THE OLD SPIRITUAL ASKS, " WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED OUR LORD?"
THE ANSWER IT EXPECTS IS " YES "I WAS THERE. i SAW IT HAPPEN." NO DOUBT THE WRITER HAD IN MIND BEING THERE IN MEMORY RATHER THAN FACT. HIS QUESTION MAKES A STRONG APPEAL TO TAKE THE EVENTS OF THE CRUCIFIXION PERSONALLY AND SERIOUSLY.
THE NE TESTAMENT ASSURES US THAT AS A BAPTIZED CHRISTIAN WE WERE NOT MERELY SPECTATORS OF THE CRUCIFIXION WE EXPERIENCED IT. IN [ ROMANS 6: ,4,]
ST. PAUL WRITES: " FOR SURELY YOU KNOW THAT WHEN WE WERE BAPTIZED INTO UNION WITH CHRIST JESUS, WE WERE BAPTIZED INTO UNION WITH HIS DEATH, BY OUR BAPTISM THEN, WE WERE BURIED WITH HIM AND SHARED HIS DEATH, IN ORDER THAT JUST AS CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM DEATH BY THE GLORIOUS POWER OF THE FATHER, SO ALSO WE MIGHT LIVE A NEW LIFE.
THE APOSTLE USES SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS ELSEWHERE IN THIS CHAPTER:
" FOR SINCE WE HAVE BECOME ONE WITH HIM BY DYING AS HE DID, IN THE SAME WAY, WE SHALL BE ONE WITH HIM BY BEING RAISED TO LIFE AS HE Was,"
6:5 " SINCE WE HAVE DIED WITH CHRIST...." 6:8.
WHEN WE WERE BAPTIZED, GOD MADE US SHARE IN ALL THAT CHRIST WAS, SUFFERED AND ACCOMPLISHED. BY VIRTUE OF OUR PHYSICAL BIRTH, WE SHARE IN "ADAM." [BORN IN SIN.] BY VIRTUE OF OUR SECOND BIRTH IN BAPTISM, WE SHARE IN "CHRIST" [ETERNAL LIFE].
WHEN CHRIST LED A SINLESS LIFE, WE, BY VIRTUE OF OUR BAPTISM, LED IT WITH HIM. WHEN CHRIST WAS PUT TO DEATH TO SUFFER THE PUNISHMENT FOR HUMAN SIN, WE SHARED THAT DEATH. WHEN CHRIST WAS PLACED IN THE GRAVE WHICH SIN BRINGS, WE WENT INTO THE TOMB WITH HIM. WHEN HE ROSE VICTORIOUS FROM THE TOMB, WE ROSE WITH HIM, [EPHESIANS :5,6.]
IN CHRIST, GOD GATHERED THE HUMAN RACE INTO ONE PERSON. HE THEN LET THAT ONE PERSON BE WHAT HE INTENDED THE HUMAN RACE TO BE., AND SUFFER WHAT THE HUMAN RACE TO BE, AND SUFFER WHAT THE HUMAN RACE DESERVES TO SUFFER, IN OUR BAPTISM, GOD MADE US SHARERS IN ALL THAT ONE PERSON WAS, SUFFERED, ENDURED AN CONQUERED. HE "INCORPORATED" US INTO CHRIT SAVING MINISTRY AND MISSION.
BECOME WHAT YOU ARE!
IN CHRIST, GOD HAS DECLARED US TO BE HOLY, [1 CORINTHIANS 1:2]. IN OUR BAPTISM, HE GAVE US CHRIST'S SINLESS LIFE AS A SET OF CREDENTIALS, NOT OUR OWN. HE WILL WELCOME US HOME, NOT ON THE BASIS OF WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED, BUT FOR WHAT CHRIST ACHIEVED. WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE LAST GREAT DAY. SEEK TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN. "BECOME WHAT YOU ARE!" TO GRASP THE MEANING OF THIS IS TO POSSESS A KEY WHICH UNLOCKS MUCH OF SCRIPTURE.
OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD THROUGH BAPTISM REFLECTS THE EVENTS OF THE EXODUS, WILDERNESS WANDERINGS AND ENTRY INTO THE PROMISED LAND. BY VIRTUE OF OUR PHYSICAL BIRTH, WE ARE IN "ADAM," AND THEREFORE HELD CAPTIVE TO THE POWER OF SIN. THE RISEN JESUS DWELLS AMONG US TODAY, AND GUIDES US ON OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE. [1 PETER 1:6-8].
TODAY WE LIVE ON EARTH AS "STRANGERS, EXILES, AND PILGRIMS [1 PETER 2:11] WE ALREADY POSSESS A PROMISED LAND, [1 PETER 2; 9, 1O.] WE KNOW WHEN WE MAKE THAT "FINAL CROSSING, " ALL WILL BE WELL.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
LORD'S PRAYER. " THE CHRISTIAN BATTLE CRY.
BOTH MATTHEW AND LUKE REPORTS THE GIVING OF THE LORD'S PRAYER IN MATTHEW JESUS GIVES IT AFTER WARNING HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT DISPLAY AND VERBOSITY IN PRAYER. HE GIVES IT AS AN EXAMPLE OF PRAYER. ( "PRAY LIKE THIS") : AFTER THIS MANNER THEREFORE PRAY YE " OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL: FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOR EVER A-MEN! [6:9]. IN LUKE, JESUS GIVES IT IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FROM HIS DISCIPLES THAT HE TEACH THEM TO PRAY, AS JOHN TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES (LUKE 11: 1,2.)
IT IS SOMETIMES SUGGESTED THAT THE FIRST THREE PETITIONS ASK FOR "SPIRITUAL" THINGS. , THE FOURTH FOR MATERIAL THINGS, AND THE LAST THREE FOR ADDITIONAL "SPIRITUAL" BLESSINGS. THE COMMENTS WHICH FOLLOWS SUGGEST THAT ALL SEVEN PETITIONS ASK FOR "SPIRITUAL" BLESSINGS, FOR IN ALL WE ASK FOR THE MIND OF CHRIST.
THE LORD'S PRAYER TEACHES US;
1. THE KINDS OF THINGS JESU WANTS US TO PRAY ABOUT.
2. TO BE CONCISE IN OUR PRAYERS.
3. TO PRAY THAT WE MIGHT BE BUSY FOR GOD, RATHER THAN GOD SHOULD BE BUSY FOR US.
OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN
SOME OF THE ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHERS TAUGHT THAT THE GODS WERE INCAPABLE OF FEELING OR EMOTION, AND WERE NOT INTERESTED IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN. THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS NOT LIKE THAT. HE WANTS US TO THINK OF HIM LIKE A FATHER WHO GIVES AND SUSTAINS LIFE, WHO HAS TIME TO LISTEN WITH CONCERN TO WHATEVER WE SAY TO HIM, WHO CAN BRING TO PASS WHATEVER IS GOOD FOR US, (ISAIAH 65:24); PSALM 103;1-5; 2 CORINTHIANS 12;8,9. IN PRAYING "OUR," WE REMEMBER THAT HE HAS MANY CHILDREN, AND THAT HE WISHES US TO PRAY AND LIVE FOR THE WELFARE OF ALL PEOPLE.
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. THESE WORDS REFER TO EACH OF THE FIRST THREE PETITIONS, WHOSE MESSAGE IS THEN:
HALLOWED BE THY NAME ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
THY KINGDOM COME ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
THESE WORDS REMIND US THAT THOUGH ALL IS WELL IN HEAVEN, ALL IS NOT WELL ON EARTH. IN HEAVEN, GOD'S NAME IS HALLOWED, HIS KINGLY RULE PREVAILS AND HIS WILL IS DONE. ON EARTH, THE DEADLY TRIO OF SATAN, WORLD AND FLESH. ( HUMAN NATURE IN REBELLION AGAINST GOD) ARE BLINDING AND MISLEADING PEOPLES HEARTS. WE PRAY, THEN, THAT THINGS ON EARTH BECOME MORE AS THEY ARE IN HEAVEN.
PETITION 1: HALLOWED BE THY NAME
EACH PETITION USES FEW WORDS TO SAY SO MUCH. "NAME" IS NOT USED IN THE SENSE OF TITLE OR NAME-TAG. IT REFERS TO GOD HIMSELF ( JOHN 17:6; LEVITICUS 24:16), HIS WHOLE BEING AND PERSONALITY. TO HALLOW" MEANS TO TREAT AS HOLY, TO HOLD SACRED. HE WHO HALLOWS A THING REVERES, RESPECTS AND STANDS IN AWE OF IT. GOD IS WHAT HE IS. HUMAN OPINION CANNOT CHANGE WHAT HE IS. ACCORDLY, IN THE FIRST PETITION, WE PRAY:
1. THAT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD MIGHT TALLY WITH REALITY.
2. THAT WE MIGHT REVERE HIM AS MAKER, OWNER, SUSTAINER OF CREATION.
3. THAT OUR USE OF O LIFE MIGHT REFLECT SUBMISSION TO HIM AND HIS WILL.
4. THAT HE WOULD ENLIGHTEN AND EMPOWER US TO PERCEIVE AND REJECT EVERY SATANIC WHIM IN OUR LIVES, AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS, AND
5. THAT WE MIGHT INFLUENCE OTHERS TO GIVE HIM DUE REVERENCE.
PETITION 2. THY KINGDOM COME.
WHY PRAY THAT IT SHOULD COME?
IF IT WERE HERE, THERE WOULD BE NO POINT IN PRAYING THIS PETITION.
JESUS URGES US TO TAKE SERIOUSLY THE KINGDOM OF SATAN, WORLD AND FLESH. IN PRAYING THIS PETITION
1. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRESENCE OF A FALSE, LYING KINGDOM - THAT OF THE DEADLY TRIO.
2. WE PRAY THAT GOD'S KINGDOM MIGHT DISPLACE IT MORE AND MORE IN OUR LIVES, AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS.
3. WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO WORK AS HIS INSTRUMENTS TO BEING THIS TO PASS.
PETITION 3: THY WILL BE DONE. THIS PETITION IS SIMILAR TO THE SECOND. IF GOD'S WILL WERE BEING DONE, THERE WOULD BE NO POINT IN PRAYING THIS PETITION.
1. WE ASK GOD TO EQUIP US TO RECOGNIZE WHAT MANKIND DOES BY NATURE- THE WILL OF THE DEADLY TRIO.
2. WE ASK GOD TO HELP US FIGHT THAT EVIL WILL IN OUR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS.
3. WE ASK GOD TO EQUIP US TO HELP OTHERS KNOW AND DO HIS WILL.
PETITION 4: GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
THIS PETITION DOES NOT ASK FOR MATERIAL THINGS; IT ASKS FOR AN ATTITUDE. TO ILLUSTRATE;
HAVE YOU ASKED GOD FOR DAILY BREAD, AND OTHER PHYSICAL NEEDS, EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE. MOST NOT LIKELY NOT. IF YOU WERE NEVER AGAIN TO ASK HIM FOR THESE THINGS, WOULD HE SUPPLY THEM? YES. GOD SUPPLIES OUR DAILY NEEDS WHETHER WE ASK OR NOT, THANK OR NOT. WHY BOTHER TO PRAY THIS PETITION? IN PRAYING IT,
1. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO GIVE US DAILY BREAD. HE GIVES IT WHETHER WE ASK OR NOT.
2. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE PROVIDES ALL WE NEED DAY BY DAY TO SUPPORT LIFE.
3. WE TRUST HIM TO SUPPLY OUR DAILY NEEDS. HE CLAIMS THAT AS HIS RESPONSIBILITY WORRY IS UNNECESSARY. HE HAS PROVIDED, DOES PROVIDE, AN WILL PROVIDE.
4.WE ASK TO BE GIVEN AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.
PETITION: 5 FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.
1. GOD KNOWS THAT WE ARE SINNERS. HE FORGIVES US AND ACCEPTS US AS WE ARE, AS WE BECOME IN CHRIST.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION; BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL
JESUS CLOSING WORDS STRATEGICALLY PLACED AND BLUNTLY REALISTIC. HE LOOKS BACK OVER ALL THE NOBLE THINGS HE ASKED US TO PRAY ABOUT, AND EXHORTS US TO REMEMBER THAT OUR CHRISTIAN WALK THROUGH LIFE WILL NOT BE EASY. THE "OLD EVIL FOE" IS AROUND AND IS A DEADLY FORCE. THE WORLD TREATS SATAN AS A COMIC STRIP CHARACTER. JESUS BIDS US TO ENTERTAIN DIFFERENT THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT (JOHN 8:44; 1 PETER 5:8,9.) HE PULLS THE SAME OLD TRICK, HE PULLED ON "EVE" IN THE GARDEN, BY CONVINCING HER AND NOW US THAT THEIR SIN IS OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.
THE CLOSING WORDS OF THE LORDS PRAYER ARE NOT FOUND IN THE EARLIEST AND BEST GREEK MANUSCRIPTS. HOWEVER, THEY BECAME AN ESTABLISHED PART OF THE PRAYER OVER A PERIOD OF CENTURIES, FOR THEY WERE A RESPONSE
TO THE CONGREGATION TO THE PRAYER.
THEY ARE BASED ON [1 CHRONICLES 29:11].
THE WORD "AMEN" IS NOT AN ANCIENT WAY OF SAYING "THE END."
IT IS A HEBREW WORD WHICH SIGNIFIES " TRUELY, TRULY, OR "CERTAINLY," "CERTAINLY,."
IN PRAYING IT, WE RECOGNIZE WHAT HAS BEEN SAID IS VALID, MAKE IT OUR OWN AND COMMIT OURSELVES TO CONFORM TO IT.
IT IS SOMETIMES SUGGESTED THAT THE FIRST THREE PETITIONS ASK FOR "SPIRITUAL" THINGS. , THE FOURTH FOR MATERIAL THINGS, AND THE LAST THREE FOR ADDITIONAL "SPIRITUAL" BLESSINGS. THE COMMENTS WHICH FOLLOWS SUGGEST THAT ALL SEVEN PETITIONS ASK FOR "SPIRITUAL" BLESSINGS, FOR IN ALL WE ASK FOR THE MIND OF CHRIST.
THE LORD'S PRAYER TEACHES US;
1. THE KINDS OF THINGS JESU WANTS US TO PRAY ABOUT.
2. TO BE CONCISE IN OUR PRAYERS.
3. TO PRAY THAT WE MIGHT BE BUSY FOR GOD, RATHER THAN GOD SHOULD BE BUSY FOR US.
OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN
SOME OF THE ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHERS TAUGHT THAT THE GODS WERE INCAPABLE OF FEELING OR EMOTION, AND WERE NOT INTERESTED IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN. THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS NOT LIKE THAT. HE WANTS US TO THINK OF HIM LIKE A FATHER WHO GIVES AND SUSTAINS LIFE, WHO HAS TIME TO LISTEN WITH CONCERN TO WHATEVER WE SAY TO HIM, WHO CAN BRING TO PASS WHATEVER IS GOOD FOR US, (ISAIAH 65:24); PSALM 103;1-5; 2 CORINTHIANS 12;8,9. IN PRAYING "OUR," WE REMEMBER THAT HE HAS MANY CHILDREN, AND THAT HE WISHES US TO PRAY AND LIVE FOR THE WELFARE OF ALL PEOPLE.
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. THESE WORDS REFER TO EACH OF THE FIRST THREE PETITIONS, WHOSE MESSAGE IS THEN:
HALLOWED BE THY NAME ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
THY KINGDOM COME ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
THESE WORDS REMIND US THAT THOUGH ALL IS WELL IN HEAVEN, ALL IS NOT WELL ON EARTH. IN HEAVEN, GOD'S NAME IS HALLOWED, HIS KINGLY RULE PREVAILS AND HIS WILL IS DONE. ON EARTH, THE DEADLY TRIO OF SATAN, WORLD AND FLESH. ( HUMAN NATURE IN REBELLION AGAINST GOD) ARE BLINDING AND MISLEADING PEOPLES HEARTS. WE PRAY, THEN, THAT THINGS ON EARTH BECOME MORE AS THEY ARE IN HEAVEN.
PETITION 1: HALLOWED BE THY NAME
EACH PETITION USES FEW WORDS TO SAY SO MUCH. "NAME" IS NOT USED IN THE SENSE OF TITLE OR NAME-TAG. IT REFERS TO GOD HIMSELF ( JOHN 17:6; LEVITICUS 24:16), HIS WHOLE BEING AND PERSONALITY. TO HALLOW" MEANS TO TREAT AS HOLY, TO HOLD SACRED. HE WHO HALLOWS A THING REVERES, RESPECTS AND STANDS IN AWE OF IT. GOD IS WHAT HE IS. HUMAN OPINION CANNOT CHANGE WHAT HE IS. ACCORDLY, IN THE FIRST PETITION, WE PRAY:
1. THAT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GOD MIGHT TALLY WITH REALITY.
2. THAT WE MIGHT REVERE HIM AS MAKER, OWNER, SUSTAINER OF CREATION.
3. THAT OUR USE OF O LIFE MIGHT REFLECT SUBMISSION TO HIM AND HIS WILL.
4. THAT HE WOULD ENLIGHTEN AND EMPOWER US TO PERCEIVE AND REJECT EVERY SATANIC WHIM IN OUR LIVES, AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS, AND
5. THAT WE MIGHT INFLUENCE OTHERS TO GIVE HIM DUE REVERENCE.
PETITION 2. THY KINGDOM COME.
WHY PRAY THAT IT SHOULD COME?
IF IT WERE HERE, THERE WOULD BE NO POINT IN PRAYING THIS PETITION.
JESUS URGES US TO TAKE SERIOUSLY THE KINGDOM OF SATAN, WORLD AND FLESH. IN PRAYING THIS PETITION
1. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRESENCE OF A FALSE, LYING KINGDOM - THAT OF THE DEADLY TRIO.
2. WE PRAY THAT GOD'S KINGDOM MIGHT DISPLACE IT MORE AND MORE IN OUR LIVES, AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS.
3. WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO WORK AS HIS INSTRUMENTS TO BEING THIS TO PASS.
PETITION 3: THY WILL BE DONE. THIS PETITION IS SIMILAR TO THE SECOND. IF GOD'S WILL WERE BEING DONE, THERE WOULD BE NO POINT IN PRAYING THIS PETITION.
1. WE ASK GOD TO EQUIP US TO RECOGNIZE WHAT MANKIND DOES BY NATURE- THE WILL OF THE DEADLY TRIO.
2. WE ASK GOD TO HELP US FIGHT THAT EVIL WILL IN OUR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS.
3. WE ASK GOD TO EQUIP US TO HELP OTHERS KNOW AND DO HIS WILL.
PETITION 4: GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
THIS PETITION DOES NOT ASK FOR MATERIAL THINGS; IT ASKS FOR AN ATTITUDE. TO ILLUSTRATE;
HAVE YOU ASKED GOD FOR DAILY BREAD, AND OTHER PHYSICAL NEEDS, EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE. MOST NOT LIKELY NOT. IF YOU WERE NEVER AGAIN TO ASK HIM FOR THESE THINGS, WOULD HE SUPPLY THEM? YES. GOD SUPPLIES OUR DAILY NEEDS WHETHER WE ASK OR NOT, THANK OR NOT. WHY BOTHER TO PRAY THIS PETITION? IN PRAYING IT,
1. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO GIVE US DAILY BREAD. HE GIVES IT WHETHER WE ASK OR NOT.
2. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE PROVIDES ALL WE NEED DAY BY DAY TO SUPPORT LIFE.
3. WE TRUST HIM TO SUPPLY OUR DAILY NEEDS. HE CLAIMS THAT AS HIS RESPONSIBILITY WORRY IS UNNECESSARY. HE HAS PROVIDED, DOES PROVIDE, AN WILL PROVIDE.
4.WE ASK TO BE GIVEN AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.
PETITION: 5 FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.
1. GOD KNOWS THAT WE ARE SINNERS. HE FORGIVES US AND ACCEPTS US AS WE ARE, AS WE BECOME IN CHRIST.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION; BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL
JESUS CLOSING WORDS STRATEGICALLY PLACED AND BLUNTLY REALISTIC. HE LOOKS BACK OVER ALL THE NOBLE THINGS HE ASKED US TO PRAY ABOUT, AND EXHORTS US TO REMEMBER THAT OUR CHRISTIAN WALK THROUGH LIFE WILL NOT BE EASY. THE "OLD EVIL FOE" IS AROUND AND IS A DEADLY FORCE. THE WORLD TREATS SATAN AS A COMIC STRIP CHARACTER. JESUS BIDS US TO ENTERTAIN DIFFERENT THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT (JOHN 8:44; 1 PETER 5:8,9.) HE PULLS THE SAME OLD TRICK, HE PULLED ON "EVE" IN THE GARDEN, BY CONVINCING HER AND NOW US THAT THEIR SIN IS OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.
THE CLOSING WORDS OF THE LORDS PRAYER ARE NOT FOUND IN THE EARLIEST AND BEST GREEK MANUSCRIPTS. HOWEVER, THEY BECAME AN ESTABLISHED PART OF THE PRAYER OVER A PERIOD OF CENTURIES, FOR THEY WERE A RESPONSE
TO THE CONGREGATION TO THE PRAYER.
THEY ARE BASED ON [1 CHRONICLES 29:11].
THE WORD "AMEN" IS NOT AN ANCIENT WAY OF SAYING "THE END."
IT IS A HEBREW WORD WHICH SIGNIFIES " TRUELY, TRULY, OR "CERTAINLY," "CERTAINLY,."
IN PRAYING IT, WE RECOGNIZE WHAT HAS BEEN SAID IS VALID, MAKE IT OUR OWN AND COMMIT OURSELVES TO CONFORM TO IT.
Monday, February 26, 2018
THE SOURCE OF SALVATION- WORKS OR A PERSON ?
GOD MADE HUMANS TO SERVE HIM AND OTHERS. THEY SINNED; THEY BECAME SELF-SERVING,[ROMANS 3:23]. SIN PAYS WAGES-- "DEATH.!" [ROMANS 6:23]. HOW DOES FALLEN HUMANITY TO GET OUT OF ITS DILEMA? TO WHAT CAN IT LOOK FOR RESCUE? HUMANY LOOKS TO ONE OF TWO SOURCES OF HELP:
WHAT IT DOES FOR GOD- ITS OWN WORKS.
WHAT GOD DOES FOR IT- A PERSON. THE FIRST IS A DELUSION, BORN OF PRIDE AND DESPAIR.. THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM MUST COME FROM GOD. THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE SOLUTION OF "WORKS."
WHEN GOD FIRST MADE ADAM, ADAM WAS IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. GOD ESTABLISHED THAT FELLOWSHIP (GEN 3].
ADAMS OBEDIENCE DID NOT ESTABLISH FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. FELLOWSHIP EXISTED.
