Jesus twice explained the ability of those who in prayer ask God for something and they will receive it. Of course these statements have been discussed many times. In fact, as time goes on, modern people have less and less understanding of what Jesus promises and delivers rather than having more and more faith or scholarly based understanding. Further, when someone "prays for something" and "does not get it," they use these powerful statements of truth and faith in the One God to question God's reliability, constancy, power, mercy and even his existence... and even go so far as to cast doubt on Jesus. This is unacceptable. If generations of unlettered and unschooled people who lived in great poverty understood what Jesus said (and the Apostles explained, in general, in the writings of the New Testament), there is no excuse for not understanding in these modern times. Further, there is no reason for the clergy to be on the defensive and abashed when challenged by someone who "prayed for something" and "did not receive it."
So instead of wading through the scripture and explaining it (following the routes of many who do indeed "get" it) definitively, I have (yes!) an analogy, made for just the modern person, especially the young people (hi there, have not forgotten you at all). So I've going to reverse order this time by giving you the analogy first, and then the scriptures.
A man lives in a small town, in a remote area, so there are no other towns or cities nearby at all. There is only one bank in town and knowing that there are no other sources of loans, the bank has a sign on the front of the building saying "No request for a loan will be turned down."
This man needs a new plow for his field, so he goes to the bank and asks for a loan. With a smiling face and much genuine graciousness the bank officer gives to him the loan, right on the spot. Instead of looking happy, though, the man looks puzzled and alarmed as he stares at the money in his hand. The officer asks him, "What is the matter?" The man replies, "You gave me the money in our local currency!"
The officer is astonished because she replies, "What else would we have to give to you?" The man then petulantly says, "I did not plan to buy this plow locally! I planned to use a mail order to a foreign land and thus I need their currency!"
Thus the man received his loan as promised, in good faith, by the bank, but he refused to use it.
***
Well, what have we here? We have a bank, in this analogy, that in fullness of generosity far beyond "business sense" or "economics" gives in immediate cash loans to anyone of the residents of this small town and remote region who make his or her way to their door and asks. So the bank is not only blameless but generous beyond understanding. Everyone in the area not only understands what a gift this bank's attitude, policy and gift is, but glorifies it (I bet that bank receives some nice gifts of fruit baskets left at their door!)
Yet we have a man who is so wrapped up in his own desires that he can live there and understand how generous the bank is and then still be astonished when they cannot accommodate him in a secular theoretical matter far from their given generosity. He thinks this small poor bank is like a magic box that can read his mind and have "voila!" the foreign currency waiting for him so he can not patronize the local merchants (his own family, neighbors and community) so he can mail away and "give the business" to some unknown land.
This is how you must understand asking God for anything. You are entering "God's bank" and "God's kingdom" when you enter his bank of prayer. This is why Jesus each time says one must ask "in prayer." Prayer is not a magic formula, a ritual that one must say aloud or think in organized thoughts to God because "that's how it works" and "that's how God knows what you are asking for." Prayer means you have accepted being a resident of the kingdom of God. As a resident of the kingdom of God you are only asking for what God in his perfect generosity knows is good for you and most important of all, good for humanity's participation in God's kingdom. Needless to say, it is an obvious egregious mistake to ask God for anything that is counter to being in communion with God as a believer. But this is also why you cannot ask in "good faith" many things of God and expect to receive in the way you expect. You see, even if you "believe" and ask in "good faith," if your asking is a form of "testing God," as the analogy man did, you demonstrate that your desire may be to be of the kingdom of God, but you are not in your mind and heart really there.
Understand the correct mindset by reading this:
And on being asked by the Pharisees, "When is the kingdom of God coming?" he answered and said to them, "The kingdom of God comes unawares. Neither will they say, 'Behold, here it is," or 'Behold, there it is.' For behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
(Luke 17:20-21).
Now, notice that Jesus is not speaking of either 1) the end of times (for the Pharisees were asking when God will rule the world in justice, not when the world will end in final judgment) nor 2) of God himself literally living like some pagan spirit within a person (for many unbelievers think that they command "powers" because they have "a part of God within them." What Jesus is making clear is that everyone shares in making on earth the reality of the kingdom of God "within" them and, further, the kingdom of God creeps unseen within someone's heart because it is not achieved by works but by grace and faith.
So now that you understand that in my analogy the bank and the small remote region are like the kingdom of God as Jesus explains it in Luke 17:20-21, now I will close this message with the two scriptures that are those where Jesus promises the answer to prayer.
And I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened. But if one of you asks his father for a loaf, will he hand him a stone? or for a fish hand him a serpent? or if he asks for an egg, will he hand him a scorpion? Therefore, if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Good Spirit to those who ask him!"
(Luke 11:9).
But Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what I have done to the fig tree, but even if you shall say to this mountain, 'Arise, and hurl thyself into the sea,' it shall be done. And all things whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
(Matthew 21:21-22).
Jesus also refers to the Second Coming and his return, when all who are worthy and thus in God's book of life will be fully in the Kingdom of God and thus can ask for anything but will not need to as they will already have all of God's goodness.
And you therefore have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one shall take from you. And in that day you shall ask me nothing. Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.
(John 16:22-24).
Showing posts with label Book of Matthew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book of Matthew. Show all posts
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Spiritual direction: part 2 of post about Satan
Here’s one more important point regarding the previous posting about Satan and demons.
I mentioned how demons recognize Jesus for who he truly is, before he even spoke to them.
Matthew 8:28-29
And when He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two men under the control of demons went to meet Him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce and savage that no one was able to pass that way.
And behold, they shrieked and screamed, What have You to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time? (Amplified Bible).
Notice three things: 1) They recognize Jesus as he is walking toward them, before he even speaks, 2) They know that Jesus is the Son of God, and 3) They fear him and know he has total power over them.
So the point I want to make is to help you to distinguish between evil deeds done by humans on their own volition (the vastly most common event), demonic influence or possession (extremely rare) and dialogue or possession by Satan himself (unheard of except momentarily with Judas).
Notice that a demon would never have been “enough” to possess Judas. You can see that demons freak totally out at the very approach of Jesus, and are in dread and fear because they must obey Jesus in all things. Further, demons know they will be punished by Jesus, in the name of God, for what they have done among humans, so at the very approach of Jesus, they are already dreading their punishment. Thus, one or more demons could never have been able to tempt and force Judas to betray Jesus. Demons would not be able to abide being in the body of anyone near to Jesus at all. So Satan himself had to “press the button,” in the sense of daring to enter the body of Judas (who Satan had prepared via ongoing temptations) in the very presence of Jesus, in order to stimulate Judas to perform the betrayal. But notice two things. One is that even Satan himself stayed “in” Judas for the “bare minimum” of time; he was there just enough to get Judas to make the decision to betray, to get up from the table, leave the room, seek out the authorities, and make the betrayal. Satan immediately abandoned Judas at that point. So Satan himself is unable to spend any length of time in defiance of Jesus.
Second point is that Satan too is subject to Jesus. Thus Jesus had to tell Judas to “get on with it” basically, and if you are going to betray, then do it now. Only after Jesus indicates his awareness and acceptance of Judas’ free will decision does Satan dare to enter Judas. Satan would have viewed what Jesus said as “permission to tempt.” Demons and Satan would never dare or abide to be in the very presence of Jesus without the permission of Jesus to speak with him.
Thus you have to understand that humans cannot continually blame Satan and demons for their own evil. Satan and demons did not possess the guards who seized Jesus, the judges who condemned him, the friends who fled from him, the priests who backstabbed him, and the centurions who flogged, mocked and crucified him. These were people being people, and doing evil all on their own.
I’m so annoyed with modern people who diminish the reality of God, yet inflate the influence of “demons” or spirits or Satan in “causing bad things to happen.” All Satan does is display a false banquet of temptation in front of humans. That is literally all that Satan does on earth. As I explained in the previous post of this subject, many people are totally immune through their humility and belief of even seeing the banquet of false temptations. My deceased stepfather is an example of such a person. He would not see a temptation by Satan if it jumped up and down in front of him. It’s like being color blind. Many people are color blind to Satanic temptation; they just don’t see it and it would not even occur to them to accept a given temptation offer even if it was patiently explained to them.
Other people cultivate their taste for satanic temptations. They not only respond to the false promises and temptations by Satan but they go into the business of offering more temptations and leading others to them. At that point it is all human weakness and evil doing. Satan does not guide any human hands at all. Satan just offers the false banquet of inflated beliefs that some humans sup from. In the most extreme case, as I mentioned, Hitler, acceptance becomes so overwhelming and continual in some area of temptation that a demon resides within him as a continual connection to that temptation.
Satan is a mail order catalog of false offerings that some people leaf through, while others toss it into the garbage bin unopened and unviewed as soon as they see it in the mailbox. That is why Satan is not to be feared, and that is what Jesus meant when he said so in the Gospel. Satan is not to be feared; Satan is to be ignored. And Satan certainly can not be used as the excuse when someone opens Satan’s catalog, selects an item and then, worse, copies it so that others will be sucked in. That is the vast majority of what humans today are doing. Satan does not enter into people except to send a “new catalog available” notice that, as I said, many do not even hear or perceive, as they are immune through their faith and humility.
Internet porn is an example of technology making a “new catalog available” by Satan. Satan tempted through lust and money those who sought to be sexually gratified in an unnatural way AND those who seek to profit from that “industry.” But Satan is not pushing the buttons in any individual, nor following a “temptation plan” or “destiny.” Humans do that all by themselves. Satan grooms humans for internet porn through his usual catalog offering of “Who needs rules? I’m free to be me and do whatever I want. I’m not hurting anyone. Anything goes!” This is his standard offering. Those who “buy in” to that satanic catalog offering then proceed to use their human skills, motivations and weaknesses to construct the industry and perform the criminal deeds that enable the Internet porn industry. Thus, Satan’s only role was his usual, which is to offer that combination “I have a need for personal freedom, yet I can’t resist this sexual urge (and by the way, I can make money and have power over others)” and see who accepts. This is Satan’s same old offer and the only thing that changes is how many humans, through weakened faith and societal/family infrastructure, accept the temptation and then go about constructing some evil for themselves and others. Also the inability to wisely evolve with technology offers more overwhelming ways to flood everyone with temptations away from what is good. An example of that is children who use cell phones to film beat downs of other children. That is a crime and a sin that just was not available prior to the technology. So Satan is not building the cell phone, or entering into a child to make him or her beat another and film it, and Satan’s not in the Internet providing the media to post it: That is all human’s “work.” However, Satan infected the mindset of entire communities, businesses, agencies, governments and so forth by luring them to accept the “Free to do whatever we please and we are not really hurting anyone anyway and there are no consequences from God, who may or may not exist” temptation that initiates the chain of terror and sin.
I mentioned how demons recognize Jesus for who he truly is, before he even spoke to them.
Matthew 8:28-29
And when He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two men under the control of demons went to meet Him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce and savage that no one was able to pass that way.
And behold, they shrieked and screamed, What have You to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time? (Amplified Bible).
Notice three things: 1) They recognize Jesus as he is walking toward them, before he even speaks, 2) They know that Jesus is the Son of God, and 3) They fear him and know he has total power over them.
So the point I want to make is to help you to distinguish between evil deeds done by humans on their own volition (the vastly most common event), demonic influence or possession (extremely rare) and dialogue or possession by Satan himself (unheard of except momentarily with Judas).
Notice that a demon would never have been “enough” to possess Judas. You can see that demons freak totally out at the very approach of Jesus, and are in dread and fear because they must obey Jesus in all things. Further, demons know they will be punished by Jesus, in the name of God, for what they have done among humans, so at the very approach of Jesus, they are already dreading their punishment. Thus, one or more demons could never have been able to tempt and force Judas to betray Jesus. Demons would not be able to abide being in the body of anyone near to Jesus at all. So Satan himself had to “press the button,” in the sense of daring to enter the body of Judas (who Satan had prepared via ongoing temptations) in the very presence of Jesus, in order to stimulate Judas to perform the betrayal. But notice two things. One is that even Satan himself stayed “in” Judas for the “bare minimum” of time; he was there just enough to get Judas to make the decision to betray, to get up from the table, leave the room, seek out the authorities, and make the betrayal. Satan immediately abandoned Judas at that point. So Satan himself is unable to spend any length of time in defiance of Jesus.
Second point is that Satan too is subject to Jesus. Thus Jesus had to tell Judas to “get on with it” basically, and if you are going to betray, then do it now. Only after Jesus indicates his awareness and acceptance of Judas’ free will decision does Satan dare to enter Judas. Satan would have viewed what Jesus said as “permission to tempt.” Demons and Satan would never dare or abide to be in the very presence of Jesus without the permission of Jesus to speak with him.
Thus you have to understand that humans cannot continually blame Satan and demons for their own evil. Satan and demons did not possess the guards who seized Jesus, the judges who condemned him, the friends who fled from him, the priests who backstabbed him, and the centurions who flogged, mocked and crucified him. These were people being people, and doing evil all on their own.
I’m so annoyed with modern people who diminish the reality of God, yet inflate the influence of “demons” or spirits or Satan in “causing bad things to happen.” All Satan does is display a false banquet of temptation in front of humans. That is literally all that Satan does on earth. As I explained in the previous post of this subject, many people are totally immune through their humility and belief of even seeing the banquet of false temptations. My deceased stepfather is an example of such a person. He would not see a temptation by Satan if it jumped up and down in front of him. It’s like being color blind. Many people are color blind to Satanic temptation; they just don’t see it and it would not even occur to them to accept a given temptation offer even if it was patiently explained to them.
Other people cultivate their taste for satanic temptations. They not only respond to the false promises and temptations by Satan but they go into the business of offering more temptations and leading others to them. At that point it is all human weakness and evil doing. Satan does not guide any human hands at all. Satan just offers the false banquet of inflated beliefs that some humans sup from. In the most extreme case, as I mentioned, Hitler, acceptance becomes so overwhelming and continual in some area of temptation that a demon resides within him as a continual connection to that temptation.
Satan is a mail order catalog of false offerings that some people leaf through, while others toss it into the garbage bin unopened and unviewed as soon as they see it in the mailbox. That is why Satan is not to be feared, and that is what Jesus meant when he said so in the Gospel. Satan is not to be feared; Satan is to be ignored. And Satan certainly can not be used as the excuse when someone opens Satan’s catalog, selects an item and then, worse, copies it so that others will be sucked in. That is the vast majority of what humans today are doing. Satan does not enter into people except to send a “new catalog available” notice that, as I said, many do not even hear or perceive, as they are immune through their faith and humility.
Internet porn is an example of technology making a “new catalog available” by Satan. Satan tempted through lust and money those who sought to be sexually gratified in an unnatural way AND those who seek to profit from that “industry.” But Satan is not pushing the buttons in any individual, nor following a “temptation plan” or “destiny.” Humans do that all by themselves. Satan grooms humans for internet porn through his usual catalog offering of “Who needs rules? I’m free to be me and do whatever I want. I’m not hurting anyone. Anything goes!” This is his standard offering. Those who “buy in” to that satanic catalog offering then proceed to use their human skills, motivations and weaknesses to construct the industry and perform the criminal deeds that enable the Internet porn industry. Thus, Satan’s only role was his usual, which is to offer that combination “I have a need for personal freedom, yet I can’t resist this sexual urge (and by the way, I can make money and have power over others)” and see who accepts. This is Satan’s same old offer and the only thing that changes is how many humans, through weakened faith and societal/family infrastructure, accept the temptation and then go about constructing some evil for themselves and others. Also the inability to wisely evolve with technology offers more overwhelming ways to flood everyone with temptations away from what is good. An example of that is children who use cell phones to film beat downs of other children. That is a crime and a sin that just was not available prior to the technology. So Satan is not building the cell phone, or entering into a child to make him or her beat another and film it, and Satan’s not in the Internet providing the media to post it: That is all human’s “work.” However, Satan infected the mindset of entire communities, businesses, agencies, governments and so forth by luring them to accept the “Free to do whatever we please and we are not really hurting anyone anyway and there are no consequences from God, who may or may not exist” temptation that initiates the chain of terror and sin.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 24:4-6
And in answer Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they shall lead many astray. For you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Take care that you do not be alarmed, for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 15: 29-30
And when Jesus had departed from there, he went along the sea of Galilee; and he went up the mountain and sat there.
And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others; and they set them down at his feet, and he cured them...
And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others; and they set them down at his feet, and he cured them...
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 13:23
"And the one sown upon good ground, that is he who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixtyfold, and in another thirtyfold."
Thursday, July 10, 2008
More about the so called tablet controversy
There is further discussion on the Ignatius Insight blog, so I composed and added this comment.
While the resurrection of Jesus was “a surprise” to everyone, even though he prophesied it several times to the Apostles, there is extensive evidence and detail within King David’s psalm 21 so much that this psalm, in my 1962 Confraternity-Douay version of the Bible it is labeled as “Passion and Triumph of the Messiah.” The footnotes read, “Psalm 21 is one of the most important of the Messianic psalms. Our Lord Himself on the cross repeated its first line.” [That line is, to refresh everyone’s memory “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”] The footnote continues, “…and several other verses are directly quoted, or at least alluded to, in the New Testament as pertaining to His Passion. Of no other person is this touching description of spiritual and physical suffering so eminently true as it is of Jesus Christ. Hence, the entire psalm has been traditionally interpreted in the Catholic Church as referring to Him. The psalmist, therefore, speaks in Christ’s name when in the first section (2-22) he describes the Messiah’s dereliction (2-6), opprobrium (7-9); and physical sufferings (18-19), together with his unshakable confidence I the heavenly Father (10-12; 20-22); and in the second part, the fruits of His Redemption: the grateful praise of the redeemed (23-27), the conversion of the Gentiles (28-30), and the glory of God and His beloved Son (30-32)."
Psalm 21 is understood by all Catholic scholars to be the phrase by phrase “Messianic psalm.” Jesus quotes from it as he is dying on the cross, Matthew 27:46 so, um, clearly Jesus “got the idea” to “say that” from this psalm, which was written before the exile to Babylon and hence at least five hundred years before Jesus. Psalm 21:17-18 prophesies “Indeed, many dogs surround me, a pack of evil doers closes in upon me; they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones. They look on and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” That precisely happened on Cavalry. I say prophesies because clearly no one crucified King David and in fact there were no crucifying Romans in sight when this psalm was written, so he was not writing about himself. King David, and I gaze on one of my favorite pictures depicting this, was the pre-eminent prophesier of the Messiah, from the details quoted above of the crucifixion to the conversion of “all the ends of the earth” (the Gentiles), which no one could have made up as a scenario in 500 BC. Psalm 21, referenced by Jesus Christ himself on the cross, is the step by step validated description of the passion of the Messiah and his ultimate triumph. The only thing not in that psalm is to state literally that he would rise from the dead after three days and remain on earth another forty.
But if one thinks about it, the passion is described in the lines up to and including line 22, where the Messiah appeals to God to “hasten to aid” and “save” him. Line 23 then states, “I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” The psalm has been entirely sequential in “order,” and so after “they have pierced my hands and my feet” the prophesied Messiah appeals to God and next he will “proclaim” the name of God “in the midst of the assembly.” Any Jewish scholar would have had an expectation of a miraculous return, if not literally as soon as rising from the dead after three days. This psalm was hardly unknown to anyone and in fact, Jesus quotes its first line as he is dying on the cross. So it would be entirely consistent that Jewish scholars would interpret this psalm as having been the disbelief in and then triumphant return of the Messiah, envisioning something like Elias returning in glory. In fact, that is the first thing that those who hear Jesus appeal on the cross believe he is calling for, Elias to come. Jewish Messianic expectations would be entirely consistent with believing the Messiah would be disbelieved and mocked (certainly they would expect that from the Romans), and then a sudden glorious intervention by God. It would not have occurred to them that the Messiah would allow his own death, and then resurrect in the body within a matter of days, bearing the actual wounds, but in a glorified body that could appear through walls into the gathering’s midst.
So the dialogue about the tablet has been very strange and forces two artificial sides to quarrel with each other. One side I guess is supposed to think that early Christians just put together a Jesus fiction based on prophecy and common beliefs, and then conspiracy theory-like they would have made up the whole resurrection event. So that side would think finding some words seeming to “prophesy” or “record a belief” that a Messiah would resurrect in three days a “good thing” because they must have been bothered by where Jesus’ followers “got the resurrection idea from” if it’s not in Psalm 21 explicitly or in Isaiah. So that side is supposed to be gleeful that they found the place that Jesus’ followers “got the idea from” to fill in the “missing link” in the “fictionalized” account of Jesus’ life. Then the other artificial side is supposed to be, I guess, Christians who are supposed to be dismayed that some average Joe “heard from Gabriel” and had “expectations” of “dying and rising again in three days.” That’s kind of like saying that the “been there done that” T-shirt had already been worn, and therefore Christians are only supposed to believe in the truth of the Gospel only because “no one ever thought of those ideas before.” Both “sides” are constructs of the same agenda, which are poor faith, sensationalism and faulty logic and scholarship (if any). There is no proof of the goods authenticity and yet an artificial “debate” has already been framed. I hope this comment helps readers who might not have been taught the significance of the Davidic Messiah prophecies.
***
Some additional thoughts for my readers. As I, and many before me have explained, you have to use faith and reason. Faith is not the suspension of logic and intelligence. Faith is the belief that there is a God, who has a plan, and the plan is benevolent toward all life, including human beings. So if you believe and have faith, even as general a faith statement as that, it permits you to see all the aspects of a problem, debate or scholarly development from the confidence that God is "doing something."
Reasoning is essential because people are so used to sound bytes and responding to being baited, often just for reasons of meanness, jealousy and entertainment, that they lose their heads and don't think things through one step at a time. So on the one hand you have even the most general faith that a benevolent and all knowing, all powerful God has an interest in the welfare of humans, even if that way cannot always be understood. On the other hand you have the testimony of many people who paid the ultimate price for their beliefs, and obviously were not doing so in order to "fool" unimaginable generations after them. With faith and reason, therefore, one can sift through what is false, what is real, what is implied, and what is unknowable or unprovable. And THAT is a lot to accomplish and all for the greater good of the individual and humanity as a whole.
While the resurrection of Jesus was “a surprise” to everyone, even though he prophesied it several times to the Apostles, there is extensive evidence and detail within King David’s psalm 21 so much that this psalm, in my 1962 Confraternity-Douay version of the Bible it is labeled as “Passion and Triumph of the Messiah.” The footnotes read, “Psalm 21 is one of the most important of the Messianic psalms. Our Lord Himself on the cross repeated its first line.” [That line is, to refresh everyone’s memory “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”] The footnote continues, “…and several other verses are directly quoted, or at least alluded to, in the New Testament as pertaining to His Passion. Of no other person is this touching description of spiritual and physical suffering so eminently true as it is of Jesus Christ. Hence, the entire psalm has been traditionally interpreted in the Catholic Church as referring to Him. The psalmist, therefore, speaks in Christ’s name when in the first section (2-22) he describes the Messiah’s dereliction (2-6), opprobrium (7-9); and physical sufferings (18-19), together with his unshakable confidence I the heavenly Father (10-12; 20-22); and in the second part, the fruits of His Redemption: the grateful praise of the redeemed (23-27), the conversion of the Gentiles (28-30), and the glory of God and His beloved Son (30-32)."
Psalm 21 is understood by all Catholic scholars to be the phrase by phrase “Messianic psalm.” Jesus quotes from it as he is dying on the cross, Matthew 27:46 so, um, clearly Jesus “got the idea” to “say that” from this psalm, which was written before the exile to Babylon and hence at least five hundred years before Jesus. Psalm 21:17-18 prophesies “Indeed, many dogs surround me, a pack of evil doers closes in upon me; they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones. They look on and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” That precisely happened on Cavalry. I say prophesies because clearly no one crucified King David and in fact there were no crucifying Romans in sight when this psalm was written, so he was not writing about himself. King David, and I gaze on one of my favorite pictures depicting this, was the pre-eminent prophesier of the Messiah, from the details quoted above of the crucifixion to the conversion of “all the ends of the earth” (the Gentiles), which no one could have made up as a scenario in 500 BC. Psalm 21, referenced by Jesus Christ himself on the cross, is the step by step validated description of the passion of the Messiah and his ultimate triumph. The only thing not in that psalm is to state literally that he would rise from the dead after three days and remain on earth another forty.
But if one thinks about it, the passion is described in the lines up to and including line 22, where the Messiah appeals to God to “hasten to aid” and “save” him. Line 23 then states, “I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” The psalm has been entirely sequential in “order,” and so after “they have pierced my hands and my feet” the prophesied Messiah appeals to God and next he will “proclaim” the name of God “in the midst of the assembly.” Any Jewish scholar would have had an expectation of a miraculous return, if not literally as soon as rising from the dead after three days. This psalm was hardly unknown to anyone and in fact, Jesus quotes its first line as he is dying on the cross. So it would be entirely consistent that Jewish scholars would interpret this psalm as having been the disbelief in and then triumphant return of the Messiah, envisioning something like Elias returning in glory. In fact, that is the first thing that those who hear Jesus appeal on the cross believe he is calling for, Elias to come. Jewish Messianic expectations would be entirely consistent with believing the Messiah would be disbelieved and mocked (certainly they would expect that from the Romans), and then a sudden glorious intervention by God. It would not have occurred to them that the Messiah would allow his own death, and then resurrect in the body within a matter of days, bearing the actual wounds, but in a glorified body that could appear through walls into the gathering’s midst.
So the dialogue about the tablet has been very strange and forces two artificial sides to quarrel with each other. One side I guess is supposed to think that early Christians just put together a Jesus fiction based on prophecy and common beliefs, and then conspiracy theory-like they would have made up the whole resurrection event. So that side would think finding some words seeming to “prophesy” or “record a belief” that a Messiah would resurrect in three days a “good thing” because they must have been bothered by where Jesus’ followers “got the resurrection idea from” if it’s not in Psalm 21 explicitly or in Isaiah. So that side is supposed to be gleeful that they found the place that Jesus’ followers “got the idea from” to fill in the “missing link” in the “fictionalized” account of Jesus’ life. Then the other artificial side is supposed to be, I guess, Christians who are supposed to be dismayed that some average Joe “heard from Gabriel” and had “expectations” of “dying and rising again in three days.” That’s kind of like saying that the “been there done that” T-shirt had already been worn, and therefore Christians are only supposed to believe in the truth of the Gospel only because “no one ever thought of those ideas before.” Both “sides” are constructs of the same agenda, which are poor faith, sensationalism and faulty logic and scholarship (if any). There is no proof of the goods authenticity and yet an artificial “debate” has already been framed. I hope this comment helps readers who might not have been taught the significance of the Davidic Messiah prophecies.
***
Some additional thoughts for my readers. As I, and many before me have explained, you have to use faith and reason. Faith is not the suspension of logic and intelligence. Faith is the belief that there is a God, who has a plan, and the plan is benevolent toward all life, including human beings. So if you believe and have faith, even as general a faith statement as that, it permits you to see all the aspects of a problem, debate or scholarly development from the confidence that God is "doing something."
Reasoning is essential because people are so used to sound bytes and responding to being baited, often just for reasons of meanness, jealousy and entertainment, that they lose their heads and don't think things through one step at a time. So on the one hand you have even the most general faith that a benevolent and all knowing, all powerful God has an interest in the welfare of humans, even if that way cannot always be understood. On the other hand you have the testimony of many people who paid the ultimate price for their beliefs, and obviously were not doing so in order to "fool" unimaginable generations after them. With faith and reason, therefore, one can sift through what is false, what is real, what is implied, and what is unknowable or unprovable. And THAT is a lot to accomplish and all for the greater good of the individual and humanity as a whole.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 10:23-28
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: When they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another. Amen, I say to you, you shall not finish all the cities of Israel till the Son of man come. The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the good of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household? Therefore fear them not; for nothing is covered that shall not be revealed; nor hid that shall not be known. That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light; and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops. And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him, that can destroy both soul and body into hell.
***
Note: by the way, I was shocked that someone I know who actually teaches Sunday school thought that "Him" refers to Satan, that Jesus is saying to fear Satan! Oh my God, are people totally unable to read? "Him" refers to God. Only God can destroy the body and soul by sending someone into hell. Satan can't destroy souls dummies. And Satan does not send people to hell. So Jesus is reminding people to not fear other people who can only kill the body, but to rather have healthy fear of God who can destroy not only the body but also the soul by sending the persons to hell.
People have no reason to fear Satan, and Jesus would never preach that and was in fact the walking and talking role model of how Satan is not to be feared. All Satan does is tempt, that is all. Satan does not do bad things to people; people do bad things to each other. Satan is the example where "just say no" really works. If Satan has no power to tempt a person then Satan virtually disappears out of a person's life. He's just not even around. Like I've pointed out, it's not like Satan was running around kicking sand in the faces of baby dinosaurs before humans were around. Satan exists only in the form of temptation and deception. He has no power over human bodies or souls and he certainly has no power to judge their fate.
So in this very valuable exhortation and teaching by Jesus, while he is focusing on bolstering the disciples' courage to speak the truth and declare the faith even if their lives are threatened, he is also reminding them that only One, who is God, can go past destroying the body and also destroy the immortal soul, should God have to send that person to hell where such is achieved.
Fear of God means fearing to lose your relationship to God. It's not fear of God like God is waiting around each corner to do something bad to you. (That's a talent of humans, unfortunately). God waits around each corner to love each person and to be loved. Fear of God is not terror, but the fear of losing one's relationship with God so that one may indeed lose not only body but also soul for eternity.
OK, while I'm at it I ought to be sure I've walked you through the right way to interpret this whole passage. First of all Jesus is encouraging the disciples to not be afraid of those who oppose their preaching, even if the opponents threaten them with their lives. Next he is telling them to keep it all in context, that they are not going to convert the whole world. This is what Jesus means when he says they won't get to all of Israel before the Son of man comes. Remember that Jesus was only preaching to Jews when he lived. So Israel means the world in this context, not just the "state" of Israel. So Jesus was saying that just as he would not get to convert all of Israel, the disciples should not assume that they will either. All of "Israel" will only be converted when the Son of man comes (the Second Coming at the End of Days/Time and Final Judgment). So Jesus is basically tell them to be realistic in their aspirations to evangelize and convert.
This is why Jesus goes into a whole section about humility. This is an important concept because he is distinguishing between being a good role model and being "better" than someone. Jesus is saying that if he himself cannot convert everyone then how can they think that they can convert everyone? The followers are not better than or more talented or gifted than the master. So Jesus is cautioning them not to start to think that they are better than him or can achieve "more." However, he then tells them that followers should emulate and try to be like their master. This is why he says "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord." You see? Jesus is teaching the disciples to emulate him but not to assume that they can do what he could not (specifically convert all of Israel).
He then goes on to repeat a common slander that was made against Jesus by his detractors and those who opposed his teaching. Jews who opposed Jesus often accused him of being Beelzebub, which is the devil. So Jesus is basically saying, somewhat wryly, that if these opponents are crazy enough to call Jesus the devil, imagine how crazy they will be to you, his followers. So he is repeating his advice which is that if people are crazy enough to think that Jesus is the devil, then they will think that of the disciples too, and to not fear them, but not to bother with them after the initial attempt to evangelize and convert.
Jesus then builds on this advice about the slander by pointing out that the truth will always come out. People who accuse Jesus and his followers of being Beelzebub, etc, will learn the truth at some point or another (though it might be when they die and get the unpleasant surprise then). So Jesus is reassuring them that even if they are accused of dreadful and false things, do not despair, because the truth will come out.
Jesus then exhorts them to not just wait for the truth to come out but always to highlight and amplify the truth at all times. So what they have learned from Jesus, for example, they should take and broadcast as much as they can. This is, by the way, another scriptural reference that refutes that Jesus "had secrets" or taught the disciples secret lore that only New Age geniuses can detect in the future through secret lemonade writing or something. Jesus continually tells the disciples to repeat to everyone all that he, Jesus, had taught them.
Then he goes into the reminder to not fear those who can kill the body, but fear losing one's body and soul by losing God and ending up in hell, as I detailed already above.
I hope this helps. This is crucial teaching by Jesus in his very words and should be well understood in factual analysis by all Christians and people of faith.
***
Note: by the way, I was shocked that someone I know who actually teaches Sunday school thought that "Him" refers to Satan, that Jesus is saying to fear Satan! Oh my God, are people totally unable to read? "Him" refers to God. Only God can destroy the body and soul by sending someone into hell. Satan can't destroy souls dummies. And Satan does not send people to hell. So Jesus is reminding people to not fear other people who can only kill the body, but to rather have healthy fear of God who can destroy not only the body but also the soul by sending the persons to hell.
People have no reason to fear Satan, and Jesus would never preach that and was in fact the walking and talking role model of how Satan is not to be feared. All Satan does is tempt, that is all. Satan does not do bad things to people; people do bad things to each other. