15 June 2024 - let your yes be yes

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But I say to you, do not swear at all;

Jesus commanded his disciples to practice honest speech. It was not too be the case that only things to which they swore and about which they made oaths would be considered true or reliable. Rather even their common daily speech was to be regarded as trustworthy.

False oaths tended to deflate the value of regular speech. But they also sometimes were used when someone wanted to promise more than it was truly in his power to deliver, to assure others that the future would be thus and so when it was clearly beyond his control. There are certain times when society requires from a man more than he himself be assured that he can provide, such as when he is putting his life in the line in military service, or when he must speak the truth no matter what giving testimony in court. In such times, recognizing the weakness of any given individual, society correctly deems it necessary to invoke God to help guarantee the promise, elevating it to the level of an oath. But in general we are not meant to enlist God into guaranteeing that which is merely according to our whim. Most of what is out of our power should be left up to God to decide rather than making in seem, by verbal sleight of hand, that it is under our control.

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (see James 4:15).

We must not bring the prestige of that which belongs to God as collateral for our merely secularly purposes. To God belongs heaven, earth, cities and nations, and even our very bodies including every hair of our heads.  These things sometimes seem so stable as though we might stake on them future contingents which they are not in fact so stable as to bear. We concoct ways in which we can give ourselves an absolute assurance on the basis of things which are merely temporary. But all of these things refer back to the God who made them. And trying to offer ourselves certainty in matters where it is not granted by God is to try to put ourselves in his place or to play God ourselves.

Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'

Anything more is from the Evil One."

In a world where we know our own weakness and are all too aware of that the future is unpredictable we may well be afraid to say anything, lest we be caught in contradictions. But the power of Christians is to be able to speak in such a world and remain truthful, precisely by remaining realistic, acknowledging our own weakness, and not bringing God's power to bear to make guarantees we are not authorized to make. It is in fact a chaotic, unpredictable, and ever changing world. We ourselves are flawed and inconsistent. And yet, in the midst of this world, and considering our own limitations, we can still learn to speak truthfully. After all, we know the one who is truth itself. 

If we have been in the habit of treating our speech cheaply let us listen to Jesus and leave our former ways behind as decisively as Elisha left his former life to follow Elijah. 

Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them;

he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh,

and gave it to his people to eat.

John Reuben - No Be Nah

14 June 2024 - future proofed

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you,

everyone who looks at a woman with lust

has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

It's actually a bad strategy to look at women lustfully if one desires to avoid adultery. Pornography does not quench the flames of lustful desire but rather adds to them additional fuel. The only real strategy that can  keep one safe from a passion like this is one that began within the heart, one that is motivated by the awareness of how dangerous the poison of sin can be. It isn't enough to merely know the rules and yet try to get away with as much as the rules permit. That is a dangerous narrow ledge from which even a light breeze might make one fall.

It is better for you to lose one of your members

than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.

Jesus was clearly not speaking about maiming oneself, but rather about how the spiritual good of the person far outweighed those that were merely physical. Appendages of the body could be lost one after another and it would be no great problem for the human heart to continue to pursue lust, now more convinced than ever that it was justly entitled to do so as a consolation for what was lost. But the goods that could be gained through the senses were lesser goods, and not worth trading for an eternity in Gehenna.

But I say to you,

whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful)

causes her to commit adultery,

and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus came to fulfill the law. To that end he came to set marriage back in the framework of the original intention expressed when God made Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The two were to become inseparably one, open to being fruitful and welcoming of new life. It was precisely because this plan was so good that all perversions of it were so bad, but also so tempting. There was a lot of vital energy meant for good, for the preservation and thriving of the species that was now difficult to properly direct. And the devil knew this, seeking every opportunity to dam the stream and redirect it according to his own purposes. But only the truly fulfilled law of God was life giving. We see this in our own time as a culture celebrating recreational sex makes society less and less sustainable, ever increasingly isolated and addicted. 

In our sympathy with the plight of the surrounding culture let's not be so taken that we come to wish that alternatives to God's plan for marriage were acceptable after all. There are perhaps at least a few of us who tacitly endorse Church teaching sadly and without conviction as though it would be better if it weren't true after all. If the Church changed its position would we breath a sigh of relief and celebrate? I say this to myself no less than to any readers. Sympathy is natural and compelling. The stories that used to gain our sympathy tend to by emotional and poignant, and are sometimes the stories of those we know. But the point is that although we are called to be infinitely sympathetic to those caught up in this culture, we are called to oppose the culture itself when that culture is opposed to the law of God.

