Instructions for the Twelve (Luke 9:1–6)
1 He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,
2 and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal (the sick).
3 He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.
4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
5 And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them."
6 Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
Armed with the power and authority that Jesus himself has been displaying in the previous episodes, the Twelve are now sent out to continue the work that Jesus has been performing throughout his Galilean ministry: (1) proclaiming the kingdom (Luke 4:43); (2) exorcising demons ( Luke 4:33-37,8:26-39) and (3) healing the sick
comments by Pope Francis (Morning Meditation in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae - Tuesday, 11 June 2013):
Poverty and praising God are the two main indicators of the Church’s mission; they are “signs” that reveal to the People of God whether “an apostle practises gratuitousness”. Gospel preaching is born from from giving freely, from wonder of salvation which comes; and what I have received freely I must give freely. This is evident when Jesus sends out his Apostles with instructions for their mission. “His orders are very simple”, the Holy Father emphasized. “Do not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or copper in your belts…”. It was a mission of salvation that consisted in healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and chasing out demons. And Pope Francis specified that it was to bring people close to the kingdom of God, to give them the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand, indeed it is already here.
The key phrase in Christ’s instructions to his disciples is: “you received without pay, give without pay” (Mt 5:42). These words contain the full gratuitousness of salvation, because: “we cannot preach or proclaim the kingdom of God, without this inner certainty that it is all freely given, it is all grace”. And when we act without leaving room for grace, the Pope said, “the Gospel has no effectiveness”.
Moreover various episodes in the life of the first Apostles testify that Gospel preaching is born from what is given freely. St Peter had no bank account and when he had to pay taxes, the Lord sent him to fish in the sea to find money in the fish to pay them (Matthew 17:24-27).
Pope Francis made it clear than when an apostle does not give freely he also loses the ability to praise the Lord, for “praising the Lord is essentially gratuitous. It is prayer freely prayed… We do not only ask, we praise”; but when disciples “want to make a rich Church, a Church without freely given praise, she “ages, she becomes an NGO, she is lifeless”
Death of John the Baptist (Luke 9:7-9)
7
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was
greatly perplexed because some were saying, "John has been raised from
the dead";
8 others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen."
9 But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.
Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, was the son of Herod the Great, the bloody ruler who ordered the slaughter of the innocents (Mt 2:16-18). Contrary to Jewish law, Herod Antipas divorced his wife and married Herodias, his half-brother's wife. At her bidding, Herod put John the Baptist to death for protesting their illicit marriage (Mk 6:17-29). When Herod heard the reports circulating about Jesus, he wondered who he was. Some said that Jesus was John who had risen from the dead. Others said that Elijah had returned, a sign announcing the arrival of the Messiah (Mal 3:23). Herod expressed a desire to meet Jesus, but like his ambitious father, his real motive was to eliminate this threat to his own power. In subsequent episodes, Luke reveals to the reader various answers to Herod's question: Jesus is one in whom God's power is present and who provides for the needs of God's people.
comments by Olivia Ingrassia (Catholic blog olivyaz.blogspot.com):
Rumors were flying. Speculation was high. Who was this Jesus of Nazareth? Where did he come from, and what did he really want? Was he John the Baptist, back from the dead? A new incarnation of the prophet Elijah? Or just some rabble-rouser from Galilee?
For Herod, this was an especially perplexing predicament. He had already taken care of John the Baptist and it seemed that Jesus’ presence pricked his conscience on the matter. Maybe he wanted to see Jesus not only physically but spiritually. Was God really trying to speak to him through Jesus and even John? Still, Herod’s vision was clouded, and he couldn’t break through the fog to come to faith.
Deep in our hearts, we all want to “see” the Lord. But like Herod, we too could be hampered by blurred vision. Unforgiveness, bitterness, fear, anxiety all of these and more can keep us in the dark. But nothing is more capable of holding us back than sin. John the Baptist brought Herod’s sin to light by criticizing Herod’s marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife. Herod could have repented. He could have found a way out of his immoral union. But he chose to silence John’s voice instead.
You don’t have to follow in Herod’s footsteps! The Holy Spirit can clear away any clouds that are obscuring your vision of the Lord. And through the gift of repentance, you can cooperate with him in this work. In fact, getting into the habit of repenting every night is probably one of the best ways to sharpen your vision over time.
Every evening, look over your day and ask the Spirit to help you identify anything that you may have said or done or thought that was displeasing to the Lord. Then simply ask for forgiveness and for the Spirit’s help to do better tomorrow. End by thanking the Lord for his mercy and restoring your relationship with him. Over time, your vision will become clearer and clearer, simply because you are giving the Holy Spirit room to work in your heart.
Feeding of the 5000 (Luke 9:10–17)
10
When the apostles returned, they explained to him what they had done.
He took them and withdrew in private to a town called Bethsaida.
11 The crowds, meanwhile, learned of this and followed him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.
12 As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."
13 He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people."
14 Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of (about) fifty."
15 They did so and made them all sit down.
16 Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
17 They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
The Saint Theodore of Heraclea wrote that Jesus [multiplies loaves] not only once but also a second time, in order that we should know his strength. This strength by which he feeds the multitudes when he wishes and without bread finds its source in his divinity. He does this in order to bring them to believe that he himself is the one who earlier had fed Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. And Jesus not only fed them with a few loaves of bread, but he even produced a surplus of seven baskets, so that he might be shown as incomparably surpassing Elijah, who himself also caused a multiplication of the widow’s small quantity of oil and flour.
comments by Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, August 12, 2012):
A boy’s presence is mentioned in the scene of the multiplication. On perceiving the problem of feeding so many hungry people, he shared the little he had brought with him: five loaves and two fish (cf. Jn 6:9). The miracle was not worked from nothing, but from a first modest sharing of what a simple lad had brought with him. Jesus does not ask us for what we do not have.
Rather, he makes us see that if each person offers the little he has the miracle can always be repeated: God is capable of multiplying our small acts of love and making us share in his gift.
The crowd was impressed by the miracle: it sees in Jesus the new Moses, worthy of power, and in the new manna, the future guaranteed. However the people stopped at the material element, which they had eaten, and the Lord “perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,... withdrew again to the hills by himself” (Jn 6:15). Jesus is not an earthly king who exercises dominion but a king who serves, who stoops down to human beings not only to satisfy their physical hunger, but above all their deeper hunger, the hunger for guidance, meaning and truth, the hunger for God [Angelus, July 29, 2012].
The multiplication of the loaves, with which the Lord satisfied the hunger of a crowd of five thousand, and on the invitation Jesus addresses to all those whom he had feed to busy themselves seeking a food that endures to eternal life. Jesus wants to help them understand the profound meaning of the miracle he had worked: in miraculously satisfying their physical hunger; he prepares them to receive the news that he is the Bread which has come down from heaven (cf. Jn 6:41), which will satisfy hunger for ever.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
The early Church recognized in the miracle of the loaves a symbolic anticipation of the Eucharist, when Jesus would share both word and food with his people. In fact, the structure of the eucharistic liturgy follows the same pattern seen in this miracle. First, in the Liturgy of the Word, Jesus nourishes us with his teaching through the Scripture readings and the homily that breaks open their meaning. Then, in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, he nourishes us with the Bread of Life, his own body and blood given for us. Vatican Council II teaches, «The Church ... especially in the sacred liturgy, unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God's Word and of Christ's Body" (Dei Verbum 21). As the basketfuls of leftovers vividly symbolize, when God feeds his people there is always more than enough to satisfy all. How could it be otherwise, since the gift is God himself?
Jesus' startling command, “Give them some food yourselves:” (Mark 6:37) is a word for all those called to pastoral ministry in the Church. Jesus cares for his people's needs, physical as well as spiritual, and summons us to do so for others. Like the disciples, when confronted with a glaring need we might be tempted to say: Lord, I don't have what it takes to feed all these people! And indeed, we don't. Yet if we offer him the few "loaves and fishes" we do have-whether in leading a Bible study, volunteering in an outreach to the poor, or even making a financial contribution-we can ask and expect him to multiply it and make it part of his superabundant provision for all the needs of his people.
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| Duccio di Buoninsegna - Jesus giving the Farewell Discourse (1311) at the Maesta |
2 and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal (the sick).
3 He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.
4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
5 And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them."
6 Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
Armed with the power and authority that Jesus himself has been displaying in the previous episodes, the Twelve are now sent out to continue the work that Jesus has been performing throughout his Galilean ministry: (1) proclaiming the kingdom (Luke 4:43); (2) exorcising demons ( Luke 4:33-37,8:26-39) and (3) healing the sick
comments by Pope Francis (Morning Meditation in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae - Tuesday, 11 June 2013):
Poverty and praising God are the two main indicators of the Church’s mission; they are “signs” that reveal to the People of God whether “an apostle practises gratuitousness”. Gospel preaching is born from from giving freely, from wonder of salvation which comes; and what I have received freely I must give freely. This is evident when Jesus sends out his Apostles with instructions for their mission. “His orders are very simple”, the Holy Father emphasized. “Do not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or copper in your belts…”. It was a mission of salvation that consisted in healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and chasing out demons. And Pope Francis specified that it was to bring people close to the kingdom of God, to give them the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand, indeed it is already here.
The key phrase in Christ’s instructions to his disciples is: “you received without pay, give without pay” (Mt 5:42). These words contain the full gratuitousness of salvation, because: “we cannot preach or proclaim the kingdom of God, without this inner certainty that it is all freely given, it is all grace”. And when we act without leaving room for grace, the Pope said, “the Gospel has no effectiveness”.
Moreover various episodes in the life of the first Apostles testify that Gospel preaching is born from what is given freely. St Peter had no bank account and when he had to pay taxes, the Lord sent him to fish in the sea to find money in the fish to pay them (Matthew 17:24-27).
Pope Francis made it clear than when an apostle does not give freely he also loses the ability to praise the Lord, for “praising the Lord is essentially gratuitous. It is prayer freely prayed… We do not only ask, we praise”; but when disciples “want to make a rich Church, a Church without freely given praise, she “ages, she becomes an NGO, she is lifeless”
Death of John the Baptist (Luke 9:7-9)
 |
| Massimo Stanzione - The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1635) |
8 others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen."
9 But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.
Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, was the son of Herod the Great, the bloody ruler who ordered the slaughter of the innocents (Mt 2:16-18). Contrary to Jewish law, Herod Antipas divorced his wife and married Herodias, his half-brother's wife. At her bidding, Herod put John the Baptist to death for protesting their illicit marriage (Mk 6:17-29). When Herod heard the reports circulating about Jesus, he wondered who he was. Some said that Jesus was John who had risen from the dead. Others said that Elijah had returned, a sign announcing the arrival of the Messiah (Mal 3:23). Herod expressed a desire to meet Jesus, but like his ambitious father, his real motive was to eliminate this threat to his own power. In subsequent episodes, Luke reveals to the reader various answers to Herod's question: Jesus is one in whom God's power is present and who provides for the needs of God's people.
comments by Olivia Ingrassia (Catholic blog olivyaz.blogspot.com):
Rumors were flying. Speculation was high. Who was this Jesus of Nazareth? Where did he come from, and what did he really want? Was he John the Baptist, back from the dead? A new incarnation of the prophet Elijah? Or just some rabble-rouser from Galilee?
For Herod, this was an especially perplexing predicament. He had already taken care of John the Baptist and it seemed that Jesus’ presence pricked his conscience on the matter. Maybe he wanted to see Jesus not only physically but spiritually. Was God really trying to speak to him through Jesus and even John? Still, Herod’s vision was clouded, and he couldn’t break through the fog to come to faith.
Deep in our hearts, we all want to “see” the Lord. But like Herod, we too could be hampered by blurred vision. Unforgiveness, bitterness, fear, anxiety all of these and more can keep us in the dark. But nothing is more capable of holding us back than sin. John the Baptist brought Herod’s sin to light by criticizing Herod’s marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife. Herod could have repented. He could have found a way out of his immoral union. But he chose to silence John’s voice instead.
You don’t have to follow in Herod’s footsteps! The Holy Spirit can clear away any clouds that are obscuring your vision of the Lord. And through the gift of repentance, you can cooperate with him in this work. In fact, getting into the habit of repenting every night is probably one of the best ways to sharpen your vision over time.
Every evening, look over your day and ask the Spirit to help you identify anything that you may have said or done or thought that was displeasing to the Lord. Then simply ask for forgiveness and for the Spirit’s help to do better tomorrow. End by thanking the Lord for his mercy and restoring your relationship with him. Over time, your vision will become clearer and clearer, simply because you are giving the Holy Spirit room to work in your heart.
Feeding of the 5000 (Luke 9:10–17)
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| The Feeding of the Five Thousand (copy after Bartolomé Esteban Murillo) |
11 The crowds, meanwhile, learned of this and followed him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.
12 As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."
13 He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people."
14 Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of (about) fifty."
15 They did so and made them all sit down.
16 Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
17 They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
The Saint Theodore of Heraclea wrote that Jesus [multiplies loaves] not only once but also a second time, in order that we should know his strength. This strength by which he feeds the multitudes when he wishes and without bread finds its source in his divinity. He does this in order to bring them to believe that he himself is the one who earlier had fed Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. And Jesus not only fed them with a few loaves of bread, but he even produced a surplus of seven baskets, so that he might be shown as incomparably surpassing Elijah, who himself also caused a multiplication of the widow’s small quantity of oil and flour.
comments by Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, August 12, 2012):
A boy’s presence is mentioned in the scene of the multiplication. On perceiving the problem of feeding so many hungry people, he shared the little he had brought with him: five loaves and two fish (cf. Jn 6:9). The miracle was not worked from nothing, but from a first modest sharing of what a simple lad had brought with him. Jesus does not ask us for what we do not have.
Rather, he makes us see that if each person offers the little he has the miracle can always be repeated: God is capable of multiplying our small acts of love and making us share in his gift.
The crowd was impressed by the miracle: it sees in Jesus the new Moses, worthy of power, and in the new manna, the future guaranteed. However the people stopped at the material element, which they had eaten, and the Lord “perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,... withdrew again to the hills by himself” (Jn 6:15). Jesus is not an earthly king who exercises dominion but a king who serves, who stoops down to human beings not only to satisfy their physical hunger, but above all their deeper hunger, the hunger for guidance, meaning and truth, the hunger for God [Angelus, July 29, 2012].
The multiplication of the loaves, with which the Lord satisfied the hunger of a crowd of five thousand, and on the invitation Jesus addresses to all those whom he had feed to busy themselves seeking a food that endures to eternal life. Jesus wants to help them understand the profound meaning of the miracle he had worked: in miraculously satisfying their physical hunger; he prepares them to receive the news that he is the Bread which has come down from heaven (cf. Jn 6:41), which will satisfy hunger for ever.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
The early Church recognized in the miracle of the loaves a symbolic anticipation of the Eucharist, when Jesus would share both word and food with his people. In fact, the structure of the eucharistic liturgy follows the same pattern seen in this miracle. First, in the Liturgy of the Word, Jesus nourishes us with his teaching through the Scripture readings and the homily that breaks open their meaning. Then, in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, he nourishes us with the Bread of Life, his own body and blood given for us. Vatican Council II teaches, «The Church ... especially in the sacred liturgy, unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God's Word and of Christ's Body" (Dei Verbum 21). As the basketfuls of leftovers vividly symbolize, when God feeds his people there is always more than enough to satisfy all. How could it be otherwise, since the gift is God himself?
Jesus' startling command, “Give them some food yourselves:” (Mark 6:37) is a word for all those called to pastoral ministry in the Church. Jesus cares for his people's needs, physical as well as spiritual, and summons us to do so for others. Like the disciples, when confronted with a glaring need we might be tempted to say: Lord, I don't have what it takes to feed all these people! And indeed, we don't. Yet if we offer him the few "loaves and fishes" we do have-whether in leading a Bible study, volunteering in an outreach to the poor, or even making a financial contribution-we can ask and expect him to multiply it and make it part of his superabundant provision for all the needs of his people.
comments by Deacon Matthew Newsome (Western Carolina University, NC):
A large crowd has gathered around Jesus. He had been performing healing miracles and was gaining quite a following. We are told in the gospel that about five thousand men were present. We are not told how many women and children may have also been with them, but it is a huge number of people by any measure. Crowds that large present certain practical problems, such as how to feed them all. The disciples can’t purchase enough food for everyone. But a small boy is found who has five barley loaves and two fish. From this meager amount Jesus is able to not only feed the crowd, but also to fill twelve wicker baskets with the leftovers.
This miracle is known as the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. It is the only miracle Jesus performs that is recorded in all four gospel accounts, so we know that it must have been especially important to the early Church. That makes it especially disheartening that many people today — including many Christians — don’t believe it to be true. They believe that Jesus fed the crowd. They just don’t believe it was a miracle.
It’s been called by some a “miracle of sharing” Supposedly the people in the crowd had more than enough food to eat among themselves. They were just being selfish with it. The “miracle” was that Jesus inspired them to share their food with one another. When they did so, they found that there was more than enough to go around. The feeding of the five thousand is read as a parable about generosity. That’s a shame; not because generosity isn’t good, but because what’s actually happening here is so much better. What the gospels present to us — all four of them — is not a parable about sharing, but an account of a miracle. It is an unfortunate trend in modern Biblical scholarship (a trend which thankfully seems to be reversing) to assume that the miracles attributed to Jesus cannot be true.
Why do you think the five thousand were gathered there in the first place? The gospel tells us: “because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.” They had already seen Jesus perform miracles and it got their attention. They were hungry, not just for bread, but for truth and for holiness. They were hungry for the divine. And that is exactly what Jesus offered them — it is what he still offers us. He offers us himself.
The crowd that our Lord miraculously fed would come back, and it would grow. “Come and see this man who heals the sick and feeds the hungry” But when Jesus offers them not barley loaves, but his own flesh to eat, they turn away. Even though they had witnessed so great a miracle, they couldn’t believe in the greatest miracle of all; that God had become incarnate and was standing before them, and was now offering himself as food for their weary souls. It was too much for their minds to accept and their hearts to believe, and so they walked away.
Jesus still comes to us, offering to heal us and to feed us. He offers us something much greater than barley loaves and fish. He offers us the bread of life, the bread of angels, his own divine flesh in the Eucharist. He offers us a miracle. We can disbelieve, saying it is too good to be true. We can disbelieve, saying that it sounds too implausible. We can disbelieve, saying it’s just a parable, a symbol, or a folk tale meant to teach a moral lesson. We can do all of these things; and we would entirely miss the point. Jesus performs miracles. He really does. He heals the sick. He raises the dead. Jesus truly did feed the hungry crowd, multiplying his gifts so abundantly that twelve baskets were filled to overflowing. And Jesus really does offer us his own Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist at each and every Mass. He invites us to be God-eaters. Yes, it sounds impossible. But Christ is God, and with God all things are possible.
Peter's confession (Luke 9:18–20):
18 Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
19 They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
20 Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God."
21 He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
According to Mark gospel (8:27) this event took place in Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was a city built on an imposing cliff atthe southern base of Mount Hermon, at the site of a spring that flowed out of a cave and formed one of the sources of the Jordan River. The site had long been a place of pagan worship, identified at one time with the Canaanite god Baal and later with the Greek nature god Pan. Herod the Great built a marble temple there in honor of Caesar Augustus, who was considered a god, Herod's son Philip, who ruled the region at the time of Jesus, enlarged the city and renamed it Caesarea in honor of the emperor, adding his own name to distinguish it from Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. Jesus and his disciples were near this city, probably among the settlements on the plain from where the rocky slopes of Hermon rose dramatically, when he asked them the question about his identity. Peter's confession of faith thus took place in a region that had been devoted to the veneration of false gods.
The proclamation of Jesus as Christ is fundamental to Christology and the Confession of Peter, and Jesus' acceptance of the title is a definitive statement for it in the New Testament narrative. In this New Testament episode, Jesus not only accepts the titles Christ and Son of God, but declares the proclamation a divine revelation by stating that his Father in Heaven had revealed it to Peter, unequivocally declaring himself to be both Christ and the Son of God.
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus then continues: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven".
As can be seen in Isaiah 22:22, kings in the Old Testament appointed a chief steward to serve under them in a position of great authority to rule over the inhabitants of the kingdom. Jesus quotes almost verbatum from this passage in Isaiah, and so it is clear what he has in mind. He is raising Peter up as a father figure to the household of faith (Is. 22:21), to lead them and guide the flock (John 21:15-17).
The word "church" (ekklesia in Greek) as used here, appears in the Gospels only once more, in Matthew 18:17, and refers to the community of believers at the time.The "gates of hell" (of Hades) refers to the underworld, and the abode of the dead, and refers to the powers opposed to God not being able to triumph over the church.
The keys of the kingdom of heaven refer to the metaphor of the Kingdom of Heaven being a "place to be entered" as also used in Matthew 23:13, where the entrance to it can be shut.
Peter's authority is further confirmed by: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). As discussed below, various Christian denominations have assigned different interpretations to the authority granted in this passage.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Jesus' words, "upon this rock I will build my church" are interpreted as the foundation of the doctrine of the papacy, whereby the Church of Christ is founded upon Peter and his successors, the Bishops of Rome. Jesus' next statement, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." are interpreted as the foundation of the doctrine of papal infallibility.
Protestants believe that the verse states that Peter was the foundation stone of the Church, but do not accept that it applies to the continuous succession of popes, as the Bishops of Rome. The statement "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" is usually taken to mean that the Church will never become extinct.
The Orthodox believe in the infallibility of the Church as a whole, but that any individual, regardless of their position can be subject to error.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
In Israel's past, every king was an "anointed one;' chosen and consecrated by God himself. But at the time of Jesus, Israel had no king, having been dominated by foreign rulers for most of the past six centuries. During that period, the Jews clung to God's promises of a future "anointed one;' especially Nathan's prophecy that a descendant of David would reign on the throne ofIsrael forever (2 Sam 7:12-14). By the time of Jesus there were a variety of theories in circulation about this anointed one. Some held that he would be a Davidic warrior king who would expel the Romans and restore independence to Israel. Others envisioned a priestly Messiah descended from Aaron. Still others foresaw a superhuman figure who would usher in a new age of peace and prosperity. But none had described a Messiah like Jesus: a humble rabbi who walked among the villages of Galilee teaching, healing, and casting out demons.
Up to this point, the disciples do not yet comprehend the true nature of Jesus' messiahship. They cannot be allowed to fill its meaning with their own earthly dreams. Indeed, the misguided idea that he might take on a political role as leader of a messianic uprising ( see John 6: 15) could derail his whole mission as they approach Jerusalem. 3 The whole understanding of Messiah needed to be purged of its human, triumphalistic connotations before it could be proclaimed openly to the world. Jesus' mission had nothing to do with using political or military power to overthrow the enemies ofIsrael. It had everything to do with overthrowing the power of sin through the cross.
[Debating protestant arguments by Karl Keating (president of Catholic Answers):
--- Some protestants argue that Jesus used the word "petros" which means "little stone" so he wasnt pointing Jesus as head of the Church. According to them Jesus was really saying that he himself would be the foundation, and he was emphasizing that Simon wasn’t remotely qualified to be it. In Greek, the word for rock is petra, which means a large, massive stone. So they say the word used for Simon’s new name is different; it’s Petros, which means a little stone, a pebble ---
However we know that Jesus spoke Aramaic because some of his words are preserved for us in the Gospels. Look at Matthew 27:46, where he says from the cross, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?. Most of the New Testament was written in Greek, but not all. Many hold that Matthew was written in Aramaic—we know this from records kept by Eusebius of Caesarea—but it was translated into Greek early on, perhaps by Matthew himself. In any case the Aramaic original is lost (as are all the originals of the New Testament books), so all we have today is the Greek.
In Paul’s epistles—four times in Galatians and four times in 1 Corinthians—we have the Aramaic form of Simon’s new name preserved for us. In our English Bibles it comes out as Cephas. That isn’t Greek. That’s a transliteration of the Aramaic word Kepha (rendered as Kephas in its Hellenistic form).
“And what does Kepha mean? It means a rock, the same as petra. It doesn’t mean a little stone or a pebble. What Jesus said to Simon in Matthew 16:18 was this: ‘You are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my Church.’
The words petros and petra were synonyms in first century Greek. They meant “small stone” and “large rock” in some ancient Greek poetry, centuries before the time of Christ, but that distinction had disappeared from the language by the time Matthew’s Gospel was rendered in Greek. The difference in meaning can only be found in Attic Greek, but the New Testament was written in Koine Greek—an entirely different dialect. In Koine Greek, both petros and petra simply meant “rock.”
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Jesus predicts his death (Luke 9:22–27):
22 He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and
be killed and on the third day be raised."
23 Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
25 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?
26 Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."
Jesus predicts his death three times in the New Testament, the first two occasions building up to the final prediction of his crucifixion.
comments by Msgr Lope C. Robredillo (Doctorate in Theology):
This Son of Man who we follow in discipleship is, among others, the Jesus who must suffer, is rejected and killed (Mark 9:31; 10:33), and who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all (Mark 10:44b). As Son of Man, Jesus corrected his disciples for their wrong perception of what following him meant. For example, he criticized Peter who, instead of accepting the prospect of suffering and humiliation, thought of reviving David’s conquest (Mark 8:33). It is also for this reason that he silenced the brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who wished to occupy the prominent and prestigious places in the kingdom of God (Mark 10:38a).
Jesus’ criticism of his disciples makes it clear that to follow Jesus as Son of Man is rather costly. For judged in the light of worldly standard, it brings problems, deprivation, and suffering. The rich man refused to follow Jesus. When challenged to sell his property and give the money to the poor, his face fell because he was rich. For him, he could not suffer the loss of his wealth (Mark 10:23). As can be seen in Jesus’ prohibition of divorce, it also deprives one of his right to put away his wife for any cause (Mark 10:9).
Does all this mean that following Jesus as Son of Man has nothing in store for the disciple except humiliation and defeat? Not at all. In the end, there is justification and triumph in discipleship. Although the disciple may live in a world enveloped by trials, difficulties and turmoil, he has a very certain consolation that the Son of Man he followed is coming back to give him eternal life in the age to come, making him share in his power and glory (see Mark 10:30).
This is to say that when Jesus comes as Son of Man, we who followed him in suffering and even death will be victorious over the powers of evil and death. Discipleship may be costly, but in the end, a final victory over the forces of darkness awaits those of us who followed the Son of Man. Hence, we have much reason to take up the cause of discipleship.
27 "Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God"
comments by Fr. John Echert :
we must look to more immediate possibilities:
1. The Transfiguration. Given that this is recorded immediately prior to the experience of Peter, James, and John upon the mountain on which they saw our Lord transfigured and in His glory and power, this could very well be the first instance of fulfillment – some standing here, Peter, James, John, did see the kingdom in power on that mountain.
2. The establishment and spread of the Church. The book of Acts describes the rapid spread of the Church and the power of God at work in the apostolic Church. Since the Church is the Kingdom of God on earth, this would constitute fulfillment of the these words.
3. The destruction of the Jewish Temple and sack of Jerusalem and the end of Jewish cult worship. This was a definitive end to the first covenant form of worship. While this affected Christianity in that the center of the apostolic Church shifted to Rome, it was not catastrophic for the Church but a confirmation of the prophecies of our Lord in this regard.
comments by Fr. Robert J. Wagner (Arlington Bishop):
This promise came just one week before the Transfiguration of Our Lord on Mount Tabor. t was on that mountaintop that Peter, James and John saw Jesus in all of His glory, fulfilling the promise that Jesus had given them after foretelling His death for the third time.
Peter, James and John are overwhelmed by the glory of God, everything fades away — the dazzling white clothes, Moses and Elijah, and the voice of the Father coming from the clouds. All that remains is Jesus, which is all that matters as followers of Jesus.
For the Apostles, and for us, the Transfiguration is a sign of what is to come. And while we are not there yet, we can still take hope. Jesus is near to us, to offer us hope, to accompany us in our trials and sufferings, and to draw us into the great love He has for each of us. Let us pray each day that we seek Him and Him alone in our lives, that we may always be united with Him in faith, hope and charity.
Other opinions regarding this verse (excerpts from Catholics forums forums.catholic.com):
In A Commentary on the New Testament, published by the Catholic Biblical Association in 1942, pages 119-120, says, in part:
... The Son of Man coming in his kingdom: cf. the variant expressions in Mark and Luke. It is not certain what this refers to. Some of the Apostles will see it; others will be dead before that time. It cannot refer to Christ's coming at the end of the world when all the Apostles will long since have been dead. Nor can it refer to some event in the near future, such as the Transfiguration, Resurrection or Ascension. For all of the Apostles lived to see these events, which moreover do not contain the element of retribution demanded by the context. It probably refers to the destruction of Jerusalem [in A.D. 70] in which Christ vindicated His honor by punishing the city that slew Him. The destruction of Jerusalem is a type of the destruction of the world on the last day; as such, the expressions which refer properly to the one are also used analogously of the other. See Commentary on [Matthew] 24, 15-35.
"Coming in his kingdom" is the earthly evidence of Christ's sovereignty after he ascended to heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the Father. The earthly evidence was the coming judgment that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, which happened within the generation he was speaking to. It was a manifestation of his rule.
Jesus said to him in reply, "You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see 'the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power' and 'coming on the clouds of heaven.'" (Mt 26:64)
The Sanhedrin didn't directly see Christ ruling, but they saw the earthly evidence of it when God's judgment came through the Romans. It is similar to the Lord riding on the swift cloud of the Assyrians to destroy the Egyptians (Isa 19:1). The fulfillment of this at the end of the Old Covenant world prefigures and points to Christ's final coming in glory at the end of the entire world.
Transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:28–36):
28 About eight days after he said this, he took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray.
29 While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.
30 And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
32 Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
33 As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But he did not know what he was saying.
34 While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."
36 After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an episode in the New Testament narrative in which Jesus is transfigured (or metamorphosed) and becomes radiant upon a mountain. Situated shortly after the first announcement of the passion, death, and resurrection, this scene of Jesus' transfiguration provides the heavenly confirmation to Jesus' declaration that his suffering will end in glory.