AFTER THE FALL INTO SIN, ADAM NO LONGER DID GOD'S WILL. HE DID HIS OWN WILL. HE SOUGHT TO BE FREE FROM GOD, ONLY TO BE A SLAVE TO HIMSELF, SUBJECT TO DEATH, JUDGMENT. AND CONDEMNATION. HIS PLIGHT WAS ONE OF HIS OWN MAKING. BY NATURE, FALLEN HUMANITY TRIES TO PUT MATTERS RIGHT BETWEEN GOD AND ITSELF ON THE BASIS OF WORKS. IT USES WORKS TO MANIPULATE GOD TO ACCEPT IT. IN SO DOING, IT PUTS GOD'S LAWS TO USE HE NEVER INTENDED. NOT SET OF RULES CAN PUT MATTERS RIGHT BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANS WHETHER THEY BE COMMANDMENTS IN THE BIBLE, OR CODES OF LAWS DEVISED BY ANY NATION, GROUP OR TRIBE. NOW WE LOOK AT THE "DIVINE SOLUTION."
THE SOLUTION TO THE BROKEN FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY COMES FROM GOD'S SIDE. GOD INSISTS THAT IT BE THAT WAY. HE WILL BE INDEBTED TO NO PERSON HE INSISTS ON BEING ENTIRELY THE "GIVER" IN THE SPHERE OF SALVATION. MAN MUST ALWAYS REMAIN A RECEIVER OF WHAT GOD GIVES. THOUGH MANY CHRISTIANS LOOK ON THE COMMANDMENTS ( WHETHER TWO, TEN OR, MANY) AS GUIDELINES FOR THEIR WALK THROUGH LIFE, THEIR REAL GUIDELINE IS TO BE THE LIFE OF JESUS, ( JOHN 13;34,35; EPHESIANS 5:1; MATTHEW 11:28-30).
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AS QUOTED IN EXODUS 20 AND DEUTERONOMY 5 BELONGED TO THE GOD MADE WITH OLD ISRAEL. THIS COVENANT WAS REPLACED BY JESUS. ANY OLD TESTAMENT COMMANDMENT MUST NOW BE FILTERED THROUGH JESUS MIND. HIS LIFE AND TEACHING ARE THE FINAL AUTHORITY FOR
DETERMINING THE WAY HIS DISCIPLES ARE TO WALK THROUGH LIFE. WHEN GOD REVEALED HIS TRUTH TO HUMAN KIND, HE DID NOT PROVIDE HIS WRITERS WITH A NEW-HEAVEN DESIGNED SET OF WORDS TO EXPRESS IT. HE LET THEM EMPLOY WORDS ALREADY IN USE TO CONVEY MESSAGE.
THE BIBLE HAS A RICH VOCABULARY OF WORDS TO DESCRIBE SIN.
1. THE MOST COMMON WORD THE BIBLE USES TO EXPRESS HUMAN REBELLION IS "SIN." THE WORD THE NEW TESTAMENT USES FOR SIN WAS USED IN CLASSICAL GREEK TO MEAN, "TO MISS A TARGET OR ROAD, " HENCE ALSO AN INTELLECTUAL ERROR, AND "A MORAL FAULT."
2. A SECOND WORD IS "TRESPASS". IT MEANS TO WALK IN FORBIDDEN PLACES. IT USUALLY REFERS TO AN INDIVIDUAL LAPSE, RATHER THAN TO A CONDITION OF SINFULNESS
[EPHESIANS 2:1].
2B.THE NEW TESTAMENT USES THE WORD TO REFER TO MAN'S STATE OF REBELLION AGAINST GOD e.g. ROMANS 5-7. MAN'S SINFUL CONDITION GIVES RISE TO WRONG ACTIONS.
3. THE WORD " TRANSGRESS MEANS " TO GO BEYOND THAT SPECIFIED LIMIT," AND " TO CROSS OVER THE LINE." IT DESCRIBES BREAKING GOD'S LAW [MATTHEW 15:2,3.]
4. THERE ARE SEVERAL WORDS WITH RELATED MEANINGS. THE NEW TESTAMENT WORD "LAWLESSNESS" INDICATES THE ATTITUDE OF CONTEMPT FOR GOD'S LAW,
1 TIMOTHY 1;9. IT INCORPORATES IDEAS OF REVOLT, REBELLION, AND DEFIANCE.
WHAT IT DOES FOR GOD- ITS OWN WORKS.
WHAT GOD DOES FOR IT- A PERSON. THE FIRST IS A DELUSION, BORN OF PRIDE AND DESPAIR.. THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM MUST COME FROM GOD. THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE SOLUTION OF "WORKS."
WHEN GOD FIRST MADE ADAM, ADAM WAS IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. GOD ESTABLISHED THAT FELLOWSHIP (GEN 3].
ADAMS OBEDIENCE DID NOT ESTABLISH FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. FELLOWSHIP EXISTED.
AFTER THE FALL INTO SIN, ADAM NO LONGER DID GOD'S WILL. HE DID HIS OWN WILL. HE SOUGHT TO BE FREE FROM GOD, ONLY TO BE A SLAVE TO HIMSELF, SUBJECT TO DEATH, JUDGMENT. AND CONDEMNATION. HIS PLIGHT WAS ONE OF HIS OWN MAKING. BY NATURE, FALLEN HUMANITY TRIES TO PUT MATTERS RIGHT BETWEEN GOD AND ITSELF ON THE BASIS OF WORKS. IT USES WORKS TO MANIPULATE GOD TO ACCEPT IT. IN SO DOING, IT PUTS GOD'S LAWS TO USE HE NEVER INTENDED. NOT SET OF RULES CAN PUT MATTERS RIGHT BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANS WHETHER THEY BE COMMANDMENTS IN THE BIBLE, OR CODES OF LAWS DEVISED BY ANY NATION, GROUP OR TRIBE. NOW WE LOOK AT THE "DIVINE SOLUTION."
THE SOLUTION TO THE BROKEN FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY COMES FROM GOD'S SIDE. GOD INSISTS THAT IT BE THAT WAY. HE WILL BE INDEBTED TO NO PERSON HE INSISTS ON BEING ENTIRELY THE "GIVER" IN THE SPHERE OF SALVATION. MAN MUST ALWAYS REMAIN A RECEIVER OF WHAT GOD GIVES. THOUGH MANY CHRISTIANS LOOK ON THE COMMANDMENTS ( WHETHER TWO, TEN OR, MANY) AS GUIDELINES FOR THEIR WALK THROUGH LIFE, THEIR REAL GUIDELINE IS TO BE THE LIFE OF JESUS, ( JOHN 13;34,35; EPHESIANS 5:1; MATTHEW 11:28-30).
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AS QUOTED IN EXODUS 20 AND DEUTERONOMY 5 BELONGED TO THE GOD MADE WITH OLD ISRAEL. THIS COVENANT WAS REPLACED BY JESUS. ANY OLD TESTAMENT COMMANDMENT MUST NOW BE FILTERED THROUGH JESUS MIND. HIS LIFE AND TEACHING ARE THE FINAL AUTHORITY FOR
DETERMINING THE WAY HIS DISCIPLES ARE TO WALK THROUGH LIFE. WHEN GOD REVEALED HIS TRUTH TO HUMAN KIND, HE DID NOT PROVIDE HIS WRITERS WITH A NEW-HEAVEN DESIGNED SET OF WORDS TO EXPRESS IT. HE LET THEM EMPLOY WORDS ALREADY IN USE TO CONVEY MESSAGE.
THE BIBLE HAS A RICH VOCABULARY OF WORDS TO DESCRIBE SIN.
1. THE MOST COMMON WORD THE BIBLE USES TO EXPRESS HUMAN REBELLION IS "SIN." THE WORD THE NEW TESTAMENT USES FOR SIN WAS USED IN CLASSICAL GREEK TO MEAN, "TO MISS A TARGET OR ROAD, " HENCE ALSO AN INTELLECTUAL ERROR, AND "A MORAL FAULT."
2. A SECOND WORD IS "TRESPASS". IT MEANS TO WALK IN FORBIDDEN PLACES. IT USUALLY REFERS TO AN INDIVIDUAL LAPSE, RATHER THAN TO A CONDITION OF SINFULNESS
[EPHESIANS 2:1].
2B.THE NEW TESTAMENT USES THE WORD TO REFER TO MAN'S STATE OF REBELLION AGAINST GOD e.g. ROMANS 5-7. MAN'S SINFUL CONDITION GIVES RISE TO WRONG ACTIONS.
3. THE WORD " TRANSGRESS MEANS " TO GO BEYOND THAT SPECIFIED LIMIT," AND " TO CROSS OVER THE LINE." IT DESCRIBES BREAKING GOD'S LAW [MATTHEW 15:2,3.]
4. THERE ARE SEVERAL WORDS WITH RELATED MEANINGS. THE NEW TESTAMENT WORD "LAWLESSNESS" INDICATES THE ATTITUDE OF CONTEMPT FOR GOD'S LAW,
1 TIMOTHY 1;9. IT INCORPORATES IDEAS OF REVOLT, REBELLION, AND DEFIANCE.
Friday, February 23, 2018
HEAVEN. "CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY!
THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF HEAVEN IS ESSENTIALLY THAT OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL REALIZATION ( END TIMES) OF THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF GOD. AND THE FINAL ELIMINATION OF SIN. THE MOST HELPFUL WAY OF CONSIDERING IT IS TO REGARD IT AS A CONSUMMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF SALVATION, IN WHICH THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN INDIVIDUALS AND THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT PARABLES OF HEAVEN ARE STRONGLY COMMUNAL IN NATURE; FOR EXAMPLE, HEAVEN IS PORTRAYED AS A BANQUET, AS A WEDDING FEAST, OR AS A CITY- THE NEW JERUSALEM INDIVIDUALIST INTERPRETATIONS OF HEAVEN OR ETERNAL LIFE ARE ALSO EXCLUDED ON ACCOUNT OF THE CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AS TRINITY. ETERNAL LIFE IS THUS NOT A PROJECTION OF AN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN EXISTENCE, BUT IS RATHER TO BE SEEN AS SHARING, WITH THE REDEEMED COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, IN THE COMMUNITY OF A LOVING GOD.
THE TERM "HEAVEN" IS USED FREQUENTLY IN THE PAULINE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ALTHOUGH IT IS NATURAL TO THINK OF HEAVEN AS A FUTURE ENTITY, PAUL'S THINKING APPEARS TO EMBRACE BOTH A FUTURE REALITY AND A SPIRITUAL SPHERE OR REALM WHICH COEXISTS WITH THE MATERIAL WORLD OF SPACE AND TIME. THUS "HEAVEN " IS REFERRED TO BOTH AS THE FUTURE HOME OF THE BELIEVER (2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-2; PHILIPPIANS 3:20 AS THE PRESENT DWELLING PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST, FROM WHICH HE WILL COME IN FINAL JUDGMENT (ROMANS 10:6; 1 THESSALONIANS 1: 10; 4:16). ONE OF PAUL'S MOST SIGNIFICANT STATEMENTS CONCERNING HEAVEN FOCUSES ON THE NOTION OF BELIEVERS BEING "CITIZENS OF HEAVEN" (PHILIPPIANS 3:20, AND IN SOME WAY SHARING IN THE LIFE OF PRESENT. TENSION BETWEEN "NOW"AND THE "NOT YET".IS EVIDENT IN PAUL'S STATEMENTS CONCERNING HEAVEN, MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SUSTAIN THE SIMPLE IDEA OF HEAVEN AS SOMETHING WHICH WILL NOT COME INTO BEING UNTIL THE FUTURE, OR WHICH CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED IN THE PRESENT. THE EARLY CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION OF HEAVEN TENDED TO FOCUS ON A RELATED IDEA- THE MILLENNIUM, OR RESTORED EARTHLY KINGDOM LASTING FOR A PERIOD OF ONE THOUSAND YEARS, INTERVENING BETWEEN THE COMING OF CHRIST AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TOTALLY NEW COSMIC ORDER. THIS IDEA, WHICH IS BASED PARTLY ON A PASSAGE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION: ( AND HE LAID HOLD ON THE DRAGON THAT OLD SERPENT [2 PETER 2:4] WHICH IS THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, AND BOUND HIM A THOUSAND YEARS, AND CAST HIM IN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, AND SHUT HIM UP, AND SET A SEAL UPON HIM, THAT HE SHOULD DECEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE., TILL THE THOUSAND YEARS SHOULD BE FULFILLED: AND AFTER THAT HE MUST BE LOOSED A LITTLE SEASON [RELEASED].
AND I SAW THE THRONES, AND THEY THAT SAT UPON THEM, AND JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM: I SAW THE THE SOULS OF THEM THAT WERE BEHEADED FOR THE WITNESS OF JESUS, AND FOR THE WORD OF GOD, AND WHICH HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, NEITHER HAD RECEIVED THE MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEADS OR IN THEIR HANDS; AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNS WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS. BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION [JOHN 6:40].
IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT PARABLES OF HEAVEN ARE STRONGLY COMMUNAL IN NATURE; FOR EXAMPLE, HEAVEN IS PORTRAYED AS A BANQUET, AS A WEDDING FEAST, OR AS A CITY- THE NEW JERUSALEM INDIVIDUALIST INTERPRETATIONS OF HEAVEN OR ETERNAL LIFE ARE ALSO EXCLUDED ON ACCOUNT OF THE CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AS TRINITY. ETERNAL LIFE IS THUS NOT A PROJECTION OF AN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN EXISTENCE, BUT IS RATHER TO BE SEEN AS SHARING, WITH THE REDEEMED COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, IN THE COMMUNITY OF A LOVING GOD.
THE TERM "HEAVEN" IS USED FREQUENTLY IN THE PAULINE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ALTHOUGH IT IS NATURAL TO THINK OF HEAVEN AS A FUTURE ENTITY, PAUL'S THINKING APPEARS TO EMBRACE BOTH A FUTURE REALITY AND A SPIRITUAL SPHERE OR REALM WHICH COEXISTS WITH THE MATERIAL WORLD OF SPACE AND TIME. THUS "HEAVEN " IS REFERRED TO BOTH AS THE FUTURE HOME OF THE BELIEVER (2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-2; PHILIPPIANS 3:20 AS THE PRESENT DWELLING PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST, FROM WHICH HE WILL COME IN FINAL JUDGMENT (ROMANS 10:6; 1 THESSALONIANS 1: 10; 4:16). ONE OF PAUL'S MOST SIGNIFICANT STATEMENTS CONCERNING HEAVEN FOCUSES ON THE NOTION OF BELIEVERS BEING "CITIZENS OF HEAVEN" (PHILIPPIANS 3:20, AND IN SOME WAY SHARING IN THE LIFE OF PRESENT. TENSION BETWEEN "NOW"AND THE "NOT YET".IS EVIDENT IN PAUL'S STATEMENTS CONCERNING HEAVEN, MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SUSTAIN THE SIMPLE IDEA OF HEAVEN AS SOMETHING WHICH WILL NOT COME INTO BEING UNTIL THE FUTURE, OR WHICH CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED IN THE PRESENT. THE EARLY CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION OF HEAVEN TENDED TO FOCUS ON A RELATED IDEA- THE MILLENNIUM, OR RESTORED EARTHLY KINGDOM LASTING FOR A PERIOD OF ONE THOUSAND YEARS, INTERVENING BETWEEN THE COMING OF CHRIST AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TOTALLY NEW COSMIC ORDER. THIS IDEA, WHICH IS BASED PARTLY ON A PASSAGE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION: ( AND HE LAID HOLD ON THE DRAGON THAT OLD SERPENT [2 PETER 2:4] WHICH IS THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, AND BOUND HIM A THOUSAND YEARS, AND CAST HIM IN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, AND SHUT HIM UP, AND SET A SEAL UPON HIM, THAT HE SHOULD DECEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE., TILL THE THOUSAND YEARS SHOULD BE FULFILLED: AND AFTER THAT HE MUST BE LOOSED A LITTLE SEASON [RELEASED].
AND I SAW THE THRONES, AND THEY THAT SAT UPON THEM, AND JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM: I SAW THE THE SOULS OF THEM THAT WERE BEHEADED FOR THE WITNESS OF JESUS, AND FOR THE WORD OF GOD, AND WHICH HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, NEITHER HAD RECEIVED THE MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEADS OR IN THEIR HANDS; AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNS WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS. BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION [JOHN 6:40].
Thursday, February 22, 2018
LAST THINGS.
WE ARE GOING TO CONSIDER ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING CONCERNING "LAST THINGS." THERE IS SOME RESISTANCE TO DEAL WITH SOME OF THESE ISSUES IN MANY THEOLOGICAL CIRCLES. ONE REASON PUT FORTH BY ERASMUS IN THE EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY . COMMENTING ON THE ENTHUSIASM WITH WHICH CERTAIN PARIS THEOLOGIANS WROTE ABOUT HELL, ERASMUS REMARKED THAT THEY MUST HAVE BEEN THERE THEMSELVES! INTEREST IN HELL REACHED A CLIMAX DURING THE MIDDLE AGES WITH ARTISTS OF THE PERIOD TAKING, ONE ASSUMES, A CERTAIN DELIGHT IN PORTRAYING THE RIGHTEOUS WATCHING SINNERS BEING TORMENTED BY BURNING AND OTHER MEANS OF TORTURE. THE MOST GRAPHIC PORTRAYAL OF THE MEDIEVAL VIEW OF HELL IS THAT OF DANTE, IN THE FIRST THREE BOOKS OF HIS DIVINE COMEDY. DANTE PORTRAYS HELL AS NINE CIRCLES AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, WITHIN WHICH SATAN DWELLS. ON THE GATE, DANTE NOTICES THE INSCRIPTION "ABANDON ALL HOPE. ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE!
THE FIRST CIRCLE OF HELL IS POPULATED BY THOSE WHO HAVE DIED WITHOUT BEING BAPTIZED, AND VIRTUOUS PAGANS. ( THIS CIRCLE CORRESPONDS TO THE IDEA OF "LIMBO." DANTE DECLARES THAT IT IS THIS CIRCLE WHICH WAS VISITED BY CHRIST DURING HIS "DESCENT INTO HELL." BETWEEN THE TIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION AND THE RESURRECTION. THERE IS NO TORMENT OF ANY KIND IN THIS CIRCLE. AS DANTE ADVANCES FURTHER INTO HELL, HE DISCOVERS THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY OF INCREASINGLY SERIOUS SINS. THE SECOND CIRCLE IS POPULATED BY THE LUSTFUL, THE THIRD BY THE GLUTTONOUS, THE FOURTH BY THE MISERLY, AND THE FIFTH BY THE WRATHFUL. THESE CIRCLES, TAKEN TOGETHER, CONSTITUTE "UPPER HELL." AT NO POINT DOES DANTE REFER TO FIRE IN THIS PART OF HELL. DANTE THEN DRAWS UPON GRECO- ROMAN MYTHOLOGY IN SUGGESTING THAT THE RIVER STYX DIVIDES "UPPER AND "LOWER HELL." NOW WE ENCOUNTER FIRE. FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE SIXTH CIRCLE IS POPULATED BY HERETICS, THE SEVENTH BY THE VIOLENT., THE EIGHTH BY FRAUDSTERS (INCLUDING SEVERAL POPES), AND THE NINTH BY TRAITORS. THE STATIC MEDIEVAL VIEW OF HELL WAS UNQUESTIONABLY OF MAJOR INFLUENCE AT THE TIME, AND CONTINUES TO BE IMPORTANCE INTO THE MODERN PERIOD. IT MAY BE FOUND CLEARLY STATED IN JONATHAN EDWARDS FAMOUS "SERMON," SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD," PREACHED ON 8 JULY 1741:
IT WOULD BE DREADFUL TO SUFFER THIS FIERCENESS AND WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD FOR ONE MOMENT; BUT YOU MUST SUFFER FOR ALL ETERNITY. THERE WILL BE NO END TO THIS EXQUISITE... HORRIBLE MISERY... YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU MUST WERE OUT LONG AGES, MILLIONS OF MILLIONS OF AGES, IN WRESTLING AND CONFLICTING WITH THIS ALMIGHTY MERCILESS VENGEANCE.
ONE OF THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROTESTANT AND ROMAN CATHOLIC UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE "LAST THINGS" RELATES TO THE QUESTION OF PURGATORY. IS PERHAPS BEST UNDERSTOOD AS AN INTERMEDIATE STAGE, IN WHICH THOSE WHO HAVE DIED IN A STATE OF GRACE ARE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO PURGE THEMSELVES OF THE GUILT OF THEIR SINS BEFORE ENTERING HEAVEN. THE IDEA DOES NOT HAVE EXPLICIT SCRIPTURAL WARRANT, ALTHOUGH A PASSAGE IN 2 MACCABEES 12: 39- 45 ( APOCRYPHAL, AND HENCE AS LACKING IN AUTHORITY, BY PROTESTANT WRITERS) SPEAKS OF JUDAS MACCABEUS MAKING "PROPITIATION FOR THOSE WHO HAD DIED, IN ORDER THAT THEY MIGHT BE RELEASED FROM THEIR SIN."
THE IDEA WAS DEVELOPED DURING THE PATRISTIC PERIOD.. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA AND ORIGEN BOTH TAUGHT THAT THOSE WHO HAD DIED WITHOUT TIME TO PERFORM WORKS OF PENANCE WOULD BE "PURIFIED THROUGH FIRE."
IN THE NEXT LIFE. (NOT REALIZING THEY WERE SAVED BY GRACE, NOT WORKS. THE PRACTICE OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD- WHICH BECAME WIDE-SPREAD IN THE EASTERN CHURCH IN THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES- EXERCISED A MAJOR IMPACT UPON THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT CASE STUDY OF THE MANNER IN WHICH LITURGY INFLUENCES THEOLOGY. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD, IT WAS ASKED, IF THOSE PRAYERS COULD NOT ALTER THE STATE IN WHICH THEY EXISTED? SIMILAR VIEWS ARE FOUND IN AUGUSTINE, WHO TAUGHT THE NEED FOR PURIFICATION FROM THE SINS OF THE PRESENT LIFE, BEFORE ENTERING THE JOYS OF THE NEXT. WHILE THE PRACTICE OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD APPEARS TO HAVE BECOME WELL ESTABLISHED BY THE FOURTH CENTURY, THE EXPLICIT FORMULATION OF A NOTION OF "PURGATORY" SEEMS TO DATE FROM TWO CENTURIES LATER, IN THE WRITINGS OF GREGORY THE GREAT. IN HIS EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW 12:31,) DATING FROM 593 OR 594), GREGORY PICKS UP THE IDEA OF SINS WHICH CAN BE FORGIVEN " IN THE AGE TO COME. HE INTERPRETS
THIS IN TERMS OF A FUTURE AGE IN WHICH SINS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FORGIVEN SUBSEQUENTLY. NOTE ESPECIALLY THE REFERENCE TO THE "PURIFYING FIRE" (PURGATORIUS IGNIS) WHICH BECAME INCORPORATED INTO MOST MEDIEVAL ACCOUNTS OF PURGATORY, AND FROM WHICH THE TERM " PURGATORY DERIVES.