A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains

and crushing rocks before the LORD—

but the LORD was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake—

but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake there was fire—

but the LORD was not in the fire.

In seeking to be transformed ourselves and subsequently transform the culture we are not typically called to seek something that is immediate, loud, and obvious, like an explosion. The transformation we need cannot be the result of violence at any level, not within ourselves, not emotionally or verbally between peoples, not politically in our society, and not in wars between peoples and nations. Everything lasting must begin from hearts that are quiet and attentive, attuned to hear the still small voice of God when he at least speaks.

After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.

When he heard this,

Elijah hid his face in his cloak

and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Like Elijah those of us who have tried to remain zealous might be tempted to despair that "the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant". But for us, as for him, the Lord has a plan. And the Lord sees the big picture and plays the long game. All the good things that zeal for the Lord makes us desire most likely will not be accomplished in our generation. But the Lord is looking to anoint those who will carry his mission into the future, just as he found Elisha to take the up the mantle of Elijah. And so? So let us remain faithful. Ours is a narrow horizon. But we believe and hope, with the psalmist, to see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. 

Newsboys - The Mission

13 June 2024 - let mercy reign

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

The disciples of Jesus were called to a righteousness that wasn't merely external, performative, or theatrical. He desired virtue, not virtue signaling. Jesus knew it was very possible to maintain an external conformity with the letter of the law and still cherish desire for evil in one's heart. This was like the condition of those who were set free from slavery in Egypt and yet longed for the comforts of Egypt they left behind. They were free in a physical sense. But their hearts were still enslaved in Egypt. Jesus was came not only to set captive bodies free but hearts as well.

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

We can readily imagine the sort of Christian who thinks himself decent because, after all, he never killed anyone, but who would readily commit violence if the law were suspended for a day or two. Maybe murder would seem too extreme or frightening to him. But perhaps he nevertheless cherishes some idea of revenge, even if he would only go so far as to act by words that destroyed the image or reputation of the other. 

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

Jesus had a strategy that ensured that his disciples sought not only an external lack of violence, but genuine fellowship and reconciliation. He did not leave the decision of when to try to reconcile only in the hands of the person who perceived some wrong had been done against him, though he too was clearly called to forgive the offense. Instead Jesus insisted that if someone had something against a disciple that disciple had a responsibility to seek reconciliation. It didn't all come down to whether or if that disciple perceived that he himself had been offended, or to his subjective feelings on the matter in any sense. He was called to be on guard against any sin he might have committed against others and preemptively seek forgiveness. Indeed this was of such great urgency that he should leave his gift at the altar and attend first to the restoration of the relationship and the elimination of dangerous and potentially toxic anger. This was a concrete way of commanding what Jesus intended when he said, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (see Matthew 9:13).

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

In a general sense Jesus was indicating that it was preferable to nip a problem in the bud rather than waiting until it grew so large as to be potentially intractable. Much easier to settle with the opponent in advance than to deal with trying to repay the debt from prison. Anger that is allowed to fester overnight is much harder to resolve than anger that is delt with at once. The longer we give shelter to sinful desires the deeper their roots grow within our souls. It really is possible to settle with our opponent and skip the prison entirely, but it is not automatic. We are called to take the initiative in seeking reconciliation. Doing so is often a bumpy road and a painful process. The smug external conformity of the Pharisee is an obstacle to even perceiving the need of this reconciliation. Let us therefore seek to have hearts like that of Jesus who came to break down every dividing wall and to make all things one in himself, reconciled in him by his blood.

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (see Ephesians 2:14-15).

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (see Colossians 1:19-20).

Times of anger and hostility are spiritually like the drought that was brought upon Israel during the time of Elijah and Ahab. But God longs to bring the heavenly rain of forgiveness and grace just as he made heavy rain to fall in order to end that drought. At first the possibility may seem as distant as a small cloud on the horizon. But our prophetic gaze ought to be able to recognize that a small sign of hope may actually portend a great renewal. May the hand of the Lord be with us as it was with Elijah so that we can gird the loins of our understanding (see First Peter 1:3) and lightly run in the Lord's ways.

David Ruis - Mercy Is Falling

12 June 2024 - law fulfilled

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

The law of the Lord, the Psalmist said, was perfect, giving wisdom to the simple (see Psalm 19:7). Yet to many Jesus and his Gospel seemed to come out of left field, different from the teachings of the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. Their accusation that he was going to destroy the temple was a symbolic representation of how they felt he was reacting to their religious traditions more generally. His approach to marriage, to the Sabbath, and to other traditions seemed at ends with how the Torah was commonly understood on such subjects. At the same time there were perhaps those among his followers that were ready and excited for this. The law was, after all, burdensome, when obedience was attempted without the corresponding grace. Jesus may have felt the need to assure disciples that were too eager to be rid of the law that they too misunderstood his message.

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter

will pass from the law,

until all things have taken place.

The underlying intention of the law would remain perennially valid. Getting stuck at the level of the letter of the law and its external form would be a risk because "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (see Second Corinthians 3:6). The law was not to be read is merely pertaining to external conformity that could be attempted without a simultaneous internal change of heart. Thus Jesus pointed to the heart of the matter, the heart of the Spirit in which the law was intended, as well as how the heart of the believer was meant to change in response to that movement of Spirit. And although the approach of Jesus to the law led he and his disciples to act in great freedom, as children of a trusting Father, his interpretation of the law made deeper demands than that of his contemporaries. 

It was possible for the religious leaders in the time of Jesus to imagine themselves to be perfectly observant of the law of Moses even while their hearts were full of pride, envy, and the like. Their interpretation of the law left the door wide open to hypocrisy. But Jesus insisted that the law was always meant to lead to interior conversion. Still, it is no wonder that the world never achieved this conversion prior to the coming of Jesus. His coming was the necessary key that unlocked the inner intention of the law, his presence was itself the fulfillment that made true conversion, spiritual rebirth, possible.

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do so

will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.

There was a perpetual risk for those so taken with the new and real freedom that the Gospel proclaimed, the risk that they felt free to abandon not only old and outdated rituals but even morality itself. We can see that this was still a risk for those in Galatia to whom Paul wrote.

you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (see Galatians 5:13).

An implication of the continuing relevance of the law is that it should not be an embarrassment to us, as though more enlightened people would have moved on to a more flexible and tolerant system of moral teaching. The modern world does not appreciate being told that much of what it values is not only a possible mistake or bad idea but actually objectively wrong and sinful. They are, however, willing to insist on some values of their own within the narrow sphere of their priorities. We don't suggest we ought to go beat down their door with the ten commandments. Obviously such an external approach to the law runs counter to what Jesus himself taught. But neither should we be embarrassed to found our lives and the life together called society upon genuine moral truth. Beginning in the family and spreading out in increasingly broad concentric circles such an approach can truly transform the earth.

the rules of the LORD are true,

and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward (see Psalm 19:9-11).

Maranatha! Music - I Will Delight (In The Law Of The Lord)

11 June 2024 - salt and light

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You are the salt of the earth.

Without salt the world is left, not with bland food, but eventually without enough, since salt was a necessary preservative, particularly in an era before refrigerators. The disciples of Jesus were able to provide this life giving and life enhancing power to the world because of their connection to Jesus himself. Without him the salt would lose its taste and nothing apart from him could season it. This was a reminder to the disciples of the unique role they were to play in the world. They had something that the world needed but could not provide for itself. Therefore it was necessary that they recognized and reinforced their unique identity as disciples. 

But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?

It is no longer good for anything

but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

It might have at times been tempting to look to the world as they sought to grow and construct their identities. The world, after all, was good at being clever, impressively capable of public relations, politics, and self-promotion. But what the disciples were meant to bring to the world could not be found in the world. If they tried to season themselves with aspects of the world they would find themselves losing the uniqueness of their flavor and also their ability to provide value as the preservative and life-affirming element in the culture.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.

The temptation of a disciple is sometimes to conceal that which makes him unique. If the light shining might seem too bright or as though it would attract unwanted attention one might be tempted to dim it by putting a shade over it, or concealing it entirely. There was no option to turn it off since the light was not something that was the property of the disciple. But he could choose to hide it. Yet this was to go against the purpose of the light which was to enlighten all in the house. It was to ignore the fact that a city set upon a hill was meant to be seen and take a central place in public consciousness, just as Jerusalem itself was a city set upon a hill, and was the subject of longing desire and joyful acclaim as we see in several psalms.

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Our feet have been standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem!

Jerusalem—built as a city

that is bound firmly together (see Psalm 122:1-3).

The disciples, and in turn the Church, were meant to be the earthly beginnings of a new and heavenly Jerusalem that would be fully revealed at the end of time. Rather than concealing this reality they were called to fully embrace it.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (see Revelation 21:2).

As disciples ourselves we are called to embrace our Christian identity, hopefully to the degree that we become recognizably Christian like those early disciples in Antioch where the name was first applied. We do this by embracing Jesus' call to concretely manifest our love for one another and for our heavenly Father through the deeds we do. When we do this in the spirit of sharing our salt and light these will not just be the charitable works of NGOs, things that could be done equally well by an adherent of any faith, but will instead be light that gives glory to God the Father. 

