο υιος του ανθρωπου "the Son of Man" (Jesus' favorite messianic title) εγερθη/ (εγειρω) aor. pas. subj. "has been raised" 

v10 τι ουν "why therefore” Presumably this command prompts the disciples' question, the logic of which is not clear. Are the disciples questioning Jesus' command? If the Scribes are right and Elijah precedes the messiah, shouldn't the disciples tell everyone what they have just seen?

v11 αποκριθεις (αποκρινομαι) aor. pas. part. "[Jesus] answering"  μεν...δε "to be sure ....... but" - "on the one hand [Elijah is coming .....] (v11b), but on the other hand [I tell you that Elijah has already come .....], (v12).

αποκαταστησει (αποκαθιστημι) fut. "he will restore/reestablish/bring back”. The future tense is interesting; is Jesus simply confirming that the disciples have properly understood the Scribes' teaching on the role of Elijah? The Scribes are right, but only in part? 

v12 υμιν dat. "[I tell] you" - οτι  that back to the Sermon on the Mount, ηλθεν (ερχομομαι) aor. "has [already] come" - the eschatological age has come and the promised Elijah has fulfilled his work.

ουκ επεγνωσαν (επιγινωσκω) aor. "they did not recognize [him]" – an idiom. “how could they be so rigtht and so wrong at the same time”?

ουτως "in the same way" the Baptist is dead, and now the Son of man is going 

πασχειν (πασχω) pres. inf. "to suffer" - [is about] to suffer. 

υπ (υπο) + gen. "by [their hands]"  

v13 συνηκαν (συνιημι) aor. "understood" - obviously based on something more than v12 (a growing knowledge of the Jesus’ messiahship). Matthew's point is that unlike the Scribes, the disciples do understand the Baptist's role, which makes them more astute than the Scribes at the very least.

Question your Doubts - Pr. Kruse

Scripture had to be read anew with the suffering Christ, and so it must ever be. We constantly have to let the Lord draw us into his conversation with Moses and Elijah; we constantly have to learn from him, the Risen Lord, to understand Scripture afresh. Ratzinger, Joseph (2007-05-15). Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (p. 313). The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

I am writing in a stressful time for me. I have a song stuck in my head: “Oh Come All You faithful” to be exact. Annoying as that may be in late February, it is actually much better than the last time this happened to me. Then it was Al Yankovich: “There’s a Cat in the Kettle at the Peking Moon,” a parody of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle.” I am not sure what my mind is trying to tell me right now by having “Oh Come . . ,“ stuck in it. With the Weird Al song, I am quite sure, it was trying to say: “I’m bored.”  

The mind works on us every day. Western culture likes to play these things down and is the minority view in doing so. The interior life of people is not just a bunch of neurons firing and making stuff up, at least not to the rest of the world. In most cultures today, if a child came to breakfast and said: “I talked to great grandfather last night,” the answer from the parents would be: “What did he have to say,” regardless of the great grandparent’s place in life or lack thereof. Visions are important to most cultures, even though they are taken serious in our’s only on Saturday afternoon programs on Si-Fi Channel or History Network. 

"Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” For Westerners: No problem! We’ll be happy to shut about it. Peter, James, and John may not have shared our dismissal of the matter though, even if they had been 95% sure that 9 /10th of what they had seen had been 99% vision. So, the question needs to be asked how they would have been changed by the experience and why it was necessary at that point in the story for them to be changed that way. 

They had been called by Jesus by the side of the lake. Everyone who heard the Sermon on the mound agreed that his teaching had authority. (7:28) He had healed many to the delight of everyone. He had driven out demons. That crossed a boundary. Some ask him to leave their region. (8:34) The Pharisees see this power and question the origin of it. Could it be that his power is not from above but from below? (12:24) Their argument is bolstered by Jesus claim to be Lord of the Sabbath and therefore over its rules. (12:8) How can the Son of the Most High contradict the law of the Sabbath? They had a point: Could not the dark prison below do miracles by commanding its own to mislead the faithful? Jesus’ own mother has attempted to seize him and take him out of public view since he had attracted negative attention from the Pharisees. (12:46) His own hometown had rejected him. (13:53-58) Jesus had attracted the attention of Herod. (14:1) That crossed another boundary. Attention from the political realm, especially from Herod is not a good thing as John the Baptist found out. Neither does anyone else, including Jesus, doubt that the political powers, having taken note of him, will be the death of him. (16:21) He had hung out with out with tax collectors and sinners and it had been noted. (9:11) That crossed yet another boundary because that association was not just ignoble in the eyes of the mosaic law but also a dark blot on his honor and standing in his culture.

How does one sum up this plot line from the Sermon on the Mount to the Mount of Transfiguration? If at verse 7:28 you had all the confidence in the world  in Jesus and were ready to follow him, obey him; if you were ready to defend him and tell of his deeds and preach his message (10:5), by the end of chapter 16 you might now be harboring some — what shall we call it — misgivings, or questions, or doubts; all the same, you were asking a more fundamental question: Can I afford to give my allegiance any longer? In a world where such things as honor and allegiance mattered they were aligned with someone whose honor was increasingly under question, especially since he had given away that his was a cause that would end in his dishonorable death. Judas had the right idea. At least let Jesus die with honor in battle for his cause. Lead the legions to him at dark and maybe he will fight. It is one interpretation of Judas’ actions. 