Christian theology assigns a great deal of significance to the Transfiguration, based on multiple elements of the narrative. In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.
The Transfiguration not only supports the identity of Jesus as the Son of God (as in his Baptism), but the statement "listen to him", identifies him as the messenger and mouth-piece of God.
The Transfiguration also echoes the teaching by Jesus (as in Matthew 22:32) that God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living". Although Moses had died and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before (as in 2 Kings 2:11), they now live in the presence of the Son of God, implying that the same return to life can apply to all who face death and have faith.
comments by Pope Benedict XVI (JN):
We are told that Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up onto a high mountain by themselves (Mk 9:2). We will come across these three again on the Mount of Olives (Mk 14:33) during Jesus’ agony in the garden, which is the counterimage of the Transfiguration, although the two scenes are inextricably linked. Nor should we overlook the connection with Exodus 24, where Moses takes Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with him as he climbs the mountain—though seventy of the elders of Israel are also included.
The mountain serves—as it did in the Sermon on the Mount and in the nights spent by Jesus in prayer—as the locus of God’s particular closeness. Once again we need to keep together in our minds the various mountains of Jesus’ life: the mountain of the temptation; the mountain of his great preaching; the mountain of his prayer; the mountain of the Transfiguration; the mountain of his agony; the mountain of the Cross; and finally, the mountain of the Risen Lord, where he declares—in total antithesis to the offer of world dominion through the devil’s power: “. When we inquire into the meaning of the mountain, the first point is of course the general background of mountain symbolism. The mountain is the place of ascent—not only outward, but also inward ascent; it is a liberation from the burden of everyday life, a breathing in of the pure air of creation; it offers a view of the broad expanse of creation and its beauty; it gives one an inner peak to stand on and an intuitive sense of the Creator. History then adds to all this the experience of the God who speaks, and the experience of the Passion, culminating in the sacrifice of Isaac, in the sacrifice of the lamb that points ahead to the definitive Lamb sacrificed on Mount Calvary. Moses and Elijah were privileged to receive God’s Revelation on the mountain, and now they are conversing with the One who is God’s Revelation in person.
“And he was transfigured before them,” Mark says quite simply, going on to add somewhat awkwardly, as if stammering before the Mystery: “And his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mk 9:2–3). Matthew has rather more elevated words at his command: “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Mt 17:2). Luke is the only one of the Evangelists who begins his account by indicating the purpose of Jesus’ ascent: He “went up on the mountain to pray” (Lk 9:28). It is in the context of Jesus’ prayer that he now explains the event that the three disciples are to witness: “And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and hisclothing became dazzling white” (Lk 9:29). The Transfiguration is a prayer event; it displays visibly what happens when Jesus talks with his Father: the profound interpenetration of his being with God, which then becomes pure light. In his oneness with the Father, Jesus is himself “light from light.” The reality that he is in the deepest core of his being, which Peter tried to express in his confession—that reality becomes perceptible to the senses at this moment: Jesus’ being in the light of God, his own being-light as Son.
At this point Jesus’ relation to the figure of Moses as well as the differences between the two become apparent: “As he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Ex 34:29–35). Because Moses has been talking with God, God’s light streams upon him and makes him radiant. But the light that causes him to shine comes upon him from the outside, so to speak. Jesus, however, shines from within; he does not simply receive light, but he himself is light from light. Yet Jesus’ garment of white light at the Transfiguration speaks of our future as well. In apocalyptic literature, white garments are an expression of heavenly beings—the garments of angels and of the elect. In this vein the Apocalypse of John—the Book of Revelation—speaks of the white garments that are worn by those who have been saved (cf. especially 7:9, 13; 19:14). But it also tells us something new: The garments of the elect are white because they have washed them in the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rev 7:14); this means that through Baptism they have been united with Jesus’ Passion, and his Passion is the purification that restores to us the original garment lost through our sin (cf. Lk 15:22). Through Baptism we are clothed with Jesus in light and we ourselves become light.
At this point Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. What the Risen Lord will later explain to the disciples on the road to Emmaus is seen here in visible form. The Law and the Prophets speak with Jesus; they speak of Jesus. Only Luke tells us—at least in a brief allusion—what God’s two great witnesses were talking about with Jesus: They “appeared in glory and spoke of his departure [his exodus], which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk 9:31). Their topic of conversation is the Cross, but understood in an inclusive sense as Jesus’ Exodus, which had to take place in Jerusalem. Jesus’ Cross is an Exodus: a departure from this life, a passage through the “Red Sea” of the Passion, and a transition into glory—a glory, however, that forever bears the mark of Jesus’ wounds.
This is a clear statement that the Law and the Prophets are fundamentally about the “hope of Israel,” the Exodus that brings definitive liberation; but the content of this hope is the suffering Son of Man and Servant of God, who by his suffering opens the door into freedom and renewal. Moses and Elijah are themselves figures of the Passion and witnesses of the Passion. They speak with the transfigured Jesus about what they said while on earth, about the Passion of Jesus. But by speaking of these things with Jesus during his Transfiguration they make it apparent that this Passion brings salvation; that it is filled with the glory of God; that the Passion is transformed into light, into freedom and joy.
At this point, we need to jump ahead to the conversation that the three disciples have with Jesus as they come down from the “high mountain.” Jesus is talking with them about his coming Resurrection from the dead, which of course presupposes the Cross. The disciples ask instead about the return of Elijah, which is foretold by the scribes. This is Jesus’ reply: “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him” (Mk 9:13). Jesus’ words confirm the expectation of Elijah’s return. At the same time, however, he completes and corrects the common picture of it. He tacitly identifies the Elijah who will return as John the Baptist: the return of Elijah has already happened in the work of the Baptist.
“And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him’” (Mk 9:7). The holy cloud, the shekinah, is the sign of the presence of God himself. The cloud hovering over the Tent of Meeting indicated that God was present. The solemn proclamation of Sonship, however, is now followed by the command “Listen to him.” At this point, we are reminded of the link with Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai, which we saw at the beginning to be the background of the Transfiguration story. On the mountain, Moses received the Torah, God’s teaching word. Now we are told in reference to Jesus: “Listen to him.” H. Gese has provided a perceptive commentary on this scene: “Jesus himself has become the divine Word of revelation. The Gospels could not illustrate it any more clearly or powerfully: Jesus himself is the Torah” . This one command brings the theophany to its conclusion and sums up its deepest meaning. The disciples must accompany Jesus back down the mountain and learn ever anew to “listen to him.”
If we learn to understand the content of the Transfiguration story in these terms—as the irruption and inauguration of the messianic age—then we are also able to grasp the obscure statement that Mark’s Gospel inserts between Peter’s confession and the teaching on discipleship, on one hand, and the account of the Transfiguration, on the other: “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the dominion of God [the Kingdom of God] come with power” (Mk 9:1). What does this mean? Is Jesus predicting that some of the bystanders will still be alive at the time of his Parousia, at the definitive inbreaking of the Kingdom of God the three disciples who accompany Jesus up the mountain are promised that they will personally witness the coming of the Kingdom of God “in power.” On the mountain the three of them see the glory of God’s Kingdom shining out of Jesus. On the mountain they are overshadowed by God’s holy cloud. On the mountain they learn that Jesus himself is the living Torah, the complete Word of God. On the mountain they see the “power” (dynamis) of the Kingdom that is coming in Christ.
Exorcising a boy possessed by a demon (Luke 9:37–42)
37 On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.
38 There was a man in the crowd who cried out, "Teacher, I beg you, look at my son; he is my only child.
39 For a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams and it convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it releases him only with difficulty, wearing him out.
40 I begged your disciples to cast it out but they could not."
41 Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here."
42 As he was coming forward, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion; but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and returned him to his father.
Jesus gave the Apostles the power to cast out demons. While Jesus, Peter, James and John were on the mountain, the other nine Apostles were continuing their mission to heal and preach the coming of the kingdom. Jesus tells them that their failure on this occasion is because of their lack of faith. It is a failure which reflects badly on their credibility as Jesus’ ministers. Perhaps they were intimidated by the power of the demon. However, Jesus successfully casts the demon out of the boy.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
Although the Church grants the faculty of performing exorcisms only to priests granted permission by their bishop, this passage provides some important lessons for all Christians who minister to others through prayer. Some wise steps to take in praying with a person for healing or the relief of any difficulty are the following: Ask a question or two to ascertain the nature of the problem ("How long has this been happening to him?" Mark 9:21); invite the person to an act of faith in Jesus ("If you can!' Everything is possible to one who has faith?" Mark 9:23); bring the person "to Jesus" ("Oh faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will endure you? Bring him to me" Mark 9:19) through prayer ("This kind can only come out through prayer" Mark 9:29), combined with fasting when possible; and persevere with expectant faith even in the face of seeming failure ("Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, "He is dead!" Mark 9:26). This kind of simple but faith-filled prayer has enabled many to experience the living presence and power of Jesus in their lives, whether they are healed in body or in spirit.
comments by Father Warren Schmidt (Congregation of St. Basil):
The day after the Transfiguration, a man approached Jesus from a great crowd of people. His son was worn out by recurrent convulsions. “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here.”
Luke does not specify the object of Our Lord’s exasperation, unlike Matthew, in whose Gospel the disciples are privately chided for their lack of faith. In the Gospel of Mark, the father of the demoniac child is on the receiving end of Jesus’ stern admonishment, although he is not entirely faithless but admits, as we ought also, to his struggle to trust fully in God. He then asks for God’s assistance, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Luke’s phraseology is both more eloquent and no less ambiguous than that of Mark. In the Lucan Gospel, Jesus’ challenge to believe in His power is directed more at us as Christian disciples than at any of the first-hand witnesses to the healing of the sick boy.
Although the three Synoptic Gospel authors essentially agree that a spirit was responsible for the child’s symptoms- the belief in demonic possession was common in first-century Palestine- discrepancies exist between the Matthean, Marcan, and Lucan accounts. Matthew, for instance, writes that the boy was a “lunatic”, while he refers to demonic possession only later. This indicates that the child’s condition, probably epilepsy, was not only culturally associated with evil spirits but also with the phases of the moon. The word ‘lunatic’ appears only twice in the New Testament, both times in the Gospel of Matthew. An explicit challenge of the disciples’ faith- Jesus said to His followers that even faith the size of a mustard seed would have sufficed to cure the boy- is also unique to the Matthean Gospel.
Mark describes the demon as “deaf and mute,” a possible allusion to those on the verge of spiritual death who cannot hear the word of God or who are silenced by fear so deeply rooted that it disables faith. Therefore, this exorcism served also as a warning to the disciples in the early Church not to allow fear of death to dull their faith in the Resurrection. This current runs throughout the Marcan Gospel. When the Risen Christ appears to the Eleven, some of them have still not believed “those who saw Him after He had been raised” that Jesus had indeed been restored to life. Moreover, Mark is the only evangelist to observe that many of those who saw the exorcism of the demoniac child thought that “he [was] dead,” because he had become “like a corpse” before Jesus “took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.”
Jesus also underscores the importance of prayer in driving out the demon: “This kind can only come out through prayer"(Mark 9:29). St. Luke stresses the significance of prayer, too, although in this Gospel Jesus did not directly associate the exorcism of the epileptic with the need to pray, as He did as per St. Mark. Instead, according to Luke only, Jesus was at prayer during the Transfiguration itself. The disciples descended from the mountain into the valley, a place of service in Luke’s Gospel. As such, Luke distinguishes himself from Mark and from Matthew by his heightened level of human concern.
Like Matthew, Luke challenges the faith of the disciples more than that of the father of the ill child. St. Luke alone adds the word “perverse” to Jesus’ criticism of His generation’s disbelief. This adjective refers to Israel’s ongoing faithlessness from the Mosaic era, hence Moses’ injunction against the “fickle”, “perverse and crooked race” of Israelites in Deuteronomy. The same human infidelity will result in Jesus’ death, therefore Luke’s diction in 9:41 functions as a flashback to Israel’s deliverance under Moses and, more pertinently, as a flash forward to our deliverance from our own listless faith by the power of Jesus Christ.
Death is a prominent theme in the story of the healing of the epileptic in the Gospel of Luke, as it is in the Matthean and Marcan Gospels. However, as he makes the literary transition between Jesus’ Galilean ministry and His journey to Jerusalem, Luke accentuates the human nature of Our Saviour. As the ideal human being, Jesus is best shown by Luke to be the most empathetic toward humankind. Only Luke identifies, in the words of the epileptic’s father, that the boy is the man’s “only child.” Jesus thus relates especially to the boy whose father pleads with Him from among the crowd of people. Our Lord, hidden by the multitudes, is once again singled out as the only Son of God the Father.
In His mercy, Jesus raised the epileptic child and, in a Lucan addition to both Mark and Matthew that again highlights God’s love for humanity, He “returned [the boy] to his father.” Jesus’ act brings to mind His own Resurrection, as well as our own; we also hope, because of the saving mercy of God, to be returned to Our Father in Heaven. The rising of Christ to life, then is the greatest of all miracles and the sum of all God’s great works. Because of His Resurrection we, too, have a chance to be raised from death. We must, though, remain attentive to the instruction of the miracle worker instead of becoming infatuated with the works themselves, as was a temptation of the first disciples and is for every Christian to the present age.
Fear of the Cross (Luke 9:43-45)
43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he did, he said to his disciples,
44 "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men."
45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
comments by Pope Francis (28 September 2013):
In a moment of triumph, Jesus announces his Passion. The disciples, however, were so taken by the festive atmosphere that “they did not understand this saying; and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it”. They did not ask for explanations. The Gospel says: “they were afraid to ask him about this saying’”. Better not to talk about it. Better “not to understand the truth”. They were afraid of the Cross.
The truth is that even Jesus was afraid of it. However, the Pope explained, “he could not deceive himself. He knew. And so great was his fear that on the night of Holy Thursday he sweat blood. He even asked God: ‘Father, remove this cup from me’. But, he added: ‘Thy will be done’. And this is the difference. The Cross scares us”.
This also happens when we commit ourselves to being witnesses of the Gospel and to following Jesus. “We are all content”, the Holy Father noted, but we do not ask any further questions, we do not speak about the Cross. And yet, he continued, just as there is a rule which states that “a disciple is not greater than his master” (a rule we respect), so too there is also a rule which states that “there is no redemption without the shedding of blood”. And “there is no fruitful apostolic work without the Cross”. Each one of us, he explained, might think: “what will happen to me? What will my cross be like? We do not know”, he said, “but there will be a cross, and we need to ask for the grace not to flee when it comes. Of course it scares us, but this is precisely where following Jesus takes us. Jesus’ words to Peter come to mind: “Do you love me? Feed … Do you love me? Tend … Do you love me? Feed … (cf. Jn 21:15-19), and these were among his last words to him: ‘They will carry you where you do not wish to go’. He was announcing the Cross”.
This is precisely why the disciples where afraid to ask him, the Holy Father concluded, returning to the Gospel passage. “It was his mother who was closest to him at the Cross. Perhaps today, on the day when we pray to her, it would be good to ask her for the grace, not to take away our fear since this must be. Let us ask her for the grace not to run away from the cross. She was there and she knows how to remain close to the Cross”.
