Today’s Gospel - Maundy Thursday

ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ

131Πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς τοῦ πάσχα εἰδὼς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἦλθεν αὐτοῦ ἡ ὥρα ἵνα μεταβῇ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ἀγαπήσας τοὺς ἰδίους τοὺς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εἰς τέλος ἠγάπησεν αὐτούς.

2Καὶ δείπνου γινομένου, τοῦ διαβόλου ἤδη βεβληκότος εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἵνα παραδοῖ αὐτὸν Ἰούδας Σίμωνος Ἰσκαριώτου,

3εἰδὼς ὅτι πάντα ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθεν καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὑπάγει,

4ἐγείρεται ἐκ τοῦ δείπνου καὶ τίθησιν τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ λαβὼν λέντιον διέζωσεν ἑαυτόν·

5εἶτα βάλλει ὕδωρ εἰς τὸν νιπτῆρα καὶ ἤρξατο νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας τῶν μαθητῶν καὶ ἐκμάσσειν τῷ λεντίῳ ᾧ ἦν διεζωσμένος. 

6Ἔρχεται οὖν πρὸς Σίμωνα Πέτρον· λέγει αὐτῷ· κύριε, σύ μου νίπτεις τοὺς πόδας;

7ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ὃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ σὺ οὐκ οἶδας ἄρτι, γνώσῃ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα.

8λέγει αὐτῷ Πέτρος· οὐ μὴ νίψῃς μου τοὺς πόδας εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς αὐτῷ· ἐὰν μὴ νίψω σε, οὐκ ἔχεις μέρος μετ’ ἐμοῦ.

9λέγει αὐτῷ Σίμων Πέτρος· κύριε, μὴ τοὺς πόδας μου μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν κεφαλήν.

10λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ὁ λελουμένος οὐκ ἔχει χρείαν εἰ μὴ τοὺς πόδας νίψασθαι, ἀλλ’ ἔστιν καθαρὸς ὅλος· καὶ ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ πάντες.

11ᾔδει γὰρ τὸν παραδιδόντα αὐτόν· διὰ τοῦτο εἶπεν ὅτι οὐχὶ πάντες καθαροί ἐστε.

12Ὅτε οὖν ἔνιψεν τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν [καὶ] ἔλαβεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνέπεσεν πάλιν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· γινώσκετε τί πεποίηκα ὑμῖν;

13ὑμεῖς φωνεῖτέ με· ὁ διδάσκαλος, καί· ὁ κύριος, καὶ καλῶς λέγετε· εἰμὶ γάρ.

14εἰ οὖν ἐγὼ ἔνιψα ὑμῶν τοὺς πόδας ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ διδάσκαλος, καὶ ὑμεῖς ὀφείλετε ἀλλήλων νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας·

15ὑπόδειγμα γὰρ ἔδωκα ὑμῖν ἵνα καθὼς ἐγὼ ἐποίησα ὑμῖν καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιῆτε.

16ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἀπόστολος μείζων τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν.

17εἰ ταῦτα οἴδατε, μακάριοί ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε αὐτά. 

31Ὅτε οὖν ἐξῆλθεν, λέγει Ἰησοῦς· νῦν ἐδοξάσθη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐδοξάσθη ἐν αὐτῷ·

32[εἰ ὁ θεὸς ἐδοξάσθη ἐν αὐτῷ], καὶ ὁ θεὸς δοξάσει αὐτὸν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ εὐθὺς δοξάσει αὐτόν.

33τεκνία, ἔτι μικρὸν μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰμι· ζητήσετέ με, καὶ καθὼς εἶπον τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὅτι ὅπου ἐγὼ ὑπάγω ὑμεῖς οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν, καὶ ὑμῖν λέγω ἄρτι.

34Ἐντολὴν καινὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους, καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους.

