Headwinds Mar 19
Mark 6:45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.
Jesus sends the disciples ahead of Him, back to the other fishing village known as Bethsaida on the western shore above Capernaum. Meanwhile He disperses the crowd. He does not leave them gathered on the shore like a flock with no shepherd. He directs them home, His words their guiding light through the figurative darkness.
Jesus then takes the opportunity of solitude on a mountain in the wilderness. Note that solitude can be any place free of distraction, a closet as well as a wilderness. He uses this time to stay in Oneness with the Father, to stay on course to the cross.
Many hours after they have departed, Jesus on the mountain still can see the boat carrying the disciples. They are rowing the boat, the sails down because their heading was into the wind. They have worked for hours, nut they are little further ahead.
This is a wonderful metaphor. How often does it seem that we are heading against the wind, fighting against the tides of time and chance? The followers of Jesus are no less vulnerable to the strong headwinds of life than are those who do not know Him. Time and chance happen to us all, and it rains on the just and unjust. Headwinds are inevitable, also.
Just a thought: the disciples have launched out in a boat against a strong headwind. Would prudence have suggested that they return to land and to Jesus to await a more favorable wind?
They are help-less. The natural force of the wind cuts them no slack, and they have nothing with which to prevail against such a wind. How are they to prevail against such a force?
Perhaps they must learn all battles cannot be won, and they cannot prevail alone.
Jesus sees them struggling and He has compassion. His heart goes out to them, and His body follows.
Walking on Water Mar 20
Mark 6:49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
Jesus goes out to the disciples. He does not part the sea, but simply answers their call for help. He knows what they need. He brings them His Word.
They want calm water and a favorable wind as they make their way. Don’t we all? There are times when this peace will be present, but this is not the permanent state of affairs here on earth.
Figuratively, like all of us, they seek peace while sailing into the headwinds of life.
Jesus cannot change their state of mind or quieten their hearts in the midst of their struggle. He can only model peace in His own being as He faces the headwinds that are His alone. Peace is a heart issue.
The disciples have seen the miracle of the bread. They did not have to work for the bread or to pay money for it. They had only to look at their resources and the challenge ahead, and then to be patient and watch.
Jesus performs a miracle as He walks on the sea to come beside them. They could have returned to Him ashore to await the storm’s end. But they have sought to use their own resources in a futile battle. Jesus comes to them.
To see a man walking on the surface of the sea, is terrifying. To have such power over the laws of nature is awesome, in the original sense of the word.
Jesus performs a miracle. He tells Peter that he, Peter, a mortal man, can do the same (Matt. 14). And Peter does walk on water…until he begins to look around him…and begins to doubt…and begins to sink. Peter followed Christ until he began to think about it, and then he began to fall, to fall beneath the water, to fall from Jesus’ presence into his own presence.
Jesus saves those in the boat. He saves them from their misplaced confidence in themselves and from a needless battle against reality.
The disciples had not understood about the loaves, and now they do not understand the miracle here. Jesus’ actions are truths cloaked in mystery.
Fear Not Mar 21
Mark 6:50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
When we are troubled by events around us, the call to “be of good cheer” does not seem easy to do. The other translation, “Take courage,” may help.
Courage is what allows us to face adversity confident in His character, and therefore in our own character. Knowing that His character is true may be sufficient. When that knowledge alone is not strong enough and we succumb to fear, we have gained insight into ourselves. We find our courage is lacking, but from what well are we then to draw that courage?
Jesus’ next words provide the answer: “I am here.” We may think of that as “I AM,” a reassurance that He is ever present. No one else can say, “I am,” with anything beyond the meaning of existing at that moment. He is telling us that the eternal I AM is with us, though in the storm this may not be our perception.
Whether He intervenes in our event is less important than that He is with us to the end, whenever and however that is. When we allow this fact to cam the storm within our hearts, we are better able both to accept the reality of the storm and to see our way through it.
“Do not be afraid” (or “Fear not,” as these same words are often translated) implies that fear is a choice.
Think about that for a moment….Fear is a choice.