The Little Children (Luke 9:46–48)
46 An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.
47 Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side
48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
comments by Matthew Gill, Director at Catholic High School (linktoliturgy.com):
What does it mean to receive “in the name of Jesus”? This means to receive each person, even the lowliest child, as if they were Jesus Himself.
How are children like Jesus? Children are an example of the evangelical councils: poverty, chastity, and obedience. They are poor, for they depend on others for everything. They are pure in both thought and deed. The innocence of a child must be protected. They are obedient, for they must rely on the wisdom of others to guide them. Our Lord said, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Although Jesus is God, He humbled Himself, thus depending on others for simple necessities like shelter and food. Jesus was innocent and pure of heart, “like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth…” Jesus was obedient, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death even death on a cross.”
The word "childlike" is the key. A child is free of worry and rests in trust. God is so great and beyond our comprehension that He reveals himself only to those who know how little they are next to his wisdom. That a child accepts all that is asked of it and follows directions without asking questions. In summary, to leave all the worry and concern with Jesus and to follow him blindly wherever his will and wisdom takes us.
Those that are wise and learned in the world do not have a childlike spirit, but rather everything must be explained, and therefore they trust only in themselves.
Luke 9.48 "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
comments by Thomas J. Olmsted (Bishop of Phoenix):
Knowledge of God is His gift to the childlike, to those with the humility and faith to believe. The "wise and learned" of this world can also come to know God (and He desires that they do so) but, when and if they do so, it’s not due primarily to their own intelligence but to their acceptance of the gift of faith. Jesus reiterates this throughout His public ministry. Recall the words of Jesus recorded by St. Luke (10:15), "I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Knowledge of God, the blessing of knowing the Lord through His Divine Revelation, is not something we can boast of achieving; it is our heavenly Father’s gift. But, at the same time, we have to receive this gift in gratitude and work out our salvation, using our energy and abilities to fulfill our mission from God.
Those not against are for you (Luke 9:49–50)
49
Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in
your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our
company."
50 Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."
commentary by Pablo T. Gadenz, Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Trenton (NJ) :
Communion not competition. “Whoever is not against you is for you”. Jesus’ words encourage a spirit of communion among different groups in the Church, including traditional institutions like the parish, diocese, and religious orders, as well as the new organizations, movements, and communities that the Holy Spirit has raised up in recent times. Moreover, Catholics should recognize how the Holy Spirit is also at work among other Christians, and thus promote the unity of Christians through prayer and collaboration (Catechism 819, 821).
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
This passage is applicable to evangelization today, in which Christians often find themselves in a situation of disunity and competition that hinders the spread of the gospel. Since Vatican Council II the Church has encouraged Catholics to collaborate with Christians of different traditions, even in missionary work when possible, without ignoring the real doctrinal differences that exist. Other Churches and ecclesial Communities which draw people to faith in Christ the Savior and to baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit draw them into the real though imperfect communion that exists between them and the Catholic Church. Catholics ... should be careful to respect the lively faith of other Churches and ecclesial Communities which preach the Gospel, and rejoice in the grace of God that is at work among them.
Explanation by Pope Francis:
“Doing good” is a principle that unites all humanity, beyond the diversity of ideologies and religions, and creates the “culture of encounter” that is the foundation of peace: this is what Pope said at Mass this morning at the Domus Santae Martae, in the presence of employees of the Governorate of Vatican City.
Pope Francis explains, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.” “This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon.”
"The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him. Instead, this ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. That we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”
"The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”
“Doing good” the Pope explained, is not a matter of faith: “It is a duty, it is an identity card that our Father has given to all of us, because He has made us in His image and likeness. And He does good, always.”
[Can Atheists Be Good Without Belief in God? By Karlo Broussard (Catholic Speaker -karlobroussard.com)
The Catholic Church teaches that unbelievers can live a life of relative virtue without believing in God—that is to say, they can know the behaviors that respect the goods of human nature and living accordingly. For example, an atheist can know that killing an innocent human being violates the intrinsic right to life. An atheist can also know that lying to a person violates the intrinsic right to know the truth.
These precepts, among others, make up what is known in the Catholic tradition as the natural moral law—a law built into the nature of man and knowable by the natural light of human reason. Charles Rice, American legal scholar and Catholic apologist, defined the natural law as a set of manufacturer’s directions written into our nature so that we can discover through reason how we ought to act (50 Questions on the Natural Law, Kindle Location 218).
St. Paul describes this law in his letter to the Romans when he reflects on the Gentiles’ ability to know God’s law without having the benefit of Judeo-Christian revelation:
When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts (Rom. 2:14-15).
Because this law is accessible by the natural light of human reason, both atheists and agnostics can know this law and live accordingly without acknowledging God’s existence.
This does not mean God is irrelevant to morality. Besides God’s grace being necessary to live the moral law perfectly and merit heaven (Rom. 8:1-8; John 15:5), God is necessary for the law to be morally binding.
In an atheistic worldview there can be no ultimate foundation for the moral obligation to live in accord with human nature. If not God, then who has the authority to say, “One must act this way. and if you don’t then you are a morally bad person”? As Thomas Merton writes, "In the name of whom or what do you ask me to behave? Why should I go to the inconvenience of denying myself the satisfactions I desire in the name of some standard that exists only in your imagination? (The Ascent to Truth, 112)". Merton recognizes that, without God, moral precepts, including the idea that we should respect the goods of human nature, are simply personal
Francis Beckwith and Gregory Koukl, in their book Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air, describe the unreasonableness of the moral atheist’s position:
"A moral atheist like someone sitting down to dinner who doesn’t believe in farmers, ranchers, fishermen, or cooks. She believes the food just appears, with no explanation and no sufficient cause. This is silly. Either her meal is an illusion or someone provided it. In the same way, if morals really exist . . . then some cause adequate to explain the effect must account for them. God is the most reasonable solution (169)".
Beckwith and Koukl understand that denying God’s existence results in an insufficient explanation for moral obligation. How can the moral law be binding if there is no moral lawgiver behind it that surpasses human authority? The answer is that it cannot.
There are many atheists and agnostics whom we theists could look to and lock arms with in the pursuit of a just and peaceful society. However, only the theist would be consistent in saying that just and peaceful behaviors are morally obligatory. One can get away with personal moral codes without God, but not moral obligation. ]
On the road to Jerusalem and Samaritan Rejection (Luke 9:51–56)
51 When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
52 and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there,
53 but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"
55 Jesus turned and rebuked them,
56 and they journeyed to another village.
comments by John William McMullen (Philosophy Professor and Theologian):
Did I just hear what I read?? Seriously. A particular Samaritan village did not welcome Jesus and his disciples, James and John, ask: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Burn them up. Destroy them. Consume them? These are the Disciples of Christ. But they make this horrific request. To kill other human beings.
This gospel should disturb us. Jesus turned and rebuked his disciples for making such a request! His disciples had gotten so off track of the message of the kingdom of God that he had to rebuke them for wanting to kill some Samaritans simply because they were lacking in hospitality.
But why did the Samaritans refuse to welcome Jesus and his company? It may have been due to previous negative experiences with other Jewish pilgrims who passed through their village. Perhaps it was because James and John were not very kind to them. We do not know. But for whatever reason, Jesus and his band of followers were not welcome.
Interestingly enough, in all of the gospels, there are no Samaritans that call for Jesus’ death. Many Samaritans DID accept Jesus. Recall the Samaritan Woman? What of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan?
Yet the disciples in Luke’s gospel have become rather possessive of Jesus, possessive of the kingdom, and very judgmental in their view of who could be worthy of the kingdom of God or even share in the ministry of Christ. Oh, we can you hear the pride, the self-importance, the arrogance; the elitism. But the kingdom of God is not a country club for the spiritually or ethnically or nationally elite.
In our own day we are bombarded and consumed daily by those who seek justice for themselves against others. For others their call for justice is often a hidden desire for revenge. Others openly admit that they do not want justice, but revenge. Some even pray that God should destroy others.
But who are we to judge others as unworthy of God’s love? Who are the Samaritans in our midst that we judge as unworthy of Christ’s love and our love? Oh, we may not say it that way, but our demeanor towards certain others speaks volumes.
What about the man who is hungering for love each week as he makes it up the steps of our church, but is often ignored because he is not one of the beautiful people? What about the chronically depressed…the unemployed or the underemployed… What of the teenagers or young adults or the aged who are just waiting to be asked to do something in the name of Christ?
How do we look at others? Or talk about others? And though we may not ask the Lord to “nuke” others out of existence, how easily do we sometimes render others invisible? Personae non gratae? I’ve had people tell me that they feel invisible in many of our parishes – “people see right through me” they say. No one welcomed me to church. No one missed me when I stopped coming to Mass. No one called to check on us. But they did call when they wanted money. Real or imagined, these are genuine hurts.
Many people are consumed with great anxiety and distress. The hurting needing the salve of kindness, the sorrowful looking to be consoled, the doubtful looking for faith, the hungry craving for belonging, the unwelcome longing for an invite to dinner, those thirsting for companionship, the poor seeking comfort – all of these we can likely find right here in our midst, in these very pews, today – they are not just “out there” in some nebulous mass of humanity.
We touch one another here in a unique way; and we have the opportunity to change other people’s lives for the better through our daily prayer and through our daily acts of charity. So who are the Samaritans God is calling us to embrace? You know “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” is not just a nice Christian catchphrase! Social justice must begin here before we go out there! Any time then when we fail to recognize the dignity of each human person, we run the risk of being tempted to call down fire from heaven to consume them.
But we cannot live according to the flesh, as St. Paul reminds us. It’s not about our designer clothes, our social status, our shiny cars, sumptuous homes, or even our well-tanned flesh or sleek, slender, sexy well-toned bodies.
Have we become too comfortable, too consumed with ourselves? We are called to live by the Spirit in freedom. And our freedom is for love. And it must begin here. In these pews. In these aisles. In the foyer. In the parish hall. And especially in the parking lot. No one who recognizes his neighbor as a fellow member of the body of Christ – or even a potential member of the Body of Christ – would ever seek to harm another person. Instead we will only desire others’ welfare and holiness and health. We will not seek to back-bite or devour one another - not even our enemies.
The good news about James and John is that they who wanted fire to consume their enemies were eventually consumed with the mercy and love of Christ.
James (James 2.13) writes: “For since we are in the freedom of Christ, ‘Judgment is merciless to the one who has not shown mercy; for mercy triumphs over judgment!’”. St. John also wrote extensively: (1 John 3:16) “Let us love one another, for love is of God..” “Everyone who hates his neighbor is a murderer….” (1 john 4 .11) …”and If God so loved us, we also must love one another...”
All of us have the freedom to love and forgive. And when we truly surrender to this freedom, and exercise this freedom, we will make it is easier for others to experience their freedom, blessedness and human dignity.
And then once we catch fire with Christ’s passion we won’t want to consume others with our prejudice; and we won’t have time to make excuses for delaying our response to Christ and our neighbor; but we will cast caution to the wind and freely take up our cross, allowing ourselves to be consumed in the fire of God’s love, burning bright, set free to love, to heal, and to secure justice for all the oppressed.
Foxes have holes (Luke 9:57-58)
57 As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58 Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
"Son of man" is the title Jesus characteristically uses to refer to himself, especially when prophesying his passion and during the passion narrative itself (fourteen times in Mark). It is found only on his lips in the Gospels. On one level, "son of man" means simply "man." Jesus is fully human; he is descended from Adam and thus shares in human nature with all its fragility (see Ps 8:5). This sense was familiar to Jews from the book of Ezekiel. where God frequently addresses the prophet as "son of man".
But Luke's audience may also have recognized an allusion to the prophet Daniel's vision of "one like a son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven" (Dan 7:9-14). In this vision God is seated on his throne of judgment, and the "son of man" is presented before him. This mysterious royal figure seems to represent the people of Israel, the "holy ones of the Most High" who have suffered brutal persecution. God will judge history in their favor and will vindicate them in the end by bestowing on them everlasting "dominion, glory, and kingship" (Dan 7:16-27). Jesus' use of this title for himself is an oblique hint that he will embody and sum up in his own life the destiny of Israel. His own royal glory will be veiled in suffering and humiliation, but this abasement is only the necessary prelude to his glorious vindication by God, when his divine majesty will be fully revealed (Mark 13:26; 14:62).
comments by Pope John Paul II:
Forty years spent by Israel in the desert while on its way to the promised land. During that time the people experienced what it meant to live in tents, without a fixed abode, totally lacking security. How often they were tempted to return to Egypt, where at least there was a supply of bread even though it was the food of slaves. In the insecurity of the desert God himself provided water and food for his people, protecting them from every danger. For the Hebrews the experience of being total dependent on God thus became the path to freedom from slavery and the idolatry of material things.
Many passages in the Bible highlight the duty to help the homeless. In the Old Testament, the Torah teaches that strangers and the homeless in general, inasmuch as they are exposed to all sorts of dangers, deserve special concern from the believer. Indeed, God clearly and repeatedly recommends hospitality and generosity towards the stranger (cf. Dt 24:17-18, 10:18-19; Num 15:15; etc.), reminding Israel of how precarious its own existence had once been. Later, Jesus identified himself with the homeless: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Mt 25:35), and taught that charity towards those in this situation will be rewarded in heaven. The Lord's Apostles urge the various communities which they had founded to show hospitality to one another, as a sign of communion and the newness of their life in Christ.
It is from God's own love that Christians learn to help the needy and to share with them their own material and spiritual goods. Such concern not only provides those experiencing hardship with material help but also represents an opportunity for the spiritual growth of the giver, who finds in it an incentive to detachment from worldly goods. But there is a higher motivation which Christ indicated to us by his own example when he said: "The Son of man has no where to lay his head" (Mt 8:20). By these words the Lord wished to show his total openness to his Heavenly Father, whose will he was determined to carry out without letting himself be hindered by the possession of worldly goods: for there is always a danger that earthly realities will take the place of God in the human heart…
The Gospel call to be close to Christ who is "homeless" is an invitation to all the baptized to examine their own lives and to treat their brothers and sisters with practical solidarity by sharing their hardships. By openness and generosity, as a community and as individuals, Christians can serve Christ present in the poor, and bear witness to the Father's love. In this journey Christ goes before us. His presence is a source of strength and encouragement: he sets us free and makes us witnesses of Love.
[The feast of Christ the King - Matthew 25:31-40
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40 And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
comments by Fr Brendan Clifford (Dominican Order):
Now hear what Jesus says about the person you helped: when you looked after that person, you looked after Jesus himself. You may say, ‘Nothing like that ever crossed my mind.’ This is what the people in the Gospel said, ‘When did we see you hungry or thirsty or sick?’ Jesus said, ‘As long as you did it to one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ What a surprising statement that is. When we meet a person in need, there is Jesus. When we do an act of kindness for that person, we are doing it for Jesus. When we have mercy and give help, Jesus is not only in the people we help, he is in us too. In that moment, not only is he in us, he is in charge in us, he rules in us.
We read this Gospel story on the feast of Christ the King.We do not find Jesus the King in a palace; we find him in the poor and needy. We see him ruling, not in a display of power and might, but in the people who reach out to the needy to show them mercy and to give them justice. Pope John Paul II said that the suffering of those in need releases love ‘in order to give birth to works of love towards neighbour, in order to transform the whole of human civilization into a "civilization of love."’