35ἐν τούτῳ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ἐμοὶ μαθηταί ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγάπην ἔχητε ἐν ἀλλήλοις. [NA28]

Today’s Gospel reading is in two parts as we can see from the above, with a partial repeat of yesterday’ reading.  So I still have questions about how betrayal and glorification go together.  But more is going on here: we are told where Jesus is going we cannot come - ὅπου ἐγὼ ὑπάγω ὑμεῖς οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν.  What is meant by this?  Surely Jesus doesn’t mean that we cannot all be martyrs to the cause and die for it¸ history has proven otherwise.  If he means that we cannot ascend to the Father in Heaven, then many of our beliefs about life after death are shattered.  The Philosopher in me, full of questions as he is, is even more confused than he was yesterday.  But the last verses of today’s reading he does understand, and we should take them up today.

It is often said the Greeks had a word for it.  Well that is true, they had many words for love: ἔρως  means "love”, mostly of the nature of sexual passion, φιλία means "affectionate regard, friendship", στοργή  means "love, affection" and "especially of parents and children", Philautia means "self love" to love yourself or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage" perhaps we can associate this with Egoism, but we ought to be careful in that association, ξενία, means "guest-friendship" or “hospitality”.  But Jesus uses the verbal form of love which is associated with charity - ἀγάπη.  Perhaps this is the true form of love, after all even Modern Greeks say: σ᾿αγαπώ.

Jesus summarizes the law of Moses with two commandments, Love God, and Love your fellow creatures. I don’t say fellow men because of the gender issue, and I don’t say it also because we ought to have love of the other members of the animal kingdom too.  If you ever had a pet dog or cat you should realize that.  But now Jesus goes further and explains that people will know that you are one of His disciples by the love you have for one another - ἐν τούτῳ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ἐμοὶ μαθηταί ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγάπην ἔχητε ἐν ἀλλήλοις. This passage is why we call today “Maundy Thursday” after the Latin mandatum for ‘Commandment’.  Oh, and one other thing…Despite what you may think, Jesus and his disciples were Jews celebrating Passover.  So perhaps we ought to extend our love to our distant cousins who in the present day celebrate Passover. Perhaps from there we can go on to love all god’s creatures great and small, Covid-19  should teach us that we need to extend our love to all, because we are all on the same ship, so to speak.

Today I will go and get an infusion, which is scary in these times of a virus plague, but I have done it before and the medical staff has always been gracious, and dare I say, loving, in regard to how they have treated me.  After all it’s a Catholic Hospital, but that aside, I have felt their love many times during the past two years, and I’m sure they will show it to me again. My only hope is that in some way I am capable of reciprocating that love.

Today’s Gospel – Wednesday of Holy Week

21Ταῦτα εἰπὼν [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς ἐταράχθη τῷ πνεύματι καὶ ἐμαρτύρησεν καὶ εἶπεν· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με.

22ἔβλεπον εἰς ἀλλήλους οἱ μαθηταὶ ἀπορούμενοι περὶ τίνος λέγει.

23ἦν ἀνακείμενος εἷς ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς.

24νεύει οὖν τούτῳ Σίμων Πέτρος πυθέσθαι τίς ἂν εἴη περὶ οὗ λέγει.

25ἀναπεσὼν οὖν ἐκεῖνος οὕτως ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λέγει αὐτῷ· κύριε, τίς ἐστιν;

26ἀποκρίνεται [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς· ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ᾧ ἐγὼ βάψω τὸ ψωμίον καὶ δώσω αὐτῷ. βάψας οὖν τὸ ψωμίον [λαμβάνει καὶ] δίδωσιν Ἰούδᾳ Σίμωνος Ἰσκαριώτου.

27καὶ μετὰ τὸ ψωμίον τότε εἰσῆλθεν εἰς ἐκεῖνον ὁ σατανᾶς. λέγει οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ὃ ποιεῖς ποίησον τάχιον.

28τοῦτο [δὲ] οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τῶν ἀνακειμένων πρὸς τί εἶπεν αὐτῷ·

29τινὲς γὰρ ἐδόκουν, ἐπεὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον εἶχεν Ἰούδας, ὅτι λέγει αὐτῷ [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς· ἀγόρασον ὧν χρείαν ἔχομεν εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν, ἢ τοῖς πτωχοῖς ἵνα τι δῷ.