We fear a car aimed at us, and we respond – flight rather than fight. But we also fear things which only might happen or what other people might think. We fear things such as a work personnel or family conflict from which we cannot escape. We can only freeze in fear rather than to fight or take flight. We get stuck in this state of alarm, anxiety.
That I AM is with us does not necessarily save us from the acts of nature or of other people, or from the results of our own actions. With Him beside us, we are not alone, as He was not alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.
2 Tim. 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power (hand) and of love (heart) and of a sound mind (mind). We practice the use of His gifts in the service of Him and others. This is what we are called to do, called to be. And we follow His example.
Hardened Hearts Mar 22
Mark 6:52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
This is an uncharacteristically harsh statement concerning the disciples’ reaction in the storm. In relating the story to Mark, Peter accepted the judgment of hardened hearts in himself and the other disciples.
Decades after the death of Jesus, after the short years of ministry with his Master and the ensuing decades preaching the Gospel, Peter has the proper perspective on his younger self.
Still new as a follower of Jesus, Peter and the other eleven are constantly seeing the great works that Jesus is doing among the people. Some of these deeds are simple acts of kindness, some are the non-works of patience, and some are miracles, inexplicable by their limited understanding.
Mark’s presentation of the story of Jesus is meant to overwhelm us with the immense number of great works that Jesus performed in a relatively short period of time. He wants us to be as overwhelmed as the disciples but, like the disciples, to come to see that the works are an incidental kindness.
Jesus has not come forward to impress us with His miracle working, with His great abilities. He has come to deliver a divine message. Works are merely a supporting act, evidence of His claim to the role of the Son of God.
One miracle is not enough. Even continually showing miracles may not be enough. This is Mark’s statement in verse 52, that in spite of all the disciples have seen before this moment, their hearts are not open to the Spirit of God. As with Israelites (and the rest of us) through the centuries, their hearts have been hardened, enveloped in an impenetrable casing of self to keep God out.
The most recent miracle has been that 5,000 men have been fed in the wilderness. The disciples had confessed the impossibility of such an event before it happened. Then they had seen the miracle.
It is as though they are awakened like a baby duck to a brand new world each day, no recollection of the past and having to relearn each lesson.
What they and we must do is to unlearn the lessons taught by our culture. Our Teacher must be of a spiritual heritage, Someone to guide us through the University of Unlearning into the universal knowledge present from the foundation of existence.
Touching the Hem Mar 23
Mark 6:53 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.
As word of Jesus’ presence passes through the region, the people run to Him with their needs. Those in need flock to Him. And some help those who are unable to go to Jesus by their own power.
Once the throng has surrounded Him, meeting the needs of all by His touching them becomes difficult. They plead that they may just touch Him, even the hem of His garment, that they might be made whole.
The word translated here as the hem of the garment is probably better translated as tassel. The Lord gave the following command regarding tassels at Mt. Sinai:
Numbers 15:38-40 “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.”
As clothing styles changed over time, the rounded bottom of a robe became standard wear. Observant Jews donned a prayer shawl, a square or rectangle with four corners, each corner with a tassel in order to fulfill the command to Moses.
The spiritual significance of the tassel was clear to the faithful. Acknowledging that Jesus was indeed come from God, touching the tassel on His garment was seen as restoring Oneness with God, a spiritual healing that made the body whole.
Touching the tassels from which His spiritual energy would flow proved sufficient for healing. Doubters may call this an overblown placebo effect, but for those who were made whole, the experience was genuinely spiritual and transformative.
Finding Fault Mar 24
Mark 7:1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
Some Pharisees and scribes come from the authoritative center of the religion of Israel. They come from urban Jerusalem, and they see an uneducated man moving among the people and teaching a strange doctrine to the crowd.
They are emissaries of religion, not of God. They spread darkness, not light.
Perfectionists have a difficult time in an imperfect world. Indeed, since the world is imperfect, how do people establish a concept of perfection?
Perfection can be described only by One who is perfect. Having created the world, the Creator is the standard for defining perfection.
Jesus addresses this topic in Matthew 5. After describing the character of the citizen of heaven in the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that He correctly interprets the law. The examples He gives are that murder begins in the heart, long before the act, as does adultery. It is our thinking that commits the sin in essence, even before we commit the sin in fact.