How different the world would be if everyone who is hungry, thirsty, naked, a stranger, sick or in prison, had someone who cared about them and was willing to give the help and support that they need. Jesus would rule the world from within the poor and needy and from within those who helped them. To an extent he is doing this. I asked you to remember a time you helped someone in distress. Millions of such acts of good neighbourliness are done every day all over the world, and in each of these acts that is done out of love, Jesus rules.
Yet millions live in extreme poverty without proper nourishment, clean water, adequate accommodation or basic health care. Their presence is an appeal to us and a challenge to give practical help, to change the way we live and the way we trade and spend. Our world gives first place to consumerism, profit, selfishness and greed. If the first place is given to the hungry, the homeless, the outcast and the sick, everything else will find its rightful place. If everyone shares there will be enough for all. We will have more to enjoy and to celebrate, all of us together.
As you receive Jesus in Holy Communion, remember that you have met him also in the people you have helped. Remember too that he already lives and rules in you as you play your part in changing his world into a civilization of justice, mercy and love.
]
Let the dead bury the dead (Luke 9:59–60)
59 And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "(Lord,) let me go first and bury my father."
60 But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Let the dead bury their dead: i.e., let the spiritually dead (those who do not follow) bury their physically dead
comments by David Backes (Deacon in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee):
In today’s Gospel Jesus addresses this issue, and he sounds harsh: To a man who wants to follow Jesus but first wishes to attend his father’s funeral, he says, “Let the dead bury their dead.” To another potential follower who first wishes to say goodbye to his family, Jesus says that looking back is a sign of not being fit for the kingdom of God.
It’s not that Jesus sees anything wrong with burying a parent, or saying goodbye to loved ones. He’s got something else in mind here: He sees a world full of people who are so caught up in their day-to-day existence that they have little space for God, a God who truly loves them and calls them to real life, to a way of being that is far more fulfilling than even the best aspects of a conventional life.
God calls us to real life. This call isn’t a command, it’s an invitation. It must be painful at times, because so often when the call comes we put God on hold. We have all kinds of reasons, such as: “Right now I’m so busy with college and part-time jobs, I just don’t have time to develop a relationship with God.” Or “I‘m just getting established in my career and have to focus all my attention on that.” Or “At the end of the day, between work and raising a family, I am just too tired to spend time with God.” Or “I’ll focus much more on God when I retire, for sure.”
No wonder the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head! Everybody is too busy doing other things to hear his call for a place to rest, for a heart to stay in! This is why Jesus says that when we put him off like that, we show we are unfit for the kingdom of God. We cling to our daily routines and our worldly desires, all of which will die when we do, and in doing so we implicitly reject God’s call to real life. This shows that we are not yet fit for the kingdom of God.
Not yet. That is key. Jesus didn’t condemn the man who put him on hold so that the man could first say goodbye to his family. He simply stated a fact: when the Lord calls, anyone who puts him on hold does not yet really understand either the Lord or the value of the gift being offered. If that man did indeed go home, say goodbye to his family, and then return to Jesus, I’m sure Jesus welcomed him with open arms. He never stops calling us to real life.
We answer his call to the extent that we imitate him. This doesn’t mean going out and duplicating Jesus’ actions—we each are given different kinds of gifts and inclinations, and so our specific ways of following Jesus will be different. St. John of the Cross says that we follow Jesus when we try to understand what motivated him and when we try to do our own actions for the same reasons Jesus did. And John of the Cross gave some good advice for helping us grow more open to hearing God’s call to real life and become a true follower of Jesus. He says to begin by reading the scriptures, thinking about Jesus and why he did what he did. Then, he says to pray to Jesus and ask him to fill us with his own desires and motivations. The goal is to reach the point where we feel about things the way he did when he lived on earth, and to act with his same adventurous heart and generous spirit in our everyday lives. Then we truly will be fit for the kingdom of heaven!
Jesus has lots of admirers. What he seeks is followers, people whose thirst for real life outweighs their desire for material comfort and social approval. What he longs for are people who hear his voice and are drawn to him so powerfully that all else pales. He tries to get hold of us in many different ways. He calls to some of us through the wind in the trees, to others through the words and melody of a song, to others through laughter and tears. He calls to all of us in sacred spaces such as this, and in the Eucharist and other sacraments. He’s calling, right now. Calling us to real life. “Follow me,” he says. How will you respond today?
Don't look back (Luke 9:61–62)
61 And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
62 (To him) Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."
comments by Pope John Paul II (Veritatis splendor):
This passage marks a definitive moment in the life of Jesus, where he concludes his public ministry in Galilee and begins the journey to Jerusalem. “When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk 9, 51). The Greek word for ‘taking up’ is “analémpsis”, which literally means ascension. Luke refers here to the entire process of the ascension of Jesus to take place in Jerusalem: suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. We know, as Jesus knew, what the passion and death implied, yet we are told that he was “resolutely determined” to move towards that path. Jesus’ attitude towards the cross ahead is “to prosopon esterasen”, which literally means “he set his face”. The verb “sterizo” means: to secure (firmly establish); solidly plant (which eliminates vacillation). Jesus recognized God’s plan ‘solidly secured his face’ on the way, firm to his commitment. This resolve challenges any man who claims to be a follower of Jesus: faced with the Cross ahead of me, do I move towards it “resolutely determined”?
In the next series of interactions we discover what this resolute commitment means in practice. First we have the messengers sent before Him to Samaria, who upon being rejected by the people propose: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” (lk 9, 54). Jesus “rebuked them” and moved on. To set one’s face on the path of God’s plan does not mean punishing others for their lack of commitment or for creating obstacles for our own or even God’s plan. This resoluteness is an inner attitude for oneself that accepts the misunderstanding and rejection of others, and moves on to reach the goal. At no point does this external difficulty make Jesus react against the people or doubt of God’s plan.
In this same passage, we have examples of men who want to follow Jesus and imitate his resoluteness but find ‘reasonable’ excuses for ‘getting a break’ from the plan of God. One man says to Jesus: “I will follow you wherever you go.“ Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head” (Lk 9, 57-58). The Lord’s radical preaching and attractive personality must have set ablaze this man’s desire to the point of promising an unconditional following. But the Lord knows how this effervescent enthusiasm usually fades with the first difficulties and obstacles, and warns that His path requires a resoluteness that does not seek human glory, and that on the Cross there is no place to rest one’s head.
Next the Lord calls a man, “follow me”, which implied a radical change of life and leaving family and plans behind. The man responds: “(Lord,) let me go first and bury my father” (Lk 9, 59). The man is not saying that his father was dead, but rather that he wanted to stay with him until his death, and then follow Jesus. He was essentially saying, ‘yes I will follow you but not yet”, which prompts Jesus to give a harsh rebuttal: “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (60). The Lord’s call must be answered with diligence, today and not tomorrow. Not even the legitimate care and charity owed to one’s parents can be opposed to the call of Jesus.
Finally, another man says, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” (To him) Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus does not tell the man not to say farewell, though he warns about the fundamental danger in the many “but’s” associated with delays and hesitancy concerning the call of God. To ‘set a hand on the plough’ means saying yes to Jesus, committing to his project and even having walked part of the way. Jesus has at this point entrusted the plough to the man, explained what part of the field needs cultivation, what seeds need planting and he counts on his sweat and labor to give fruit for the kingdom. To ‘look to what was left behind’ speaks of an attachment to the past, an inability to surrender fully and to commit with resolve and freedom. The answer to the Lord’s call and the proclamation of the Kingdom require a totally devoted heart, undivided in affections and interests that is committed not for a day, a month, a year or ten years but for all days of one’s life. “Following Christ is not an outward imitation… [it] means becoming conformed to him who became a servant even to giving himself on the Cross”.
A large crowd has gathered around Jesus. He had been performing healing miracles and was gaining quite a following. We are told in the gospel that about five thousand men were present. We are not told how many women and children may have also been with them, but it is a huge number of people by any measure. Crowds that large present certain practical problems, such as how to feed them all. The disciples can’t purchase enough food for everyone. But a small boy is found who has five barley loaves and two fish. From this meager amount Jesus is able to not only feed the crowd, but also to fill twelve wicker baskets with the leftovers.
This miracle is known as the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. It is the only miracle Jesus performs that is recorded in all four gospel accounts, so we know that it must have been especially important to the early Church. That makes it especially disheartening that many people today — including many Christians — don’t believe it to be true. They believe that Jesus fed the crowd. They just don’t believe it was a miracle.
It’s been called by some a “miracle of sharing” Supposedly the people in the crowd had more than enough food to eat among themselves. They were just being selfish with it. The “miracle” was that Jesus inspired them to share their food with one another. When they did so, they found that there was more than enough to go around. The feeding of the five thousand is read as a parable about generosity. That’s a shame; not because generosity isn’t good, but because what’s actually happening here is so much better. What the gospels present to us — all four of them — is not a parable about sharing, but an account of a miracle. It is an unfortunate trend in modern Biblical scholarship (a trend which thankfully seems to be reversing) to assume that the miracles attributed to Jesus cannot be true.
Why do you think the five thousand were gathered there in the first place? The gospel tells us: “because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.” They had already seen Jesus perform miracles and it got their attention. They were hungry, not just for bread, but for truth and for holiness. They were hungry for the divine. And that is exactly what Jesus offered them — it is what he still offers us. He offers us himself.
The crowd that our Lord miraculously fed would come back, and it would grow. “Come and see this man who heals the sick and feeds the hungry” But when Jesus offers them not barley loaves, but his own flesh to eat, they turn away. Even though they had witnessed so great a miracle, they couldn’t believe in the greatest miracle of all; that God had become incarnate and was standing before them, and was now offering himself as food for their weary souls. It was too much for their minds to accept and their hearts to believe, and so they walked away.
Jesus still comes to us, offering to heal us and to feed us. He offers us something much greater than barley loaves and fish. He offers us the bread of life, the bread of angels, his own divine flesh in the Eucharist. He offers us a miracle. We can disbelieve, saying it is too good to be true. We can disbelieve, saying that it sounds too implausible. We can disbelieve, saying it’s just a parable, a symbol, or a folk tale meant to teach a moral lesson. We can do all of these things; and we would entirely miss the point. Jesus performs miracles. He really does. He heals the sick. He raises the dead. Jesus truly did feed the hungry crowd, multiplying his gifts so abundantly that twelve baskets were filled to overflowing. And Jesus really does offer us his own Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist at each and every Mass. He invites us to be God-eaters. Yes, it sounds impossible. But Christ is God, and with God all things are possible.
Peter's confession (Luke 9:18–20):
 |
| Christ Handing the Keys to St Peter (1481) by Pietro Perugino |
19 They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
20 Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God."
21 He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
According to Mark gospel (8:27) this event took place in Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was a city built on an imposing cliff atthe southern base of Mount Hermon, at the site of a spring that flowed out of a cave and formed one of the sources of the Jordan River. The site had long been a place of pagan worship, identified at one time with the Canaanite god Baal and later with the Greek nature god Pan. Herod the Great built a marble temple there in honor of Caesar Augustus, who was considered a god, Herod's son Philip, who ruled the region at the time of Jesus, enlarged the city and renamed it Caesarea in honor of the emperor, adding his own name to distinguish it from Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. Jesus and his disciples were near this city, probably among the settlements on the plain from where the rocky slopes of Hermon rose dramatically, when he asked them the question about his identity. Peter's confession of faith thus took place in a region that had been devoted to the veneration of false gods.
The proclamation of Jesus as Christ is fundamental to Christology and the Confession of Peter, and Jesus' acceptance of the title is a definitive statement for it in the New Testament narrative. In this New Testament episode, Jesus not only accepts the titles Christ and Son of God, but declares the proclamation a divine revelation by stating that his Father in Heaven had revealed it to Peter, unequivocally declaring himself to be both Christ and the Son of God.
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus then continues: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven".
As can be seen in Isaiah 22:22, kings in the Old Testament appointed a chief steward to serve under them in a position of great authority to rule over the inhabitants of the kingdom. Jesus quotes almost verbatum from this passage in Isaiah, and so it is clear what he has in mind. He is raising Peter up as a father figure to the household of faith (Is. 22:21), to lead them and guide the flock (John 21:15-17).
The word "church" (ekklesia in Greek) as used here, appears in the Gospels only once more, in Matthew 18:17, and refers to the community of believers at the time.The "gates of hell" (of Hades) refers to the underworld, and the abode of the dead, and refers to the powers opposed to God not being able to triumph over the church.
The keys of the kingdom of heaven refer to the metaphor of the Kingdom of Heaven being a "place to be entered" as also used in Matthew 23:13, where the entrance to it can be shut.
Peter's authority is further confirmed by: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). As discussed below, various Christian denominations have assigned different interpretations to the authority granted in this passage.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Jesus' words, "upon this rock I will build my church" are interpreted as the foundation of the doctrine of the papacy, whereby the Church of Christ is founded upon Peter and his successors, the Bishops of Rome. Jesus' next statement, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." are interpreted as the foundation of the doctrine of papal infallibility.
Protestants believe that the verse states that Peter was the foundation stone of the Church, but do not accept that it applies to the continuous succession of popes, as the Bishops of Rome. The statement "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" is usually taken to mean that the Church will never become extinct.
The Orthodox believe in the infallibility of the Church as a whole, but that any individual, regardless of their position can be subject to error.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
In Israel's past, every king was an "anointed one;' chosen and consecrated by God himself. But at the time of Jesus, Israel had no king, having been dominated by foreign rulers for most of the past six centuries. During that period, the Jews clung to God's promises of a future "anointed one;' especially Nathan's prophecy that a descendant of David would reign on the throne ofIsrael forever (2 Sam 7:12-14). By the time of Jesus there were a variety of theories in circulation about this anointed one. Some held that he would be a Davidic warrior king who would expel the Romans and restore independence to Israel. Others envisioned a priestly Messiah descended from Aaron. Still others foresaw a superhuman figure who would usher in a new age of peace and prosperity. But none had described a Messiah like Jesus: a humble rabbi who walked among the villages of Galilee teaching, healing, and casting out demons.
Up to this point, the disciples do not yet comprehend the true nature of Jesus' messiahship. They cannot be allowed to fill its meaning with their own earthly dreams. Indeed, the misguided idea that he might take on a political role as leader of a messianic uprising ( see John 6: 15) could derail his whole mission as they approach Jerusalem. 3 The whole understanding of Messiah needed to be purged of its human, triumphalistic connotations before it could be proclaimed openly to the world. Jesus' mission had nothing to do with using political or military power to overthrow the enemies ofIsrael. It had everything to do with overthrowing the power of sin through the cross.
