Is It Really That Difficult?

 In so many instances our Lord approaches His Apostles with the message of His impending Passion, death and Resurrection.

But they never seem to get it!

In the Gospel of St. Mark, Chapter 9 we encounter Jesus on Mount Tabor, showing His glory to Peter, James and John as far as they could bear it.  Within that passage, St. Mark records, Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  St. Mark then continues to tell us, So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

After they met the other nine at the foot of the mountain (last week’s Gospel), and after the Lord heals the son of the man of too little faith, Jesus now teaches the whole ensemble of Apostles about that which is coming.

The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise on the third day.

And again, St. Mark records, But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

In today’s Gospel (Mark 10:32-45), Jesus gets much more direct with His message, providing yet more detail.

We are taught, They were on the road to Jerusalem, and, Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  You see, at least some of them understood the danger that lay ahead in Jerusalem.  In John 11:8 we find The disciples said to Him, ‘Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are you going there again?’

It is into this tense environment that we find here in today’s Gospel Jesus speaking plainly.

We go to Jerusalem.  The Son of Man will be betrayed (one of you will turn on Me!) to the chief priests and scribes.  They will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles.  They will mock Him, scourge Him, spit upon Him, and kill Him.  And on the third day He will rise again.

Hear the detail in our Lord’s words to His Apostles!  He describes exactly what is about to transpire in just a few days.

And what is the response of those closest to Him to this devastating news?

Lord, grant us a place next to You in Heaven.

It’s yet another study in human nature.  These men have traveled with Jesus for three years.  They have been witnesses to countless healings, deliverance from demons, raisings from the dead.  In every instance when Jesus healed, He did so selflessly.  He routinely instructed those blessed with His intervention to tell no one.  Yet these same Apostles don’t seem to even hear His words about what is to happen next—even as the aforementioned Gospel of St. John reveals that they did have a rudimentary understanding.

Still being the Loving Lord that He is, He speaks gently to them.  Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  The Lord never says that which He does not back up with action, and He proves this saying when He girds Himself with a towel and washes the feet of His Apostles before the Last Supper (John 13:1-17).

We are not unlike these same Apostles.  We too don’t understand what God has exposed in simplicity.  He should say to us as well, Seeing you do not see, and hearing you do not understand.  In this passage from St. John, Jesus says plainly the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Lord, open our hearts to receive Your words.  Help us to hear your loving voice guiding us toward that place where we may be forever near to You.

It's Not My Fault

 Isn’t it funny how human nature is so very predictable?  When we find ourselves guilty of something, we obfuscate, we deny, we cover.

Today (Mark 9:17-31) we find Jesus returning from Mount Tabor with Peter, James and John after He permits them to witness His Transfiguration.

But as they descend from the mountain, there is trouble brewing.  St. Mark records when He came to the disciples (the remaining nine), He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Jesus immediately rushes to the defense of His own and asks the scribes, What are you discussing with them? 

It is at this point that a man from the crowd speaks.  Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke with Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

There are so very many things wrong with what this man just said! 

First, he opens calling the Lord Teacher.  In this there is no recognition of authority over evil spirits.  Being taught something doesn’t heal.  Why does the man not go immediately to Lord if he intends to show such faith?

Next, I brought You my son.  Remember the healing of the servant of the Centurion?  There was faith that was commended by our Lord.  ‘You don’t need to come to my home.  I’m not worthy.  Just say the word….’  No, here the man complains.  ‘I brought You my son—YOU weren’t here, so I tried the next best thing, asking Your disciples to help, but…. they couldn’t.’  Notice, it’s now the fault of the disciples that his son hasn’t received miraculous healing.

What is our Lord’s response to this assignment of blame?

O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? 

The word translated ‘faithless’ is the Greek apistos, which carries a much stronger meaning than ‘just’ unbelieving—it goes to calling the man a heathen.

Having said all of this, Jesus does not send the man away unfulfilled.  Bring him to Me.

