Preaching among the Palms

St. Paul enigmatically refers to the eager awaiting of all creation for glorification, which Fr. Jeff interprets as an extension of the biblical promise that the saints in glory will become in the presence of God like heavenly beings. Jesus himself says that the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of God. Not only it would seem though are we human beings bound for celestial glory but also the whole of creation itself. The kingdom of heaven preached by Jesus from the first pages of Matthew's Gospel is therefore one that will be cosmic in scope. In the meantime, we are given a parable about how to act toward one another in our journey to final blessedness and the restoration of all things.

The parable of the sower is found in all the Gospels, and it is therefore a great opportunity to learn about the kingdom of heaven, not just by studying the content of the parable but by understanding the form of all parables. Why does Jesus teach with parables at all? Fr. Jeff demonstrates why Jesus adopts this elusive mode of parables in the first place. The point of a parable is to challenge the hearer to confront the truth for themselves, the truth that provokes reflection on our own lives and how we are living into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says not everyone who hears is really listening: We can "understand" a parable in a superficial way or really understand it by allowing it to change our lives.

In today's Gospel reading Jesus doesn't condemn his present generation and their disbelief so much as make fun of them. He ridicules his audience's lack of response to the message of the kingdom of God: John the Baptist and Jesus both preached repentance and the kingdom of God, but they did so in different ways. Either way though nothing seems to satisfy their hearers. Fr. Jeff explains one of the rare occasions on which Jesus uses humor to scold his generation and their folly. Contrary to this generational folly Jesus presents himself as divine wisdom itself, an image from Hebrew Scriptures. True wisdom is found in obedience to God's ways, and most especially in following Jesus himself.

Every Sunday we ask God in the prayer of consecration to “grant that, by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we, and all thy whole Church, may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion.” What then are the other benefits of Christ's passion? St. Paul in today's epistle reading gives us one answer to this question: Faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ makes not only the forgiveness of sin possible but also breaks the power of sin over our lives. Fr. Jeff explains the symbolism of the blood of Christ, the biblical picture of sin, and the power of sin that masters the wicked but has been mastered by Christ.

Fr. Grady confronts the reality of persecution, first the persecution of the prophet Jeremiah, and then of the disciples of Christ. Nevertheless, Jesus encourages his followers that they should have no fear. Like the disciples, godly fathers are also charged to proclaim the truth of God from the rooftops, though such a proclamation has always and is now likely to provoke persecution.

Today is a turning point in the Gospel of Matthew. Fr. Jeff reads the drama of the Gospel as unfolding along two parallel tracks: on the one hand, it becomes more and more clear who Jesus is; on the other hand, people's reaction to who Jesus is becomes more and more polarized. Jesus sends out the twelve to the twelve tribes of Israel, and he predicts that they will not always be warmly accepted. Those who refuse to accept the disciple of Christ refuse to accept Christ himself, a lesson that is anticipated by a stern lesson from the book of Genesis, to which Jesus refers.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi, which has been a universal commemoration of the real presence of Christ in the sacramental bread and wine since 1264. Fr. Jeff guides us through John chapter 6, which contains numerous scandalous utterances by Jesus, including his assertion that he is the bread that came down from heaven. The language of the mass refers no fewer than three times to the truth of Corpus Christi: that we become one body with Christ and he becomes one body with us by participation in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is therefore not something we take a break from life to do; it is our life.

We affirm the reality of the Ascension every week in the Nicene Creed, but the Ascension is probably the most neglected and misunderstood part of the incarnate life of Jesus. Fr. Jeff accounts for how Jesus can be going back to his Father at the Ascension despite having never been separated from his Father. One way to understand this is Thomas Aquinas's idea of the persons of the Trinity being on mission, which he describes as being "present in a new way." Just as Jesus never really left his Father, and has now has been present with us, he never really left us either.

The Gospel reading for today features the New Testament's only reference to the Holy Spirit as an "advocate," or literally someone who is called alongside another. Fr. Jeff distinguishes between the ways John uses different terms for the Holy Spirit, and even refers to different works of the Holy Spirit, depending on whether Jesus is teaching publicly about the Spirit or whether he is teaching privately to his disciples about the time to come after his Ascension. Ultimately the Spirit is the key to three related ideas: communication, community, and communion.

In today's Gospel reading we hear a famous declaration from Our Lord Jesus, who proclaims that he is "the way, the truth, and the life." But what does this mean? Fr. Jeff explains the context, the mood, and the setting of this famous passage in order to clarify in what way Jesus is the way to God, the truth about God, and the life of God.