[Debating protestant arguments by Karl Keating (president of Catholic Answers):
--- Some protestants argue that Jesus used the word "petros" which means "little stone" so he wasnt pointing Jesus as head of the Church. According to them Jesus was really saying that he himself would be the foundation, and he was emphasizing that Simon wasn’t remotely qualified to be it. In Greek, the word for rock is petra, which means a large, massive stone. So they say the word used for Simon’s new name is different; it’s Petros, which means a little stone, a pebble ---
However we know that Jesus spoke Aramaic because some of his words are preserved for us in the Gospels. Look at Matthew 27:46, where he says from the cross, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?. Most of the New Testament was written in Greek, but not all. Many hold that Matthew was written in Aramaic—we know this from records kept by Eusebius of Caesarea—but it was translated into Greek early on, perhaps by Matthew himself. In any case the Aramaic original is lost (as are all the originals of the New Testament books), so all we have today is the Greek.
In Paul’s epistles—four times in Galatians and four times in 1 Corinthians—we have the Aramaic form of Simon’s new name preserved for us. In our English Bibles it comes out as Cephas. That isn’t Greek. That’s a transliteration of the Aramaic word Kepha (rendered as Kephas in its Hellenistic form).
“And what does Kepha mean? It means a rock, the same as petra. It doesn’t mean a little stone or a pebble. What Jesus said to Simon in Matthew 16:18 was this: ‘You are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my Church.’
The words petros and petra were synonyms in first century Greek. They meant “small stone” and “large rock” in some ancient Greek poetry, centuries before the time of Christ, but that distinction had disappeared from the language by the time Matthew’s Gospel was rendered in Greek. The difference in meaning can only be found in Attic Greek, but the New Testament was written in Koine Greek—an entirely different dialect. In Koine Greek, both petros and petra simply meant “rock.”
]
Jesus predicts his death (Luke 9:22–27):
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| Alonso Cano - The Dead Christ supported by an Angel (1650) |
23 Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
25 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?
26 Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."
Jesus predicts his death three times in the New Testament, the first two occasions building up to the final prediction of his crucifixion.
comments by Msgr Lope C. Robredillo (Doctorate in Theology):
This Son of Man who we follow in discipleship is, among others, the Jesus who must suffer, is rejected and killed (Mark 9:31; 10:33), and who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all (Mark 10:44b). As Son of Man, Jesus corrected his disciples for their wrong perception of what following him meant. For example, he criticized Peter who, instead of accepting the prospect of suffering and humiliation, thought of reviving David’s conquest (Mark 8:33). It is also for this reason that he silenced the brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who wished to occupy the prominent and prestigious places in the kingdom of God (Mark 10:38a).
Jesus’ criticism of his disciples makes it clear that to follow Jesus as Son of Man is rather costly. For judged in the light of worldly standard, it brings problems, deprivation, and suffering. The rich man refused to follow Jesus. When challenged to sell his property and give the money to the poor, his face fell because he was rich. For him, he could not suffer the loss of his wealth (Mark 10:23). As can be seen in Jesus’ prohibition of divorce, it also deprives one of his right to put away his wife for any cause (Mark 10:9).
Does all this mean that following Jesus as Son of Man has nothing in store for the disciple except humiliation and defeat? Not at all. In the end, there is justification and triumph in discipleship. Although the disciple may live in a world enveloped by trials, difficulties and turmoil, he has a very certain consolation that the Son of Man he followed is coming back to give him eternal life in the age to come, making him share in his power and glory (see Mark 10:30).
This is to say that when Jesus comes as Son of Man, we who followed him in suffering and even death will be victorious over the powers of evil and death. Discipleship may be costly, but in the end, a final victory over the forces of darkness awaits those of us who followed the Son of Man. Hence, we have much reason to take up the cause of discipleship.
27 "Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God"
comments by Fr. John Echert :
we must look to more immediate possibilities:
1. The Transfiguration. Given that this is recorded immediately prior to the experience of Peter, James, and John upon the mountain on which they saw our Lord transfigured and in His glory and power, this could very well be the first instance of fulfillment – some standing here, Peter, James, John, did see the kingdom in power on that mountain.
2. The establishment and spread of the Church. The book of Acts describes the rapid spread of the Church and the power of God at work in the apostolic Church. Since the Church is the Kingdom of God on earth, this would constitute fulfillment of the these words.
3. The destruction of the Jewish Temple and sack of Jerusalem and the end of Jewish cult worship. This was a definitive end to the first covenant form of worship. While this affected Christianity in that the center of the apostolic Church shifted to Rome, it was not catastrophic for the Church but a confirmation of the prophecies of our Lord in this regard.
comments by Fr. Robert J. Wagner (Arlington Bishop):
This promise came just one week before the Transfiguration of Our Lord on Mount Tabor. t was on that mountaintop that Peter, James and John saw Jesus in all of His glory, fulfilling the promise that Jesus had given them after foretelling His death for the third time.
Peter, James and John are overwhelmed by the glory of God, everything fades away — the dazzling white clothes, Moses and Elijah, and the voice of the Father coming from the clouds. All that remains is Jesus, which is all that matters as followers of Jesus.
For the Apostles, and for us, the Transfiguration is a sign of what is to come. And while we are not there yet, we can still take hope. Jesus is near to us, to offer us hope, to accompany us in our trials and sufferings, and to draw us into the great love He has for each of us. Let us pray each day that we seek Him and Him alone in our lives, that we may always be united with Him in faith, hope and charity.
Other opinions regarding this verse (excerpts from Catholics forums forums.catholic.com):
In A Commentary on the New Testament, published by the Catholic Biblical Association in 1942, pages 119-120, says, in part:
... The Son of Man coming in his kingdom: cf. the variant expressions in Mark and Luke. It is not certain what this refers to. Some of the Apostles will see it; others will be dead before that time. It cannot refer to Christ's coming at the end of the world when all the Apostles will long since have been dead. Nor can it refer to some event in the near future, such as the Transfiguration, Resurrection or Ascension. For all of the Apostles lived to see these events, which moreover do not contain the element of retribution demanded by the context. It probably refers to the destruction of Jerusalem [in A.D. 70] in which Christ vindicated His honor by punishing the city that slew Him. The destruction of Jerusalem is a type of the destruction of the world on the last day; as such, the expressions which refer properly to the one are also used analogously of the other. See Commentary on [Matthew] 24, 15-35.
"Coming in his kingdom" is the earthly evidence of Christ's sovereignty after he ascended to heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the Father. The earthly evidence was the coming judgment that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, which happened within the generation he was speaking to. It was a manifestation of his rule.
Jesus said to him in reply, "You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see 'the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power' and 'coming on the clouds of heaven.'" (Mt 26:64)
The Sanhedrin didn't directly see Christ ruling, but they saw the earthly evidence of it when God's judgment came through the Romans. It is similar to the Lord riding on the swift cloud of the Assyrians to destroy the Egyptians (Isa 19:1). The fulfillment of this at the end of the Old Covenant world prefigures and points to Christ's final coming in glory at the end of the entire world.
Transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:28–36):
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| The transfiguration (1872) by Carl Heinrich Bloch |
29 While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.
30 And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
32 Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
33 As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But he did not know what he was saying.
34 While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."
36 After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an episode in the New Testament narrative in which Jesus is transfigured (or metamorphosed) and becomes radiant upon a mountain. Situated shortly after the first announcement of the passion, death, and resurrection, this scene of Jesus' transfiguration provides the heavenly confirmation to Jesus' declaration that his suffering will end in glory.
Christian theology assigns a great deal of significance to the Transfiguration, based on multiple elements of the narrative. In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.
The Transfiguration not only supports the identity of Jesus as the Son of God (as in his Baptism), but the statement "listen to him", identifies him as the messenger and mouth-piece of God.
The Transfiguration also echoes the teaching by Jesus (as in Matthew 22:32) that God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living". Although Moses had died and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before (as in 2 Kings 2:11), they now live in the presence of the Son of God, implying that the same return to life can apply to all who face death and have faith.
comments by Pope Benedict XVI (JN):
We are told that Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up onto a high mountain by themselves (Mk 9:2). We will come across these three again on the Mount of Olives (Mk 14:33) during Jesus’ agony in the garden, which is the counterimage of the Transfiguration, although the two scenes are inextricably linked. Nor should we overlook the connection with Exodus 24, where Moses takes Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with him as he climbs the mountain—though seventy of the elders of Israel are also included.
The mountain serves—as it did in the Sermon on the Mount and in the nights spent by Jesus in prayer—as the locus of God’s particular closeness. Once again we need to keep together in our minds the various mountains of Jesus’ life: the mountain of the temptation; the mountain of his great preaching; the mountain of his prayer; the mountain of the Transfiguration; the mountain of his agony; the mountain of the Cross; and finally, the mountain of the Risen Lord, where he declares—in total antithesis to the offer of world dominion through the devil’s power: “. When we inquire into the meaning of the mountain, the first point is of course the general background of mountain symbolism. The mountain is the place of ascent—not only outward, but also inward ascent; it is a liberation from the burden of everyday life, a breathing in of the pure air of creation; it offers a view of the broad expanse of creation and its beauty; it gives one an inner peak to stand on and an intuitive sense of the Creator. History then adds to all this the experience of the God who speaks, and the experience of the Passion, culminating in the sacrifice of Isaac, in the sacrifice of the lamb that points ahead to the definitive Lamb sacrificed on Mount Calvary. Moses and Elijah were privileged to receive God’s Revelation on the mountain, and now they are conversing with the One who is God’s Revelation in person.
“And he was transfigured before them,” Mark says quite simply, going on to add somewhat awkwardly, as if stammering before the Mystery: “And his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mk 9:2–3). Matthew has rather more elevated words at his command: “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Mt 17:2). Luke is the only one of the Evangelists who begins his account by indicating the purpose of Jesus’ ascent: He “went up on the mountain to pray” (Lk 9:28). It is in the context of Jesus’ prayer that he now explains the event that the three disciples are to witness: “And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and hisclothing became dazzling white” (Lk 9:29). The Transfiguration is a prayer event; it displays visibly what happens when Jesus talks with his Father: the profound interpenetration of his being with God, which then becomes pure light. In his oneness with the Father, Jesus is himself “light from light.” The reality that he is in the deepest core of his being, which Peter tried to express in his confession—that reality becomes perceptible to the senses at this moment: Jesus’ being in the light of God, his own being-light as Son.
At this point Jesus’ relation to the figure of Moses as well as the differences between the two become apparent: “As he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Ex 34:29–35). Because Moses has been talking with God, God’s light streams upon him and makes him radiant. But the light that causes him to shine comes upon him from the outside, so to speak. Jesus, however, shines from within; he does not simply receive light, but he himself is light from light. Yet Jesus’ garment of white light at the Transfiguration speaks of our future as well. In apocalyptic literature, white garments are an expression of heavenly beings—the garments of angels and of the elect. In this vein the Apocalypse of John—the Book of Revelation—speaks of the white garments that are worn by those who have been saved (cf. especially 7:9, 13; 19:14). But it also tells us something new: The garments of the elect are white because they have washed them in the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rev 7:14); this means that through Baptism they have been united with Jesus’ Passion, and his Passion is the purification that restores to us the original garment lost through our sin (cf. Lk 15:22). Through Baptism we are clothed with Jesus in light and we ourselves become light.
At this point Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. What the Risen Lord will later explain to the disciples on the road to Emmaus is seen here in visible form. The Law and the Prophets speak with Jesus; they speak of Jesus. Only Luke tells us—at least in a brief allusion—what God’s two great witnesses were talking about with Jesus: They “appeared in glory and spoke of his departure [his exodus], which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk 9:31). Their topic of conversation is the Cross, but understood in an inclusive sense as Jesus’ Exodus, which had to take place in Jerusalem. Jesus’ Cross is an Exodus: a departure from this life, a passage through the “Red Sea” of the Passion, and a transition into glory—a glory, however, that forever bears the mark of Jesus’ wounds.
This is a clear statement that the Law and the Prophets are fundamentally about the “hope of Israel,” the Exodus that brings definitive liberation; but the content of this hope is the suffering Son of Man and Servant of God, who by his suffering opens the door into freedom and renewal. Moses and Elijah are themselves figures of the Passion and witnesses of the Passion. They speak with the transfigured Jesus about what they said while on earth, about the Passion of Jesus. But by speaking of these things with Jesus during his Transfiguration they make it apparent that this Passion brings salvation; that it is filled with the glory of God; that the Passion is transformed into light, into freedom and joy.
At this point, we need to jump ahead to the conversation that the three disciples have with Jesus as they come down from the “high mountain.” Jesus is talking with them about his coming Resurrection from the dead, which of course presupposes the Cross. The disciples ask instead about the return of Elijah, which is foretold by the scribes. This is Jesus’ reply: “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him” (Mk 9:13). Jesus’ words confirm the expectation of Elijah’s return. At the same time, however, he completes and corrects the common picture of it. He tacitly identifies the Elijah who will return as John the Baptist: the return of Elijah has already happened in the work of the Baptist.
“And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him’” (Mk 9:7). The holy cloud, the shekinah, is the sign of the presence of God himself. The cloud hovering over the Tent of Meeting indicated that God was present. The solemn proclamation of Sonship, however, is now followed by the command “Listen to him.” At this point, we are reminded of the link with Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai, which we saw at the beginning to be the background of the Transfiguration story. On the mountain, Moses received the Torah, God’s teaching word. Now we are told in reference to Jesus: “Listen to him.” H. Gese has provided a perceptive commentary on this scene: “Jesus himself has become the divine Word of revelation. The Gospels could not illustrate it any more clearly or powerfully: Jesus himself is the Torah” . This one command brings the theophany to its conclusion and sums up its deepest meaning. The disciples must accompany Jesus back down the mountain and learn ever anew to “listen to him.”
If we learn to understand the content of the Transfiguration story in these terms—as the irruption and inauguration of the messianic age—then we are also able to grasp the obscure statement that Mark’s Gospel inserts between Peter’s confession and the teaching on discipleship, on one hand, and the account of the Transfiguration, on the other: “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the dominion of God [the Kingdom of God] come with power” (Mk 9:1). What does this mean? Is Jesus predicting that some of the bystanders will still be alive at the time of his Parousia, at the definitive inbreaking of the Kingdom of God the three disciples who accompany Jesus up the mountain are promised that they will personally witness the coming of the Kingdom of God “in power.” On the mountain the three of them see the glory of God’s Kingdom shining out of Jesus. On the mountain they are overshadowed by God’s holy cloud. On the mountain they learn that Jesus himself is the living Torah, the complete Word of God. On the mountain they see the “power” (dynamis) of the Kingdom that is coming in Christ.
Exorcising a boy possessed by a demon (Luke 9:37–42)
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| Exorcising a boy possessed by a demon from the Gothic manuscript "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry", 15th century. |
38 There was a man in the crowd who cried out, "Teacher, I beg you, look at my son; he is my only child.
39 For a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams and it convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it releases him only with difficulty, wearing him out.
40 I begged your disciples to cast it out but they could not."
41 Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here."
42 As he was coming forward, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion; but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and returned him to his father.