Sometimes all we need to pursue the call of God in our lives is a little encouragement. This was a particular strength of Barnabas. Seeing it, we can first be encouraged ourselves, and then we can then learn to emulate it.

When he arrived and saw the grace of God,

he rejoiced and encouraged them all

to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,

for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.

Remaining faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart is another way of stating the call to us to lean in to our identity as disciples. But Barnabas did not simply command this as an obligation. Rather, he rejoiced in the success he saw and expressed his desire that they continue and advance with the confident courage that they could and would do so. This he did because of the goodness he possessed that was in the process of being unleashed by the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit unleash similar potential in us.

Songs In His Presence: Psalm 122: Let Us Go Rejoicing

TobyMac featuring Hollyn - Lights Shine Bright

10 June 2024 - attitude adjustments

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,

and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

He began to teach them

Jesus went up the mountain and began to teach, giving the discourse we know as the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes. He was like a new Moses who received the law from God on Mount Sinai and then gave it to the people. And although the new law of Jesus at times seemed to directly contradict the law of Moses he assured his hearers that he had not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So when he referred to what they had previously heard said to them and then followed up with his famous, "But I say to you", the later was actually a more complete expression of the original goal that was present in germinal seed in the former. That said, it was not obviously present. Interpreters of the law tended to insist on taking it at face value, allowing for no meaning but the concrete and the obvious. Thus if they did not find mercy directly enjoined on them but justice and punishment directly commanded they would allow no room for the former and insist on the later, missing the fact that God's desire for mercy and not for sacrifice was an overarching principle of the whole of the existent scriptures.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

The characteristics that qualified for blessings were not those typically lauded by the cultures of that time. Riches and wealth were seen as a sign of favor leading to prominence in the kingdom of this world. But Jesus reversed this, insisting that life in this world should not be focused on riches here, but rather on treasure in heaven. Rather than those seeking after profit Jesus praised those sufficiently detached from worldly wealth to prioritize heavenly treasure. Worldly wealth could readily become a snare. But the poor in spirit had a corresponding freedom that opened them to receive the Kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Mourning, sorrow, and suffering were not necessarily indicators of having failed or of being cursed by God. Rather, they were at least potentially markers of those whose longing for the world to come was so great as to not allow them to be fully content with the present state of affairs. Those who longed for joy in this world were setting themselves up for disappointment since this world did not produce joy consistently or endlessly. But those who aligned their deepest desires with God's desires for the world were setting themselves up for eventual and ultimate satisfaction.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the land.

It seemed like the strong were the ones that inherited the land. The decidedly strong Roman occupying force seemed like the definitive proof of this reality. But Jesus promised that it was not ultimately they, but the meek who would inherit the land. It was not bullies or conquering forces or grand armies that would ultimately inherit the land. No, such perpetrators of violence would rise and fall, but none would ever achieve anything stable or permanent. Jesus himself appeared to have been conquered by violence and strength, but it was precisely then that he was victorious. And his victory was a promise of victory for all who put their trust in him.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied.

Most of us tend to desire food and water that leave us hungering and thirsting for more. We may desire righteousness, but not so viscerally as to prefer it even to the needs of the body. Yet we can see that Jesus himself definitely did prefer his Father's will to earthly food, confounding the temptation of the devil in the desert, and at another time, allowing Jesus to say "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (see John 4:32) because "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work" (see John 4:34). Later on, in the age of the Church, we would see that the followers of Jesus shared his prioritization of the Father's will. This extended to their hunger for the Eucharist, since from it they gained the grace and strength needed to express righteousness in their own lives.

It may have seemed like mercy, purity, and peacemaking were unprofitable abstractions with no place in the hearts and minds of serious adults seeking to improve the condition of their society. These attributes which Jesus called blessed doubtlessly seemed functionally impotent from the point of view of those who primarily defined themselves by how they were oppressed. And because our own society insists that we all find the ways in which we have been individually and specifically oppressed and to use that a the keystone of our self-definition it is no wonder we find so little mercy, purity, or peace in our world. Instead, we ought to consider mercy and peace before we stake our identity on how we were wronged. Purity is not popular in our time because we don't want to be told who we are or what to do. But purity is not a constriction of true freedom, but rather its expression. When we live according to God's design and blueprint we are protected from succumbing to slavery to our passions. Only if we live in this sort of freedom of heart will there be enough room in us for the vision of God. 