AS FOR LESSER FAULTS, WE MUST BELIEVE THAT, BEFORE THE FINAL JUDGEMENT, THERE IS A PURIFYING FIRE, FOR HE WHO IS THE TRUTH DECLARES THAT " WHO EVER UTTERS BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE "HOLY SPIRIT" WILL NOT BE PARDONED EITHER IN THIS AGE OR IN THE AGE TO COME. (MATTHEW 12:31). FROM THIS STATEMENT IT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD. THAT CERTAIN OFFENCES CAN BE FORGIVEN
IN THIS AGE, WHEREAS CERTAIN OTHERS WILL BE FORGIVEN IN THE AGE WHICH IS TO COME.
REMEMBER PURGATORY WAS TO LACK ANY SUBSTANTIAL SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATIONS. IT WAS INCONSISTENT WITH THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, WHICH DECLARED THAT AN INDIVIDUAL COULD BE PUT "RIGHT WITH GOD"
THROUGH FAITH, WHICH OBVIATED THE NEED FOR PURGATORY. AND THE PRACTICE OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD, CONTINUE TO FIND ACCEPTANCE WITHIN ROMAN CATHOLICISM.
THE FIRST CIRCLE OF HELL IS POPULATED BY THOSE WHO HAVE DIED WITHOUT BEING BAPTIZED, AND VIRTUOUS PAGANS. ( THIS CIRCLE CORRESPONDS TO THE IDEA OF "LIMBO." DANTE DECLARES THAT IT IS THIS CIRCLE WHICH WAS VISITED BY CHRIST DURING HIS "DESCENT INTO HELL." BETWEEN THE TIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION AND THE RESURRECTION. THERE IS NO TORMENT OF ANY KIND IN THIS CIRCLE. AS DANTE ADVANCES FURTHER INTO HELL, HE DISCOVERS THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY OF INCREASINGLY SERIOUS SINS. THE SECOND CIRCLE IS POPULATED BY THE LUSTFUL, THE THIRD BY THE GLUTTONOUS, THE FOURTH BY THE MISERLY, AND THE FIFTH BY THE WRATHFUL. THESE CIRCLES, TAKEN TOGETHER, CONSTITUTE "UPPER HELL." AT NO POINT DOES DANTE REFER TO FIRE IN THIS PART OF HELL. DANTE THEN DRAWS UPON GRECO- ROMAN MYTHOLOGY IN SUGGESTING THAT THE RIVER STYX DIVIDES "UPPER AND "LOWER HELL." NOW WE ENCOUNTER FIRE. FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE SIXTH CIRCLE IS POPULATED BY HERETICS, THE SEVENTH BY THE VIOLENT., THE EIGHTH BY FRAUDSTERS (INCLUDING SEVERAL POPES), AND THE NINTH BY TRAITORS. THE STATIC MEDIEVAL VIEW OF HELL WAS UNQUESTIONABLY OF MAJOR INFLUENCE AT THE TIME, AND CONTINUES TO BE IMPORTANCE INTO THE MODERN PERIOD. IT MAY BE FOUND CLEARLY STATED IN JONATHAN EDWARDS FAMOUS "SERMON," SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD," PREACHED ON 8 JULY 1741:
IT WOULD BE DREADFUL TO SUFFER THIS FIERCENESS AND WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD FOR ONE MOMENT; BUT YOU MUST SUFFER FOR ALL ETERNITY. THERE WILL BE NO END TO THIS EXQUISITE... HORRIBLE MISERY... YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU MUST WERE OUT LONG AGES, MILLIONS OF MILLIONS OF AGES, IN WRESTLING AND CONFLICTING WITH THIS ALMIGHTY MERCILESS VENGEANCE.
ONE OF THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROTESTANT AND ROMAN CATHOLIC UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE "LAST THINGS" RELATES TO THE QUESTION OF PURGATORY. IS PERHAPS BEST UNDERSTOOD AS AN INTERMEDIATE STAGE, IN WHICH THOSE WHO HAVE DIED IN A STATE OF GRACE ARE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO PURGE THEMSELVES OF THE GUILT OF THEIR SINS BEFORE ENTERING HEAVEN. THE IDEA DOES NOT HAVE EXPLICIT SCRIPTURAL WARRANT, ALTHOUGH A PASSAGE IN 2 MACCABEES 12: 39- 45 ( APOCRYPHAL, AND HENCE AS LACKING IN AUTHORITY, BY PROTESTANT WRITERS) SPEAKS OF JUDAS MACCABEUS MAKING "PROPITIATION FOR THOSE WHO HAD DIED, IN ORDER THAT THEY MIGHT BE RELEASED FROM THEIR SIN."
THE IDEA WAS DEVELOPED DURING THE PATRISTIC PERIOD.. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA AND ORIGEN BOTH TAUGHT THAT THOSE WHO HAD DIED WITHOUT TIME TO PERFORM WORKS OF PENANCE WOULD BE "PURIFIED THROUGH FIRE."
IN THE NEXT LIFE. (NOT REALIZING THEY WERE SAVED BY GRACE, NOT WORKS. THE PRACTICE OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD- WHICH BECAME WIDE-SPREAD IN THE EASTERN CHURCH IN THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES- EXERCISED A MAJOR IMPACT UPON THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT CASE STUDY OF THE MANNER IN WHICH LITURGY INFLUENCES THEOLOGY. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD, IT WAS ASKED, IF THOSE PRAYERS COULD NOT ALTER THE STATE IN WHICH THEY EXISTED? SIMILAR VIEWS ARE FOUND IN AUGUSTINE, WHO TAUGHT THE NEED FOR PURIFICATION FROM THE SINS OF THE PRESENT LIFE, BEFORE ENTERING THE JOYS OF THE NEXT. WHILE THE PRACTICE OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD APPEARS TO HAVE BECOME WELL ESTABLISHED BY THE FOURTH CENTURY, THE EXPLICIT FORMULATION OF A NOTION OF "PURGATORY" SEEMS TO DATE FROM TWO CENTURIES LATER, IN THE WRITINGS OF GREGORY THE GREAT. IN HIS EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW 12:31,) DATING FROM 593 OR 594), GREGORY PICKS UP THE IDEA OF SINS WHICH CAN BE FORGIVEN " IN THE AGE TO COME. HE INTERPRETS
THIS IN TERMS OF A FUTURE AGE IN WHICH SINS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FORGIVEN SUBSEQUENTLY. NOTE ESPECIALLY THE REFERENCE TO THE "PURIFYING FIRE" (PURGATORIUS IGNIS) WHICH BECAME INCORPORATED INTO MOST MEDIEVAL ACCOUNTS OF PURGATORY, AND FROM WHICH THE TERM " PURGATORY DERIVES.
AS FOR LESSER FAULTS, WE MUST BELIEVE THAT, BEFORE THE FINAL JUDGEMENT, THERE IS A PURIFYING FIRE, FOR HE WHO IS THE TRUTH DECLARES THAT " WHO EVER UTTERS BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE "HOLY SPIRIT" WILL NOT BE PARDONED EITHER IN THIS AGE OR IN THE AGE TO COME. (MATTHEW 12:31). FROM THIS STATEMENT IT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD. THAT CERTAIN OFFENCES CAN BE FORGIVEN
IN THIS AGE, WHEREAS CERTAIN OTHERS WILL BE FORGIVEN IN THE AGE WHICH IS TO COME.
REMEMBER PURGATORY WAS TO LACK ANY SUBSTANTIAL SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATIONS. IT WAS INCONSISTENT WITH THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, WHICH DECLARED THAT AN INDIVIDUAL COULD BE PUT "RIGHT WITH GOD"
THROUGH FAITH, WHICH OBVIATED THE NEED FOR PURGATORY. AND THE PRACTICE OF PRAYING FOR THE DEAD, CONTINUE TO FIND ACCEPTANCE WITHIN ROMAN CATHOLICISM.
THE "CONCERNS OF THE COVENANT."
WHEN GOD MADE A COVENANT WITH ISRAEL AT SINAI, HE BOUND THE NATION TO HIMSELF IN "GRACE," AND SET DOWN STIPULATIONS (COMMANDMENTS) DESIGNED TO TEACH THE PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER IN A HARMONIOUS, MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL WAY. THE GOAL OF THE STIPULATIONS GOD SPELLED OUT AT SINAI REFLECTED HIS ORIGINAL PURPOSE FOR THE HUMAN RACE. GOD USED SYMBOLS OF THE CLOUD AND LIGHTING TO REMIND US OF THE AWESOME SIGNS (1 COR 7: 5). THAT ACCOMPANIED GOD'S PRESENCE AMONG HIS PEOPLE AT SINAI, EXODUS,19.
HE GATHERED THEM AROUND HIMSELF, NOT BECAUSE OF ANY GOODNESS AND MERCY IN HIMSELF, NOT BECAUSE OF ANY GOODNESS IN THEM, BUT SOLELY BECAUSE OF GOODNESS AND MERCY IN HIMSELF. HE DID NOT GATHER THEM THERE TO SAY, " I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE." (EXODUS 20:2.). HE DID NOT GIVE THEM THE COMMANDMENTS THAT THEY MIGHT AT BECOMING HIS PEOPLE. HE GAVE THEM COMMANDMENTS TO INSTRUCT THEM HOW THEY WERE TO TRY TO LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT HE HAD DECLARED THEM TO BE HIS PEOPLE. GOD'S PEOPLE WERE TO LIVE TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY, WITH GOD DRAWING MEN INTO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF, BUT THAT IS NEVER A PRIVATE AFFAIR. EACH INDIVIDUAL IN THE NATION WAS A MEMBER OF THE LARGER "COMMUNITY," UNDER OBLIGATION TO SERVE OTHERS.IN THAT LARGER COMMUNITY.
THE STIPULATION, " COMMANDMENT" IS THIRD DOWN THE LIST OF THE SIX PARTS OF THE COVENANT. ISRAEL WAS NOT SAVED BY HER WORKS. SHE WAS SAVED BY GOD'S GRACE (O.T.) FOR WORKS. HER WORKS WERE TO BE AN ATTEMPT TO SHOW HER GRATITUDE TO GOD FOR HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS HER, ( DEUTERONOMY 24:18).
ISRAEL'S LIFE UNDER GOD'S DIRECTION WAS TO BE A MEANS OF ATTRACTING OTHER NATIONS INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE ONE TRUE GOD: IN OTHER WORDS, TO BECOME "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." ( DEUTERONOMY 4: 5-8).
THE VARIOUS LAW CODES INCLUDED IN EXODUS-DEUTERONOMY CONTAIN A MULTITUDE OF DETAILS-- A FEW MIGHT BE MENTIONED. THEY GAVE DIRECTIONS TO ALL IN THE NATION ABOUT HOW THEY WERE TO LIVE, CARRY OUT THEIR DUTIES, AND TREAT THOSE UNDER THEIR JURISDICTIONS; FOR EXAMPLE, JUDGES ( DEUT 18:20.); KINGS (DEUT. 17:14-17); PRIESTS (DEUT. 18:1-8); AND PROPHETS (DEUT.18: 9-22). COMPASSION AND KINDNESS WERE TO BE SHOWN TO PARENTS (EXODUS 20:12; 21:15; DEUT.21:18-21.) TO WIDOWS, THE FATHER-LESS, AND THE POOR. (DEUT.1:17; 10:18; 16-19; LEV. 19:15); TO THE BLIND AND DEAF ( LEV. 19:14; DEUT. 27:18); TO ANIMALS (EXODUS 23:4,5; DEUT 22:1-4,6-7); AND TO WORKERS ( LEV. 19:13; DEUT. 24: 14,15).
THESE PASSAGES REVEAL THAT THE LAW CODES ARE DETAILED AND REMARKABLE. THEY ARE BASED ON ETERNAL PRINCIPLES. GOD DID NOT GIVE THEM AS GUIDES FOR EFFECTING SALVATION. HE GAVE THEM FOR REFLECTING SALVATION. THE DIFFERENCE IS OF CONSIDERABLE IMPORTANCE.
HE GATHERED THEM AROUND HIMSELF, NOT BECAUSE OF ANY GOODNESS AND MERCY IN HIMSELF, NOT BECAUSE OF ANY GOODNESS IN THEM, BUT SOLELY BECAUSE OF GOODNESS AND MERCY IN HIMSELF. HE DID NOT GATHER THEM THERE TO SAY, " I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE." (EXODUS 20:2.). HE DID NOT GIVE THEM THE COMMANDMENTS THAT THEY MIGHT AT BECOMING HIS PEOPLE. HE GAVE THEM COMMANDMENTS TO INSTRUCT THEM HOW THEY WERE TO TRY TO LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT HE HAD DECLARED THEM TO BE HIS PEOPLE. GOD'S PEOPLE WERE TO LIVE TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY, WITH GOD DRAWING MEN INTO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF, BUT THAT IS NEVER A PRIVATE AFFAIR. EACH INDIVIDUAL IN THE NATION WAS A MEMBER OF THE LARGER "COMMUNITY," UNDER OBLIGATION TO SERVE OTHERS.IN THAT LARGER COMMUNITY.
THE STIPULATION, " COMMANDMENT" IS THIRD DOWN THE LIST OF THE SIX PARTS OF THE COVENANT. ISRAEL WAS NOT SAVED BY HER WORKS. SHE WAS SAVED BY GOD'S GRACE (O.T.) FOR WORKS. HER WORKS WERE TO BE AN ATTEMPT TO SHOW HER GRATITUDE TO GOD FOR HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS HER, ( DEUTERONOMY 24:18).
ISRAEL'S LIFE UNDER GOD'S DIRECTION WAS TO BE A MEANS OF ATTRACTING OTHER NATIONS INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE ONE TRUE GOD: IN OTHER WORDS, TO BECOME "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." ( DEUTERONOMY 4: 5-8).
THE VARIOUS LAW CODES INCLUDED IN EXODUS-DEUTERONOMY CONTAIN A MULTITUDE OF DETAILS-- A FEW MIGHT BE MENTIONED. THEY GAVE DIRECTIONS TO ALL IN THE NATION ABOUT HOW THEY WERE TO LIVE, CARRY OUT THEIR DUTIES, AND TREAT THOSE UNDER THEIR JURISDICTIONS; FOR EXAMPLE, JUDGES ( DEUT 18:20.); KINGS (DEUT. 17:14-17); PRIESTS (DEUT. 18:1-8); AND PROPHETS (DEUT.18: 9-22). COMPASSION AND KINDNESS WERE TO BE SHOWN TO PARENTS (EXODUS 20:12; 21:15; DEUT.21:18-21.) TO WIDOWS, THE FATHER-LESS, AND THE POOR. (DEUT.1:17; 10:18; 16-19; LEV. 19:15); TO THE BLIND AND DEAF ( LEV. 19:14; DEUT. 27:18); TO ANIMALS (EXODUS 23:4,5; DEUT 22:1-4,6-7); AND TO WORKERS ( LEV. 19:13; DEUT. 24: 14,15).
THESE PASSAGES REVEAL THAT THE LAW CODES ARE DETAILED AND REMARKABLE. THEY ARE BASED ON ETERNAL PRINCIPLES. GOD DID NOT GIVE THEM AS GUIDES FOR EFFECTING SALVATION. HE GAVE THEM FOR REFLECTING SALVATION. THE DIFFERENCE IS OF CONSIDERABLE IMPORTANCE.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
THREE PASSIONS. [GOSPEL OF MARK].
WHEN JESUS ASKED THE DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI WHO HE WAS. PETER ANSWERED FOR THEM ALL, " YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH!"
(MARK 8:27-30). IT APPEARED THAT THE DISCIPLES KNEW WHO HE WAS, EVEN IF THE NATION DID NOT. DID THEY?
WHAT PETER SAID WAS CORRECT. HIS UNDERSTANDING OF CHRIST'S ROLE AS MESSIAH WAS WRONG. WHY? AFTER PETER'S "CONFESSION," FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MARK'S GOSPEL. JESUS SPOKE ABOUT HIS APPROACHING SUFFERING, DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION ( PASSION PREDICTION NUMBER 1). THIS WAS TO MUCH FOR PETER. HE REBUKED JESUS FOR SAYING SUCH THINGS. JESUS, IN TURN, ADDRESSED PETER IN STRONG TERMS, AND TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS ON THE SIDE OF SATAN (8:33). HE WENT ON TO EXPLAIN TO HIS DISCIPLES THAT IF THEY WANTED TO BE INVOLVED WITH HIM, THEY MUST THROW IN THEIR LOT WITH A SERVANT KING. WHO DENIED HIM-SELF TO SPEND LIFE IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS. " TO BELONG TO JESUS MEANS STRIVING TO USE LIFE AS HE DID, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST." ( 8:34-38). THE DISCIPLES FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND JESUS REFERENCE TO HIS COMING PASSION BECAUSE THE THOUGHT OF A SUFFERING, DYING MESSIAH WAS COMPLETELY FOREIGN TO THEM. THEY LIKE THEIR CONTEMPORARIES, WERE LOOKING FOR A MESSIAH WHO WOULD USHER IN A GLORIOUS AGE OF MATERIAL PROSPERITY, POLITICAL PRIVILEGE AND FREEDOM FROM FOREIGN DOMINATION. POSSIBLY THEY THOUGHT THAT THE MESSIANIC AGE WOULD MEAN POSITIONS OF HONOR AND CONDITIONS OF AFFLUENCE FOR THEMSELVES. JESUS' TALK ABOUT CARRYING THE CROSS OF SERVANTHOOD IN EVERY SITUATION FELL ON CONFUSED AND DISBELIEVING EARS! JESUS CONTINUED BY STATING THAT WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME HIS DISCIPLES WOULD SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME WITH POWER '
(9:1). HE WAS REFERRING TO HIS APPROACHING CRUCIFIXION. JESUS THE SERVANT-KING, WAS AT HIS MOST POWERFUL IN MARCHING TO AND ENDURING, THE AGONY OF THE CROSS.
THE TRANSFIGURATION (9:2-8) RE-ENACTED THE "THEOPHANY" (APPEARANCE OF GOD). (EXODUS 24: 15-18). AS GOD ONCE MANIFESTED HIS GLORY AT SINAI, SO THE INCARNATE GOD MANIFESTED HIS GLORY TO THE DISCIPLES ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. THE CONCLUSION IS OBVIOUS. THE GOD ISRAEL HAD KNOWN AND WORSHIPPED THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT PERIOD HAD COME AMONG THEM IN JESUS CHRIST. THE WORDS, " LISTEN TO HIM." ECHO DEUTERONOMY (18:15) WHERE GOD PROMISED ISRAEL THAT AFTER THE DEATH OF MOSES, HE WOULD RAISE UP ANOTHER PROPHET (JOSHUA) WHO WOULD LEAD THEM INTO THE PROMISE LAND. THE NEW "JOSHUA" WOULD LEAD HIS PEOPLE INTO THE
ETERNAL PROMISED LAND.
AS THE GROUP WHICH WITNESSED THE TRANSFIGURATION DESCENDED THE MOUNTAIN, JESUS COMMANDED THEM TO TELL NO ONE WHAT THEY HAD SEEN UNTIL AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. HIS DISCIPLES WERE THOROUGHLY CONFUSED BY HIS REFERENCE TO RISING FROM THE DEAD. THE IMPORTANT OF THE QUESTIONS RELATING TO FAITH-SIGHT BECAME MORE APPARENT WHEN ONE OBSERVES THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH PASSION.
(1. PREDICTION BY JESUS OF HIS COMING PASSION.
(2. CONFUSION ON THE PART OF THE DISCIPLES.
(3. CLARIFICATION BY JESUS CONCERNING THE IMPLICATIONS OF MESSIANIC AGE FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO BE INVOLVED IN IT.
JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY. THOUGH HIS MODE OF ENTRY WAS HUMBLE, IT WAS NEVER-THE-LESS A SIGN AND AN ASSERTION, (11;1-10). WHEN A KING WENT TO WAR, HE RODE A HORSE. WHEN HE WAS ON A MISSION OF PEACE, HE RODE A DONKEY. THE CROWDS MISS THE POINT JESUS WAS MAKING; THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A WARRIOR KING. FURTHERMORE, THEY FORGOT WHAT ZECHARIAH 9:9 HAD WRITTEN LONG BEFORE, DAVID DECLARED THAT SOLOMON WAS TO BE HIS SUCCESSOR AND THAT HE WOULD RIDE ON DAVID'S MULE, (1 KINGS 1:33,38). DAVID'S GREATER SON NOW CAME ON A MULE TO WHAT ONCE HAD BEEN KNOWN AS THE "CITY OF DAVID", (2 SAMUEL 5:9; LUKE 2:11.)
SOON AFTER RETURNING TO JERUSALEM NEXT DAY, JESUS CLEANSED THE TEMPLE, (11:15-19), THE JEWS WERE DESECRATING AND ABUSING IT. THEY CHARGED VISITORS TO JERUSALEM EXCESSIVE RATES TO CHANGE FOREIGN CURRENCY.
IN THE FINAL WEEK IN JERUSALEM A NUMBER CONFRONTATIONS TOOK PLACE BETWEEN JESUS AND THE JEWISH LEADERS OF THE NATION, THAT QUESTIONED JESUS ABOUT THE SOURCE OF HIS AUTHORITY, (11:27-33).
(MARK 8:27-30). IT APPEARED THAT THE DISCIPLES KNEW WHO HE WAS, EVEN IF THE NATION DID NOT. DID THEY?