Jesus gave the Apostles the power to cast out demons. While Jesus, Peter, James and John were on the mountain, the other nine Apostles were continuing their mission to heal and preach the coming of the kingdom. Jesus tells them that their failure on this occasion is because of their lack of faith. It is a failure which reflects badly on their credibility as Jesus’ ministers. Perhaps they were intimidated by the power of the demon. However, Jesus successfully casts the demon out of the boy.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
Although the Church grants the faculty of performing exorcisms only to priests granted permission by their bishop, this passage provides some important lessons for all Christians who minister to others through prayer. Some wise steps to take in praying with a person for healing or the relief of any difficulty are the following: Ask a question or two to ascertain the nature of the problem ("How long has this been happening to him?" Mark 9:21); invite the person to an act of faith in Jesus ("If you can!' Everything is possible to one who has faith?" Mark 9:23); bring the person "to Jesus" ("Oh faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will endure you? Bring him to me" Mark 9:19) through prayer ("This kind can only come out through prayer" Mark 9:29), combined with fasting when possible; and persevere with expectant faith even in the face of seeming failure ("Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, "He is dead!" Mark 9:26). This kind of simple but faith-filled prayer has enabled many to experience the living presence and power of Jesus in their lives, whether they are healed in body or in spirit.
comments by Father Warren Schmidt (Congregation of St. Basil):
The day after the Transfiguration, a man approached Jesus from a great crowd of people. His son was worn out by recurrent convulsions. “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here.”
Luke does not specify the object of Our Lord’s exasperation, unlike Matthew, in whose Gospel the disciples are privately chided for their lack of faith. In the Gospel of Mark, the father of the demoniac child is on the receiving end of Jesus’ stern admonishment, although he is not entirely faithless but admits, as we ought also, to his struggle to trust fully in God. He then asks for God’s assistance, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Luke’s phraseology is both more eloquent and no less ambiguous than that of Mark. In the Lucan Gospel, Jesus’ challenge to believe in His power is directed more at us as Christian disciples than at any of the first-hand witnesses to the healing of the sick boy.
Although the three Synoptic Gospel authors essentially agree that a spirit was responsible for the child’s symptoms- the belief in demonic possession was common in first-century Palestine- discrepancies exist between the Matthean, Marcan, and Lucan accounts. Matthew, for instance, writes that the boy was a “lunatic”, while he refers to demonic possession only later. This indicates that the child’s condition, probably epilepsy, was not only culturally associated with evil spirits but also with the phases of the moon. The word ‘lunatic’ appears only twice in the New Testament, both times in the Gospel of Matthew. An explicit challenge of the disciples’ faith- Jesus said to His followers that even faith the size of a mustard seed would have sufficed to cure the boy- is also unique to the Matthean Gospel.
Mark describes the demon as “deaf and mute,” a possible allusion to those on the verge of spiritual death who cannot hear the word of God or who are silenced by fear so deeply rooted that it disables faith. Therefore, this exorcism served also as a warning to the disciples in the early Church not to allow fear of death to dull their faith in the Resurrection. This current runs throughout the Marcan Gospel. When the Risen Christ appears to the Eleven, some of them have still not believed “those who saw Him after He had been raised” that Jesus had indeed been restored to life. Moreover, Mark is the only evangelist to observe that many of those who saw the exorcism of the demoniac child thought that “he [was] dead,” because he had become “like a corpse” before Jesus “took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.”
Jesus also underscores the importance of prayer in driving out the demon: “This kind can only come out through prayer"(Mark 9:29). St. Luke stresses the significance of prayer, too, although in this Gospel Jesus did not directly associate the exorcism of the epileptic with the need to pray, as He did as per St. Mark. Instead, according to Luke only, Jesus was at prayer during the Transfiguration itself. The disciples descended from the mountain into the valley, a place of service in Luke’s Gospel. As such, Luke distinguishes himself from Mark and from Matthew by his heightened level of human concern.
Like Matthew, Luke challenges the faith of the disciples more than that of the father of the ill child. St. Luke alone adds the word “perverse” to Jesus’ criticism of His generation’s disbelief. This adjective refers to Israel’s ongoing faithlessness from the Mosaic era, hence Moses’ injunction against the “fickle”, “perverse and crooked race” of Israelites in Deuteronomy. The same human infidelity will result in Jesus’ death, therefore Luke’s diction in 9:41 functions as a flashback to Israel’s deliverance under Moses and, more pertinently, as a flash forward to our deliverance from our own listless faith by the power of Jesus Christ.
Death is a prominent theme in the story of the healing of the epileptic in the Gospel of Luke, as it is in the Matthean and Marcan Gospels. However, as he makes the literary transition between Jesus’ Galilean ministry and His journey to Jerusalem, Luke accentuates the human nature of Our Saviour. As the ideal human being, Jesus is best shown by Luke to be the most empathetic toward humankind. Only Luke identifies, in the words of the epileptic’s father, that the boy is the man’s “only child.” Jesus thus relates especially to the boy whose father pleads with Him from among the crowd of people. Our Lord, hidden by the multitudes, is once again singled out as the only Son of God the Father.
In His mercy, Jesus raised the epileptic child and, in a Lucan addition to both Mark and Matthew that again highlights God’s love for humanity, He “returned [the boy] to his father.” Jesus’ act brings to mind His own Resurrection, as well as our own; we also hope, because of the saving mercy of God, to be returned to Our Father in Heaven. The rising of Christ to life, then is the greatest of all miracles and the sum of all God’s great works. Because of His Resurrection we, too, have a chance to be raised from death. We must, though, remain attentive to the instruction of the miracle worker instead of becoming infatuated with the works themselves, as was a temptation of the first disciples and is for every Christian to the present age.
Fear of the Cross (Luke 9:43-45)
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| Goya - The Taking of Christ (1798) |
44 "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men."
45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
comments by Pope Francis (28 September 2013):
In a moment of triumph, Jesus announces his Passion. The disciples, however, were so taken by the festive atmosphere that “they did not understand this saying; and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it”. They did not ask for explanations. The Gospel says: “they were afraid to ask him about this saying’”. Better not to talk about it. Better “not to understand the truth”. They were afraid of the Cross.
The truth is that even Jesus was afraid of it. However, the Pope explained, “he could not deceive himself. He knew. And so great was his fear that on the night of Holy Thursday he sweat blood. He even asked God: ‘Father, remove this cup from me’. But, he added: ‘Thy will be done’. And this is the difference. The Cross scares us”.
This also happens when we commit ourselves to being witnesses of the Gospel and to following Jesus. “We are all content”, the Holy Father noted, but we do not ask any further questions, we do not speak about the Cross. And yet, he continued, just as there is a rule which states that “a disciple is not greater than his master” (a rule we respect), so too there is also a rule which states that “there is no redemption without the shedding of blood”. And “there is no fruitful apostolic work without the Cross”. Each one of us, he explained, might think: “what will happen to me? What will my cross be like? We do not know”, he said, “but there will be a cross, and we need to ask for the grace not to flee when it comes. Of course it scares us, but this is precisely where following Jesus takes us. Jesus’ words to Peter come to mind: “Do you love me? Feed … Do you love me? Tend … Do you love me? Feed … (cf. Jn 21:15-19), and these were among his last words to him: ‘They will carry you where you do not wish to go’. He was announcing the Cross”.
This is precisely why the disciples where afraid to ask him, the Holy Father concluded, returning to the Gospel passage. “It was his mother who was closest to him at the Cross. Perhaps today, on the day when we pray to her, it would be good to ask her for the grace, not to take away our fear since this must be. Let us ask her for the grace not to run away from the cross. She was there and she knows how to remain close to the Cross”.
The Little Children (Luke 9:46–48)
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| Carl Bloch - Let the little Children come unto Me (1870) |
46 An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.
47 Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side
48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
comments by Matthew Gill, Director at Catholic High School (linktoliturgy.com):
What does it mean to receive “in the name of Jesus”? This means to receive each person, even the lowliest child, as if they were Jesus Himself.
How are children like Jesus? Children are an example of the evangelical councils: poverty, chastity, and obedience. They are poor, for they depend on others for everything. They are pure in both thought and deed. The innocence of a child must be protected. They are obedient, for they must rely on the wisdom of others to guide them. Our Lord said, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Although Jesus is God, He humbled Himself, thus depending on others for simple necessities like shelter and food. Jesus was innocent and pure of heart, “like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth…” Jesus was obedient, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death even death on a cross.”
The word "childlike" is the key. A child is free of worry and rests in trust. God is so great and beyond our comprehension that He reveals himself only to those who know how little they are next to his wisdom. That a child accepts all that is asked of it and follows directions without asking questions. In summary, to leave all the worry and concern with Jesus and to follow him blindly wherever his will and wisdom takes us.
Those that are wise and learned in the world do not have a childlike spirit, but rather everything must be explained, and therefore they trust only in themselves.
Luke 9.48 "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
comments by Thomas J. Olmsted (Bishop of Phoenix):
Knowledge of God is His gift to the childlike, to those with the humility and faith to believe. The "wise and learned" of this world can also come to know God (and He desires that they do so) but, when and if they do so, it’s not due primarily to their own intelligence but to their acceptance of the gift of faith. Jesus reiterates this throughout His public ministry. Recall the words of Jesus recorded by St. Luke (10:15), "I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Knowledge of God, the blessing of knowing the Lord through His Divine Revelation, is not something we can boast of achieving; it is our heavenly Father’s gift. But, at the same time, we have to receive this gift in gratitude and work out our salvation, using our energy and abilities to fulfill our mission from God.
Those not against are for you (Luke 9:49–50)
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| Martin Rico - Children playing near the Damas (Ladies) Alhambra tower (1871) |
50 Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."
commentary by Pablo T. Gadenz, Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Trenton (NJ) :
Communion not competition. “Whoever is not against you is for you”. Jesus’ words encourage a spirit of communion among different groups in the Church, including traditional institutions like the parish, diocese, and religious orders, as well as the new organizations, movements, and communities that the Holy Spirit has raised up in recent times. Moreover, Catholics should recognize how the Holy Spirit is also at work among other Christians, and thus promote the unity of Christians through prayer and collaboration (Catechism 819, 821).
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
This passage is applicable to evangelization today, in which Christians often find themselves in a situation of disunity and competition that hinders the spread of the gospel. Since Vatican Council II the Church has encouraged Catholics to collaborate with Christians of different traditions, even in missionary work when possible, without ignoring the real doctrinal differences that exist. Other Churches and ecclesial Communities which draw people to faith in Christ the Savior and to baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit draw them into the real though imperfect communion that exists between them and the Catholic Church. Catholics ... should be careful to respect the lively faith of other Churches and ecclesial Communities which preach the Gospel, and rejoice in the grace of God that is at work among them.
Explanation by Pope Francis:
“Doing good” is a principle that unites all humanity, beyond the diversity of ideologies and religions, and creates the “culture of encounter” that is the foundation of peace: this is what Pope said at Mass this morning at the Domus Santae Martae, in the presence of employees of the Governorate of Vatican City.
Pope Francis explains, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.” “This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon.”
"The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him. Instead, this ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. That we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”
"The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”
“Doing good” the Pope explained, is not a matter of faith: “It is a duty, it is an identity card that our Father has given to all of us, because He has made us in His image and likeness. And He does good, always.”
[Can Atheists Be Good Without Belief in God? By Karlo Broussard (Catholic Speaker -karlobroussard.com)
The Catholic Church teaches that unbelievers can live a life of relative virtue without believing in God—that is to say, they can know the behaviors that respect the goods of human nature and living accordingly. For example, an atheist can know that killing an innocent human being violates the intrinsic right to life. An atheist can also know that lying to a person violates the intrinsic right to know the truth.
These precepts, among others, make up what is known in the Catholic tradition as the natural moral law—a law built into the nature of man and knowable by the natural light of human reason. Charles Rice, American legal scholar and Catholic apologist, defined the natural law as a set of manufacturer’s directions written into our nature so that we can discover through reason how we ought to act (50 Questions on the Natural Law, Kindle Location 218).
St. Paul describes this law in his letter to the Romans when he reflects on the Gentiles’ ability to know God’s law without having the benefit of Judeo-Christian revelation:
When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts (Rom. 2:14-15).
Because this law is accessible by the natural light of human reason, both atheists and agnostics can know this law and live accordingly without acknowledging God’s existence.
This does not mean God is irrelevant to morality. Besides God’s grace being necessary to live the moral law perfectly and merit heaven (Rom. 8:1-8; John 15:5), God is necessary for the law to be morally binding.
In an atheistic worldview there can be no ultimate foundation for the moral obligation to live in accord with human nature. If not God, then who has the authority to say, “One must act this way. and if you don’t then you are a morally bad person”? As Thomas Merton writes, "In the name of whom or what do you ask me to behave? Why should I go to the inconvenience of denying myself the satisfactions I desire in the name of some standard that exists only in your imagination? (The Ascent to Truth, 112)". Merton recognizes that, without God, moral precepts, including the idea that we should respect the goods of human nature, are simply personal
Francis Beckwith and Gregory Koukl, in their book Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air, describe the unreasonableness of the moral atheist’s position:
"A moral atheist like someone sitting down to dinner who doesn’t believe in farmers, ranchers, fishermen, or cooks. She believes the food just appears, with no explanation and no sufficient cause. This is silly. Either her meal is an illusion or someone provided it. In the same way, if morals really exist . . . then some cause adequate to explain the effect must account for them. God is the most reasonable solution (169)".
Beckwith and Koukl understand that denying God’s existence results in an insufficient explanation for moral obligation. How can the moral law be binding if there is no moral lawgiver behind it that surpasses human authority? The answer is that it cannot.
There are many atheists and agnostics whom we theists could look to and lock arms with in the pursuit of a just and peaceful society. However, only the theist would be consistent in saying that just and peaceful behaviors are morally obligatory. One can get away with personal moral codes without God, but not moral obligation. ]
On the road to Jerusalem and Samaritan Rejection (Luke 9:51–56)
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| Robert Zund - The Road to Emmaus (1877) |
52 and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there,
53 but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"
55 Jesus turned and rebuked them,
56 and they journeyed to another village.
comments by John William McMullen (Philosophy Professor and Theologian):
Did I just hear what I read?? Seriously. A particular Samaritan village did not welcome Jesus and his disciples, James and John, ask: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Burn them up. Destroy them. Consume them? These are the Disciples of Christ. But they make this horrific request. To kill other human beings.
This gospel should disturb us. Jesus turned and rebuked his disciples for making such a request! His disciples had gotten so off track of the message of the kingdom of God that he had to rebuke them for wanting to kill some Samaritans simply because they were lacking in hospitality.
But why did the Samaritans refuse to welcome Jesus and his company? It may have been due to previous negative experiences with other Jewish pilgrims who passed through their village. Perhaps it was because James and John were not very kind to them. We do not know. But for whatever reason, Jesus and his band of followers were not welcome.
Interestingly enough, in all of the gospels, there are no Samaritans that call for Jesus’ death. Many Samaritans DID accept Jesus. Recall the Samaritan Woman? What of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan?
Yet the disciples in Luke’s gospel have become rather possessive of Jesus, possessive of the kingdom, and very judgmental in their view of who could be worthy of the kingdom of God or even share in the ministry of Christ. Oh, we can you hear the pride, the self-importance, the arrogance; the elitism. But the kingdom of God is not a country club for the spiritually or ethnically or nationally elite.
In our own day we are bombarded and consumed daily by those who seek justice for themselves against others. For others their call for justice is often a hidden desire for revenge. Others openly admit that they do not want justice, but revenge. Some even pray that God should destroy others.
But who are we to judge others as unworthy of God’s love? Who are the Samaritans in our midst that we judge as unworthy of Christ’s love and our love? Oh, we may not say it that way, but our demeanor towards certain others speaks volumes.
What about the man who is hungering for love each week as he makes it up the steps of our church, but is often ignored because he is not one of the beautiful people? What about the chronically depressed…the unemployed or the underemployed… What of the teenagers or young adults or the aged who are just waiting to be asked to do something in the name of Christ?
How do we look at others? Or talk about others? And though we may not ask the Lord to “nuke” others out of existence, how easily do we sometimes render others invisible? Personae non gratae? I’ve had people tell me that they feel invisible in many of our parishes – “people see right through me” they say. No one welcomed me to church. No one missed me when I stopped coming to Mass. No one called to check on us. But they did call when they wanted money. Real or imagined, these are genuine hurts.
Many people are consumed with great anxiety and distress. The hurting needing the salve of kindness, the sorrowful looking to be consoled, the doubtful looking for faith, the hungry craving for belonging, the unwelcome longing for an invite to dinner, those thirsting for companionship, the poor seeking comfort – all of these we can likely find right here in our midst, in these very pews, today – they are not just “out there” in some nebulous mass of humanity.
We touch one another here in a unique way; and we have the opportunity to change other people’s lives for the better through our daily prayer and through our daily acts of charity. So who are the Samaritans God is calling us to embrace? You know “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” is not just a nice Christian catchphrase! Social justice must begin here before we go out there! Any time then when we fail to recognize the dignity of each human person, we run the risk of being tempted to call down fire from heaven to consume them.
But we cannot live according to the flesh, as St. Paul reminds us. It’s not about our designer clothes, our social status, our shiny cars, sumptuous homes, or even our well-tanned flesh or sleek, slender, sexy well-toned bodies.
Have we become too comfortable, too consumed with ourselves? We are called to live by the Spirit in freedom. And our freedom is for love. And it must begin here. In these pews. In these aisles. In the foyer. In the parish hall. And especially in the parking lot. No one who recognizes his neighbor as a fellow member of the body of Christ – or even a potential member of the Body of Christ – would ever seek to harm another person. Instead we will only desire others’ welfare and holiness and health. We will not seek to back-bite or devour one another - not even our enemies.
The good news about James and John is that they who wanted fire to consume their enemies were eventually consumed with the mercy and love of Christ.
James (James 2.13) writes: “For since we are in the freedom of Christ, ‘Judgment is merciless to the one who has not shown mercy; for mercy triumphs over judgment!’”. St. John also wrote extensively: (1 John 3:16) “Let us love one another, for love is of God..” “Everyone who hates his neighbor is a murderer….” (1 john 4 .11) …”and If God so loved us, we also must love one another...”
All of us have the freedom to love and forgive. And when we truly surrender to this freedom, and exercise this freedom, we will make it is easier for others to experience their freedom, blessedness and human dignity.
And then once we catch fire with Christ’s passion we won’t want to consume others with our prejudice; and we won’t have time to make excuses for delaying our response to Christ and our neighbor; but we will cast caution to the wind and freely take up our cross, allowing ourselves to be consumed in the fire of God’s love, burning bright, set free to love, to heal, and to secure justice for all the oppressed.
Foxes have holes (Luke 9:57-58)
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| Carl Friedrich Deiker - Schnürender Fuchs (1874) |
58 Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
"Son of man" is the title Jesus characteristically uses to refer to himself, especially when prophesying his passion and during the passion narrative itself (fourteen times in Mark). It is found only on his lips in the Gospels. On one level, "son of man" means simply "man." Jesus is fully human; he is descended from Adam and thus shares in human nature with all its fragility (see Ps 8:5). This sense was familiar to Jews from the book of Ezekiel. where God frequently addresses the prophet as "son of man".
But Luke's audience may also have recognized an allusion to the prophet Daniel's vision of "one like a son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven" (Dan 7:9-14). In this vision God is seated on his throne of judgment, and the "son of man" is presented before him. This mysterious royal figure seems to represent the people of Israel, the "holy ones of the Most High" who have suffered brutal persecution. God will judge history in their favor and will vindicate them in the end by bestowing on them everlasting "dominion, glory, and kingship" (Dan 7:16-27). Jesus' use of this title for himself is an oblique hint that he will embody and sum up in his own life the destiny of Israel. His own royal glory will be veiled in suffering and humiliation, but this abasement is only the necessary prelude to his glorious vindication by God, when his divine majesty will be fully revealed (Mark 13:26; 14:62).
comments by Pope John Paul II:
Forty years spent by Israel in the desert while on its way to the promised land. During that time the people experienced what it meant to live in tents, without a fixed abode, totally lacking security. How often they were tempted to return to Egypt, where at least there was a supply of bread even though it was the food of slaves. In the insecurity of the desert God himself provided water and food for his people, protecting them from every danger. For the Hebrews the experience of being total dependent on God thus became the path to freedom from slavery and the idolatry of material things.
Many passages in the Bible highlight the duty to help the homeless. In the Old Testament, the Torah teaches that strangers and the homeless in general, inasmuch as they are exposed to all sorts of dangers, deserve special concern from the believer. Indeed, God clearly and repeatedly recommends hospitality and generosity towards the stranger (cf. Dt 24:17-18, 10:18-19; Num 15:15; etc.), reminding Israel of how precarious its own existence had once been. Later, Jesus identified himself with the homeless: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Mt 25:35), and taught that charity towards those in this situation will be rewarded in heaven. The Lord's Apostles urge the various communities which they had founded to show hospitality to one another, as a sign of communion and the newness of their life in Christ.
It is from God's own love that Christians learn to help the needy and to share with them their own material and spiritual goods. Such concern not only provides those experiencing hardship with material help but also represents an opportunity for the spiritual growth of the giver, who finds in it an incentive to detachment from worldly goods. But there is a higher motivation which Christ indicated to us by his own example when he said: "The Son of man has no where to lay his head" (Mt 8:20). By these words the Lord wished to show his total openness to his Heavenly Father, whose will he was determined to carry out without letting himself be hindered by the possession of worldly goods: for there is always a danger that earthly realities will take the place of God in the human heart…
The Gospel call to be close to Christ who is "homeless" is an invitation to all the baptized to examine their own lives and to treat their brothers and sisters with practical solidarity by sharing their hardships. By openness and generosity, as a community and as individuals, Christians can serve Christ present in the poor, and bear witness to the Father's love. In this journey Christ goes before us. His presence is a source of strength and encouragement: he sets us free and makes us witnesses of Love.
[The feast of Christ the King - Matthew 25:31-40
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40 And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
comments by Fr Brendan Clifford (Dominican Order):
Now hear what Jesus says about the person you helped: when you looked after that person, you looked after Jesus himself. You may say, ‘Nothing like that ever crossed my mind.’ This is what the people in the Gospel said, ‘When did we see you hungry or thirsty or sick?’ Jesus said, ‘As long as you did it to one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ What a surprising statement that is. When we meet a person in need, there is Jesus. When we do an act of kindness for that person, we are doing it for Jesus. When we have mercy and give help, Jesus is not only in the people we help, he is in us too. In that moment, not only is he in us, he is in charge in us, he rules in us.
We read this Gospel story on the feast of Christ the King.We do not find Jesus the King in a palace; we find him in the poor and needy. We see him ruling, not in a display of power and might, but in the people who reach out to the needy to show them mercy and to give them justice. Pope John Paul II said that the suffering of those in need releases love ‘in order to give birth to works of love towards neighbour, in order to transform the whole of human civilization into a "civilization of love."’
How different the world would be if everyone who is hungry, thirsty, naked, a stranger, sick or in prison, had someone who cared about them and was willing to give the help and support that they need. Jesus would rule the world from within the poor and needy and from within those who helped them. To an extent he is doing this. I asked you to remember a time you helped someone in distress. Millions of such acts of good neighbourliness are done every day all over the world, and in each of these acts that is done out of love, Jesus rules.
Yet millions live in extreme poverty without proper nourishment, clean water, adequate accommodation or basic health care. Their presence is an appeal to us and a challenge to give practical help, to change the way we live and the way we trade and spend. Our world gives first place to consumerism, profit, selfishness and greed. If the first place is given to the hungry, the homeless, the outcast and the sick, everything else will find its rightful place. If everyone shares there will be enough for all. We will have more to enjoy and to celebrate, all of us together.
As you receive Jesus in Holy Communion, remember that you have met him also in the people you have helped. Remember too that he already lives and rules in you as you play your part in changing his world into a civilization of justice, mercy and love.
]
Let the dead bury the dead (Luke 9:59–60)
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| Gustave Courbet - A Burial At Ornans (1850) |
60 But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Let the dead bury their dead: i.e., let the spiritually dead (those who do not follow) bury their physically dead
comments by David Backes (Deacon in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee):
In today’s Gospel Jesus addresses this issue, and he sounds harsh: To a man who wants to follow Jesus but first wishes to attend his father’s funeral, he says, “Let the dead bury their dead.” To another potential follower who first wishes to say goodbye to his family, Jesus says that looking back is a sign of not being fit for the kingdom of God.
It’s not that Jesus sees anything wrong with burying a parent, or saying goodbye to loved ones. He’s got something else in mind here: He sees a world full of people who are so caught up in their day-to-day existence that they have little space for God, a God who truly loves them and calls them to real life, to a way of being that is far more fulfilling than even the best aspects of a conventional life.
God calls us to real life. This call isn’t a command, it’s an invitation. It must be painful at times, because so often when the call comes we put God on hold. We have all kinds of reasons, such as: “Right now I’m so busy with college and part-time jobs, I just don’t have time to develop a relationship with God.” Or “I‘m just getting established in my career and have to focus all my attention on that.” Or “At the end of the day, between work and raising a family, I am just too tired to spend time with God.” Or “I’ll focus much more on God when I retire, for sure.”
No wonder the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head! Everybody is too busy doing other things to hear his call for a place to rest, for a heart to stay in! This is why Jesus says that when we put him off like that, we show we are unfit for the kingdom of God. We cling to our daily routines and our worldly desires, all of which will die when we do, and in doing so we implicitly reject God’s call to real life. This shows that we are not yet fit for the kingdom of God.
Not yet. That is key. Jesus didn’t condemn the man who put him on hold so that the man could first say goodbye to his family. He simply stated a fact: when the Lord calls, anyone who puts him on hold does not yet really understand either the Lord or the value of the gift being offered. If that man did indeed go home, say goodbye to his family, and then return to Jesus, I’m sure Jesus welcomed him with open arms. He never stops calling us to real life.
We answer his call to the extent that we imitate him. This doesn’t mean going out and duplicating Jesus’ actions—we each are given different kinds of gifts and inclinations, and so our specific ways of following Jesus will be different. St. John of the Cross says that we follow Jesus when we try to understand what motivated him and when we try to do our own actions for the same reasons Jesus did. And John of the Cross gave some good advice for helping us grow more open to hearing God’s call to real life and become a true follower of Jesus. He says to begin by reading the scriptures, thinking about Jesus and why he did what he did. Then, he says to pray to Jesus and ask him to fill us with his own desires and motivations. The goal is to reach the point where we feel about things the way he did when he lived on earth, and to act with his same adventurous heart and generous spirit in our everyday lives. Then we truly will be fit for the kingdom of heaven!
Jesus has lots of admirers. What he seeks is followers, people whose thirst for real life outweighs their desire for material comfort and social approval. What he longs for are people who hear his voice and are drawn to him so powerfully that all else pales. He tries to get hold of us in many different ways. He calls to some of us through the wind in the trees, to others through the words and melody of a song, to others through laughter and tears. He calls to all of us in sacred spaces such as this, and in the Eucharist and other sacraments. He’s calling, right now. Calling us to real life. “Follow me,” he says. How will you respond today?
Don't look back (Luke 9:61–62)
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| Philip Sadée - The farewell (1876) |
62 (To him) Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."
comments by Pope John Paul II (Veritatis splendor):
This passage marks a definitive moment in the life of Jesus, where he concludes his public ministry in Galilee and begins the journey to Jerusalem. “When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk 9, 51). The Greek word for ‘taking up’ is “analémpsis”, which literally means ascension. Luke refers here to the entire process of the ascension of Jesus to take place in Jerusalem: suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. We know, as Jesus knew, what the passion and death implied, yet we are told that he was “resolutely determined” to move towards that path. Jesus’ attitude towards the cross ahead is “to prosopon esterasen”, which literally means “he set his face”. The verb “sterizo” means: to secure (firmly establish); solidly plant (which eliminates vacillation). Jesus recognized God’s plan ‘solidly secured his face’ on the way, firm to his commitment. This resolve challenges any man who claims to be a follower of Jesus: faced with the Cross ahead of me, do I move towards it “resolutely determined”?
In the next series of interactions we discover what this resolute commitment means in practice. First we have the messengers sent before Him to Samaria, who upon being rejected by the people propose: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” (lk 9, 54). Jesus “rebuked them” and moved on. To set one’s face on the path of God’s plan does not mean punishing others for their lack of commitment or for creating obstacles for our own or even God’s plan. This resoluteness is an inner attitude for oneself that accepts the misunderstanding and rejection of others, and moves on to reach the goal. At no point does this external difficulty make Jesus react against the people or doubt of God’s plan.
In this same passage, we have examples of men who want to follow Jesus and imitate his resoluteness but find ‘reasonable’ excuses for ‘getting a break’ from the plan of God. One man says to Jesus: “I will follow you wherever you go.“ Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head” (Lk 9, 57-58). The Lord’s radical preaching and attractive personality must have set ablaze this man’s desire to the point of promising an unconditional following. But the Lord knows how this effervescent enthusiasm usually fades with the first difficulties and obstacles, and warns that His path requires a resoluteness that does not seek human glory, and that on the Cross there is no place to rest one’s head.
Next the Lord calls a man, “follow me”, which implied a radical change of life and leaving family and plans behind. The man responds: “(Lord,) let me go first and bury my father” (Lk 9, 59). The man is not saying that his father was dead, but rather that he wanted to stay with him until his death, and then follow Jesus. He was essentially saying, ‘yes I will follow you but not yet”, which prompts Jesus to give a harsh rebuttal: “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (60). The Lord’s call must be answered with diligence, today and not tomorrow. Not even the legitimate care and charity owed to one’s parents can be opposed to the call of Jesus.
Finally, another man says, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” (To him) Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus does not tell the man not to say farewell, though he warns about the fundamental danger in the many “but’s” associated with delays and hesitancy concerning the call of God. To ‘set a hand on the plough’ means saying yes to Jesus, committing to his project and even having walked part of the way. Jesus has at this point entrusted the plough to the man, explained what part of the field needs cultivation, what seeds need planting and he counts on his sweat and labor to give fruit for the kingdom. To ‘look to what was left behind’ speaks of an attachment to the past, an inability to surrender fully and to commit with resolve and freedom. The answer to the Lord’s call and the proclamation of the Kingdom require a totally devoted heart, undivided in affections and interests that is committed not for a day, a month, a year or ten years but for all days of one’s life. “Following Christ is not an outward imitation… [it] means becoming conformed to him who became a servant even to giving himself on the Cross”.
