It is no real news that Mass attendance is down. What are some excuses that people use for not going to Mass and how can we respond to them?
I have heard: “I don’t get anything out of it.” “We had a soccer game.” “God is everywhere, and I just choose to worship Him from home, or the lake, or the golf course.”
I have also heard of people leaving the Church because they found somewhere more exciting to worship.
I will respond to the last excuse first. I will admit that as a youth I found Mass boring. I went with my parents because they made me, and later I went by myself because if I didn’t go I would feel bad. I knew that it was bad to miss Mass, but if you would have asked my why I couldn’t have given you a good answer, or any answer at all.
This changed when I found the Misselette, the book in the pew with the readings and some songs in it.
I realized that the Mass was in certain parts and that in the first part we did certain things and in the second part we did other things. Thus, I began learning very slowly that Mass had certain activities at certain times. I then wondered why we did them at those times and Mass became less boring. I was educating myself out of boredom. The more I understood, the more interesting Mass became.
I came to realize that Mass wasn’t just something that you go to “get something out of it.” Mass is something that you go to put into it. It is work. That is what liturgy means, “work of the people.” Mass is one big prayer that we are called to pray. That is why it is not appropriate to pray the Rosary while you are at Mass. It would be like saying an Our Father while at the same time saying a Hail Mary.
I think most of these objections are said in ignorance. If you learn more about Mass and what it is, then every other argument falls apart. Again the argument “I don’t get anything out of it.” Well, you do get your sins forgiven and you do get to receive in a unique way the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. You do mysteriously get connected with the Last Super, Calvary, the Resurrection, and the Worship that is taking place in Heaven. It is also participating in the event that frees us from sins.
Now, with this in mind, what else is there to compete with Mass?
Here are some verses to support this:
Hebrews 10:24-25 ..“and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
St. Paul is telling us not to neglect to meet together.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 "Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; … You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Why were the Israelites commanded to keep the Sabbath that is Saturday holy? To use that time to remember what God had done for them in freeing them from the slavery of Egypt.
But now God has done something greater. There is a New Exodus.
God has not saved us from Egypt, but He has saved us from sin. And HOW did He do it, how did He save us from sin - with an outstretched arm!!
At Mass we are participating in this New Exodus.
Listen to Jesus’ words:
John 12:32-33 “when I am lifted up from the earth, [I] will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show by what death He was to die.
But Christ is not just lifted up on the cross, He is lifted up from the dead, He is then lifted up from the earth in His Ascension, and finally He is lifted up at Mass in the elevation of the Eucharist.
And why, why is He lifted up? To draw all men to Himself.
This is more important than soccer. And this event is so holy that it isn’t meant to be entertaining. It is meant to be solemn and sanctifying.
Yes, God is everywhere, but what God is doing at Mass is something that He is NOT doing on a golf course, or in the woods, or on your couch.
We are called to gather together, just like we will be gathered together in heaven, to witness this event and even more so, to participate in it.
If you are still bored, pray that God enlighten you to better understand what is happening.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Jesus and the Destruction of Jerusalem
I know that people don't like history much of the time because there are many dates involved, but certain years are engrained in our minds. The year 1776 with the forming of our country and September 11, 2001, unfortunately, are examples among many that will not be forgotten. There are also dates in scripture that are important to know.
70 A.D. with the destruction of the temple by the Romans is important for a few reasons:
It changed Judaism forever.
Jesus prophecies that it would be destroyed.
Jesus points us to a New Temple.
Jerusalem was the political, religious, and economic center in the life of every Jew.
Imagine Wall Street, Washington D.C. and Rome wrapped into one city.
The temple, in particular, was the center of Jerusalem where sacrifice was offered daily.
Several feasts each year called all the Jews of the world back to Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts.
When Jerusalem was destroyed, this ended those sacrifices prescribed by Moses even until today. Jews stopped having a priesthood and a sacrificial system the day that Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed.
Sometimes, Jesus is very blunt about it like in Matthew 24:1-2.
Matthew 24:1 And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
Other times, though, He is cryptic about it like when he says in Matthew 12:39-40: But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Well, what people don't usually understand is that Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because he knew that God might be merciful to those wicked people and use them to bring judgment on his own sinful people back in Israel.
So Jonah was afraid that if Assyria did in fact repent, God would then use them to destroy the Israelites who would not repent. This is exactly what happens.
And 40 years after Jonah preached to those people, the Ninevites came and destroyed his people and spread them throughout the world, and now they are the ten lost tribes of Israel.
The same thing happens in Jesus’ day, 40 years after He rises from the earth, the Romans come and destroy Jerusalem.
Another example is when Jesus cleanses the temple.
Matthew 21:13 He said to them, "It is written, `My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you make it a den of robbers."
Now Jesus is in fact quoting Jeremiah here and Jesus knows that the hearers know the context of the quote.
Jeremiah 7:11-13 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, says the LORD. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, says the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer.
Jesus calls himself the new temple in John.
John 2:19-21 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he spoke of the temple of his body.
John 19:33-35 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs; but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
This is significant because during some of the temple sacrifices both blood and water would be poured out over and the altar and they would run as a stream out of the side of the temple. Out of Jesus’ side flows blood and water.
Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own.
So again this significance is that, first, it is in the person of Christ himself that we go to meet God.
Secondly, Christ is the place of sacrifice. We are to be united in Him and with Him with our own sacrifices.
And finally, it is in Christ that we participate as a temple builder. We help build the temple of God here on earth and then later in heaven.
70 A.D. with the destruction of the temple by the Romans is important for a few reasons:
It changed Judaism forever.
Jesus prophecies that it would be destroyed.
Jesus points us to a New Temple.
Jerusalem was the political, religious, and economic center in the life of every Jew.
Imagine Wall Street, Washington D.C. and Rome wrapped into one city.
The temple, in particular, was the center of Jerusalem where sacrifice was offered daily.
Several feasts each year called all the Jews of the world back to Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts.
When Jerusalem was destroyed, this ended those sacrifices prescribed by Moses even until today. Jews stopped having a priesthood and a sacrificial system the day that Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed.
Sometimes, Jesus is very blunt about it like in Matthew 24:1-2.
Matthew 24:1 And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
Other times, though, He is cryptic about it like when he says in Matthew 12:39-40: But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Well, what people don't usually understand is that Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because he knew that God might be merciful to those wicked people and use them to bring judgment on his own sinful people back in Israel.
So Jonah was afraid that if Assyria did in fact repent, God would then use them to destroy the Israelites who would not repent. This is exactly what happens.
And 40 years after Jonah preached to those people, the Ninevites came and destroyed his people and spread them throughout the world, and now they are the ten lost tribes of Israel.
The same thing happens in Jesus’ day, 40 years after He rises from the earth, the Romans come and destroy Jerusalem.
Another example is when Jesus cleanses the temple.
Matthew 21:13 He said to them, "It is written, `My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you make it a den of robbers."
Now Jesus is in fact quoting Jeremiah here and Jesus knows that the hearers know the context of the quote.
Jeremiah 7:11-13 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, says the LORD. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, says the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer.
Jesus calls himself the new temple in John.
John 2:19-21 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he spoke of the temple of his body.
John 19:33-35 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs; but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
This is significant because during some of the temple sacrifices both blood and water would be poured out over and the altar and they would run as a stream out of the side of the temple. Out of Jesus’ side flows blood and water.
Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own.
So again this significance is that, first, it is in the person of Christ himself that we go to meet God.
Secondly, Christ is the place of sacrifice. We are to be united in Him and with Him with our own sacrifices.
And finally, it is in Christ that we participate as a temple builder. We help build the temple of God here on earth and then later in heaven.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Relics
The Catholic Church is very incarnational in the sense that we believe that God still works through physical things. Sacraments, sacramentals and relics are examples of how God still works in the world through material things. Relics are what we will focus on today and we will see a Biblical basis for them. First, let’s discuss what is a relic.
The word relic comes from a Latin word that means “remains”.
When a Catholic is talking about a relic, they are talking about the remains of a saint, either part of their body, something they owned, or something that touched their body.
We believe that these things are special because God worked through the person that they belonged to, and not only that, but sometimes God continues to work through the remains of a saint.
For example, in the case of Elisha’s bones:
2 Kings 13:20-21 And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.
Now what is happening here? Elisha, the successor to the prophet Elijah, has obviously died. Some men are burying their friend near Elisha’s remains when some bandits come so they place their dead friend’s body in Elisha’s grave. Suddenly, the dead friend comes back to life.
Why did this happen? To show that not only did God work through the prophet during his life, but that God would continue to work through the things that belonged to the prophet, namely his bones in this case.
There is another example with Elijah and Elisha.
2 Kings 2:11-14 Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. And Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.
So why does God work through the mantle of Elijah? Because it is Elijah’s. It isn’t magic, it’s holiness.
This is my science fiction analogy. While some day, an evil master mind might go on some grand quest to find Elijah’s mantle so he can strike some great sea, split the waters into two and then march his evil army through on dry ground to some poor unsuspecting neighboring country to attack, this is the world of science fiction.
God works through physical things because we are physical beings, not just spiritual. This is to be kept in mind as well. God works through relationships, not mechanisms.
We see more examples of this in the New Testament with Peter and Paul.
It would seem as though even Peter’s shadow healed people.
Acts 5:15-16 They even carried the sick out into the streets, and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. And also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits; and they were all being healed.
Paul, as well, had miraculous things happen through his handkerchief.
Acts 19:11-12 And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
What about the objection that “this is just religious superstition and borders on idolatry.”
While any legitimate devotion can be abused, usually what the objection entails is that God does not work through things anymore. Maybe He did at one time in those special circumstances, but He doesn’t any more.
I would stick with a more consistent view of God and say that God did at times work through things and He still does.
You can imagine that even protestants would do this. If someone’s father was particularly virtuous and was devoted to the study of Scripture, when he died, a faithful son would take great care of that Bible, maybe even having a special place for it in the house. Why? Because it’s that Bible, but not just any Bible. It was my dad’s Bible that he used and he was a holy man.
It seems natural. That is why we have museums, to save important things. Relics, though, aren’t just important. They are holy because they belonged to holy people.
The word relic comes from a Latin word that means “remains”.
When a Catholic is talking about a relic, they are talking about the remains of a saint, either part of their body, something they owned, or something that touched their body.
We believe that these things are special because God worked through the person that they belonged to, and not only that, but sometimes God continues to work through the remains of a saint.
For example, in the case of Elisha’s bones:
2 Kings 13:20-21 And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.
Now what is happening here? Elisha, the successor to the prophet Elijah, has obviously died. Some men are burying their friend near Elisha’s remains when some bandits come so they place their dead friend’s body in Elisha’s grave. Suddenly, the dead friend comes back to life.
Why did this happen? To show that not only did God work through the prophet during his life, but that God would continue to work through the things that belonged to the prophet, namely his bones in this case.
There is another example with Elijah and Elisha.
2 Kings 2:11-14 Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. And Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.
So why does God work through the mantle of Elijah? Because it is Elijah’s. It isn’t magic, it’s holiness.
This is my science fiction analogy. While some day, an evil master mind might go on some grand quest to find Elijah’s mantle so he can strike some great sea, split the waters into two and then march his evil army through on dry ground to some poor unsuspecting neighboring country to attack, this is the world of science fiction.
God works through physical things because we are physical beings, not just spiritual. This is to be kept in mind as well. God works through relationships, not mechanisms.
We see more examples of this in the New Testament with Peter and Paul.
It would seem as though even Peter’s shadow healed people.
Acts 5:15-16 They even carried the sick out into the streets, and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. And also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits; and they were all being healed.
Paul, as well, had miraculous things happen through his handkerchief.
Acts 19:11-12 And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
What about the objection that “this is just religious superstition and borders on idolatry.”
While any legitimate devotion can be abused, usually what the objection entails is that God does not work through things anymore. Maybe He did at one time in those special circumstances, but He doesn’t any more.
I would stick with a more consistent view of God and say that God did at times work through things and He still does.
You can imagine that even protestants would do this. If someone’s father was particularly virtuous and was devoted to the study of Scripture, when he died, a faithful son would take great care of that Bible, maybe even having a special place for it in the house. Why? Because it’s that Bible, but not just any Bible. It was my dad’s Bible that he used and he was a holy man.
It seems natural. That is why we have museums, to save important things. Relics, though, aren’t just important. They are holy because they belonged to holy people.
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Cross in the Old Testament Part 2
We continue looking at how the Cross of Christ is prefigured in the Old Testament.
Just after Moses and the Israelites leave Egypt, but before they reach Mount Sinai, they are attacked by the Amalek.
During the battle, Moses climbs a mountain and holds up his staff in his hands. Provided his arms were outstretched the battle was to be won.
Exodus 17:11-13 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
So Moses holding the staff over his head visually would have looked like a cross. I thought also how again the cross of Christ is like St. Paul says in
1 Corinthians 1:18 …the power of God.
Now in the same story of Moses and the defeat Amalek; after the battle Exodus 17:15 say that Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD is My Banner.
I wondered what the Hebrew word for banner was and what its significance was here in the story. Why call that altar - The LORD is My Banner.
The Hebrew word ‘banner’ here is nissi, which means a banner, standard, like a flag.
So then I see where the word is used next and sure enough it is the Book of Numbers Chapter 21.
The situation here is that the Israelites once again are being rebellious, so God sends firey serpents to bite them and some of them die.
Numbers 21:8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about,
that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Jesus links the brazen serpent to his crucifixion.
Jesus in the New Testament is drawing on this imagery in the Gospel of John when he is talking with Nicodemus.
John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
Now when is Jesus lifted up? In this context it is the cross. Yet there are even further connections. Jesus says to Nicodemus
John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
John 12:32 and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
So when Jesus is lifted on the cross all men will be drawn to himself. This idea has its roots again in the Old Testament. Isaiah prophesied about Jesus saying:
Isaiah 11:9-12 In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a standard to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious. In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a standard for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
So this was prophesied about even in the Old Testament. Something else that struck me here was how Isaiah says “the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people”
When was the first time, but the first Exodus when God through Moses, extends his hands over the sea and at one time saves his people and destroys the enemy.
Moses says this after they get saved:
Exodus 15:6, 12 Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, thy right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy...Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
So Jesus will do the same - extend his hands on the cross, to defeat sin and save his people.
I think that the death of Samson with the death of Jesus are also.
Samson as we recall is the strong man of the Old Testament with the long hair. Eventually he is captured by the Philistines who are occupying and enslaving Israel at that time. They cut out his eyes and bring him out to make fun of him.
Nowall of the leaders of the Philistines are there at this party, some 3,000 people.
Judges 16:26-30 "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."…Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.
So in Samson’s death he destroys the enemy of his people. Jesus does the same.
Hebrews 2:14-15 that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Just after Moses and the Israelites leave Egypt, but before they reach Mount Sinai, they are attacked by the Amalek.
During the battle, Moses climbs a mountain and holds up his staff in his hands. Provided his arms were outstretched the battle was to be won.
Exodus 17:11-13 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
So Moses holding the staff over his head visually would have looked like a cross. I thought also how again the cross of Christ is like St. Paul says in
1 Corinthians 1:18 …the power of God.
Now in the same story of Moses and the defeat Amalek; after the battle Exodus 17:15 say that Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD is My Banner.
I wondered what the Hebrew word for banner was and what its significance was here in the story. Why call that altar - The LORD is My Banner.
The Hebrew word ‘banner’ here is nissi, which means a banner, standard, like a flag.
So then I see where the word is used next and sure enough it is the Book of Numbers Chapter 21.
The situation here is that the Israelites once again are being rebellious, so God sends firey serpents to bite them and some of them die.
Numbers 21:8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about,
that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Jesus links the brazen serpent to his crucifixion.
Jesus in the New Testament is drawing on this imagery in the Gospel of John when he is talking with Nicodemus.
John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
Now when is Jesus lifted up? In this context it is the cross. Yet there are even further connections. Jesus says to Nicodemus
John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
John 12:32 and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
So when Jesus is lifted on the cross all men will be drawn to himself. This idea has its roots again in the Old Testament. Isaiah prophesied about Jesus saying:
Isaiah 11:9-12 In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a standard to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious. In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a standard for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
So this was prophesied about even in the Old Testament. Something else that struck me here was how Isaiah says “the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people”
When was the first time, but the first Exodus when God through Moses, extends his hands over the sea and at one time saves his people and destroys the enemy.
Moses says this after they get saved:
Exodus 15:6, 12 Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, thy right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy...Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
So Jesus will do the same - extend his hands on the cross, to defeat sin and save his people.
I think that the death of Samson with the death of Jesus are also.
Samson as we recall is the strong man of the Old Testament with the long hair. Eventually he is captured by the Philistines who are occupying and enslaving Israel at that time. They cut out his eyes and bring him out to make fun of him.
Nowall of the leaders of the Philistines are there at this party, some 3,000 people.
Judges 16:26-30 "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."…Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.
So in Samson’s death he destroys the enemy of his people. Jesus does the same.
Hebrews 2:14-15 that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Cross in the Old Testament Part 1
(Don't forget I have having a sale on these commentaries to your right - 20% off for Christmas)
Let us find some foreshadowings in the Old Testament concerning the Cross of Jesus.
Ironically, to see the first place in the Old Testament where the cross is prefigured, we must look to the New Testament.
The apostles call the cross a tree.
Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom you put to death, hanging him upon a tree.
Acts 5:30 tells us that Jesus was put to death on a tree, which we know as the cross.
Keep that in mind as we look at a few other passages.
Then, earlier in John 6:51: Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
All of this was, of course, in the context of the Eucharist, and the words here eat and live forever are used only one other time together and that is in Genesis 3:22. God kicks Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden lest they eat of the Tree of life and live forever.
So, the Apostles, empowered with the Holy Spirit, recognize that Jesus was giving us His flesh on the cross, and that this flesh was given for eternal life, which we would experience in communion.
That is why, I imagine, they say that Jesus died on a tree, because they see that the cross is the New Tree of Life.
Now, let’s look to the book of Wisdom, which says some interesting things about the Noah’s Ark.
Wisdom 14:6-7 For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing, the hope of the world took refuge on a raft, and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation. For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.
It is as if the ark is a prefiguring of the cross. Solomon says that “the arrogant giants were perishing”. Now he is speaking of the Nephelim who were the offspring of the sons of God with the daughters of men. But we can also see this happening in Jesus’ day as well as our own day. The arrogant giants in politics, and entertainment ARE perishing, they do not last forever.
Solomon then says that “the hope of the world took refuge on a raft”. Solomon is comparing the ark to a raft. When the ark is compared to the flooding of the world it is likened to a raft, small and insignificant. The same is true with the Cross of Christ. A Jewish man was crucified 2000 years ago because he got some people upset. Yet Solomon says “the hope of the world took refuge on a raft.” The cross is exactly that; “the hope of the world”.
Solomon goes on and says that after the flood Noah and his sons were guided by God’s hand and gave to the world the “seed of a new generation.” Who better fits this than Christians? We are the Children of God born from water to eternal life. We are that new generation.
Finally, in verse 7 Solomon says, “For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.” Pointing backward, he is speaking of the ark, but pointing forward, he is talking about the wood of the cross by which righteousness comes.
We also see some powerful imagery with Abraham and Isaac.
We see poor Abraham in Genesis 22 being asked by God to sacrifice the son he was promised as a burnt offering. They travel three days to Mount Moriah, which is the same mountain Jesus would be crucified on. Here, we read:
Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son;
So Isaac here is carrying the wood up this mountain just like Jesus would do 1700 years later. It is as if they were preenacting the carrying of the cross.
Moses too points to the cross.
When Israelites had crossed over the Red Sea, the first thing they do is grumble and ask for water. Now the Hebrew word Marah, means bitter, or rebellion, so there is an interesting play on words here.
Exodus 15:23-24 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he proved them,
saying, "If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD, your healer."
So, the water reflected the rebellious attitude of the people. But God heals the water and those who drink it become healed of their rebellion as well.
And then in the New Testament we see
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
I cannot help but think that Christ does the same thing on the cross. He takes the punishment of a rebel and He makes that punishment something that we are all called to imitate because it leads to eternal life.
Sirach 38:5 Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that his power might be known?
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Let us find some foreshadowings in the Old Testament concerning the Cross of Jesus.
Ironically, to see the first place in the Old Testament where the cross is prefigured, we must look to the New Testament.
The apostles call the cross a tree.
Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom you put to death, hanging him upon a tree.
Acts 5:30 tells us that Jesus was put to death on a tree, which we know as the cross.
Keep that in mind as we look at a few other passages.
Then, earlier in John 6:51: Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
All of this was, of course, in the context of the Eucharist, and the words here eat and live forever are used only one other time together and that is in Genesis 3:22. God kicks Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden lest they eat of the Tree of life and live forever.
So, the Apostles, empowered with the Holy Spirit, recognize that Jesus was giving us His flesh on the cross, and that this flesh was given for eternal life, which we would experience in communion.
That is why, I imagine, they say that Jesus died on a tree, because they see that the cross is the New Tree of Life.
Now, let’s look to the book of Wisdom, which says some interesting things about the Noah’s Ark.
Wisdom 14:6-7 For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing, the hope of the world took refuge on a raft, and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation. For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.
It is as if the ark is a prefiguring of the cross. Solomon says that “the arrogant giants were perishing”. Now he is speaking of the Nephelim who were the offspring of the sons of God with the daughters of men. But we can also see this happening in Jesus’ day as well as our own day. The arrogant giants in politics, and entertainment ARE perishing, they do not last forever.
Solomon then says that “the hope of the world took refuge on a raft”. Solomon is comparing the ark to a raft. When the ark is compared to the flooding of the world it is likened to a raft, small and insignificant. The same is true with the Cross of Christ. A Jewish man was crucified 2000 years ago because he got some people upset. Yet Solomon says “the hope of the world took refuge on a raft.” The cross is exactly that; “the hope of the world”.
Solomon goes on and says that after the flood Noah and his sons were guided by God’s hand and gave to the world the “seed of a new generation.” Who better fits this than Christians? We are the Children of God born from water to eternal life. We are that new generation.
Finally, in verse 7 Solomon says, “For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.” Pointing backward, he is speaking of the ark, but pointing forward, he is talking about the wood of the cross by which righteousness comes.
We also see some powerful imagery with Abraham and Isaac.
We see poor Abraham in Genesis 22 being asked by God to sacrifice the son he was promised as a burnt offering. They travel three days to Mount Moriah, which is the same mountain Jesus would be crucified on. Here, we read:
Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son;
So Isaac here is carrying the wood up this mountain just like Jesus would do 1700 years later. It is as if they were preenacting the carrying of the cross.
Moses too points to the cross.
When Israelites had crossed over the Red Sea, the first thing they do is grumble and ask for water. Now the Hebrew word Marah, means bitter, or rebellion, so there is an interesting play on words here.
Exodus 15:23-24 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he proved them,
saying, "If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD, your healer."
So, the water reflected the rebellious attitude of the people. But God heals the water and those who drink it become healed of their rebellion as well.
And then in the New Testament we see
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
I cannot help but think that Christ does the same thing on the cross. He takes the punishment of a rebel and He makes that punishment something that we are all called to imitate because it leads to eternal life.
Sirach 38:5 Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that his power might be known?
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Friday, December 3, 2010
CHRISTMAS SALE!!!
The Commentary's prices have been cut down by 20%. That is a savings of $7.99 per book. NOW IS THE TIME!
- Do you have a gift for your parish priest? Get him a set and ask him to remember you at the altar!
- Need a gift for a seminarian friend? This is it!
- Are you in a Bible study and want to get deeper? These 1000 pages won't steer you wrong!
- Have a friend who studies the Bible? This is the gift for them!
Together these were originally $79.90 but are now only $63.92 you save $15.98!
This sale will not last long. Get the savings today!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Was Jesus Breaking The Law Of Moses?
(I hope this answers your questions Sharon)
Was Jesus too rough on the Scribes, Pharisees and Jewish leaders of his day. He seemed to be braking many Jewish laws; laws that Moses put in place from God. Then when the leadership give him grief about it Jesus seems to really lay into them. Was that fair?
Let’s begin by asking what laws Jesus seemed to be breaking?
Certainly he was accused of breaking the Sabbath for several reasons.
Exodus 20:8-10 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
Matthew 12:1-2 At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."
Matthew 12:10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they questioned Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"-- in order that they might accuse Him.
When a woman who had been sick for 18 years was healed by Jesus…
Luke 13:14 And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, "There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day."
In the parable of the good Samaritan Jesus seems to criticize the priest and Levite for passing the man that got beat up. But if they would have touched him they would have been ritually unclean according to the law of Moses.
Leviticus 21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people.
Luke 5:30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?"
If you read almost any part of the Old Testament it is pretty clear that we aren’t suppose to have anything to do with sinners.
Those seem to be the examples that someone would point out if they had an objection. How could we answer those?
First we need to know why those laws in the Old Testament were given. Then we need to ask who does Jesus think that he is that he can break those laws?
So why were those laws given: Don’t associate with sinners?
If you read the Old Testament you see that every time that the Israelites got anywhere near their pagan neighbors they began to act like them. So God - as a punishment - said that they needed to stay separated from their pagan neighbors so they could focus on the Lord. By Jesus’ time the Jews were taking pride in the fact that God had told them that they couldn’t associate with sinners and were forgetting WHY they couldn’t associate with them. Jesus was reminding the Jews of their other mission to be an example to Gentiles like King David and Solomon who attracted Gentiles to the true God.
Not only did Jesus come to remind them, but to empower them with the ability to do it better than Solomon.
Next with the priest and Levite who don’t touch the dead man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho - oh wait, he wasn’t dead, he was only half dead, yet in the story they still walked on.
Why didn’t God want priests and Levites to touch dead people? Now they could actually touch them but they would haven had to go through some ritual purifications before they couldn’t participate in worship again.
The Temple is model of Heaven and paradise. Those in heaven or paradise have nothing to do with death.
Jesus quotes Hosea saying.
Matthew 9:13 `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.'
The priests main job is to be a mediator between God and man, and to extend God’s mercy to those who are in trouble. That is what a bunch of the psalms are about.
Finally the accusation that Jesus broke the Sabbath.
Jesus referring to himself said:
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath."
That is a clear statement of his Divinity. The Sabbath rest was given to recall what God had done for us in our creation and in God rescuing Israel from Egypt that place of bondage.
Heaven is that ultimate rest where we will once again have communion with God as in paradise and be ultimately free from bondage to worship him as he is.
Jesus is a walking Sabbath because he is God made man. He is in himself that communion that he extends to all. He heals specifically on the Sabbath because that is the day it makes the most sense to do so.
Listen to what he says here:
John 7:23 If on the sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the sabbath I made a man's whole body well?
Why isn’t the Sabbath broken by the work of circumcision? Because this work of joining a baby to the communion of God is again the fulfillment of the Sabbath.
So Jesus is giving them a hard time, because the scribes and Pharisees knew all of this already. The problem was that Jesus didn’t fit into their idea of what the Christ would be like and they were too hard hearted to even give him and chance.
For example in John 12 after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. It is THAT event that sets into motion their plotting Jesus’ and Lazarus’ death.
Ultimately it wasn’t that Jesus was breaking the law, but fulfilling it in a way that was unexpected and dangerous to the way of life of some of the scribes and Pharisees and all of us.
P.S. The Editor of this blog (my wife) went to bed, so all grammatical and spelling errors are mine.