WHAT PETER SAID WAS CORRECT. HIS UNDERSTANDING OF CHRIST'S ROLE AS MESSIAH WAS WRONG. WHY? AFTER PETER'S "CONFESSION," FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MARK'S GOSPEL. JESUS SPOKE ABOUT HIS APPROACHING SUFFERING, DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION ( PASSION PREDICTION NUMBER 1). THIS WAS TO MUCH FOR PETER. HE REBUKED JESUS FOR SAYING SUCH THINGS. JESUS, IN TURN, ADDRESSED PETER IN STRONG TERMS, AND TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS ON THE SIDE OF SATAN (8:33). HE WENT ON TO EXPLAIN TO HIS DISCIPLES THAT IF THEY WANTED TO BE INVOLVED WITH HIM, THEY MUST THROW IN THEIR LOT WITH A SERVANT KING. WHO DENIED HIM-SELF TO SPEND LIFE IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS. " TO BELONG TO JESUS MEANS STRIVING TO USE LIFE AS HE DID, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST." ( 8:34-38). THE DISCIPLES FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND JESUS REFERENCE TO HIS COMING PASSION BECAUSE THE THOUGHT OF A SUFFERING, DYING MESSIAH WAS COMPLETELY FOREIGN TO THEM. THEY LIKE THEIR CONTEMPORARIES, WERE LOOKING FOR A MESSIAH WHO WOULD USHER IN A GLORIOUS AGE OF MATERIAL PROSPERITY, POLITICAL PRIVILEGE AND FREEDOM FROM FOREIGN DOMINATION. POSSIBLY THEY THOUGHT THAT THE MESSIANIC AGE WOULD MEAN POSITIONS OF HONOR AND CONDITIONS OF AFFLUENCE FOR THEMSELVES. JESUS' TALK ABOUT CARRYING THE CROSS OF SERVANTHOOD IN EVERY SITUATION FELL ON CONFUSED AND DISBELIEVING EARS! JESUS CONTINUED BY STATING THAT WITHIN A VERY SHORT TIME HIS DISCIPLES WOULD SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME WITH POWER '
(9:1). HE WAS REFERRING TO HIS APPROACHING CRUCIFIXION. JESUS THE SERVANT-KING, WAS AT HIS MOST POWERFUL IN MARCHING TO AND ENDURING, THE AGONY OF THE CROSS.
THE TRANSFIGURATION (9:2-8) RE-ENACTED THE "THEOPHANY" (APPEARANCE OF GOD). (EXODUS 24: 15-18). AS GOD ONCE MANIFESTED HIS GLORY AT SINAI, SO THE INCARNATE GOD MANIFESTED HIS GLORY TO THE DISCIPLES ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. THE CONCLUSION IS OBVIOUS. THE GOD ISRAEL HAD KNOWN AND WORSHIPPED THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT PERIOD HAD COME AMONG THEM IN JESUS CHRIST. THE WORDS, " LISTEN TO HIM." ECHO DEUTERONOMY (18:15) WHERE GOD PROMISED ISRAEL THAT AFTER THE DEATH OF MOSES, HE WOULD RAISE UP ANOTHER PROPHET (JOSHUA) WHO WOULD LEAD THEM INTO THE PROMISE LAND. THE NEW "JOSHUA" WOULD LEAD HIS PEOPLE INTO THE
ETERNAL PROMISED LAND.
AS THE GROUP WHICH WITNESSED THE TRANSFIGURATION DESCENDED THE MOUNTAIN, JESUS COMMANDED THEM TO TELL NO ONE WHAT THEY HAD SEEN UNTIL AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. HIS DISCIPLES WERE THOROUGHLY CONFUSED BY HIS REFERENCE TO RISING FROM THE DEAD. THE IMPORTANT OF THE QUESTIONS RELATING TO FAITH-SIGHT BECAME MORE APPARENT WHEN ONE OBSERVES THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH PASSION.
(1. PREDICTION BY JESUS OF HIS COMING PASSION.
(2. CONFUSION ON THE PART OF THE DISCIPLES.
(3. CLARIFICATION BY JESUS CONCERNING THE IMPLICATIONS OF MESSIANIC AGE FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO BE INVOLVED IN IT.
JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY. THOUGH HIS MODE OF ENTRY WAS HUMBLE, IT WAS NEVER-THE-LESS A SIGN AND AN ASSERTION, (11;1-10). WHEN A KING WENT TO WAR, HE RODE A HORSE. WHEN HE WAS ON A MISSION OF PEACE, HE RODE A DONKEY. THE CROWDS MISS THE POINT JESUS WAS MAKING; THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A WARRIOR KING. FURTHERMORE, THEY FORGOT WHAT ZECHARIAH 9:9 HAD WRITTEN LONG BEFORE, DAVID DECLARED THAT SOLOMON WAS TO BE HIS SUCCESSOR AND THAT HE WOULD RIDE ON DAVID'S MULE, (1 KINGS 1:33,38). DAVID'S GREATER SON NOW CAME ON A MULE TO WHAT ONCE HAD BEEN KNOWN AS THE "CITY OF DAVID", (2 SAMUEL 5:9; LUKE 2:11.)
SOON AFTER RETURNING TO JERUSALEM NEXT DAY, JESUS CLEANSED THE TEMPLE, (11:15-19), THE JEWS WERE DESECRATING AND ABUSING IT. THEY CHARGED VISITORS TO JERUSALEM EXCESSIVE RATES TO CHANGE FOREIGN CURRENCY.
IN THE FINAL WEEK IN JERUSALEM A NUMBER CONFRONTATIONS TOOK PLACE BETWEEN JESUS AND THE JEWISH LEADERS OF THE NATION, THAT QUESTIONED JESUS ABOUT THE SOURCE OF HIS AUTHORITY, (11:27-33).
Monday, February 19, 2018
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND! THE CLAIM.
THE NEW TESTAMENT STATES THAT JESUS FULFILLED THE HOPES THAT JEWS HAD CHERISHED FOR CENTURIES. IT INSISTS THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH. THAT CLAIM RAISES SOME CRUCIAL QUESTIONS: WHAT KIND OF A MESSIAH WAS JESUS? WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF THE MESSIANIC AGE HE ESTABLISHED? THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST.MARK PROVIDES ANSWERS TO THESE AND RELATED QUESTIONS.
MARK GIVES NO INFORMATION ABOUT JESUS BIRTH. HE BEGINS HIS ACCOUNT OF JESUS LIFE WITH THE SIMPLE WORDS, " THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD," [MARK 1:1]. THE "GOSPEL" [GOOD NEWS} IS THAT THE NEW AGE THE JEWS HAD BEEN EXPECTING FOR CENTURIES HAS ARRIVED. JESUS (SAVIOR) CHRIST ( "THE ANOINTED ONE," ( "THE MESSIAH") HAS COME. HE IS THE "SON OF GOD," AND THAT MEANS THAT OLD ISRAEL IS NO LONGER " THE SON OF GOD." [ EXODUS 4:22].
WHEN MARK USES THE TERM "GOSPEL" HE IS NOT SAYING THAT WHEN JESUS CAME, GOD BEGAN TO FORGIVE SINS IN EARNEST, OR SAVE PEOPLE IN SOME NEW WAY. GOD ALWAYS HAS, AND ALWAYS WILL, SAVE PEOPLE BY GRACE THROUGH THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. HE IS SAYING THAT IN JESUS THE JEWS DREAMS WERE FINALLY FULFILLED. THE MESSIAH AND THE AGE OF THE MESSIAH HAD FINALLY COME. TO SUPPORT HIS CLAIM, MARK QUOTES [EXODUS 23:2O] AND [MALACHI 3:1] IN VERSE 2, AND [ISAIAH 40:3] IS RICH IN MEANING. IT WAS ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED TO THE EXILES IN BABYLON JUST PRIOR TO THEIR RELEASE FROM EXILE AND RETURN TO THEIR OWN LAND. IN QUOTING IT, MARK STATES THAT JESUS WAS ABOUT TO CARRY OUT A RESCUE MISSION THAT WOULD FAR SURPASS THOSE WHICH HAD FREED GOD'S PEOPLE FROM EGYPT AND BABYLON. ( JOHN DID NOT COME IN A POLITICAL UP-HEAVEL, BUT A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL.) GOD PREPARED HIS PEOPLE FOR JESUS MINISTRY AND MISSION THROUGH THE WORK OF JOHN THE BAPTIST,[ 1:4-8] JOHN CONDUCTED HIS WORK IN THE WILDERNESS, THE PLACE OF EXPECTATIONS AND NEW BEGINNINGS, THE PLACE GOD TAKES PEOPLE TO TEAR THEM AWAY FROM THE DISTRACTIONS OF DAILY LIFE. [JOHN 1: 28] STATES THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST WORKED ON THE EAST BANK OF THE JORDAN RIVER, THUS INVITING HIS AUDIENCE TO LEAVE THE PROMISE LAND AND ENTER IT AGAIN THROUGH A BAPTISMAL EXODUS AND CROSSING OF THE JORDAN. "NOTE WELL"- JOHN BAPTIZED JEWS, [MATTHEW 3:1-10;] [MARK 1: 4,5.] THIS PRACTICE WAS UNHEARD OF, FOR ONLY GENTILES WERE BAPTIZED WHEN THEY CONVERTED TO JUDAISM. JOHN'S SUMMONS TO BAPTISM REMINDED THE JEWS THAT THEY WERE NOT AUTOMATICALLY CHILDREN OF GOD BY VIRTUE OF THEIR PHYSICAL DESCENT FROM ABRAHAM, [MATTHEW 3:9.] GOD WAS NOT INTERESTED IN NATIONAL CREDENTIALS . HE WAS LOOKING FOR REPENTANCE! JOHN POINTED BEYOND HIMSELF TO SOMEONE MUCH GREATER WHOSE MISSION WOULD TOTALLY TRANSCENDS HIS OWN. ( JESUS SAYS TO THOSE JEWS WHICH BELIEVED ON HIM : IF YE CONTINUE IN MY WORD, THEN ARE YE MY DISCIPLES INDEED. [JOHN 8:31.]
JESUS DID NOT SUBMIT TO JOHN'S BAPTISM TO RECEIVE THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. HE DID NOT SIN, AND NEEDED NO FORGIVENESS, [JOHN 8:46]. HE SUBMITTED TO IDENTIFY WITH THE NEW MOVEMENT HIS FATHER IN HEAVEN WAS BEGINNING THROUGH JOHN'S WORK, WHICH WOULD CULMINATE IN HIS OWN DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION [ FOR WE HAVE NOT AN HIGH PRIEST WHICH CAN NOT BE TOUCHED, WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES; BUT WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN [HEBREWS 4:15].
THE EVENTS IN JESUS LIFE REPEATED IN BROAD OUTLINE THOSE OF OLD ISRAEL. HE PASSED THROUGH WATER IN HIS BAPTISM, AND THEN WENT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TESTED BY SATAN. THOUGH THE OLD ISRAEL, THE FORMER SON OF GOD SINNED AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE WILDERNESS, THE NEW ISRAEL REDUCED TO ONE, DID NOT. OLD ISRAEL WAS IN THE WILDERNESS FORTY YEARS. JESUS WAS THERE FORTY DAYS. PASSAGES SUCH AS [ISAIAH 64:1] [JOEL 2:28,29,] AND [HOSEA 7:11.] ALSO THROW LIGHT ON JESUS BAPTISM. THE WORDS SPOKEN AT JESUS BAPTISM DEFINE THE NATURE OF HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY. THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD SAID, " THOU ARE MY BELOVED SON; WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED," THE FIRST PHRASE IS FROM [PSALM:2;7] IT WAS USED IN CORONATION CEREMONIES WHEN DESCENDANTS OF DAVID WERE ANOINTED INTO THE OFFICE OF KING. ITS USE AT JESUS BAPTISM STATED THAT, IN JESUS, THE LONG AWAITED DESCENDANT OF DAVID HAD FINALLY COME. THE SECOND PHRASE IS FROM ISAIAH [42:1] THE FIRST OF ISAIAH'S "SERVANT SONGS" ITS USE AT JESUS BAPTISM DEFINED THE KIND OF KING JESUS WOULD BE. HE WOULD BE A SERVANT KING, THE DOVE AND WATER REFER TO JESUS BAPTISM, HIS CROWN, HIS KINGSHIP, THE STOOPING FIGURE, HIS SERVANT FORM.
MARK'S ACCOUNT OF THE TEMPTATION CONSIST ONLY HALF A SENTENCE, " AND HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS FORTY DAYS, TEMPTED BY SATAN [ MARK 1:13a] THE TEMPTATION ACCOUNTS IN MATTHEW [4:1-11] AND LUKE 4:1-13] ARE MUCH LONGER; BOTH SPEAK OF SATAN LEAVING JESUS. MARK MAKES NO MENTION OF SATAN LEAVING JESUS. WHY NOT? HIS ENTIRE GOSPEL IS A TEMPTATION ACCOUNT. JESUS AND SATAN ARE LOCKED IN MORTAL COMBAT THROUGHOUT. IN JESUS, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS DOING BATTLE WITH THE KINGDOM OF SATAN [MARK 3:23-27.]
SATAN SEEKS TO ENLIST THE AID OF JESUS OWN DISCIPLES [MARK 8;31-33]. AT THE CROSS, IT APPEARS THAT SATAN HAS WON THE STRUGGLE.. HOWEVER, IT IS JUST WHEN JESUS APPEARS TO BE AT HIS WORST [ON THE CROSS] HE IS AT HIS VERY BEST, FOR HE HAS SERVED TO THE POINT OF GIVING UP LIFE ITSELF. HIS DEATH IS NOT DEFEAT, BUT VICTORY!
JESUS WHOLE LIFE WAS A SERMON. HE WAS A KING WHO WALKED IN THE WAY OF A SERVANT. HE WAS ASKING THEM TO RE-THINK THEIR MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS AND GOD'S WILL FOR THEIR LIVES.
MARK GIVES NO INFORMATION ABOUT JESUS BIRTH. HE BEGINS HIS ACCOUNT OF JESUS LIFE WITH THE SIMPLE WORDS, " THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD," [MARK 1:1]. THE "GOSPEL" [GOOD NEWS} IS THAT THE NEW AGE THE JEWS HAD BEEN EXPECTING FOR CENTURIES HAS ARRIVED. JESUS (SAVIOR) CHRIST ( "THE ANOINTED ONE," ( "THE MESSIAH") HAS COME. HE IS THE "SON OF GOD," AND THAT MEANS THAT OLD ISRAEL IS NO LONGER " THE SON OF GOD." [ EXODUS 4:22].
WHEN MARK USES THE TERM "GOSPEL" HE IS NOT SAYING THAT WHEN JESUS CAME, GOD BEGAN TO FORGIVE SINS IN EARNEST, OR SAVE PEOPLE IN SOME NEW WAY. GOD ALWAYS HAS, AND ALWAYS WILL, SAVE PEOPLE BY GRACE THROUGH THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. HE IS SAYING THAT IN JESUS THE JEWS DREAMS WERE FINALLY FULFILLED. THE MESSIAH AND THE AGE OF THE MESSIAH HAD FINALLY COME. TO SUPPORT HIS CLAIM, MARK QUOTES [EXODUS 23:2O] AND [MALACHI 3:1] IN VERSE 2, AND [ISAIAH 40:3] IS RICH IN MEANING. IT WAS ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED TO THE EXILES IN BABYLON JUST PRIOR TO THEIR RELEASE FROM EXILE AND RETURN TO THEIR OWN LAND. IN QUOTING IT, MARK STATES THAT JESUS WAS ABOUT TO CARRY OUT A RESCUE MISSION THAT WOULD FAR SURPASS THOSE WHICH HAD FREED GOD'S PEOPLE FROM EGYPT AND BABYLON. ( JOHN DID NOT COME IN A POLITICAL UP-HEAVEL, BUT A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL.) GOD PREPARED HIS PEOPLE FOR JESUS MINISTRY AND MISSION THROUGH THE WORK OF JOHN THE BAPTIST,[ 1:4-8] JOHN CONDUCTED HIS WORK IN THE WILDERNESS, THE PLACE OF EXPECTATIONS AND NEW BEGINNINGS, THE PLACE GOD TAKES PEOPLE TO TEAR THEM AWAY FROM THE DISTRACTIONS OF DAILY LIFE. [JOHN 1: 28] STATES THAT JOHN THE BAPTIST WORKED ON THE EAST BANK OF THE JORDAN RIVER, THUS INVITING HIS AUDIENCE TO LEAVE THE PROMISE LAND AND ENTER IT AGAIN THROUGH A BAPTISMAL EXODUS AND CROSSING OF THE JORDAN. "NOTE WELL"- JOHN BAPTIZED JEWS, [MATTHEW 3:1-10;] [MARK 1: 4,5.] THIS PRACTICE WAS UNHEARD OF, FOR ONLY GENTILES WERE BAPTIZED WHEN THEY CONVERTED TO JUDAISM. JOHN'S SUMMONS TO BAPTISM REMINDED THE JEWS THAT THEY WERE NOT AUTOMATICALLY CHILDREN OF GOD BY VIRTUE OF THEIR PHYSICAL DESCENT FROM ABRAHAM, [MATTHEW 3:9.] GOD WAS NOT INTERESTED IN NATIONAL CREDENTIALS . HE WAS LOOKING FOR REPENTANCE! JOHN POINTED BEYOND HIMSELF TO SOMEONE MUCH GREATER WHOSE MISSION WOULD TOTALLY TRANSCENDS HIS OWN. ( JESUS SAYS TO THOSE JEWS WHICH BELIEVED ON HIM : IF YE CONTINUE IN MY WORD, THEN ARE YE MY DISCIPLES INDEED. [JOHN 8:31.]
JESUS DID NOT SUBMIT TO JOHN'S BAPTISM TO RECEIVE THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. HE DID NOT SIN, AND NEEDED NO FORGIVENESS, [JOHN 8:46]. HE SUBMITTED TO IDENTIFY WITH THE NEW MOVEMENT HIS FATHER IN HEAVEN WAS BEGINNING THROUGH JOHN'S WORK, WHICH WOULD CULMINATE IN HIS OWN DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION [ FOR WE HAVE NOT AN HIGH PRIEST WHICH CAN NOT BE TOUCHED, WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES; BUT WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN [HEBREWS 4:15].
THE EVENTS IN JESUS LIFE REPEATED IN BROAD OUTLINE THOSE OF OLD ISRAEL. HE PASSED THROUGH WATER IN HIS BAPTISM, AND THEN WENT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TESTED BY SATAN. THOUGH THE OLD ISRAEL, THE FORMER SON OF GOD SINNED AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE WILDERNESS, THE NEW ISRAEL REDUCED TO ONE, DID NOT. OLD ISRAEL WAS IN THE WILDERNESS FORTY YEARS. JESUS WAS THERE FORTY DAYS. PASSAGES SUCH AS [ISAIAH 64:1] [JOEL 2:28,29,] AND [HOSEA 7:11.] ALSO THROW LIGHT ON JESUS BAPTISM. THE WORDS SPOKEN AT JESUS BAPTISM DEFINE THE NATURE OF HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY. THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD SAID, " THOU ARE MY BELOVED SON; WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED," THE FIRST PHRASE IS FROM [PSALM:2;7] IT WAS USED IN CORONATION CEREMONIES WHEN DESCENDANTS OF DAVID WERE ANOINTED INTO THE OFFICE OF KING. ITS USE AT JESUS BAPTISM STATED THAT, IN JESUS, THE LONG AWAITED DESCENDANT OF DAVID HAD FINALLY COME. THE SECOND PHRASE IS FROM ISAIAH [42:1] THE FIRST OF ISAIAH'S "SERVANT SONGS" ITS USE AT JESUS BAPTISM DEFINED THE KIND OF KING JESUS WOULD BE. HE WOULD BE A SERVANT KING, THE DOVE AND WATER REFER TO JESUS BAPTISM, HIS CROWN, HIS KINGSHIP, THE STOOPING FIGURE, HIS SERVANT FORM.
MARK'S ACCOUNT OF THE TEMPTATION CONSIST ONLY HALF A SENTENCE, " AND HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS FORTY DAYS, TEMPTED BY SATAN [ MARK 1:13a] THE TEMPTATION ACCOUNTS IN MATTHEW [4:1-11] AND LUKE 4:1-13] ARE MUCH LONGER; BOTH SPEAK OF SATAN LEAVING JESUS. MARK MAKES NO MENTION OF SATAN LEAVING JESUS. WHY NOT? HIS ENTIRE GOSPEL IS A TEMPTATION ACCOUNT. JESUS AND SATAN ARE LOCKED IN MORTAL COMBAT THROUGHOUT. IN JESUS, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS DOING BATTLE WITH THE KINGDOM OF SATAN [MARK 3:23-27.]
SATAN SEEKS TO ENLIST THE AID OF JESUS OWN DISCIPLES [MARK 8;31-33]. AT THE CROSS, IT APPEARS THAT SATAN HAS WON THE STRUGGLE.. HOWEVER, IT IS JUST WHEN JESUS APPEARS TO BE AT HIS WORST [ON THE CROSS] HE IS AT HIS VERY BEST, FOR HE HAS SERVED TO THE POINT OF GIVING UP LIFE ITSELF. HIS DEATH IS NOT DEFEAT, BUT VICTORY!
JESUS WHOLE LIFE WAS A SERMON. HE WAS A KING WHO WALKED IN THE WAY OF A SERVANT. HE WAS ASKING THEM TO RE-THINK THEIR MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS AND GOD'S WILL FOR THEIR LIVES.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
WHAT THE ANGEL REVEALED TO MARY. [MATT: 1 18-25], [LUKE 1:26-35]
AS HE BEGAN HIS STUDY OF THE ACCOUNT OF THE ANGEL'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO JOSEPH ACCORDING TO (ST. MATTHEW) AND OF THE ANNUNCIATION (ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. CARDINAL DANIELOU POINTED OUT: "OF ALL THE GOSPEL PASSAGES ON THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST, NONE IS AS IMPORTANT AS THIS ONE FOR OUR FAITH."
AND YET THESE TEXTS ARE VERY BRIEF. EIGHT VERSES IN MATTHEW. [1: 18-25, AND 13 IN LUKE]. BUT HOW CRAMMED WITH MEANING! LUKE RECORDS THE ANGEL'S REVELATION TO MARY AS AN HISTORICAL FACT. THERE ARE TWO ELEMENTS INVOLVED HERE: FIRST, THE FACT OF THE REVELATION; AND SECOND ITS CONTENT. THE FACT OF THE REVELATION; IS OF THE SAME NATURE AS OTHERS TO WHICH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT AT-TEST. CLEARLY, THIS IS ONE OF THE BASIC AFFIRMATIONS OF SCRIPTURE AND AN ESSENTIAL OBJECT OF OUR FAITH, NAMELY, THE ASSERTION THAT GOD IS SPEAKING TO MAN. THE EXISTENCE OF AN UTTERANCE THAT REVEALS GOD'S THOUGHT IS OF ESSENCE OF SCRIPTURE, ALONG WITH THE AFFIRMATION OF AN UTTERANCE THAT CREATES. THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT, GOD'S WORD IS SPOKEN TO PATRIARCHS, PROPHETS, AND WISE MEN. TO DENY THAT MARY COULD BE A RECIPIENT OF A REVELATION FROM GOD WOULD IN A CERTAIN SENSE BE TO CHALLENGE THE VERY EXISTENCE OF REVELATION AS ONE OF THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, THAT IS TO SAY, OF THE 'MAGNALIA DEI." " MIGHTY DEEDS" OF GOD. THE OTHER ELEMENT OF LUKE'S ACCOUNT CONCERNS THE VERY SUBSTANCE OF THE EVENT, AND THIS IS THE FACT OF MARY'S FAITH. THE AFFIRMATION THAT MARY DOES NOT "KNOW MAN" CLEARLY SHOWS THAT SHE REALIZES THE HUMAN IMPOSSIBILITY OF WHAT THE ANGEL IS ANNOUNCING TO HER AND THE FACT THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY DIVINE POWER. NOW, IT IS SPECIFICALLY THE OBJECT OF FAITH TO BELIEVE THAT "NOTHING" IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD." (LUKE 1;37). LIKE REVELATION, OF WHICH IT IS AN AFFIRMATION, FAITH IS A CONSTITUENT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. IT IS A HALLMARK OF THE BIBLICAL MAN. MARY'S ACT OF FAITH IN THE WORD'S SPOKEN TO HER BY THE ANGEL IS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THIS ACCOUNT. NOW THAT WE HAVE SAID THIS WE MUST FURTHER NOTE THAT THE PRESENTATION OF THE EPISODE IS THE FRUIT OF A PAINSTAKING COMPARISON, BASED IN PART ON EARLIER BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS.