The vision on the Mountain of Transfiguration made an important point to Peter, James, and John: Jesus is aligned with God and God is aligned with him — Take that all you who think him a disciple of Hades. Moses who gave the law is there — Take that Pharisees! Elijah who challenged Kings like no other is there — Take that Herod! Both of them are mystical figures who had no graves, at least none that anyone could find or point to. God himself had taken care of their earthly forms somehow, somewhere east of Jordan in the land of Moab. (Dt 34:6, 2K 2:12) It would follow that only God almighty might find them again to have them appear on a mountain in the region of Caesarea Philippi and if they can, by the word of God and by the grace of heaven, appear there as real as Jesus then is the dishonor and disgrace of this world suffered by Jesus and his followers really dishonor and disgrace? “Blessed are you . .“ (5:10,11)

“Do you want us to wait to disconnect the ventilator?” I heard my self answer: “Yes, but that would be unfair to Mom, go ahead, I’ll be O.K.”   “Drive careful...”  “I won’t.” I set to driving the six hour trip to Nashville. Yes, my mind agreed that it was best for her not to wait for me. But my heart had not settled into the thought of letting go. My foot was firmly planted on the accelerator. 

I was outside Carrolton, Kentucky. I was staring out at the highway as if in a trance. The sky was a uniform grey and the fields and woods that bordered the highway seem to match that color as they do in January when everything is painted in shades of grey. Then I heard my soul say: “Mom, why don’t you go. I’ll be alright.” It gave me a start. I knew something had happened inside me. I looked at the clock. It was 3:35; I found out later that it was the very time of her death.  

I was at a gas station 20 minutes later.  My phone rang. It was my friend Michael Shahan, our family pastor in Nashville:  “Peter, where are you?”  “At a gas station, Michael, I know why you are calling. Mom died 20 minutes ago.”  “That’s odd. Your brother asked me to call you?”  “I just knew. Don’t ask me why right now. I’ll tell you eventually.”

The greatest mystery of the contemplative life is not that we see God in the world, but that God within us recognizes God in the world.  God speaks to God, Spirit speaks to Spirit, heart speaks to heart.  Contemplation therefore, is a participation in this divine self- recognition.  It is the divine Spirit praying in us who makes our world transparent and opens our eyes to the presence of the divine Spirit that surrounds us. (Nouwen- Greer “The Only Thing Necessary,” 1999, 35)

I use this Nouwen quote to make sense of the moment. There is a connectedness that is the Holy Spirit that was in two places at once and let there be peace in both places. It should not surprise us that when God stirs in our presence that things are happening that we cannot, and maybe do not want to, explain. 

That Sunday I found myself in my pulpit. I had the text from John 2: The wedding at Canaan. I now understood it. Miracles and visions are there to ease our hearts, they are signs to tell us that God is good, that God can be trusted, that there is nothing to fear, that in spite of it all God loves us deeper than we know.  But those miracles do not go on forever. They are hints of the future, often missed. They end at some point. They are reassuring words of the heaven.

Certainly the guest at the wedding at Cana had no idea where the wine they where drinking had come from. They most certainly assumed that their host had provided it. No one asked; not even the head steward who assumed the host had merely held back on the most choice wines. Very few, Mary and a few disciples, actually knew what had happened.  Everyone else was probably left to wonder where all the wine was from. Yet, a question lingers: After Jesus’ death and resurrection, did the wedding party think back and say: “He was at our wedding, was he not?  Is that how the matter with the wine happened?” If they ever did, they most certainly marveled, but the stone jars where empty by then and remained that way.  At the same time however, would they not have rethought all their encounters with Jesus to see if anything else stood out?  Would they not also have entertained the possibility that God might do further miracles around them and therefore have lived life just a little bit more attentively?

And the disciples? Would the vision they had seen not allowed them to question their doubts, doubt their questions, and give up on their misgivings? Don’t get me wrong: They have a long way to go and this vision will not carry it all the way, no vision really ever does unless it is at the occasion of an utter conversion — ask St. Paul about that. (Acts 9) No, these “events,” vision or physical, have the simple subtext: “Don’t give up.” Must they be physical or can they be ambiguous? Does it really matter? If, in this case, it allows the disciples to follow Jesus some further on down the road to see the outcome of the whole affair then it was worth it and who says that it was not God breathed? They gave Glory to God because of it. Is that not the point? (5:16) What — Peter denied him in the end so it did not work? Peter was at least there to deny him. Where you? Would you have been? 

Few are the Saints who are without “events” that they cherish if only in the secret spaces of their hearts. As a matter of fact I know of none, but I have not memorized Butler’s great compendium on the saints. Synapsis do not fire at random. (Yes, they can, that is called epilepsy.) Who says God cannot be involved in that? Can God still have our permission to be about the affairs here on Earth? The flash of a vision is the same as sick person healed or a dying person at peace if they achieve their aim: Glory is given to God and peace is extended to his people on Earth. (By the way, Pharisees, all of Jesus’ Sabbath “work” did that. Just saying)

On a particularly difficult day, having the second layer of your conscious mind stuck singing: “Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation, sing all you citizens of Heaven above, Glory to God in the highest, Oh come let us adore him, Christ the Lord, “ means what? 

Readings for the 7th Sunday of Epiphany, February 23rd, 2014

First Reading: Leviticus 19:1–2, 9–18

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

²Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.  ⁹When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  ¹⁰You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.

¹¹You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.  ¹²And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.

¹³You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.  ¹⁴You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

¹⁵You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.  ¹⁶You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD. 

¹⁷You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.  ¹⁸You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:10–11, 16–23

¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.  ¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.  ¹⁶Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  ¹⁷If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.  ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,

"He catches the wise in their craftiness,"

  ²⁰and again,

"The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,

that they are futile."

  ²¹So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours,  ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all belong to you,  ²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Gospel: Matthew 5:38–48

³⁸"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  ³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;  ⁴⁰and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;  ⁴¹and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.  ⁴²Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  ⁴⁴But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  ⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.