P.S.S. I have having a sale on the commentaries - 20% off. Crazy I know but it is for a limited time. Great gift for your parish priest, seminarian, Bible loving friend or new convert!
Was Jesus too rough on the Scribes, Pharisees and Jewish leaders of his day. He seemed to be braking many Jewish laws; laws that Moses put in place from God. Then when the leadership give him grief about it Jesus seems to really lay into them. Was that fair?
Let’s begin by asking what laws Jesus seemed to be breaking?
Certainly he was accused of breaking the Sabbath for several reasons.
Exodus 20:8-10 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
Matthew 12:1-2 At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."
Matthew 12:10 And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they questioned Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"-- in order that they might accuse Him.
When a woman who had been sick for 18 years was healed by Jesus…
Luke 13:14 And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, "There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day."
In the parable of the good Samaritan Jesus seems to criticize the priest and Levite for passing the man that got beat up. But if they would have touched him they would have been ritually unclean according to the law of Moses.
Leviticus 21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people.
Luke 5:30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?"
If you read almost any part of the Old Testament it is pretty clear that we aren’t suppose to have anything to do with sinners.
Those seem to be the examples that someone would point out if they had an objection. How could we answer those?
First we need to know why those laws in the Old Testament were given. Then we need to ask who does Jesus think that he is that he can break those laws?
So why were those laws given: Don’t associate with sinners?
If you read the Old Testament you see that every time that the Israelites got anywhere near their pagan neighbors they began to act like them. So God - as a punishment - said that they needed to stay separated from their pagan neighbors so they could focus on the Lord. By Jesus’ time the Jews were taking pride in the fact that God had told them that they couldn’t associate with sinners and were forgetting WHY they couldn’t associate with them. Jesus was reminding the Jews of their other mission to be an example to Gentiles like King David and Solomon who attracted Gentiles to the true God.
Not only did Jesus come to remind them, but to empower them with the ability to do it better than Solomon.
Next with the priest and Levite who don’t touch the dead man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho - oh wait, he wasn’t dead, he was only half dead, yet in the story they still walked on.
Why didn’t God want priests and Levites to touch dead people? Now they could actually touch them but they would haven had to go through some ritual purifications before they couldn’t participate in worship again.
The Temple is model of Heaven and paradise. Those in heaven or paradise have nothing to do with death.
Jesus quotes Hosea saying.
Matthew 9:13 `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.'
The priests main job is to be a mediator between God and man, and to extend God’s mercy to those who are in trouble. That is what a bunch of the psalms are about.
Finally the accusation that Jesus broke the Sabbath.
Jesus referring to himself said:
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath."
That is a clear statement of his Divinity. The Sabbath rest was given to recall what God had done for us in our creation and in God rescuing Israel from Egypt that place of bondage.
Heaven is that ultimate rest where we will once again have communion with God as in paradise and be ultimately free from bondage to worship him as he is.
Jesus is a walking Sabbath because he is God made man. He is in himself that communion that he extends to all. He heals specifically on the Sabbath because that is the day it makes the most sense to do so.
Listen to what he says here:
John 7:23 If on the sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the sabbath I made a man's whole body well?
Why isn’t the Sabbath broken by the work of circumcision? Because this work of joining a baby to the communion of God is again the fulfillment of the Sabbath.
So Jesus is giving them a hard time, because the scribes and Pharisees knew all of this already. The problem was that Jesus didn’t fit into their idea of what the Christ would be like and they were too hard hearted to even give him and chance.
For example in John 12 after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. It is THAT event that sets into motion their plotting Jesus’ and Lazarus’ death.
Ultimately it wasn’t that Jesus was breaking the law, but fulfilling it in a way that was unexpected and dangerous to the way of life of some of the scribes and Pharisees and all of us.
P.S. The Editor of this blog (my wife) went to bed, so all grammatical and spelling errors are mine.
P.S.S. I have having a sale on the commentaries - 20% off. Crazy I know but it is for a limited time. Great gift for your parish priest, seminarian, Bible loving friend or new convert!
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