THE INFANCY NARRATIVE ACCORDING TO LUKE IS BUILT ON THE PARALLELISM BETWEEN THE CHILDHOOD OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER AND THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS, SO AS TO STRESS THE SUPERIORITY OF THE LATTER. THUS, ZECHARIAH'S, UN-BELIEF IS CONTRASTED WITH MARY'S FAITH. BUT THIS OPPOSITION IMPLIES AN ANALOGY..
NOW, THE ANALOGY EXTENDS TO EARLIER EPISODES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. IT APPLIES FIRST OF ALL BETWEEN THE REALITIES INVOLVED IN THE REVELATION TO ABRAHAM THAT HE WOULD HAVE A SON BY HIS STERILE WIFE SARAH, AND THE REVELATION TO ZECHARIAH THAT HE WOULD HAVE A SON BY HIS STERILE WIFE ELIZABETH. THIS IS THE ANALOGY. OF THE MIGHTY DEEDS OF GOD.("MAGNALIA DEI") IN THE HISTORY OF SALVATION. GOD'S MANNER OF ACTING IS THE SAME IN BOTH INSTANCES. THIS IS WHAT JUSTIFIES OUR SEEING AN ANALOGY BETWEEN THE CROSSING OF THE RED SEA, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, AND CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. IT IS THEREFORE QUITE NORMAL FOR A BIBLICAL AUTHOR. , IN PRESENTING AN EVENT, TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE WAY ANALOGOUS EVENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN PRESENTED IN SCRIPTURE. NOT ONLY DOES LUKE'S ACCOUNT RELATE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF MARY'S SON WILL BE THE MESSIAH. IT ALSO CLEARLY AFFIRMS THE COMING OF YAHWEH. " THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME UPON YOU, AND THE POWER OF THE MOST HIGH WILL OVERSHADOW YOU." [ LUKE 1;35]. t
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT BY WHICH YAHWEH IS TO ACCOMPLISH THE RENEWAL OF CREATION IS ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL ASPECTS OF THE PROPHETIC ANNUNCIATION (ISAIAH 32:15). THIS SPIRIT IS THE CREATOR WHO BROUGHT FORTH THE FIRST CREATION [GEN.1;2]. AND WHO IS TO BRING FORTH THE NEW CREATION. BUT THE TEXT SAYS MORE THAN THIS. IT CONTAINS A WORD OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE; "OVERSHADOW" THIS IS AN EXPRESSION VERY RARELY FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.. WE FIND ITS EQUIVALENT IN EXODUS (40:34-35), WHERE IT DESIGNATES THE CLOUD [SHEKINAH] THAT IS THE VISIBLE SIGN OF YAHWEH'S PRESENCE IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE DESERT. WE FIND IT AGAIN IN THE ACCOUNT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, TO SIGNIFY THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE PERSON OF JESUS IN THE PRESENT TEXT, IT CAN ONLY SIGNIFY THE PRESENCE OF GOD AS THE CHILD TO BE BORN TO MARY.. MOSES AND THE PEOPLE FOLLOWED THE "SHEKINAH"
[HE CLOUD-PRESENCE OF GOD TO THE PROMISE LAND. IT IS IN THIS LIGHT THAT THE LAST FORMULA CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN ITS FULLEST SENSE: "HENCE, THE HOLY OFFSPRING TO BE BORN WILL BE CALLED SON OF GOD." [LUKE 1:35.]
THE EXPRESSION WOULD NOT BE DECISIVE IN IT SELF. BUT AT THE TIME "LUKE" WAS WRITING, IT COULD ONLY SIGNIFY IN CHRISTIAN CIRCLES THE DIVINITY OF THE WORD. THUS, IT REPRESENTS A NEW AFFIRMATION AS COMPARED WITH THE EXPRESSION "SON OF THE MOST HIGH." [LUKE 1:32], WHICH COULD BE UNDERSTOOD TO REFER STRICTLY TO THE MESSIAH.
WE SEE MARY, THEREFORE, THAT THE REVELATION OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENT (END TIMES) CONTAINS THREE SUCCESSIVE MOMENTS. FIRST IT IS REVEALED TO HER THAT THE COMING OF GOD IS IMMINENT. THEN, THAT THE RENEWAL OF CREATION THIS COMING WILL EFFECT IS FIRST OF ALL THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THE FIRSTBORN OF THE NEW MANKIND. FINALLY, IT IS REVEALED TO HER THAT THE COMING OF GOD WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN THIS VERY CHILD, SO THAT HE WILL BE GOD PRESENT IN A MAN'S BODY, THE "SON OF GOD MADE MAN."
ALL THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NEW IN THIS REVELATION, BY COMPARISON WITH THAT PRECEDED IT, NOW APPEARS CLEARLY. IT ADDRESSES ITSELF TO TWO REALITIES: FIRST, THAT THIS CHILD WILL NOT ONLY BE THE MESSIAH, A DESCENDANT, BUT THE NEW ADAM WHO IS TO INAUGURATE THE NEW CREATION. AND BY THE SAME TOKEN, MARY'S VIRGINAL MOTHERHOOD, WHICH AT FIRST SEEMED A STUMBLING BLOCK, TAKES ON ITS FULL MEANING. IRENEAUS SAYS PENETRATINGLY THAT JUST AS THE FIRST ADAM HAD TO BE FORMED FROM VIRGIN EARTH, SO, TOO, HE SECOND ADAM HAD TO BE FORMED FROM A VIRGIN MOTHER.
THE SECOND REALITY IS THAT THE COMING OF GOD ANNOUNCED BY THE PROPHETS IS NOT SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH: IT IS ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN THE MESSIAH HIMSELF.
HERE IS SOMETHING THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE SUSPECTED: A FACT THAT BELONGS TO THE VERY SUBSTANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. IT WAS REVEALED TO MARY BECAUSE OF THE EMINENT ROLE SHE WAS TO PLAY IN ITS FULFILLMENT.
FOR IT IS PRECISELY HER ROLE OF ELECTION TO BE THE WOMEN WITHIN WHOM THE "WORD OF GOD CAME," IN ORDER TO UNITE TO HUMAN NATURE. " [SIDE NOTE:].
THE ANGEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION DOES NOT TELL MARY HIS NAME, BUT THE EVANGELIST EXPLAINS THAT THIS IS "GABRIEL," THE SAME MESSENGER WHO ANNOUNCED THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER TO ZECHARIAH AND WHOSE NAME APPEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL [8:16].
.
AND YET THESE TEXTS ARE VERY BRIEF. EIGHT VERSES IN MATTHEW. [1: 18-25, AND 13 IN LUKE]. BUT HOW CRAMMED WITH MEANING! LUKE RECORDS THE ANGEL'S REVELATION TO MARY AS AN HISTORICAL FACT. THERE ARE TWO ELEMENTS INVOLVED HERE: FIRST, THE FACT OF THE REVELATION; AND SECOND ITS CONTENT. THE FACT OF THE REVELATION; IS OF THE SAME NATURE AS OTHERS TO WHICH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT AT-TEST. CLEARLY, THIS IS ONE OF THE BASIC AFFIRMATIONS OF SCRIPTURE AND AN ESSENTIAL OBJECT OF OUR FAITH, NAMELY, THE ASSERTION THAT GOD IS SPEAKING TO MAN. THE EXISTENCE OF AN UTTERANCE THAT REVEALS GOD'S THOUGHT IS OF ESSENCE OF SCRIPTURE, ALONG WITH THE AFFIRMATION OF AN UTTERANCE THAT CREATES. THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT, GOD'S WORD IS SPOKEN TO PATRIARCHS, PROPHETS, AND WISE MEN. TO DENY THAT MARY COULD BE A RECIPIENT OF A REVELATION FROM GOD WOULD IN A CERTAIN SENSE BE TO CHALLENGE THE VERY EXISTENCE OF REVELATION AS ONE OF THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, THAT IS TO SAY, OF THE 'MAGNALIA DEI." " MIGHTY DEEDS" OF GOD. THE OTHER ELEMENT OF LUKE'S ACCOUNT CONCERNS THE VERY SUBSTANCE OF THE EVENT, AND THIS IS THE FACT OF MARY'S FAITH. THE AFFIRMATION THAT MARY DOES NOT "KNOW MAN" CLEARLY SHOWS THAT SHE REALIZES THE HUMAN IMPOSSIBILITY OF WHAT THE ANGEL IS ANNOUNCING TO HER AND THE FACT THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY DIVINE POWER. NOW, IT IS SPECIFICALLY THE OBJECT OF FAITH TO BELIEVE THAT "NOTHING" IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD." (LUKE 1;37). LIKE REVELATION, OF WHICH IT IS AN AFFIRMATION, FAITH IS A CONSTITUENT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. IT IS A HALLMARK OF THE BIBLICAL MAN. MARY'S ACT OF FAITH IN THE WORD'S SPOKEN TO HER BY THE ANGEL IS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THIS ACCOUNT. NOW THAT WE HAVE SAID THIS WE MUST FURTHER NOTE THAT THE PRESENTATION OF THE EPISODE IS THE FRUIT OF A PAINSTAKING COMPARISON, BASED IN PART ON EARLIER BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS.
THE INFANCY NARRATIVE ACCORDING TO LUKE IS BUILT ON THE PARALLELISM BETWEEN THE CHILDHOOD OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER AND THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS, SO AS TO STRESS THE SUPERIORITY OF THE LATTER. THUS, ZECHARIAH'S, UN-BELIEF IS CONTRASTED WITH MARY'S FAITH. BUT THIS OPPOSITION IMPLIES AN ANALOGY..
NOW, THE ANALOGY EXTENDS TO EARLIER EPISODES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. IT APPLIES FIRST OF ALL BETWEEN THE REALITIES INVOLVED IN THE REVELATION TO ABRAHAM THAT HE WOULD HAVE A SON BY HIS STERILE WIFE SARAH, AND THE REVELATION TO ZECHARIAH THAT HE WOULD HAVE A SON BY HIS STERILE WIFE ELIZABETH. THIS IS THE ANALOGY. OF THE MIGHTY DEEDS OF GOD.("MAGNALIA DEI") IN THE HISTORY OF SALVATION. GOD'S MANNER OF ACTING IS THE SAME IN BOTH INSTANCES. THIS IS WHAT JUSTIFIES OUR SEEING AN ANALOGY BETWEEN THE CROSSING OF THE RED SEA, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, AND CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. IT IS THEREFORE QUITE NORMAL FOR A BIBLICAL AUTHOR. , IN PRESENTING AN EVENT, TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE WAY ANALOGOUS EVENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN PRESENTED IN SCRIPTURE. NOT ONLY DOES LUKE'S ACCOUNT RELATE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF MARY'S SON WILL BE THE MESSIAH. IT ALSO CLEARLY AFFIRMS THE COMING OF YAHWEH. " THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME UPON YOU, AND THE POWER OF THE MOST HIGH WILL OVERSHADOW YOU." [ LUKE 1;35]. t
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT BY WHICH YAHWEH IS TO ACCOMPLISH THE RENEWAL OF CREATION IS ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL ASPECTS OF THE PROPHETIC ANNUNCIATION (ISAIAH 32:15). THIS SPIRIT IS THE CREATOR WHO BROUGHT FORTH THE FIRST CREATION [GEN.1;2]. AND WHO IS TO BRING FORTH THE NEW CREATION. BUT THE TEXT SAYS MORE THAN THIS. IT CONTAINS A WORD OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE; "OVERSHADOW" THIS IS AN EXPRESSION VERY RARELY FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.. WE FIND ITS EQUIVALENT IN EXODUS (40:34-35), WHERE IT DESIGNATES THE CLOUD [SHEKINAH] THAT IS THE VISIBLE SIGN OF YAHWEH'S PRESENCE IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE DESERT. WE FIND IT AGAIN IN THE ACCOUNT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, TO SIGNIFY THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE PERSON OF JESUS IN THE PRESENT TEXT, IT CAN ONLY SIGNIFY THE PRESENCE OF GOD AS THE CHILD TO BE BORN TO MARY.. MOSES AND THE PEOPLE FOLLOWED THE "SHEKINAH"
[HE CLOUD-PRESENCE OF GOD TO THE PROMISE LAND. IT IS IN THIS LIGHT THAT THE LAST FORMULA CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN ITS FULLEST SENSE: "HENCE, THE HOLY OFFSPRING TO BE BORN WILL BE CALLED SON OF GOD." [LUKE 1:35.]
THE EXPRESSION WOULD NOT BE DECISIVE IN IT SELF. BUT AT THE TIME "LUKE" WAS WRITING, IT COULD ONLY SIGNIFY IN CHRISTIAN CIRCLES THE DIVINITY OF THE WORD. THUS, IT REPRESENTS A NEW AFFIRMATION AS COMPARED WITH THE EXPRESSION "SON OF THE MOST HIGH." [LUKE 1:32], WHICH COULD BE UNDERSTOOD TO REFER STRICTLY TO THE MESSIAH.
WE SEE MARY, THEREFORE, THAT THE REVELATION OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENT (END TIMES) CONTAINS THREE SUCCESSIVE MOMENTS. FIRST IT IS REVEALED TO HER THAT THE COMING OF GOD IS IMMINENT. THEN, THAT THE RENEWAL OF CREATION THIS COMING WILL EFFECT IS FIRST OF ALL THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THE FIRSTBORN OF THE NEW MANKIND. FINALLY, IT IS REVEALED TO HER THAT THE COMING OF GOD WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN THIS VERY CHILD, SO THAT HE WILL BE GOD PRESENT IN A MAN'S BODY, THE "SON OF GOD MADE MAN."
ALL THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NEW IN THIS REVELATION, BY COMPARISON WITH THAT PRECEDED IT, NOW APPEARS CLEARLY. IT ADDRESSES ITSELF TO TWO REALITIES: FIRST, THAT THIS CHILD WILL NOT ONLY BE THE MESSIAH, A DESCENDANT, BUT THE NEW ADAM WHO IS TO INAUGURATE THE NEW CREATION. AND BY THE SAME TOKEN, MARY'S VIRGINAL MOTHERHOOD, WHICH AT FIRST SEEMED A STUMBLING BLOCK, TAKES ON ITS FULL MEANING. IRENEAUS SAYS PENETRATINGLY THAT JUST AS THE FIRST ADAM HAD TO BE FORMED FROM VIRGIN EARTH, SO, TOO, HE SECOND ADAM HAD TO BE FORMED FROM A VIRGIN MOTHER.
THE SECOND REALITY IS THAT THE COMING OF GOD ANNOUNCED BY THE PROPHETS IS NOT SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH: IT IS ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN THE MESSIAH HIMSELF.
HERE IS SOMETHING THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE SUSPECTED: A FACT THAT BELONGS TO THE VERY SUBSTANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. IT WAS REVEALED TO MARY BECAUSE OF THE EMINENT ROLE SHE WAS TO PLAY IN ITS FULFILLMENT.
FOR IT IS PRECISELY HER ROLE OF ELECTION TO BE THE WOMEN WITHIN WHOM THE "WORD OF GOD CAME," IN ORDER TO UNITE TO HUMAN NATURE. " [SIDE NOTE:].
THE ANGEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION DOES NOT TELL MARY HIS NAME, BUT THE EVANGELIST EXPLAINS THAT THIS IS "GABRIEL," THE SAME MESSENGER WHO ANNOUNCED THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER TO ZECHARIAH AND WHOSE NAME APPEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL [8:16].
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Thursday, February 15, 2018
PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. [MATT. 25: 14-34].
WHILE LAST WEEK, WHILE READING FROM AMOS THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD IS LIKE ONE FLEEING FROM THE LION ONLY TO STUMBLE BEFORE A BEAR AND THEN TO FLEE INTO ONE'S HOME ONLY TO PUT ONE'S HAND ON A SERPENT ON THE WALL. IT IS APT DESCRIPTION OF NOT ONLY THE DAY OF THE LORD BUT ALSO A SERIES OF TEXTS WE HAVE BEFORE US THIS MONTH.LAST WEEK IT WAS THE COMING OF THE BRIDEGROOM, TODAY IT IS COMING OF MASTER, AND NEXT WEEK IT IS THE JUDGEMENT ON THE LAST DAY. THESE TEXTS REMIND US OF THE HARSH IMAGES OF THE PROPHETS. THEIR VISION OF THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE WORLD'S HELL-BENT WAYS AND GOD'S PASSION FOR LIFE AND SHALOM LED THEM TO TRUST THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ENDING BEFORE A NEW BEGINNING.
IN THE TEXT FOR THIS DAY, JESUS TELLS A PARABLE ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING, INDICATING IN THE PARABLE THAT IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT MERELY TO MAINTAIN THINGS AS THEY REALLY ARE. ( READ MATT.25:14-30). IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO SEE THAT JESUS IS TELLING HIS DISCIPLES THAT BEFORE LONG HE WILL BE LEAVING THEM. HE WILL SUFFER AND DIE AND RISE AGAIN AND ASCEND INTO HEAVEN. BUT, THAT WILL NOT MEAN THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM WILL STOP IN THE WORLD. NO, HE WILL RATHER PROVIDE HIS DISCIPLES WITH EVERYTHING THEY NEED IN ORDER TO CONTINUE THAT WORK. THE OUTSTANDING FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROMISE CAME ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST, WHEN HE ASCENDED AND THE LORD SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON HIS DISCIPLES IN JERUSALEM. HE THEREBY SUPPLIED THEM WITH THE NECESSARY UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD OF GOD AND GOD'S WHOLE PLAN OF SALVATION-AS WELL AS THE COURAGE TO PROCLAIM THAT MESSAGE UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
BUT THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING. JESUS CONTINUES, AND WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE END OF TIME, TO PROVIDE ALL BELIEVERS WITH EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO CARRY ON THE WORK HE WANTS THEM TO DO IN HIS KINGDOM.
THE TALENTS THAT OUR ASCENDED LORD DISTRIBUTES
TO ALL BELIEVERS ARE NEVER EXACTLY THE SAME FOR ANY TWO INDIVIDUALS (1 COR.12:4-11). NOW THERE ARE VARIETIES OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME SPIRIT; AND THERE ARE VARIETIES OF SERVICES, BUT THE SAME LORD; AND THERE ARE VARIETIES OF ACTIVATES, BUT IT IS THE SAME GOD WHO ACTIVATES ALL OF THEM IN EVERYONE.
NOW THERE ARE A VARIETY OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME SPIRIT; AND THERE ARE A VARIETIES OF SERVICES , BUT THE SAME LORD; TO EACH IS GIVEN THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT FOR THE COMMON GOOD. TO ONE THROUGH THE SPIRIT THE UTTERANCE OF WISDOM, AND TO ANOTHER THE UTTERANCE OF KNOWLEDGE ACCORDING TO THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER FAITH BY THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER THE GIFTS OF HEALING BY ONE SPIRIT., TO ANOTHER THE ABILITY TO HEAL, TO ANOTHER THE POWER TO DO GREAT DEEDS. THE SAME SPIRIT GIVES TO ANOTHER, THE GIFT OF ( DISCERNMENT) OF PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD. TO ANOTHER THE ABILITY TO DISCRIMINATE IN SPIRITUAL MATTERS, TO ANOTHER SPEECH IN DIFFERENT TONGUES AND TO YET ANOTHER THE POWER TO INTERPRET THE TONGUES. BEHIND ALL THESE GIFTS IS THE OPERATION OF THE SAME SPIRIT, WHO DISTRIBUTES TO EACH INDIVIDUAL MAN, AS HE WILLS.
THE APOSTLE PAUL INSISTS THAT FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING WE EARN; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD ( EPHESIANS 2: 8,9), IT IS A GIFT WE CAN NOT GET ALONG WITHOUT, FOR " WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD" ( HEBREWS 11:6). BUT THE GIFTS OR TALENTS THAT ARE ADDED TO FAITH ARE INFINITE IN NUMBER AND IN VARIETY.
"TALENT" WAS FIRST USED FOR A WEIGHT ( ABOUT 75 POUNDS) AND THEN FOR A COIN, WHICH IS HOW JESUS USES IT IN THIS PARABLE. WHEN WE USE THIS TERM FOR AN ABILITY OR A SKILL THAT IS A MEANING WHICH IS DERIVED FROM THIS PARABLE. THE TALENTS JESUS GIVES US INCLUDE ALL THE INTELLECTUAL AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES WE ARE BORN WITH AND THOSE WE DEVELOP AS WE MATURE. OUR TALENTS INCLUDE ALL MATERIAL POSSESSIONS THAT RIGHTFULLY COME INTO OUR HANDS. AND THEY INCLUDE ALL THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES GOD PROVIDES US FOR USING OUR TALENTS TO SERVE HIM AND OUR NEIGHBOR. CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT THE TALENT, AS JESUS USES THE TERM, IS MONEY, IT IS SURPRISING HOW SELDOM THIS PARABLE IS APPLIED TO OUR STEWARDSHIP OF MONEY. WE ARE QUICK TO APPLY IT TO OUR SKILLS AND ABILITIES, AND EVEN OUR TIME, BUT SURELY JESUS ALSO HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT HOW WE SPEND OUR MONEY. IT IS NOT ONLY THE ENVELOPE WE PUT INTO THE OFFERING ON SUNDAY. THAT CONCERNS; THE MONEY WE SPEND ON GROCERIES AND RECREATION IS ALSO A PART OF CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP. WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN 5 TALENTS OR TWO, OR ONE, GOD IS LOOKING FOR FAITHFULNESS.
THE LORD DISTRIBUTES THESE TALENTS TO " EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY HE GIVES EACH OF US THE GIFTS THAT ARE EXACTLY RIGHT. IN EVERY CASE HE PROVIDES THE CORRECT COMBINATION OF ABILITIES, TALENTS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES, SO THAT ALL OF US CAN BE OF REAL SERVICE TO HIM IN HIS KINGDOM.
SOMETIMES WE IMAGINE THAT IT IS SINCERE MODESTY AND HUMILITY THAT CAUSE US TO REFUSE TO OFFER ANY SPECIAL SERVICE TO GOD AND HIS KINGDOM. WE SAY, " I'M NOT QUALIFIED. I'M NOT WELL ENOUGH ACQUAINTED WITH THE SCRIPTURES. SO LET SOMEONE ELSE TEACH SUNDAY SCHOOL. IT IS ONE THING TO BE HUMBLE AND MODEST, BUT IT IS ANOTHER THING TO USE THE TALENTS FALSELY THAT WAS ENTRUSTED TO THEM, "BOTH OF THE SERVANTS USED FALSE MODESTY, SELFISHNESS, AS A CLOAK FOR LAZINESS, OR INDIFFERENCE. WE CAN COUNT ON GOD TO GIVE US THE NECESSARY WISDOM AND COURAGE, SO WE CAN GO AHEAD WITH CONFIDENCE AND DO THE WORK HE HAS GIVEN US TO DO.
NOTICE THAT THE MASTER PRONOUNCES THE SAME VERDICT UPON BOTH OF THE SERVANTS WHO DOUBLES THE TALENTS ENTRUSTED TO THEM, I WILL PUT YOU IN CHARGE OF MANY THINGS. COME AND SHARE YOUR MASTERS HAPPINESS! THEY HAD BEEN FAITHFUL WITH THEIR RESPECTFUL TALENTS, AND THAT WAS ALL THEIR MASTER ASKED OF THEM. IT IS FOR THEIR FAITHFULNESS THAT THEY ARE COMMENDED RATHER THAN FOR THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. JESUS HAD A REASON FOR MAKING THE SERVANT WITH ONLY ONE TALENT THE UNFAITHFUL ONE. IF IT HAD BEEN ONE OF THE SERVANTS WITH MORE TALENTS, WE WOULD BE INCLINED TO SAY, " WHAT A SHAME! WHAT A TERRIBLE THING THAT A PERSON SO RICHLY BLESSED SHOULD BE SO UNGRATEFUL TO GOD! BUT, OF COURSE, MY GIFTS ARE NOT VERY NUMEROUS OR GREAT, SO THE "LORD CAN NOT EXPECT MUCH FROM ME."
MOST OF US WOULD PLACE OURSELVES INTO A CATEGORY OF THE SERVANT WHO RECEIVED ONLY ONE TALENT. THAT IS WHERE MOST OF US BELONG. MARTIN LUTHER'S EXPLANATION OF THE "LORD'S PRAYER" SAYS IT VERY WELL. " THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES INDEED OF ITSELF: BUT WE PRAY IN THIS PETITION THAT IT COME UNTO US ALSO. AND THE GRACIOUS GOOD WILL OF GOD IS DONE INDEED WITHOUT OUR PRAYER, OF ITSELF; BUT WE PRAY IN THIS PETITION THAT IT COME TO US ALSO. WE CAN NOT STOP GOD. WE CANNOT PREVENT HIM FROM DOING GRACIOUS WORK IN OUR WORLD. BUT WE CAN DEPRIVE OURSELVES OF THE BLESSED OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE IN THAT WORK. REMEMBER THE WORDS WE WANT TO HEAR AS WE STAND BEFORE GOD: " COME AND REST GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!"
IN THE TEXT FOR THIS DAY, JESUS TELLS A PARABLE ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING, INDICATING IN THE PARABLE THAT IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT MERELY TO MAINTAIN THINGS AS THEY REALLY ARE. ( READ MATT.25:14-30). IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO SEE THAT JESUS IS TELLING HIS DISCIPLES THAT BEFORE LONG HE WILL BE LEAVING THEM. HE WILL SUFFER AND DIE AND RISE AGAIN AND ASCEND INTO HEAVEN. BUT, THAT WILL NOT MEAN THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM WILL STOP IN THE WORLD. NO, HE WILL RATHER PROVIDE HIS DISCIPLES WITH EVERYTHING THEY NEED IN ORDER TO CONTINUE THAT WORK. THE OUTSTANDING FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROMISE CAME ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST, WHEN HE ASCENDED AND THE LORD SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON HIS DISCIPLES IN JERUSALEM. HE THEREBY SUPPLIED THEM WITH THE NECESSARY UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD OF GOD AND GOD'S WHOLE PLAN OF SALVATION-AS WELL AS THE COURAGE TO PROCLAIM THAT MESSAGE UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
BUT THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING. JESUS CONTINUES, AND WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE END OF TIME, TO PROVIDE ALL BELIEVERS WITH EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO CARRY ON THE WORK HE WANTS THEM TO DO IN HIS KINGDOM.
THE TALENTS THAT OUR ASCENDED LORD DISTRIBUTES
TO ALL BELIEVERS ARE NEVER EXACTLY THE SAME FOR ANY TWO INDIVIDUALS (1 COR.12:4-11). NOW THERE ARE VARIETIES OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME SPIRIT; AND THERE ARE VARIETIES OF SERVICES, BUT THE SAME LORD; AND THERE ARE VARIETIES OF ACTIVATES, BUT IT IS THE SAME GOD WHO ACTIVATES ALL OF THEM IN EVERYONE.
NOW THERE ARE A VARIETY OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME SPIRIT; AND THERE ARE A VARIETIES OF SERVICES , BUT THE SAME LORD; TO EACH IS GIVEN THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT FOR THE COMMON GOOD. TO ONE THROUGH THE SPIRIT THE UTTERANCE OF WISDOM, AND TO ANOTHER THE UTTERANCE OF KNOWLEDGE ACCORDING TO THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER FAITH BY THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER THE GIFTS OF HEALING BY ONE SPIRIT., TO ANOTHER THE ABILITY TO HEAL, TO ANOTHER THE POWER TO DO GREAT DEEDS. THE SAME SPIRIT GIVES TO ANOTHER, THE GIFT OF ( DISCERNMENT) OF PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD. TO ANOTHER THE ABILITY TO DISCRIMINATE IN SPIRITUAL MATTERS, TO ANOTHER SPEECH IN DIFFERENT TONGUES AND TO YET ANOTHER THE POWER TO INTERPRET THE TONGUES. BEHIND ALL THESE GIFTS IS THE OPERATION OF THE SAME SPIRIT, WHO DISTRIBUTES TO EACH INDIVIDUAL MAN, AS HE WILLS.
THE APOSTLE PAUL INSISTS THAT FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING WE EARN; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD ( EPHESIANS 2: 8,9), IT IS A GIFT WE CAN NOT GET ALONG WITHOUT, FOR " WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD" ( HEBREWS 11:6). BUT THE GIFTS OR TALENTS THAT ARE ADDED TO FAITH ARE INFINITE IN NUMBER AND IN VARIETY.
"TALENT" WAS FIRST USED FOR A WEIGHT ( ABOUT 75 POUNDS) AND THEN FOR A COIN, WHICH IS HOW JESUS USES IT IN THIS PARABLE. WHEN WE USE THIS TERM FOR AN ABILITY OR A SKILL THAT IS A MEANING WHICH IS DERIVED FROM THIS PARABLE. THE TALENTS JESUS GIVES US INCLUDE ALL THE INTELLECTUAL AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES WE ARE BORN WITH AND THOSE WE DEVELOP AS WE MATURE. OUR TALENTS INCLUDE ALL MATERIAL POSSESSIONS THAT RIGHTFULLY COME INTO OUR HANDS. AND THEY INCLUDE ALL THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES GOD PROVIDES US FOR USING OUR TALENTS TO SERVE HIM AND OUR NEIGHBOR. CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT THE TALENT, AS JESUS USES THE TERM, IS MONEY, IT IS SURPRISING HOW SELDOM THIS PARABLE IS APPLIED TO OUR STEWARDSHIP OF MONEY. WE ARE QUICK TO APPLY IT TO OUR SKILLS AND ABILITIES, AND EVEN OUR TIME, BUT SURELY JESUS ALSO HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT HOW WE SPEND OUR MONEY. IT IS NOT ONLY THE ENVELOPE WE PUT INTO THE OFFERING ON SUNDAY. THAT CONCERNS; THE MONEY WE SPEND ON GROCERIES AND RECREATION IS ALSO A PART OF CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP. WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN 5 TALENTS OR TWO, OR ONE, GOD IS LOOKING FOR FAITHFULNESS.
THE LORD DISTRIBUTES THESE TALENTS TO " EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY HE GIVES EACH OF US THE GIFTS THAT ARE EXACTLY RIGHT. IN EVERY CASE HE PROVIDES THE CORRECT COMBINATION OF ABILITIES, TALENTS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES, SO THAT ALL OF US CAN BE OF REAL SERVICE TO HIM IN HIS KINGDOM.
SOMETIMES WE IMAGINE THAT IT IS SINCERE MODESTY AND HUMILITY THAT CAUSE US TO REFUSE TO OFFER ANY SPECIAL SERVICE TO GOD AND HIS KINGDOM. WE SAY, " I'M NOT QUALIFIED. I'M NOT WELL ENOUGH ACQUAINTED WITH THE SCRIPTURES. SO LET SOMEONE ELSE TEACH SUNDAY SCHOOL. IT IS ONE THING TO BE HUMBLE AND MODEST, BUT IT IS ANOTHER THING TO USE THE TALENTS FALSELY THAT WAS ENTRUSTED TO THEM, "BOTH OF THE SERVANTS USED FALSE MODESTY, SELFISHNESS, AS A CLOAK FOR LAZINESS, OR INDIFFERENCE. WE CAN COUNT ON GOD TO GIVE US THE NECESSARY WISDOM AND COURAGE, SO WE CAN GO AHEAD WITH CONFIDENCE AND DO THE WORK HE HAS GIVEN US TO DO.
NOTICE THAT THE MASTER PRONOUNCES THE SAME VERDICT UPON BOTH OF THE SERVANTS WHO DOUBLES THE TALENTS ENTRUSTED TO THEM, I WILL PUT YOU IN CHARGE OF MANY THINGS. COME AND SHARE YOUR MASTERS HAPPINESS! THEY HAD BEEN FAITHFUL WITH THEIR RESPECTFUL TALENTS, AND THAT WAS ALL THEIR MASTER ASKED OF THEM. IT IS FOR THEIR FAITHFULNESS THAT THEY ARE COMMENDED RATHER THAN FOR THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. JESUS HAD A REASON FOR MAKING THE SERVANT WITH ONLY ONE TALENT THE UNFAITHFUL ONE. IF IT HAD BEEN ONE OF THE SERVANTS WITH MORE TALENTS, WE WOULD BE INCLINED TO SAY, " WHAT A SHAME! WHAT A TERRIBLE THING THAT A PERSON SO RICHLY BLESSED SHOULD BE SO UNGRATEFUL TO GOD! BUT, OF COURSE, MY GIFTS ARE NOT VERY NUMEROUS OR GREAT, SO THE "LORD CAN NOT EXPECT MUCH FROM ME."
MOST OF US WOULD PLACE OURSELVES INTO A CATEGORY OF THE SERVANT WHO RECEIVED ONLY ONE TALENT. THAT IS WHERE MOST OF US BELONG. MARTIN LUTHER'S EXPLANATION OF THE "LORD'S PRAYER" SAYS IT VERY WELL. " THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES INDEED OF ITSELF: BUT WE PRAY IN THIS PETITION THAT IT COME UNTO US ALSO. AND THE GRACIOUS GOOD WILL OF GOD IS DONE INDEED WITHOUT OUR PRAYER, OF ITSELF; BUT WE PRAY IN THIS PETITION THAT IT COME TO US ALSO. WE CAN NOT STOP GOD. WE CANNOT PREVENT HIM FROM DOING GRACIOUS WORK IN OUR WORLD. BUT WE CAN DEPRIVE OURSELVES OF THE BLESSED OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE IN THAT WORK. REMEMBER THE WORDS WE WANT TO HEAR AS WE STAND BEFORE GOD: " COME AND REST GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!"
Sunday, February 11, 2018
MUSTARD SEED! [MARK:4: 26-34.]
JESUS FREQUENTLY USES PARABLES TO TEACH ORDINARY PEOPLE AS THEY ARE ABLE TO HEAR AND UNDERSTAND. LOOKING AT OUR GOSPEL TEXT IS CONCERNED WITH THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED. IMAGES OF SOWING AND GROWING SHOW THE VITALITY OF GOD'S KINGDOM. THE MUSTARD SEED BECOMES A SHRUB THAT SHELTERS THE BIRDS, RECALLING ANCIENT IMAGES THE TREE OF LIFE. WE WOULD EXPECT A CEDAR OR A SEQUOIA, BUT JESUS FINDS THE POWER OF GOD BETTER IMAGED IN A TINY, NO-ACCOUNT SEED. ITS NOT THE WAY WAY WE EXPECT DIVINE ACTIVITY TO ACT. YET THE TREE OF LIFE IS HERE ( JESUS THE CHRIST) IN WHICH WE ARE GRAFTED THROUGH BAPTISM. THE TRUE VINE THAT NOURISHES US THROUGH ITS FRUIT IN THE CUP THAT WE SHARE. IT MAY NOT APPEAR ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE, BUT WHILE NO ONE LOOKING IT GROWS WITH POWER BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING. WE HEARD ABOUT TREE IMAGERY FROM EZEKIEL FROM OUR OLD TESTAMENT, THAT WAS USED IN A MESSIANIC PROPHECY TO TELL HOW THE LORD WILL CHOOSE SOMEONE FROM JUDAH'S ROYAL FAMILY (CEDAR TREE) TO REIGN OVER ALL CREATION. THE TREE WILL BE PLANTED ON MOUNT ZION, THE LOCATION OF THE HOLY TEMPLE. OFTEN TIMES PEOPLE USE THE METAPHOR OF THE MUSTARD SEED GROWING INTO A MASSIVE TREE TO ILLUSTRATE THE TRUISM THAT SMALL THINGS CAN GROW INTO LARGE THINGS. A SOWER IS GENEROUS WITH SEED, INDISCRIMINATE ON WHERE SHE SOWS, AND THEN THE EARTH PRODUCES HER SELF.
THEN THE SMALLEST OF SEEDS TUCKS INTO THE GOOD GROUND AND IN TIME BECOMES A SHELTER FOR ALL SORTS OF FOWLS.
THIS PARABLE IS FOUND ONLY IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK.
WHENEVER CHRIST SPEAKS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD, HIS RULING ACTIVITY , HIS WORDS ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SEED, THE GOSPEL THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TO FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. IN OUR TEXT, JESUS SPEAKS OF THE POWER AND RELIABILITY OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. ALL THAT NEED BE DONE, ALL THAT CAN BE DONE, IS TO SOW THE SEED, ( TO PROCLAIM THE WORD). A FARMER WHO PLANTS THE SEED DOES NOT UNDERSTAND HOW IT GROWS. THE POWER IS IN THE SEED. SO IT IS WITH THE GOSPEL. IT IS SOWN; IT SPROUTS; IT MATURES; IT IS HARVESTED. CHRIST'S WORD ECHO'S ISAIAH'S: ( " SO IS MY WORD THAT GOES OUT FROM MY MOUTH, IT WILL NOT RETURN EMPTY, BUT WILL ACCOMPLISH WHAT I DESIRE AND ACHIEVE THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH I SENT IT. ISAIAH 55:11).
THE HARVEST INCLUDES THE FINAL HARVEST: ( AT THE END OF THE WORLD, WHEN ALL MANKIND WILL SEE THE MARVELOUS FRUIT THE LORD PRODUCED THROUGH HIS WORD IN THIS WORLD OF SIN. BUT THE HARVEST IS ALSO HERE AND NOW IN THE LIFE OF EVERY CHILD OF GOD IN WHOSE HEART THE WORD HAS TAKEN ROOT AND GROWN, AND WHOSE FAITH GOD USES TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO BRING THAT SAME WORD TO OTHERS.
THE HARVEST ISN'T THE BELIEVERS DOING., BUT GOD'S. THUS THIS PARABLE WAS OF
SPECIAL COMFORT TO THE APOSTLES AS THEY CARRIED OUT JESUS ASSIGNMENT. PAUL LATER PUT IT THIS WAY IN 1st CORINTHIANS [3: 6,7], " I PLANTED THE SEED, APOLLOS WATERED, BUT GOD MADE IT GROW. SO NEITHER HE WHO PLANTS IT, NOR HE WHO WATERS IS ANYTHING, BUT ONLY GOD, WHO MAKES THINGS GROW. THOUGH AT TIMES WE MAY NOT SEE THE RESULTS, THERE WILL BE A HARVEST BECAUSE THE SEED HAS GOD'S POWER WITHIN IT. ONE THING MUST STILL BE NOTED. WHEN THE NIV TRANSLATES "ALL BY ITSELF" AND THE KJV "THE EARTH... OF HERSELF, IT MIGHT SEEM AS THOUGH THE EARTH (HUMAN HEART) RECEIVES
SOME CREDIT. NOT AT ALL, FOR THE GREEK REALLY MEANS " SPONTANEOUSLY," " AUTOMATICALLY," OR " AS A MATTER OF COURSE," THE PERSONS (-HEART, IS THE ONLY THE LOCALE WHERE IT TAKES PLACE. GOD'S POWER INHERENT IN THE WORD IS THE CAUSE. IF IT WAS NOT SO, YOU AND I WOULD BE WITH OUT HOPE, FOR BY NATURE WE ARE CORRUPT AND SINFUL, AND WE REJECT THE GRACE OF GOD. IT IS GOD ALONE WHO OVERCOMES THIS OPPOSITION ON OUR PART AND BRINGS US TO FAITH. WE PREACH AND TEACH THE WORD; GOD DOES THE REST. " LAST THOUGHT."
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT ONE WITH OUTWARD FORM AND SHAPE. ITS NEW TESTAMENT BEGINNINGS WERE SO SMALL AS TO BE INVISIBLE. BUT CHRIST KEPT TELLING HIS DISCIPLE,DON'T BE DISTURBED; THE ETERNAL FRUITS WILL BE LARGE INDEED. JESUS USES THE PARABLE OF THE SMALLEST SEEDS, " THE MUSTARD SEED." WHICH BECOMES THE LARGEST OF ALL GARDEN PLANTS, REACHING A HEIGHT OF EIGHT TO TEN FEET IN WHICH IT IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR BIRDS TO PERCH IN ITS SHADE. WE CANNOT JUDGE THE FINAL SIZE OF THE KINGDOM BY THE INITIAL SIZE OF THE SEED. MARK DOES NOT SAY THAT JESUS SPOKE ONLY IN PARABLES. HE MADE USE OF THE PARABLES WHEN HE SPOKE TO PEOPLE. IF HE HADN'T SPOKE IN PARABLES, IT MIGHT HAVE RESULTED IN INTERFERENCE WITH HIS FATHER'S PLAN OF SALVATION (JOHN 6: 14,15). HE WOULD NOT ALLOW EVIL SPIRITS AND THOSE POSSESSED BY THEM, TO TESTIFY "THAT HE WAS THE SON."
THEN THE SMALLEST OF SEEDS TUCKS INTO THE GOOD GROUND AND IN TIME BECOMES A SHELTER FOR ALL SORTS OF FOWLS.
THIS PARABLE IS FOUND ONLY IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK.
WHENEVER CHRIST SPEAKS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD, HIS RULING ACTIVITY , HIS WORDS ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SEED, THE GOSPEL THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TO FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. IN OUR TEXT, JESUS SPEAKS OF THE POWER AND RELIABILITY OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. ALL THAT NEED BE DONE, ALL THAT CAN BE DONE, IS TO SOW THE SEED, ( TO PROCLAIM THE WORD). A FARMER WHO PLANTS THE SEED DOES NOT UNDERSTAND HOW IT GROWS. THE POWER IS IN THE SEED. SO IT IS WITH THE GOSPEL. IT IS SOWN; IT SPROUTS; IT MATURES; IT IS HARVESTED. CHRIST'S WORD ECHO'S ISAIAH'S: ( " SO IS MY WORD THAT GOES OUT FROM MY MOUTH, IT WILL NOT RETURN EMPTY, BUT WILL ACCOMPLISH WHAT I DESIRE AND ACHIEVE THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH I SENT IT. ISAIAH 55:11).
THE HARVEST INCLUDES THE FINAL HARVEST: ( AT THE END OF THE WORLD, WHEN ALL MANKIND WILL SEE THE MARVELOUS FRUIT THE LORD PRODUCED THROUGH HIS WORD IN THIS WORLD OF SIN. BUT THE HARVEST IS ALSO HERE AND NOW IN THE LIFE OF EVERY CHILD OF GOD IN WHOSE HEART THE WORD HAS TAKEN ROOT AND GROWN, AND WHOSE FAITH GOD USES TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO BRING THAT SAME WORD TO OTHERS.
THE HARVEST ISN'T THE BELIEVERS DOING., BUT GOD'S. THUS THIS PARABLE WAS OF
SPECIAL COMFORT TO THE APOSTLES AS THEY CARRIED OUT JESUS ASSIGNMENT. PAUL LATER PUT IT THIS WAY IN 1st CORINTHIANS [3: 6,7], " I PLANTED THE SEED, APOLLOS WATERED, BUT GOD MADE IT GROW. SO NEITHER HE WHO PLANTS IT, NOR HE WHO WATERS IS ANYTHING, BUT ONLY GOD, WHO MAKES THINGS GROW. THOUGH AT TIMES WE MAY NOT SEE THE RESULTS, THERE WILL BE A HARVEST BECAUSE THE SEED HAS GOD'S POWER WITHIN IT. ONE THING MUST STILL BE NOTED. WHEN THE NIV TRANSLATES "ALL BY ITSELF" AND THE KJV "THE EARTH... OF HERSELF, IT MIGHT SEEM AS THOUGH THE EARTH (HUMAN HEART) RECEIVES
SOME CREDIT. NOT AT ALL, FOR THE GREEK REALLY MEANS " SPONTANEOUSLY," " AUTOMATICALLY," OR " AS A MATTER OF COURSE," THE PERSONS (-HEART, IS THE ONLY THE LOCALE WHERE IT TAKES PLACE. GOD'S POWER INHERENT IN THE WORD IS THE CAUSE. IF IT WAS NOT SO, YOU AND I WOULD BE WITH OUT HOPE, FOR BY NATURE WE ARE CORRUPT AND SINFUL, AND WE REJECT THE GRACE OF GOD. IT IS GOD ALONE WHO OVERCOMES THIS OPPOSITION ON OUR PART AND BRINGS US TO FAITH. WE PREACH AND TEACH THE WORD; GOD DOES THE REST. " LAST THOUGHT."
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT ONE WITH OUTWARD FORM AND SHAPE. ITS NEW TESTAMENT BEGINNINGS WERE SO SMALL AS TO BE INVISIBLE. BUT CHRIST KEPT TELLING HIS DISCIPLE,DON'T BE DISTURBED; THE ETERNAL FRUITS WILL BE LARGE INDEED. JESUS USES THE PARABLE OF THE SMALLEST SEEDS, " THE MUSTARD SEED." WHICH BECOMES THE LARGEST OF ALL GARDEN PLANTS, REACHING A HEIGHT OF EIGHT TO TEN FEET IN WHICH IT IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR BIRDS TO PERCH IN ITS SHADE. WE CANNOT JUDGE THE FINAL SIZE OF THE KINGDOM BY THE INITIAL SIZE OF THE SEED. MARK DOES NOT SAY THAT JESUS SPOKE ONLY IN PARABLES. HE MADE USE OF THE PARABLES WHEN HE SPOKE TO PEOPLE. IF HE HADN'T SPOKE IN PARABLES, IT MIGHT HAVE RESULTED IN INTERFERENCE WITH HIS FATHER'S PLAN OF SALVATION (JOHN 6: 14,15). HE WOULD NOT ALLOW EVIL SPIRITS AND THOSE POSSESSED BY THEM, TO TESTIFY "THAT HE WAS THE SON."
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
LENT: JESUS BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION . [MATT 4:1-11].
AS WE LOOK TO THE WORD " LENT," WHICH STEMS FROM THE GERMAN WORD " " WHICH MEANS SPRING. "LENZ" IMMEDIATELY DRAWS ONE'S ATTENTION TO THE NATURE OF LENT. IT IS THE SPRINGTIME OF THE SOUL, A TIME TO BE REAWAKENED FROM THE FROZEN NATURE OF SIN'S COMPLACENCY AS WE ARE AWAKENED BY THE SON OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND REVITALIZED. BY THE BRACING WATERS OF HIS BAPTISM.
FROM THE FOURTH CENTURY ONWARD, LENT WAS EXTENDED FROM A BRIEF FAST IN PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST OF EASTER. TO A PERIOD OF FORTY-DAYS. OF SPIRITUAL EXAMINATION. REMINISCENT OF ISRAEL'A FORTY DAYS IN THE WILDERNESS AND THE FORTY DAYS OF OUR LORD'S TEMPTATION IN THE DESERT, LENT. IS ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE FORTY DAYS THAT WAS THE PUBLIC SPIRITUAL REPARATION MADE BY THOSE WHO HAD BEEN EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE CHURCH AND WHO WERE NOW BEING PREPARED TO BE READMITTED TO THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR.
TODAY'S GOSPEL TELLS OF JESUS TEMPTATION IN THE DESERT. HIS FORTY-DAY FAST BECOMES THE BASIS OF OUR LENTEN PILGRIMAGE. IN THE EARLY CHURCH LENT WAS A TIME OF INTENSE PREPARATION FOR THOSE WHO WERE TO BE BAPTIZED AT THE EASTER VIRGIL. WE LOOK AT THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS. TEMPTATION! THE ENGLISH WORD "TEMPT" HAS NARROWED IN MEANING, AND USUALLY MEANS TO ENTICE. BUT ITS BIBLICAL MEANING IS OFTEN "PROVE" OF "TEST." NOT SOMETHING THAT STARTED WITH JESUS. THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, WRITE THESE WORD'S ; IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORDS; " I HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH YOU AND WITH ISRAEL.' HE WAS THERE WITH THE LORD FORTY-DAYS FORTY-NIGHTS; HE NEITHER ATE BREAD NOR DRANK WATER AND WROTE ON THE TABLETS THE WORDS OF THE COVENANTS, " THE TEN COMMANDMENTS." AND 1st KINGS TELL US THE STORY OF ELIJAH'S MEETING WITH GOD AT HOREB. AN ANGEL OF THE LORD, TELLS ELIJAH TO GET UP AND EAT OTHERWISE THE JOURNEY WILL BE TO MUCH FOR YOU. HE GOT UP AND ATE AND DRANK, THEN HE WENT IN STRENGTH OF THAT FOOD FORTY-DAYS AND FORTY-NIGHTS TO HOREB THE MOUNT OF GOD. " NOW IT'S JESUS TIME TO BE PUT TO THE TEST THAT ISRAEL FAILED.
HE WAS LED UP BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL. THE OPPOSITION BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN, BECOMES CLEAR IN THE N. T., AS HE TESTS JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS. THE DEVIL BEING LEADER OF THE KINGDOM OF EVIL, OVERSEEING MANY TEMPTATIONS OF THE DISCIPLES, THE CHRISTIANS COMING TO THE FAITH, BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SIN OF PETER (16:23). (WHERE PETER TOOK HIM ASIDE AN BEGAN TO REBUKE HIM, SAYING "GOD FORBID IT LORD! THIS MUST NEVER HAPPEN TO YOU." BUT HE TURNED AND SAID TO PETER , "GET BEHIND ME SATAN! YOU ARE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO ME; FOR YOU ARE SETTING YOUR MIND NOT ON DIVINE THINGS BUT ON HUMAN THINGS. JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES, " IF ANY WANT TO BECOME MY FOLLOWERS, LET THEM DENY THEMSELVES AND TAKE UP THEIR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME. FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SAVE THEIR LIVES WILL LOSE IT, AND THOSE WHO LOSE THEIR LIFE FOR MY SAKE WILL FIND IT. JUDAS ISCARIOT, BEING OF THE NUMBER TWELVE. THERE ARE MANY NAMES AND DISGUISES, THAT SATAN USES AS HE ROAM'S THE EARTH. THERE ARE MANY EVIL SPIRITS UNDER HIS CONTROL WHO POSSES MEN (MATT. 7:22).
AND ANIMALS. EVERY ONE WHO COMES TO SERVE THE LORD MUST PREPARE FOR THREE KINDS OF TEMPTATION. THEY DO NOT COME AT THE SAME TIME, OR SELDOM IN THE SAME ORDER. IF YOUR CALL TO SERVE HIS OR HER GENERATION AS A CHRISTIAN, MUST HAVE IN VARIOUS DEGREES AND MANNERS ALL THREE- THE TEMPTATION OF THE BODY. WHICH IS THE SENSUAL PERSON'S TEMPTATION, THE TEMPTATION OF THE WILL. WHICH IS THE AMBITIOUS PERSON'S AND THE TEMPTATION TO MERE RELIGIOSITY. ONLY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE CAN HAVE THE THIRD TEMPTATION, BUT THEY DON'T ESCAPE ON THAT ACCOUNT. EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST PREPARE HIMSELF BY THE WORD OF GOD., BY THE ARMOR OF GOD, BY THE STRENGTH OF GOD. THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE LORD ARE THE TEMPTATIONS OF HIS CHURCH. THE CHURCH AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD MUST BE COMMITTED TO "THE FOOD THAT ABIDES." IT BETTER BE THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. THE CHURCH MUST PRAY " NOT MY WILL BUT THY WILL BE DONE."
ACTUALLY IT IS NOT THE TEMPTATION THAT COME TO YOU IN YOUR DAILY VOCATION. JESUS HAS RESISTANCE AND POWER THAT WE ARE TO PLUG INTO THE GRACE OF FORGIVENESS. JESUS GRACE NOT TEMPTATION STRENGTHENS. OUR FAITH THROUGH THE GOSPEL IN WORD AND SACRAMENTS. WHEN WE RECALL THAT GOD DID NOT SPARE HIS SON FROM TEMPTATION BUT SENT THE ANGELS TO MINISTER TO HIM IN THE TEMPTATION, WE CAN REALIZE THAT WE CAN KNOW THE WONDER OF GOD'S LOVE EVEN IN HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING. THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST MEANS THAT WE CAN KNOW GOD'S LOVE IN THE WHOLE OF OUR LIVES. AT THE END OF THE SEASON OF LENT THERE IS A GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST FROM THE DEAD; THAT WE MAY HANG ON TO THE FINAL VICTORY. AMEN1
FROM THE FOURTH CENTURY ONWARD, LENT WAS EXTENDED FROM A BRIEF FAST IN PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST OF EASTER. TO A PERIOD OF FORTY-DAYS. OF SPIRITUAL EXAMINATION. REMINISCENT OF ISRAEL'A FORTY DAYS IN THE WILDERNESS AND THE FORTY DAYS OF OUR LORD'S TEMPTATION IN THE DESERT, LENT. IS ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE FORTY DAYS THAT WAS THE PUBLIC SPIRITUAL REPARATION MADE BY THOSE WHO HAD BEEN EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE CHURCH AND WHO WERE NOW BEING PREPARED TO BE READMITTED TO THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR.
TODAY'S GOSPEL TELLS OF JESUS TEMPTATION IN THE DESERT. HIS FORTY-DAY FAST BECOMES THE BASIS OF OUR LENTEN PILGRIMAGE. IN THE EARLY CHURCH LENT WAS A TIME OF INTENSE PREPARATION FOR THOSE WHO WERE TO BE BAPTIZED AT THE EASTER VIRGIL. WE LOOK AT THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS. TEMPTATION! THE ENGLISH WORD "TEMPT" HAS NARROWED IN MEANING, AND USUALLY MEANS TO ENTICE. BUT ITS BIBLICAL MEANING IS OFTEN "PROVE" OF "TEST." NOT SOMETHING THAT STARTED WITH JESUS. THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, WRITE THESE WORD'S ; IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORDS; " I HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH YOU AND WITH ISRAEL.' HE WAS THERE WITH THE LORD FORTY-DAYS FORTY-NIGHTS; HE NEITHER ATE BREAD NOR DRANK WATER AND WROTE ON THE TABLETS THE WORDS OF THE COVENANTS, " THE TEN COMMANDMENTS." AND 1st KINGS TELL US THE STORY OF ELIJAH'S MEETING WITH GOD AT HOREB. AN ANGEL OF THE LORD, TELLS ELIJAH TO GET UP AND EAT OTHERWISE THE JOURNEY WILL BE TO MUCH FOR YOU. HE GOT UP AND ATE AND DRANK, THEN HE WENT IN STRENGTH OF THAT FOOD FORTY-DAYS AND FORTY-NIGHTS TO HOREB THE MOUNT OF GOD. " NOW IT'S JESUS TIME TO BE PUT TO THE TEST THAT ISRAEL FAILED.
HE WAS LED UP BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL. THE OPPOSITION BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN, BECOMES CLEAR IN THE N. T., AS HE TESTS JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS. THE DEVIL BEING LEADER OF THE KINGDOM OF EVIL, OVERSEEING MANY TEMPTATIONS OF THE DISCIPLES, THE CHRISTIANS COMING TO THE FAITH, BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SIN OF PETER (16:23). (WHERE PETER TOOK HIM ASIDE AN BEGAN TO REBUKE HIM, SAYING "GOD FORBID IT LORD! THIS MUST NEVER HAPPEN TO YOU." BUT HE TURNED AND SAID TO PETER , "GET BEHIND ME SATAN! YOU ARE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO ME; FOR YOU ARE SETTING YOUR MIND NOT ON DIVINE THINGS BUT ON HUMAN THINGS. JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES, " IF ANY WANT TO BECOME MY FOLLOWERS, LET THEM DENY THEMSELVES AND TAKE UP THEIR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME. FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SAVE THEIR LIVES WILL LOSE IT, AND THOSE WHO LOSE THEIR LIFE FOR MY SAKE WILL FIND IT. JUDAS ISCARIOT, BEING OF THE NUMBER TWELVE. THERE ARE MANY NAMES AND DISGUISES, THAT SATAN USES AS HE ROAM'S THE EARTH. THERE ARE MANY EVIL SPIRITS UNDER HIS CONTROL WHO POSSES MEN (MATT. 7:22).
AND ANIMALS. EVERY ONE WHO COMES TO SERVE THE LORD MUST PREPARE FOR THREE KINDS OF TEMPTATION. THEY DO NOT COME AT THE SAME TIME, OR SELDOM IN THE SAME ORDER. IF YOUR CALL TO SERVE HIS OR HER GENERATION AS A CHRISTIAN, MUST HAVE IN VARIOUS DEGREES AND MANNERS ALL THREE- THE TEMPTATION OF THE BODY. WHICH IS THE SENSUAL PERSON'S TEMPTATION, THE TEMPTATION OF THE WILL. WHICH IS THE AMBITIOUS PERSON'S AND THE TEMPTATION TO MERE RELIGIOSITY. ONLY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE CAN HAVE THE THIRD TEMPTATION, BUT THEY DON'T ESCAPE ON THAT ACCOUNT. EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST PREPARE HIMSELF BY THE WORD OF GOD., BY THE ARMOR OF GOD, BY THE STRENGTH OF GOD. THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE LORD ARE THE TEMPTATIONS OF HIS CHURCH. THE CHURCH AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD MUST BE COMMITTED TO "THE FOOD THAT ABIDES." IT BETTER BE THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. THE CHURCH MUST PRAY " NOT MY WILL BUT THY WILL BE DONE."
ACTUALLY IT IS NOT THE TEMPTATION THAT COME TO YOU IN YOUR DAILY VOCATION. JESUS HAS RESISTANCE AND POWER THAT WE ARE TO PLUG INTO THE GRACE OF FORGIVENESS. JESUS GRACE NOT TEMPTATION STRENGTHENS. OUR FAITH THROUGH THE GOSPEL IN WORD AND SACRAMENTS. WHEN WE RECALL THAT GOD DID NOT SPARE HIS SON FROM TEMPTATION BUT SENT THE ANGELS TO MINISTER TO HIM IN THE TEMPTATION, WE CAN REALIZE THAT WE CAN KNOW THE WONDER OF GOD'S LOVE EVEN IN HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING. THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST MEANS THAT WE CAN KNOW GOD'S LOVE IN THE WHOLE OF OUR LIVES. AT THE END OF THE SEASON OF LENT THERE IS A GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST FROM THE DEAD; THAT WE MAY HANG ON TO THE FINAL VICTORY. AMEN1
Monday, February 5, 2018
SIX CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.
IT IS NATURAL THAT MAN WOULD WANT TO LOOK INTO THINGS ABOUT HIM. BY NATURE, HE WANTS TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS EXISTENCE. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD AND GOD, AND HOW HE GOVERNS IT. THE ATHEIST AND THE AGNOSTIC CONTEND THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE THAT THERE IS A GOD. LETS LOOK AS THE GOSPEL STORY. ST.JOHN TELLS US HOW OUR LORD HAD JUST WORKED TWO MIRACLES. HE HAD FED A GREAT MULTITUDE CONTAINING FIVE THOUSAND MEN AND HE HAD WALKED ON WATER OF THE SEA OF GALILEE AND QUELLED A STORM. HAVING RETURNED TO CAPHARNAUM, HE WAS SOUGHT OUT BY THE JEWS, WHO IMMEDIATELY, ASKED, MASTER WHEN DID YOU MAKE YOUR WAY HERE?
OUR LORD, FULLY AWARE OF THEIR INSINCERITY, REPLIED:" IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ME NOW, IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE MIRACLES YOU HAVE SEEN; IT IS BECAUSE
YOU WERE FED WITH THE LOAVES, AND HAD YOUR FILLS, AND HE WENT ON TO DEMAND THEIR FAITH: THIS IS THE SERVICE GOD ASKS OF YOU, TO BELIEVE THE MAN HE SENT" THEY REPLIED BY DEMANDING A SIGN. MOSES HAD GIVEN MANNA IN THE DESERT, COULD JESUS DO SOMETHING COMPARABLE TO ASSERT HIS SUPERIORITY? HE REPLIED: " THE BREAD THAT COMES FROM HEAVEN IS NOT WHAT MOSES GAVE YOU. THE REAL BREAD FROM HEAVEN IS GIVEN ONLY BY MY FATHER.. IT IS I WHO AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; HE WHO COMES TO ME WILL NEVER BE HUNGRY, HE WHO HAS FAITH IN ME WILL NEVER KNOW THIRST."AFTER THIS THEY DEPARTED, BUT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT JESUS HAD SAID.
DESIROUS OF HEARING HIM FURTHER, THEY INVITED HIM TO EXPLAIN HIS TEACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUE. THERE HE EXPOUNDED IT IN A MANNER WHICH LEFT NO DOUBT AS TO HIS MEANING: BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THIS: THE MAN WHO HAS FAITH IN ME ENJOYS ETERNAL LIFE. IT IS I WHOM AM THE BREAD OF LIFE, YOUR FATHERS WHO ATE MANNA IN THE DESERT, DIED NONE THE LESS; THE BREAD WHICH COMES DOWN FROM HEAVEN. IF ANY EATS OF THIS BREAD, HE SHALL LIVE FOREVER. AND NOW, WHAT IS THIS BREAD WHICH I AM GOING TO GIVE? IT IS MY FLESH, GIVEN FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD." IMMEDIATELY THERE WAS UPROAR. THE JEWS REALIZED THAT THIS AT LEAST WAS INCAPABLE OF A METAPHORICAL EXPLANATION AND SO, WITH PERFECT LOGIC, THEY ASKED: "HOW CAN THIS MAN GIVE US HIS FLESH TO EAT? JESUS ANSWERED CLEARLY AND EMPHATICALLY : " BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THIS: YOU CAN HAVE NO LIFE IN YOURSELVES, UNLESS YOU EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN, AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, ENJOYS ETERNAL LIFE, AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY. MY FLESH IS REAL FOOD. MY BLOOD IS REAL DRINK. HE WHO EATS MY FLESH, AND DRINKS MY BLOOD, LIVES CONTINUALLY IN ME, AND I IN HIM. AS I LIVE BECAUSE OF THE FATHER, THE LIVING FATHER WHO HAS SENT ME, SO HE WHO EATS ME WILL LIVE, IN HIS TURN, BECAUSE OF ME SUCH IS THE BREAD WHICH HAS COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN; IT IS NOT WHAT IT WAS WITH YOUR FATHERS, WHO ATE MANNA AND DIED NONE THE LESS; THE MAN WHO EATS THIS BREAD WILL LIVE ETERNALLY.
JESUS CHRIST'S PROMISE MUST BE ACCEPTED LITERALLY.
THAT WAS MORE THEN ENOUGH FOR THE JEWS. THE PROMISE MADE THAT DAY IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT CAPHARNAUM WAS FULFILLED THE NIGHT JESUS DIED. IT WAS AT THE LAST SUPPER, OF WHICH THERE ARE FOUR DISTINCT ACCOUNTS. HERE IS ONE OF THEM, St.PAUL'S: THE TRADITION WHICH I RECEIVED FROM THE LORD, AND HANDED ON TO YOU, IS THAT THE LORD JESUS, ON THE NIGHT HE WAS BETRAYED, TOOK BREAD, AND GAVE THANKS AND BROKE IT, AND SAID: " TAKE, EAT, THIS IS MY BODY, GIVEN UP FOR YOU. DO THIS FOR A COMMEMORATION OF ME. AND SO WITH THE CUP, WHEN SUPPER WAS ENDED. THIS CUP, HE SAID, IS THE NEW TESTAMENT, IN MY BLOOD. DO THIS WHEN, WHENEVER YOU DRINK IT, FOR A COMMEMORATION OF ME" (1 COR.11, 23-25). THE WORDS GIVEN BY THE OTHER WRITERS ARE AS FOLLOWS: ST, MATTHEW: "TAKE, AND EAT THIS IS MY BODY. DRINK, ALL OF YOU, OF THIS; FOR THIS IS MY BLOOD, OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, SHED FOR MANY, TO THE REMISSION OF SINS. MOREOVER ST.PAUL HIMSELF ACCEPTED THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION. RELATING HIS ACCOUNT OF THE LAST SUPPER, HE GOES ON: " SO IT IS THE LORDS DEATH WE ARE HERALDING, WHEN EVER YOU EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINKS THIS CUP OF THE LORD RECOGNIZING THE LORD'S BODY FOR WHAT IT IS" (1 COR.11,27-29). THIS IS VIGOROUS LANGUAGE, AND THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION OF IT IS THAT ST. PAUL WAS CONVINCED THAT THE HOLY EUCHARIST, CHRIST WAS TRULY PRESENT. AND THAT IS THE ONLY CONCLUSION WE CAN DRAW FROM THE SCRIPTURAL "QUOTATION." WE HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING. IN THE BLESSED EUCHARIST, CHRIST LEFT HIMSELF, REALLY, TRULY SUBSTANTIALLY PRESENT. THE DOGMA DEFINED BY THE COUNCIL TRENT FOLLOWS FROM AN UNPREJUDICED EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURAL NARRATIVE.
IN 1873, BRYENNIOS, GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLITAN OF NICOMEDIA, DISCOVERED THE COMPLETE TEXT OF A LITTLE BOOK OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
PROBABLY WRITTEN BEFORE THE YEAR A.D. 9O. FOR CENTURIES THE BOOK HAD BEEN ALLUDED TO BUT ITS EXACT NATURE WAS NOT KNOWN. IT IS CALLED THE " OR THE TEACHING OF THE DIDACHE" OR THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES, AND IT IS A SUMMARY OF THE MORAL, INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. IT IS CLEAR FROM CHAPTERS 14 AND 15 OF THIS WORK THAT ITS COMPILER BELIEVED IN THE REAL PRESENCE, HOLY COMMUNION AND THE SACRIFICIAL NATURE OF THE MASS.
ONE OF THE GREATEST WITNESSES IS ST. IGNATIUS, THE ILLUSTRIOUS BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, WHO WAS MARTYRED IN THE YEAR A.D. 107. ON HIS WAY TO ROME, WHERE HE WAS TO BE THROWN TO THE WILD BEASTS, HE WROTE LETTERS TO THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN VARIOUS PLACES. THEIR EVIDENCE IS PARTICULARLY VALUABLE IN VIEW OF THE FACT THEY WERE COMPOSED ONLY ABOUT TEN YEARS AFTER ST. JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL. TO THE EPHESIANS HE WROTE: " THAT YOU MAY OBEY THE BISHOP AND THE PRIESTHOOD WITH INSEPARABLE INTENTION, BREAKING ONE BREAD, WHICH IS MEDICINE OF IMMORTALITY, THE ANTIDOTE AGAINST DEATH, GIVING LIFE FOREVER IN JESUS CHRIST.." TO SMYRNA HE WROTE AGAINST CERTAIN HERETICS: " THEY ABSTAIN FROM EUCHARIST AND PRAYER BECAUSE THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE EUCHARIST TO BE THE FLESH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHICH SUFFERED FOR OUR SINS, WHICH THE FATHER RAISED UP AGAIN BY HIS LOVING KINDNESS. THEY, THEREFORE, SPEAKING AGAINST THE GIFT OF GOD, DIE IN THEIR DISSENSION." IT WOULD BE HARD TO FIND ANYWHERE A MORE EXPLICIT STATEMENT THAN THIS.
OUR LORD, FULLY AWARE OF THEIR INSINCERITY, REPLIED:" IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ME NOW, IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE MIRACLES YOU HAVE SEEN; IT IS BECAUSE
YOU WERE FED WITH THE LOAVES, AND HAD YOUR FILLS, AND HE WENT ON TO DEMAND THEIR FAITH: THIS IS THE SERVICE GOD ASKS OF YOU, TO BELIEVE THE MAN HE SENT" THEY REPLIED BY DEMANDING A SIGN. MOSES HAD GIVEN MANNA IN THE DESERT, COULD JESUS DO SOMETHING COMPARABLE TO ASSERT HIS SUPERIORITY? HE REPLIED: " THE BREAD THAT COMES FROM HEAVEN IS NOT WHAT MOSES GAVE YOU. THE REAL BREAD FROM HEAVEN IS GIVEN ONLY BY MY FATHER.. IT IS I WHO AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; HE WHO COMES TO ME WILL NEVER BE HUNGRY, HE WHO HAS FAITH IN ME WILL NEVER KNOW THIRST."AFTER THIS THEY DEPARTED, BUT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT JESUS HAD SAID.
DESIROUS OF HEARING HIM FURTHER, THEY INVITED HIM TO EXPLAIN HIS TEACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUE. THERE HE EXPOUNDED IT IN A MANNER WHICH LEFT NO DOUBT AS TO HIS MEANING: BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THIS: THE MAN WHO HAS FAITH IN ME ENJOYS ETERNAL LIFE. IT IS I WHOM AM THE BREAD OF LIFE, YOUR FATHERS WHO ATE MANNA IN THE DESERT, DIED NONE THE LESS; THE BREAD WHICH COMES DOWN FROM HEAVEN. IF ANY EATS OF THIS BREAD, HE SHALL LIVE FOREVER. AND NOW, WHAT IS THIS BREAD WHICH I AM GOING TO GIVE? IT IS MY FLESH, GIVEN FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD." IMMEDIATELY THERE WAS UPROAR. THE JEWS REALIZED THAT THIS AT LEAST WAS INCAPABLE OF A METAPHORICAL EXPLANATION AND SO, WITH PERFECT LOGIC, THEY ASKED: "HOW CAN THIS MAN GIVE US HIS FLESH TO EAT? JESUS ANSWERED CLEARLY AND EMPHATICALLY : " BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THIS: YOU CAN HAVE NO LIFE IN YOURSELVES, UNLESS YOU EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN, AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, ENJOYS ETERNAL LIFE, AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY. MY FLESH IS REAL FOOD. MY BLOOD IS REAL DRINK. HE WHO EATS MY FLESH, AND DRINKS MY BLOOD, LIVES CONTINUALLY IN ME, AND I IN HIM. AS I LIVE BECAUSE OF THE FATHER, THE LIVING FATHER WHO HAS SENT ME, SO HE WHO EATS ME WILL LIVE, IN HIS TURN, BECAUSE OF ME SUCH IS THE BREAD WHICH HAS COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN; IT IS NOT WHAT IT WAS WITH YOUR FATHERS, WHO ATE MANNA AND DIED NONE THE LESS; THE MAN WHO EATS THIS BREAD WILL LIVE ETERNALLY.
JESUS CHRIST'S PROMISE MUST BE ACCEPTED LITERALLY.
THAT WAS MORE THEN ENOUGH FOR THE JEWS. THE PROMISE MADE THAT DAY IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT CAPHARNAUM WAS FULFILLED THE NIGHT JESUS DIED. IT WAS AT THE LAST SUPPER, OF WHICH THERE ARE FOUR DISTINCT ACCOUNTS. HERE IS ONE OF THEM, St.PAUL'S: THE TRADITION WHICH I RECEIVED FROM THE LORD, AND HANDED ON TO YOU, IS THAT THE LORD JESUS, ON THE NIGHT HE WAS BETRAYED, TOOK BREAD, AND GAVE THANKS AND BROKE IT, AND SAID: " TAKE, EAT, THIS IS MY BODY, GIVEN UP FOR YOU. DO THIS FOR A COMMEMORATION OF ME. AND SO WITH THE CUP, WHEN SUPPER WAS ENDED. THIS CUP, HE SAID, IS THE NEW TESTAMENT, IN MY BLOOD. DO THIS WHEN, WHENEVER YOU DRINK IT, FOR A COMMEMORATION OF ME" (1 COR.11, 23-25). THE WORDS GIVEN BY THE OTHER WRITERS ARE AS FOLLOWS: ST, MATTHEW: "TAKE, AND EAT THIS IS MY BODY. DRINK, ALL OF YOU, OF THIS; FOR THIS IS MY BLOOD, OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, SHED FOR MANY, TO THE REMISSION OF SINS. MOREOVER ST.PAUL HIMSELF ACCEPTED THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION. RELATING HIS ACCOUNT OF THE LAST SUPPER, HE GOES ON: " SO IT IS THE LORDS DEATH WE ARE HERALDING, WHEN EVER YOU EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINKS THIS CUP OF THE LORD RECOGNIZING THE LORD'S BODY FOR WHAT IT IS" (1 COR.11,27-29). THIS IS VIGOROUS LANGUAGE, AND THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION OF IT IS THAT ST. PAUL WAS CONVINCED THAT THE HOLY EUCHARIST, CHRIST WAS TRULY PRESENT. AND THAT IS THE ONLY CONCLUSION WE CAN DRAW FROM THE SCRIPTURAL "QUOTATION." WE HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING. IN THE BLESSED EUCHARIST, CHRIST LEFT HIMSELF, REALLY, TRULY SUBSTANTIALLY PRESENT. THE DOGMA DEFINED BY THE COUNCIL TRENT FOLLOWS FROM AN UNPREJUDICED EXAMINATION OF THE SCRIPTURAL NARRATIVE.
IN 1873, BRYENNIOS, GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLITAN OF NICOMEDIA, DISCOVERED THE COMPLETE TEXT OF A LITTLE BOOK OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
PROBABLY WRITTEN BEFORE THE YEAR A.D. 9O. FOR CENTURIES THE BOOK HAD BEEN ALLUDED TO BUT ITS EXACT NATURE WAS NOT KNOWN. IT IS CALLED THE " OR THE TEACHING OF THE DIDACHE" OR THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES, AND IT IS A SUMMARY OF THE MORAL, INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. IT IS CLEAR FROM CHAPTERS 14 AND 15 OF THIS WORK THAT ITS COMPILER BELIEVED IN THE REAL PRESENCE, HOLY COMMUNION AND THE SACRIFICIAL NATURE OF THE MASS.
ONE OF THE GREATEST WITNESSES IS ST. IGNATIUS, THE ILLUSTRIOUS BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, WHO WAS MARTYRED IN THE YEAR A.D. 107. ON HIS WAY TO ROME, WHERE HE WAS TO BE THROWN TO THE WILD BEASTS, HE WROTE LETTERS TO THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN VARIOUS PLACES. THEIR EVIDENCE IS PARTICULARLY VALUABLE IN VIEW OF THE FACT THEY WERE COMPOSED ONLY ABOUT TEN YEARS AFTER ST. JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL. TO THE EPHESIANS HE WROTE: " THAT YOU MAY OBEY THE BISHOP AND THE PRIESTHOOD WITH INSEPARABLE INTENTION, BREAKING ONE BREAD, WHICH IS MEDICINE OF IMMORTALITY, THE ANTIDOTE AGAINST DEATH, GIVING LIFE FOREVER IN JESUS CHRIST.." TO SMYRNA HE WROTE AGAINST CERTAIN HERETICS: " THEY ABSTAIN FROM EUCHARIST AND PRAYER BECAUSE THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE EUCHARIST TO BE THE FLESH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHICH SUFFERED FOR OUR SINS, WHICH THE FATHER RAISED UP AGAIN BY HIS LOVING KINDNESS. THEY, THEREFORE, SPEAKING AGAINST THE GIFT OF GOD, DIE IN THEIR DISSENSION." IT WOULD BE HARD TO FIND ANYWHERE A MORE EXPLICIT STATEMENT THAN THIS.
Friday, February 2, 2018
SLAVONIC APOCALYPSE OF " 2 ENOCH" (ALWAYS WRITTEN IN BAD TIMES).
THE STORY OF ENOCH: HOW THE LORD TOOK HIM TO HEAVEN... SO THAT HE MIGHT SEE THE HIGHEST REALMS: AND OF THE MOST WISE AND GREAT AND INCONCEIVABLE AND UNCHANGING KINGDOM OF GOD ALMIGHTY. AND OF THE MOST MARVELOUS AND GLORIOUS AND SHINING MANY-EYED STATION OF THE LORD'S SERVANTS, AND OF THE LORD'S UNMOVABLE THRONE. (1a: 1-4).
...WHILE I SLEPT...TWO HUGE MEN APPEARED TO ME...THEIR FACES WERE LIKE THE SHINING SUN: THEIR EYES WERE LIKE BURNING LAMPS. FROM THEIR MOUTHS FIRE WAS COMING FORTH: THEIR CLOTHING WAS VARIOUS SINGING: THEIR WINGS WERE MORE GLISTENING THAN GOLD:THEIR HANDS WERE WHITER THEN SNOW...I WAS TERRIFIED...THOSE MEN SAID TO ME, " BE BRAVE, ENOCH! IN TRUTH, DO NOT FEAR! THE ETERNAL GOD HAS SENT US TO YOU. AND BEHOLD, YOU WILL ASCEND WITH US TO HEAVEN TODAY..." AND THEY TOOK ME UP ONTO THEIR WINGS, AND CARRIED ME UP TO THE FIRST HEAVEN...AND THEY SHOWED ME AN OCEAN, MUCH BIGGER THAN THE EARTHLY OCEAN. (3: 1,3). AND THERE I PERCEIVED THE TREASURIES OF THE SNOW AND ICE (5:1) AND BROUGHT ME UP TO THE SECOND HEAVEN... I SAW DARKNESS GREATER THAN EARTHLY DARKNESS AND THERE I PERCEIVED PRISONERS UNDER GUARD, HANGING UP WAITING FOR THE MEASUERLESS JUDGMENT... I SAID TO THE MEN WHO WERE WITH ME, " WHY ARE THESE ONES BEING TORMENTED UNCEASELY?" THOSE MEN ANSWERED, " THESE ARE THOSE WHO TURNED AWAY FROM THE LORD, WHO DID NOT OBEY THE LORD'S COMMANDMENTS...(7:1-3)
THEY BROUGHT ME UP TO THE SECOND HEAVEN... I SAW A DARKNESS GREATER THEN THE EARTHLY DARKNESS. AND THERE I PERCEIVED PRISONERS UNDER GUARD, HANGING UP, WAITING FOR THE MEASURELESS JUDGMENTS... I SAID TO THE MEN WHO WERE WITH ME, WHY ARE THESE ONES BEING TORMENTED UNCEASINGLY?" THOSE MEN ANSWERED ME, " THESE ARE THOSE WHO TURNED AWAY FROM THE LORD, WHO DID NOT OBEY THE LORD'S COMMANDMENTS...(7:1-3).
...THE BROUGHT ME UP TO THE THIRD HEAVEN...AND I SAW PARADISE. AND THAT PLACE IS INCONCEIVABLY PLEASANT. AND I SAW THE TREES IN FULL FLOWER...AND IN THE MIDST OF THEM WAS A TREE OF LIFE... AND IT HAS SOMETHING OF EVERY ORCHARD TREE AND OF EVERY FRUIT... (8:1-4).
AND THOSE MEN CARRIED ME TO THE NORTHERN REGION: AND THEY SHOWED ME THERE A VERY FRIGHTFUL PLACE... AND ALL KINDS OF TORTURE AND TORMEANT ARE IN THATPLACE...FIRE HERE FREEING, ICE THERE...VERY CRUEL PLACES OF DETENTION AND DARK AND MERCILESS ANGELS...AND I SAID, "WOE,WOE! HOW VERY FRIGHTFUL THIS PLACE IS! AND THOSE MEN SAID TO ME, " THIS PLACE, ENOCH, HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO DON'T GLORIFY, GOD, WHO PRACTICE ON EARTH THE SIN WHICH IS AGAINST NATURE, WHICH IS CHILD CORRUPTION... WHO BOAST THEIR EVIL DEEDS... ENRICHING THEMSELVES FROM THE POSSESSIONS OF OTHERS, DEFRAUDING THEM: WHO, WHEN THEY ARE ABLE
TO PROVIDE SUSTENANCE, BRING ABOUT THE DEATH OF THE HUNGRY BY STAVATION: AND, WHEN THEY ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE CLOTHING, TAKE AWAY THE LAST GARMENT OF THE NAKED: WHO DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR CREATOR, BUT BOW DOWN TO IDOLS... FOR ALL THESE THIS PLACE HAS BEEN PREPARED AS AN ETERNAL REWARD. (1O:1-6).
AND THOSE MEN CARRIED ME UP TO THE SIXTH HEAVEN. AND I SAW THERE WERE SEVEN GROUPS OF ANGELS, BRILLIANT AND VERY GLORIOUS ... ARCHANGELS WHO ARE OVER ALL THE ANGELS... AND ANGELS WHO RECORD ALL HUMAN SOULS, AND ALL THEIR DEEDS, AND THEIR LIVES BEFORE THE FACE OF THE LORD. (19:1-5).
...THEY CARRIED ME UP TO THE SEVENTH HEAVEN. AND I SAW THERE AN EXEPTIONALLY GREAT LIGHT... ARCHANGELS... DOMINIONS... CHERUBIM... AND SEAAPHIM... AND I WAS TERRIFIED...THEY SAID TO ME,"BE BRAVE, ENOCH! DON'T BE FRIGHTENED!" AND THEY SHOWED ME THE LORD, FROM A DISTANCE, SITTING ON HIS EXCEEDINGLY HIGH THRONE...ON THE TENTH HEAVEN IS GOD... AND ALL THE HEAVENLY ARMIES CAME AND STOOD ON THE TEN STEPS, CORRESPONDING TO THEIR RANKS, AND THEY DID OBEISANCE TO THE LORD... SINGING SONGS WITH SOFT AND GENTLE VOICES, WHILE PRESENTING THE LITURGY TO HIM GLORIOUSLY.
(20: 1-4).
AND THEY DO NOT LEAVE BY NIGHT, NOR DEPART BY DAY, STAND ING IN FRONT OF THE FACE OF THE LORD AND CARRYING OUT HIS WILL.-- CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM STANDING ALL AROUND HIS THRONE., SIX-WINGED AND MANY-EYED: AND THEY COVER HIS ENTIRE THRONE, SINGING WITH GENTLE VOICE IN FRONT OF THE FACE OF THE LORD: HOLY, HOLY, LORD SABAOTH
HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF YOUR GLORY. (21:1-10).
AND FROM THE FIRE I CREATED THE RANKS OF THE BODILESS ARMIES-- TEN MYRIAD ANGELS--AND I GAVE ORDERS THAT EACH SHOULD STAND IN HIS OWN RANK. BUT ONE FROM THE ORDER OF THE ARCHANGELS DEVIATED, TOGETHER WITH THE DIVISION THAT WAS UNDER HIE AUTHORITY. HE THOUGHT UP THE IMPOSSIBLE, THAT HE MIGHT PLACE HIS THRONE HIGHER THAN THE CLOUDS WHICH ARE ABOVE THE EARTH, AND THAT HE MIGHT BECOME EQUAL TO MY POWER. AND I HURLED HIM OUT FROM THE HEIGHT, TOGETHER WITH HIS ANGELS (29:3-5). PICTURE OF "SATAN!"
...WHILE I SLEPT...TWO HUGE MEN APPEARED TO ME...THEIR FACES WERE LIKE THE SHINING SUN: THEIR EYES WERE LIKE BURNING LAMPS. FROM THEIR MOUTHS FIRE WAS COMING FORTH: THEIR CLOTHING WAS VARIOUS SINGING: THEIR WINGS WERE MORE GLISTENING THAN GOLD:THEIR HANDS WERE WHITER THEN SNOW...I WAS TERRIFIED...THOSE MEN SAID TO ME, " BE BRAVE, ENOCH! IN TRUTH, DO NOT FEAR! THE ETERNAL GOD HAS SENT US TO YOU. AND BEHOLD, YOU WILL ASCEND WITH US TO HEAVEN TODAY..." AND THEY TOOK ME UP ONTO THEIR WINGS, AND CARRIED ME UP TO THE FIRST HEAVEN...AND THEY SHOWED ME AN OCEAN, MUCH BIGGER THAN THE EARTHLY OCEAN. (3: 1,3). AND THERE I PERCEIVED THE TREASURIES OF THE SNOW AND ICE (5:1) AND BROUGHT ME UP TO THE SECOND HEAVEN... I SAW DARKNESS GREATER THAN EARTHLY DARKNESS AND THERE I PERCEIVED PRISONERS UNDER GUARD, HANGING UP WAITING FOR THE MEASUERLESS JUDGMENT... I SAID TO THE MEN WHO WERE WITH ME, " WHY ARE THESE ONES BEING TORMENTED UNCEASELY?" THOSE MEN ANSWERED, " THESE ARE THOSE WHO TURNED AWAY FROM THE LORD, WHO DID NOT OBEY THE LORD'S COMMANDMENTS...(7:1-3)
THEY BROUGHT ME UP TO THE SECOND HEAVEN... I SAW A DARKNESS GREATER THEN THE EARTHLY DARKNESS. AND THERE I PERCEIVED PRISONERS UNDER GUARD, HANGING UP, WAITING FOR THE MEASURELESS JUDGMENTS... I SAID TO THE MEN WHO WERE WITH ME, WHY ARE THESE ONES BEING TORMENTED UNCEASINGLY?" THOSE MEN ANSWERED ME, " THESE ARE THOSE WHO TURNED AWAY FROM THE LORD, WHO DID NOT OBEY THE LORD'S COMMANDMENTS...(7:1-3).
...THE BROUGHT ME UP TO THE THIRD HEAVEN...AND I SAW PARADISE. AND THAT PLACE IS INCONCEIVABLY PLEASANT. AND I SAW THE TREES IN FULL FLOWER...AND IN THE MIDST OF THEM WAS A TREE OF LIFE... AND IT HAS SOMETHING OF EVERY ORCHARD TREE AND OF EVERY FRUIT... (8:1-4).
AND THOSE MEN CARRIED ME TO THE NORTHERN REGION: AND THEY SHOWED ME THERE A VERY FRIGHTFUL PLACE... AND ALL KINDS OF TORTURE AND TORMEANT ARE IN THATPLACE...FIRE HERE FREEING, ICE THERE...VERY CRUEL PLACES OF DETENTION AND DARK AND MERCILESS ANGELS...AND I SAID, "WOE,WOE! HOW VERY FRIGHTFUL THIS PLACE IS! AND THOSE MEN SAID TO ME, " THIS PLACE, ENOCH, HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO DON'T GLORIFY, GOD, WHO PRACTICE ON EARTH THE SIN WHICH IS AGAINST NATURE, WHICH IS CHILD CORRUPTION... WHO BOAST THEIR EVIL DEEDS... ENRICHING THEMSELVES FROM THE POSSESSIONS OF OTHERS, DEFRAUDING THEM: WHO, WHEN THEY ARE ABLE
TO PROVIDE SUSTENANCE, BRING ABOUT THE DEATH OF THE HUNGRY BY STAVATION: AND, WHEN THEY ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE CLOTHING, TAKE AWAY THE LAST GARMENT OF THE NAKED: WHO DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR CREATOR, BUT BOW DOWN TO IDOLS... FOR ALL THESE THIS PLACE HAS BEEN PREPARED AS AN ETERNAL REWARD. (1O:1-6).
AND THOSE MEN CARRIED ME UP TO THE SIXTH HEAVEN. AND I SAW THERE WERE SEVEN GROUPS OF ANGELS, BRILLIANT AND VERY GLORIOUS ... ARCHANGELS WHO ARE OVER ALL THE ANGELS... AND ANGELS WHO RECORD ALL HUMAN SOULS, AND ALL THEIR DEEDS, AND THEIR LIVES BEFORE THE FACE OF THE LORD. (19:1-5).
...THEY CARRIED ME UP TO THE SEVENTH HEAVEN. AND I SAW THERE AN EXEPTIONALLY GREAT LIGHT... ARCHANGELS... DOMINIONS... CHERUBIM... AND SEAAPHIM... AND I WAS TERRIFIED...THEY SAID TO ME,"BE BRAVE, ENOCH! DON'T BE FRIGHTENED!" AND THEY SHOWED ME THE LORD, FROM A DISTANCE, SITTING ON HIS EXCEEDINGLY HIGH THRONE...ON THE TENTH HEAVEN IS GOD... AND ALL THE HEAVENLY ARMIES CAME AND STOOD ON THE TEN STEPS, CORRESPONDING TO THEIR RANKS, AND THEY DID OBEISANCE TO THE LORD... SINGING SONGS WITH SOFT AND GENTLE VOICES, WHILE PRESENTING THE LITURGY TO HIM GLORIOUSLY.
(20: 1-4).
AND THEY DO NOT LEAVE BY NIGHT, NOR DEPART BY DAY, STAND ING IN FRONT OF THE FACE OF THE LORD AND CARRYING OUT HIS WILL.-- CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM STANDING ALL AROUND HIS THRONE., SIX-WINGED AND MANY-EYED: AND THEY COVER HIS ENTIRE THRONE, SINGING WITH GENTLE VOICE IN FRONT OF THE FACE OF THE LORD: HOLY, HOLY, LORD SABAOTH
HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF YOUR GLORY. (21:1-10).
AND FROM THE FIRE I CREATED THE RANKS OF THE BODILESS ARMIES-- TEN MYRIAD ANGELS--AND I GAVE ORDERS THAT EACH SHOULD STAND IN HIS OWN RANK. BUT ONE FROM THE ORDER OF THE ARCHANGELS DEVIATED, TOGETHER WITH THE DIVISION THAT WAS UNDER HIE AUTHORITY. HE THOUGHT UP THE IMPOSSIBLE, THAT HE MIGHT PLACE HIS THRONE HIGHER THAN THE CLOUDS WHICH ARE ABOVE THE EARTH, AND THAT HE MIGHT BECOME EQUAL TO MY POWER. AND I HURLED HIM OUT FROM THE HEIGHT, TOGETHER WITH HIS ANGELS (29:3-5). PICTURE OF "SATAN!"
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