In the interplay that follows, the man still, however, displays less faith than we might expect if he hoped to achieve his initial goal of the healing of his son.  If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

There’s an important word we just used—compassion!  Mercy!  The cry of the man has finally become Lord, have mercy!

Jesus does not yet immediately heal, but instead attempts to coax more faith from one who seems to be withholding it.  If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

There it is:  belief!  This is what’s missing.  Had this kind of belief been present when you came to My disciples, perhaps your plea could have been answered then.  How many times has Jesus said Your faith has made you well!? 

Now the man understands.  Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

Suddenly Jesus is no longer “Teacher”, now Jesus is “Lord!”  Now there is no blame of anyone else.  Now there is recognition that my faith is not all it needs to be.  Now there is an understanding that You love me and want fully to give to me the heartfelt request made for my child.  Now I will stop blaming others.  Now I will take that blame on myself, and with the most sincere heart and spoken plea, ask the blessing of Your healing ME (Help MY unbelief!), so that my prayer for my son can and will be heard.

There’s a lesson in here for all of us.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Words Have Meaning

 I know—I use this expression all the time.  But it’s a good expression.  It leads us to be inquisitive.  If we don’t fully understand a word, we should research and learn.  If we think we understand a word, we should dig deeper to see if there are other potential meanings that can teach us even more.

A couple of weeks ago we did Forgiveness Sunday Vespers, and in it we sang the Prokeimenon:

Turn not away from Your face from Your child, for I am afflicted.  Hear me speedily, draw near unto my soul, and deliver it!

Once upon a time I was participating in a combined Lenten Sunday Vespers choir rehearsal, and as we practiced this hymn, one of the men standing near me said, “I don’t like that!”  Asking what he meant, he replied, “It’s just not right to demand that God listens NOW.”

The quote may cause some to reflect on his concern, it may cause others to laugh.  If we pay attention to the hymns we offer during Divine services, we come to an understanding about such an issue.

At every Divine Liturgy, at the Anaphora, when your gifts are being offered to the Lord and just before we call upon the Holy Spirit to come and change these offerings into the very Body and Blood of our Lord, we sing a hymn that we’ll repeat on Palm Sunday that uses the word Hosanna! 

What does this word mean?  If we research the word in our Bible study tools, we find it to be of Hebrew origin, a compound word from the two: yasha and na, which mean save and now.

Here then we find that same “immediacy” as offered in the aforementioned Prokeimenon, hear me speedily. 

But the same urgency is applied in other prayers within the Church.  In one of the most beautiful hymns to the Mother of God we find the phrase make haste, for we all perish.  The words are preceded in the hymn with a plea for the Theotokos to have compassion on us, and they are followed by the recognition that we ask for her expeditious answer because of our many sins.

Are we placing too human demands for immediacy on God by praying in this way?

What does “haste” mean to the Timeless One?  Haste only has meaning to those bound by time.  It’s meaningless to God.

The prayers of this Great Fast season are crafted by the Church to help us understand the need for us to feel God’s presence near to us at all times.  They’re intended to open our minds to things we have within our grasp to change, so that we may more closely conform to the plans of the Lord for us.  I don’t know of a more positive message than this.  I can become closer to what God created me to be, if only….  If only I can hold my tongue.  If only I can hold my judgment.  If only I can release what I perceive to be my money, which was never mine in the first place.  If only I can love unconditionally.  If only I can see Christ in others.  If only I can forgive.  If only I can seek forgiveness, not sarcastically, but with all righteousness. 

There are too many if only’s to detail here.  I know too few of my own.  I’m not here to point out yours, for to do so would be judgmental on my part.  But I am here to encourage us—you, me, all of us– to listen to what the Church is telling us, and to try with all our being to understand her message.  Then, we will be filled with all the joy that this season was meant to bring to us, if only we were paying attention and using the opportunity to learn—from Her (the Church’s) words, and to ask for our Lord's help - NOW!