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Jesus seemed to be explaining why his mission and that of his followers might have seemed in the eyes of the world to be a failure but was not in fact a failure. He did not seem to be immediately or obviously obtaining what were conventionally considered to be covenant blessings. But these blessings and the conditions for their reception were different than anyone had previously imagined. The possibility of riches in heaven and rewards in the Kingdom of God were of greater gain than any of the temporary benefits of this life. It was, no doubt, a hard message to accept at first. But only such a narrative could truly give meaning to the struggles of life in this world. 

Since most of us have been blessed with at least a moderate level of wealth and success we tend to care less about the promises of the beatitudes. But we are still meant to learn to recognize that the blessings we have here below cannot last forever and learn here and now to value the treasure that we can keep forever.

I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;

whence shall help come to me?

My help is from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

The Dameans - Beatitudes

9 June 2024 - public relations

 

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him,

for they said, "He is out of his mind."

The relatives of Jesus thought they had a better idea of what Jesus' priorities should be then Jesus himself. But they only knew about the ministry of Jesus from a distance, having heard that the crowds said, "He is out of his mind". Jesus, they must have thought, was making a spectacle of himself, for the sake of drawing to himself large numbers of people. They could not tolerate this apparent megalomania from one who, to their minds, was no one special. They felt in some measure responsible for his choices and that those choices reflected back negatively on themselves. Thus they were not content merely to persuade Jesus to change his plans but even "set out to seize him". But for all that, they didn't really understand what Jesus was about. Nor could they grasp his mission at a distance and through the lens of what others said about him. They were, in the first place, too concerned about their own reputation to make an unbiased investigation.

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said,

"He is possessed by Beelzebul,"

and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons."

Jesus had been charged by the crowds with being a lunatic. Now some scribes charged him with something worse, deception, in the name of darkness. They suggested that the apparent good deeds that were motivating people to follow him were actually only possible because he was in league with Satan himself. But Jesus answered that if Satan was actually responsible for what Jesus was doing, casting out evil spirits and setting captives free, he would in fact be undermining his own demonic kingdom. If even the prince of evil was divided between empowering the genuine good deeds done by Jesus and his other more typically evil pursuits he was pursuing a strategy that was obviously foolish and eventually doomed. Satan really had no interest in letting go any of his "property" and for this reason guarded it as a "strong man". 

But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property

unless he first ties up the strong man.

Jesus was the one who was finally strong enough to bind the devil and set free those whom he held captive. This statement of Jesus was a direct contradiction to the accusation that he was working for the devil. No, he said, he in fact came to destroy him. 

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (see First John 3:8).

At the beginning when the snake had successfully tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden he gained sway over creation, and the ability to tempt and manipulate human creatures through their fallen minds and wills. They could not, in such a state, love God consistently with heart, mind, and strength. But after the fall God not only cursed the serpent he made a promise of restoration and salvation for his creatures.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike at your head,

while you strike at his heel.

Jesus, then, was the one who would finally crush the head of the serpent. This would happen definitively at the cross when the devil, as it were, overplayed his hand, and he and sin and death were defeated. But it was this same victory that was already beginning to manifest itself in the healings and exorcisms Jesus performed.

But he said to them in reply,

"Who are my mother and my brothers?"

And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,

"Here are my mother and my brothers.

For whoever does the will of God

is my brother and sister and mother.

In response to being misunderstood from so many different angles Jesus invited his followers to understand him by becoming intimately related to him. He suggested that the understanding him through the bonds of a disciple pursuing the will of God was an even better perspective than that possible for one who was merely related to him by blood. Even relatives, as we saw, were subject to biased misunderstandings. Naturally no one in that time and culture could conceive of any relationship closer than that. But Jesus proposed that the bonds uniting a faithful disciple to her Lord were even deeper than that of blood relationship and more truly familial bonds than those implied by the traditional conception of family. We are quick to add that this was no sleight to his mother, since she was his mother in both senses. She, because of her fiat, sought the will of God in her own life more than any other, save Jesus himself. 

We ought to be encouraged by this statement of Jesus of how close to him it is possible to come. And to this same end we should not be discouraged if we ourselves are said to be crazy and disingenuous in this pursuit. If Jesus was misunderstood, who was himself the truth incarnate, how can we hope to avoid sharing that fate? We may not look successful in the eyes of the world. Our friends and relatives may suggest alternative paths that are more socially acceptable. But we know that there is something going on within us, something Jesus himself is doing within our hearts, that we ought not trade for the world.

Therefore, we are not discouraged;

rather, although our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Elevation Worship - O Come To The Altar