30λαβὼν οὖν τὸ ψωμίον ἐκεῖνος ἐξῆλθεν εὐθύς. ἦν δὲ νύξ.

31Ὅτε οὖν ἐξῆλθεν, λέγει Ἰησοῦς· νῦν ἐδοξάσθη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐδοξάσθη ἐν αὐτῷ·

32[εἰ ὁ θεὸς ἐδοξάσθη ἐν αὐτῷ], καὶ ὁ θεὸς δοξάσει αὐτὸν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ εὐθὺς δοξάσει αὐτόν. [NA28]

Today’s Gospel continues with the Gospel of John the 13^th chapter.  Curiously we associate the story of Judas with the Seder meal on Thursday.  Yet if we think about it, it could not have occurred on Thursday because Judas would have to make arrangements first.  The 29^th verse tells us what the disciples were thinking. 

In the 27^th verse we are told that Satan entered him (Judas).  Now I’m not an advocate of magical thinking here.  Satan isn’t lurking around ready to pounce into anyone he can, and dispose them to evil.  I think rather that the statement that Satan entered into Judas, is merely a way of speaking about Judas intent. Perhaps it is saying that temporarily Judas lost his right mind and gave in to the more base elements of his personality.  But you are free to see it otherwise if you so choose.

The rest of the passage is strange, given that Judas was off to do evil.  We are told that the Son of Man, i.e. Jesus, has been glorified - νῦν ἐδοξάσθη.  Those of us now acquainted with the story find it difficult to understand how ‘betrayal’ can be ‘glorification’.  We think of Judas’ actions as reprehensible, but Jesus tells us that he is glorified by Judas. And even more, that God is glorified in Jesus and the betrayal of him (v. 31).  Curious isn’t it?  But it gets even more confusing when we look at verse 32, where we are told that if God is glorified in Him, then God will glorify him into himself and do so immediately.  I wonder why John uses the preposition ἐν, rather than ἐντος. Perhaps ἐντος is too emphatic. But that is what one would expect from Jesus’ saying - some emphasis. 

Perhaps we should look at the root of the verb δοξάζω.  The word comes from the word δόξα,  which simply means opinion.  But in the New Testament it refers to esteem and glory.  So δοξάζω becomes to glorify.  But that information doesn’t really help us understand how Judas’ betrayal can be glorifying to Jesus.  Jesus tells Judas to do what you are about to do and do it quickly (v.27).  Is there some Calvinist/Predestination thing going on here? Does Jesus have divine foreknowledge of Judas and what he is about to do?  It’s a curious thought. If it is the case that Judas’ actions were predestined, then we can hardly blame him for what he was destined to do.  Can we?  Put that together with Jesus statement that he is now glorified, and we come into a more elaborate conundrum, because Judas’ doing what he was to do glorified Jesus and God along with him.  Maybe I’m looking at it too closely?  But I think that we in light of this passage ought to rethink Judas role in all this.  Perhaps we have got it all wrong, and then again maybe not.  Just something to think about… 

We might also think about Satan’s role in this, now that we are in the midst of a virus infecting the world, we might think that Satan has entered into our society and destroyed it.  But that would be merely symbolic thinking, not scientific thinking appropriate for the 21^st century.  I know some believers that would blame Satan rather than Judas in the passage today, but a metaphoric manner of speaking is not a direct form of speaking and we should abandon it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXx_1pZV8tE

Today’s Gospel – Tuesday of Holy week

20Ἦσαν δὲ Ἕλληνές τινες ἐκ τῶν ἀναβαινόντων ἵνα προσκυνήσωσιν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ·

21οὗτοι οὖν προσῆλθον Φιλίππῳ τῷ ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἠρώτων αὐτὸν λέγοντες· κύριε, θέλομεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδεῖν.

22ἔρχεται ὁ Φίλιππος καὶ λέγει τῷ Ἀνδρέᾳ, ἔρχεται Ἀνδρέας καὶ Φίλιππος καὶ λέγουσιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ. 

23Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀποκρίνεται αὐτοῖς λέγων· ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

24ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ, αὐτὸς μόνος μένει· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ, πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει.

25ὁ φιλῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολλύει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ μισῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον φυλάξει αὐτήν.

26ἐὰν ἐμοί τις διακονῇ, ἐμοὶ ἀκολουθείτω, καὶ ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ διάκονος ὁ ἐμὸς ἔσται· ἐάν τις ἐμοὶ διακονῇ τιμήσει αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ.

27Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται, καὶ τί εἴπω; πάτερ, σῶσόν με ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης; ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον εἰς τὴν ὥραν ταύτην.

28πάτερ, δόξασόν σου τὸ ὄνομα. ἦλθεν οὖν φωνὴ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· καὶ ἐδόξασα καὶ πάλιν δοξάσω.

29ὁ οὖν ὄχλος ὁ ἑστὼς καὶ ἀκούσας ἔλεγεν βροντὴν γεγονέναι, ἄλλοι ἔλεγον· ἄγγελος αὐτῷ λελάληκεν.

30ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν· οὐ δι’ ἐμὲ ἡ φωνὴ αὕτη γέγονεν ἀλλὰ δι’ ὑμᾶς.

31νῦν κρίσις ἐστὶν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, νῦν ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἐκβληθήσεται ἔξω·

32κἀγὼ ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν.

33τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν σημαίνων ποίῳ θανάτῳ ἤμελλεν ἀποθνῄσκειν.

34Ἀπεκρίθη οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ ὄχλος· ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ὅτι ὁ χριστὸς μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ πῶς λέγεις σὺ ὅτι δεῖ ὑψωθῆναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου;

35εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἔτι μικρὸν χρόνον τὸ φῶς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστιν. περιπατεῖτε ὡς τὸ φῶς ἔχετε, ἵνα μὴ σκοτία ὑμᾶς καταλάβῃ· καὶ ὁ περιπατῶν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ οὐκ οἶδεν ποῦ ὑπάγει.

36ὡς τὸ φῶς ἔχετε, πιστεύετε εἰς τὸ φῶς, ἵνα υἱοὶ φωτὸς γένησθε. ταῦτα ἐλάλησεν Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἀπελθὼν ἐκρύβη ἀπ’ αὐτῶν. [NA28]

Today’s Gospel also comes from the 12^th chapter of John.  Let’s concentrate on the last verses of today’s text.   In verse 34 we are told that it was the belief of the crowd that the Messiah would last forever, and the crowd is wondering how it is that the Messiah should be raised up. If he is forever, then there is no point to dying, for He is eternal.  How is it possible to speak about the Son of Man being lifted up.  There is a time-eternity contrast here that leaves the crowd confused, just as we today are puzzled about time and eternity. We assume that the existence of God, as an eternal being, is an existence which endures all times.  If one accepts a Platonic picture of time as different in essence from eternity, eternity is not “all times” but instead a totally different category outside of time.  Time is a human concept and God is above all human conception in this sense.  Eternity is fundamentally different from time and cannot be known by human intellection, just as all properties that belong to the deity are beyond human intellection.

But we should realize that Jesus is talking about the Son of Man, the archetype of Humanity.  Is he claiming Messiahship?  The crowd wants to know “who is the Son of Man?” ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου;  Notice it is not ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θέου, but ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, they are inquiring about.  One can have all kinds of explanations for this, and one of those explanations is a Theological equation of the Son of God with the Son of Man.  But I’m not convinced, I’m like the Greeks in the crowd, I understand the conceptual difference.  In my world view Jesus refers to himself as the son of man (the archetype of what it is to be human), and not claiming Divinity for himself.  So the charge of blasphemy wouldn’t be applicable, any attorney worth his salt could point this out. 

What follows is a brief discourse on light, harkening back to the Prologue of John’s Gospel where Jesus’ life is the light of mankind – ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.  But there is also a tinge of the doctrine of the Essenes, with their war between the children of light and the children of darkness - ἵνα υἱοὶ φωτὸς γένησθε.  It is pretty clear that what Jesus wants to convey is that the son of man is the archetype of mankind enlightened.  His life and teaching is what we ought to do, as His followers.  Death has no hold on what is the right thing to do.  In an important sense Jesus is the ultimate deontological moral Philosopher, even Thomas Jefferson recognized this when he put together (literally cut and pasted) his book The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.  Light upon our path shows us the way to go, while darkness leaves us confused, and we stumble. I am reminded of Immanuel Kant’s subjective formulation of the Categorical Imperative: “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.”

In the end Jesus departs after saying these things and hides from the crowd.  A physical demonstration of what He is talking about; the light is only there for a little while and after that the choice is ours to enlighten our own path (taking the light as the children of light) or stumble around in the dark.  Again we are on our own, we can no longer merely depend on Jesus as the lantern leading us along, we must shine our own light on our own path, presumably as children of the light with the light of the Son of Man in mind.

Again; we ARE on our own; we have an exemplar, but the judgment as to what to do is up to us…

Today’s Gospel: - Monday of Holy Week

ΚΑΤΑ  ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ

121Ὁ οὖν Ἰησοῦς πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα ἦλθεν εἰς Βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν Ἰησοῦς.

2ἐποίησαν οὖν αὐτῷ δεῖπνον ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἡ Μάρθα διηκόνει, ὁ δὲ Λάζαρος εἷς ἦν ἐκ τῶν ἀνακειμένων σὺν αὐτῷ.

 3Ἡ οὖν Μαριὰμ λαβοῦσα λίτραν μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμου ἤλειψεν τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἐξέμαξεν ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ· ἡ δὲ οἰκία ἐπληρώθη ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς τοῦ μύρου. 

4Λέγει δὲ Ἰούδας ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης εἷς [ἐκ] τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ὁ μέλλων αὐτὸν παραδιδόναι·

5διὰ τί τοῦτο τὸ μύρον οὐκ ἐπράθη τριακοσίων δηναρίων καὶ ἐδόθη πτωχοῖς;

6εἶπεν δὲ τοῦτο οὐχ ὅτι περὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ἔμελεν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ’ ὅτι κλέπτης ἦν καὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον ἔχων τὰ βαλλόμενα ἐβάσταζεν.

7εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἄφες αὐτήν, ἵνα εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ μου τηρήσῃ αὐτό·

8τοὺς πτωχοὺς γὰρ πάντοτε ἔχετε μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε.

 9Ἔγνω οὖν [ὁ] ὄχλος πολὺς ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐστιν καὶ ἦλθον οὐ διὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἴδωσιν ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν.

10ἐβουλεύσαντο δὲ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτείνωσιν,

11ὅτι πολλοὶ δι’ αὐτὸν ὑπῆγον τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἐπίστευον εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν.  [NA 28]

This lesson from John is a compilation of many familiar stories, from Mary washing and perfuming Jesus feet, to raising Lazarus from the dead. But that aside, I would like to concentrate on Judas and his admonition to sell the perfume, not waste it, and give the money to the poor.  Judas was the accountant/treasurer for the disciples as we are told.  But Jesus replies: “τοὺς πτωχοὺς γὰρ πάντοτε ἔχετε μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε.”

I fear those of us who are wealthy or middle class often quote this passage to justify our neglect of poverty and those who suffer from it.  Curiously, Jesus is right, we will always have poor among us, and giving to the poor is merely a salve for the wound of the impoverished, and perhaps a salve for our consciences too.  Unfortunately if we give some meager sum to the poor they are still poor, and in a very important sense become dependent on our generosity, rather than on their own resources regardless of how meager those resources may be. It’s simple mathematics really. We might, and often do say, that the poor need to pull themselves up from their bootstraps, but then again, their boots must have straps in order to do that.  Now of course if we give the poor employment the situation differs.  The employed have dignity, at least to a measure.  That’s why our politicians keep speaking about “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” And then again employment may just be the straps for the boots. But then there is a second part to Jesus’ reply: “you will not always have me.”  Now it may seem egotistic for Jesus to say this, but there is a lesson here, it’s like Jesus is telling us “after I’m gone, you are on your own.”  And if that is so, we are left to our own devices as to what to do about poverty.

I find this remark of Jesus particularly interesting to occur in the Bethany- the raising of Lazarus from the dead story.  Perhaps John is sending us a message here about the raising up the impoverished, just as Jesus raised Lazarus, after all poverty is a kind of death – a death of self worth and dignity. Anyone who has ever been unemployed, even for a short while, realizes this. The Philosopher in me wonders about the message being sent, not so much the messenger, but the divine wisdom that we all may tap into, some two millennia post Jesus.  Resurrection is not just about being raised from the dead, but being raised up to a new life, and newness of life.  Perhaps we can think about giving the impoverished some straps for which to pull on their boots.  This is particularly important today and tomorrow because of the vast numbers of unemployed due to the plague (virus) now infecting our world.

We ARE on our own; the judgment as to what to do is up to us…

The Cosmic Justice Hypothesis:

This is a common hypothesis best expressed by MLK Jr.: “The Arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends toward Justice”.  The other day I ran into a post by someone claiming that Covid-19 was God’s punishment for abortion and homosexual marriage.  Really?  We should examine what the Cosmic Justice Hypothesis really says and why we ought to believe it.  ‘In the fullness of time, the sins of individuals and their heroic deeds will be punished or rewarded.’   Most people of religious faith believe this and perhaps rightly so.  Life would be rather meaningless if virtue was not rewarded, or moral error eventually punished.  But questions remain…  Why for instance would the Universe eventually punish wrongdoing? Why on earth would virtue, if it can be had, be rewarded, especially if that virtue is not exercised in action.  Is it virtuous to condemn one’s fellow being because of a moral mistake, or should one make every attempt to mitigate the consequences of said mistake.  I make mistakes and my life is full of errors, does that entail that in the end I will be punished, rather severely because of the sheer volume of errors, I might add.  I think not and hope not.  After all I know my Moral failings, they are mine, I own them, no one else can be judged for them.  I often say to people who are anxious to point out my faults, that they have no right to point them out, because they don’t own them, I do, they are mine and I guard them quite closely. 

Our common inclination is to believe that Justice is Fairness.  We think this from little on.  We want to be treated fairly, and in some cases we fail to treat our fellows with fairness, perhaps many.  We are selfish about fairness, we want it for ourselves whether or not our fellows, human or otherwise, get it, or even deserve it.   That’s a problem isn’t it?  We want, that is desire that people be fair with us, but care less if that fairness extends to everyone.  Perhaps this Covid-19 will teach us lessons we ought to learn, that we are all in the same boat and if we desire to be treated fairly, then we are required to also be fair. Simply put, what goes around comes around. We all believe in some form or other that our errors are mitigated by circumstances, and that fairness requires that we be judged by others with those mitigating circumstances in mind.  But suppose those mitigating circumstances are unknown and not on full display, can we expect to be judged by those mitigating circumstances.  Let me propose that all errors have mitigating circumstances, and some actually mitigate, but others are mere concoctions of our own making to lessen the burden of the guilt we feel. There is a strong sense in which Justice requires mercy.  We can make things fair in a John Rawls sense, but leave those who are handicapped physically or morally in the dust, so to speak.  There is a sense in which those who are handicapped should receive a larger portion of fairness, if there is such a thing.  In order to make things even or fair we need to make sure as best we can that access to fairness is obtainable, like for instance access to a building for those who are wheelchair bound.

Since we are all on the same boat in a remote part of the universe sailing through the cosmos together, it seems most appropriate to let go of our selfish egoism and adopt a more altruist outlook.  After all a virus doesn’t care or even know what you believe, or whether you are rich, or poor, enterprising or lazy, religious or not, virtuous or immoral, strong or weak, handicapped or not, old or young, it just wants to have someone to host it, and a place to temporarily reside. That’s right it will reside only temporarily in someone, and then move on.  We would do good to remember that; and that if we are careful the virus will run its course and we will be free of it.  That is of little consolation to those who have it, but the moral thing to do is to prevent its spread as best we can, so that eventually it dies out within the population. In other words, we ought to adopt an altruistic stance against the invisible enemy, and set our selfish egoist tendencies aside for once.   Ayn Rand’s ideas will not work here.  Perhaps the answer to the earlier question is; that moral failings are eventually punished in order to teach a lesson, a lesson the Universe is most willing to teach.