He goes further by saying that loving your neighbor includes loving your enemy. In doing this, we will be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect.
Perfection is an inner work, a cleanliness of thought and intention, which are then put into action. If the thought or intent is not correct, the act cannot be good or perfect, either.
The focus of the religious leaders, and of society was (and often still is) the outward appearance rather than the inner reality. The soul that is dark and self-focused, whose love stretches no further than self, cannot produce light or truth.
The criticism of the Pharisees is on externals, appearances. Their solution is an emphasis on external cleansing. This emphasis on defilement coming from outside the person misses the point.
Where Is the Heart? Mar 25
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Inner work has rarely been a focus of those in the seat of power. This does not extend their illusion of control. External appearances can be observed and quantified. They can be made into law and rewarded, and those who do not outwardly submit by obedience can be punished by the law.
These experts on the Mosaic Law arrive and criticize the clear disobedience of Jesus’ disciples in that they eat bread with unwashed hands.
We read these words today, and they seem superficial, as they are. Do we also impose superficial, external requirements on people? Do we demand that the traditions of the religion, of the culture, of the tribe, of the family, be honored? Is there a badge that must be worn to belong to the group?
The doctors of religion of Jesus’ day were the authorities on what actions were acceptable and what were not. The focus was on works, the things that people did and said.
Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13. The prophet has just spoken woe to Jerusalem because their acts are superficial and not from the heart.
Hypocrites abound in all times and in many different guises. The word comes from the Greek for actor, dissembler. I have been and am in many things such a person, an actor, a dissembler. Perhaps you see yourself as a sometime hypocrite, also.
God is looking for a clean heart, a purity of character. That the clay pot or cup is dirty has no bearing on the character of the person holding it. To miss this is to miss the essence of relationship, with each other and with God.
True relationship is a desire for oneness with the other, and to be in the other’s service toward that goal. There is a mutual benefit, for as the other is lifted up, so we ourselves are also lifted up.
next day
Mark 6:45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.
Jesus sends the disciples ahead of Him, back to the other fishing village known as Bethsaida on the western shore above Capernaum. Meanwhile He disperses the crowd. He does not leave them gathered on the shore like a flock with no shepherd. He directs them home, His words their guiding light through the figurative darkness.
Jesus then takes the opportunity of solitude on a mountain in the wilderness. Note that solitude can be any place free of distraction, a closet as well as a wilderness. He uses this time to stay in Oneness with the Father, to stay on course to the cross.
Many hours after they have departed, Jesus on the mountain still can see the boat carrying the disciples. They are rowing the boat, the sails down because their heading was into the wind. They have worked for hours, nut they are little further ahead.
This is a wonderful metaphor. How often does it seem that we are heading against the wind, fighting against the tides of time and chance? The followers of Jesus are no less vulnerable to the strong headwinds of life than are those who do not know Him. Time and chance happen to us all, and it rains on the just and unjust. Headwinds are inevitable, also.
Just a thought: the disciples have launched out in a boat against a strong headwind. Would prudence have suggested that they return to land and to Jesus to await a more favorable wind?
They are help-less. The natural force of the wind cuts them no slack, and they have nothing with which to prevail against such a wind. How are they to prevail against such a force?
Perhaps they must learn all battles cannot be won, and they cannot prevail alone.
Jesus sees them struggling and He has compassion. His heart goes out to them, and His body follows.
Walking on Water Mar 20
Mark 6:49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
Jesus goes out to the disciples. He does not part the sea, but simply answers their call for help. He knows what they need. He brings them His Word.
They want calm water and a favorable wind as they make their way. Don’t we all? There are times when this peace will be present, but this is not the permanent state of affairs here on earth.
Figuratively, like all of us, they seek peace while sailing into the headwinds of life.
Jesus cannot change their state of mind or quieten their hearts in the midst of their struggle. He can only model peace in His own being as He faces the headwinds that are His alone. Peace is a heart issue.
The disciples have seen the miracle of the bread. They did not have to work for the bread or to pay money for it. They had only to look at their resources and the challenge ahead, and then to be patient and watch.
Jesus performs a miracle as He walks on the sea to come beside them. They could have returned to Him ashore to await the storm’s end. But they have sought to use their own resources in a futile battle. Jesus comes to them.
To see a man walking on the surface of the sea, is terrifying. To have such power over the laws of nature is awesome, in the original sense of the word.
Jesus performs a miracle. He tells Peter that he, Peter, a mortal man, can do the same (Matt. 14). And Peter does walk on water…until he begins to look around him…and begins to doubt…and begins to sink. Peter followed Christ until he began to think about it, and then he began to fall, to fall beneath the water, to fall from Jesus’ presence into his own presence.
Jesus saves those in the boat. He saves them from their misplaced confidence in themselves and from a needless battle against reality.
The disciples had not understood about the loaves, and now they do not understand the miracle here. Jesus’ actions are truths cloaked in mystery.
Fear Not Mar 21
Mark 6:50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
When we are troubled by events around us, the call to “be of good cheer” does not seem easy to do. The other translation, “Take courage,” may help.
Courage is what allows us to face adversity confident in His character, and therefore in our own character. Knowing that His character is true may be sufficient. When that knowledge alone is not strong enough and we succumb to fear, we have gained insight into ourselves. We find our courage is lacking, but from what well are we then to draw that courage?
Jesus’ next words provide the answer: “I am here.” We may think of that as “I AM,” a reassurance that He is ever present. No one else can say, “I am,” with anything beyond the meaning of existing at that moment. He is telling us that the eternal I AM is with us, though in the storm this may not be our perception.
Whether He intervenes in our event is less important than that He is with us to the end, whenever and however that is. When we allow this fact to cam the storm within our hearts, we are better able both to accept the reality of the storm and to see our way through it.
“Do not be afraid” (or “Fear not,” as these same words are often translated) implies that fear is a choice.
Think about that for a moment….Fear is a choice.
We fear a car aimed at us, and we respond – flight rather than fight. But we also fear things which only might happen or what other people might think. We fear things such as a work personnel or family conflict from which we cannot escape. We can only freeze in fear rather than to fight or take flight. We get stuck in this state of alarm, anxiety.
That I AM is with us does not necessarily save us from the acts of nature or of other people, or from the results of our own actions. With Him beside us, we are not alone, as He was not alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.
2 Tim. 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power (hand) and of love (heart) and of a sound mind (mind). We practice the use of His gifts in the service of Him and others. This is what we are called to do, called to be. And we follow His example.
Hardened Hearts Mar 22
Mark 6:52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
This is an uncharacteristically harsh statement concerning the disciples’ reaction in the storm. In relating the story to Mark, Peter accepted the judgment of hardened hearts in himself and the other disciples.
Decades after the death of Jesus, after the short years of ministry with his Master and the ensuing decades preaching the Gospel, Peter has the proper perspective on his younger self.
Still new as a follower of Jesus, Peter and the other eleven are constantly seeing the great works that Jesus is doing among the people. Some of these deeds are simple acts of kindness, some are the non-works of patience, and some are miracles, inexplicable by their limited understanding.
Mark’s presentation of the story of Jesus is meant to overwhelm us with the immense number of great works that Jesus performed in a relatively short period of time. He wants us to be as overwhelmed as the disciples but, like the disciples, to come to see that the works are an incidental kindness.
Jesus has not come forward to impress us with His miracle working, with His great abilities. He has come to deliver a divine message. Works are merely a supporting act, evidence of His claim to the role of the Son of God.
One miracle is not enough. Even continually showing miracles may not be enough. This is Mark’s statement in verse 52, that in spite of all the disciples have seen before this moment, their hearts are not open to the Spirit of God. As with Israelites (and the rest of us) through the centuries, their hearts have been hardened, enveloped in an impenetrable casing of self to keep God out.
The most recent miracle has been that 5,000 men have been fed in the wilderness. The disciples had confessed the impossibility of such an event before it happened. Then they had seen the miracle.
It is as though they are awakened like a baby duck to a brand new world each day, no recollection of the past and having to relearn each lesson.
What they and we must do is to unlearn the lessons taught by our culture. Our Teacher must be of a spiritual heritage, Someone to guide us through the University of Unlearning into the universal knowledge present from the foundation of existence.
Touching the Hem Mar 23
Mark 6:53 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.
As word of Jesus’ presence passes through the region, the people run to Him with their needs. Those in need flock to Him. And some help those who are unable to go to Jesus by their own power.
Once the throng has surrounded Him, meeting the needs of all by His touching them becomes difficult. They plead that they may just touch Him, even the hem of His garment, that they might be made whole.
The word translated here as the hem of the garment is probably better translated as tassel. The Lord gave the following command regarding tassels at Mt. Sinai:
Numbers 15:38-40 “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.”
As clothing styles changed over time, the rounded bottom of a robe became standard wear. Observant Jews donned a prayer shawl, a square or rectangle with four corners, each corner with a tassel in order to fulfill the command to Moses.
The spiritual significance of the tassel was clear to the faithful. Acknowledging that Jesus was indeed come from God, touching the tassel on His garment was seen as restoring Oneness with God, a spiritual healing that made the body whole.
Touching the tassels from which His spiritual energy would flow proved sufficient for healing. Doubters may call this an overblown placebo effect, but for those who were made whole, the experience was genuinely spiritual and transformative.
Finding Fault Mar 24
Mark 7:1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
Some Pharisees and scribes come from the authoritative center of the religion of Israel. They come from urban Jerusalem, and they see an uneducated man moving among the people and teaching a strange doctrine to the crowd.
They are emissaries of religion, not of God. They spread darkness, not light.
Perfectionists have a difficult time in an imperfect world. Indeed, since the world is imperfect, how do people establish a concept of perfection?
Perfection can be described only by One who is perfect. Having created the world, the Creator is the standard for defining perfection.
Jesus addresses this topic in Matthew 5. After describing the character of the citizen of heaven in the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that He correctly interprets the law. The examples He gives are that murder begins in the heart, long before the act, as does adultery. It is our thinking that commits the sin in essence, even before we commit the sin in fact.
He goes further by saying that loving your neighbor includes loving your enemy. In doing this, we will be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect.
Perfection is an inner work, a cleanliness of thought and intention, which are then put into action. If the thought or intent is not correct, the act cannot be good or perfect, either.
The focus of the religious leaders, and of society was (and often still is) the outward appearance rather than the inner reality. The soul that is dark and self-focused, whose love stretches no further than self, cannot produce light or truth.
The criticism of the Pharisees is on externals, appearances. Their solution is an emphasis on external cleansing. This emphasis on defilement coming from outside the person misses the point.
Where Is the Heart? Mar 25
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Inner work has rarely been a focus of those in the seat of power. This does not extend their illusion of control. External appearances can be observed and quantified. They can be made into law and rewarded, and those who do not outwardly submit by obedience can be punished by the law.
These experts on the Mosaic Law arrive and criticize the clear disobedience of Jesus’ disciples in that they eat bread with unwashed hands.
We read these words today, and they seem superficial, as they are. Do we also impose superficial, external requirements on people? Do we demand that the traditions of the religion, of the culture, of the tribe, of the family, be honored? Is there a badge that must be worn to belong to the group?
The doctors of religion of Jesus’ day were the authorities on what actions were acceptable and what were not. The focus was on works, the things that people did and said.
Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13. The prophet has just spoken woe to Jerusalem because their acts are superficial and not from the heart.
Hypocrites abound in all times and in many different guises. The word comes from the Greek for actor, dissembler. I have been and am in many things such a person, an actor, a dissembler. Perhaps you see yourself as a sometime hypocrite, also.
God is looking for a clean heart, a purity of character. That the clay pot or cup is dirty has no bearing on the character of the person holding it. To miss this is to miss the essence of relationship, with each other and with God.
True relationship is a desire for oneness with the other, and to be in the other’s service toward that goal. There is a mutual benefit, for as the other is lifted up, so we ourselves are also lifted up.
next day
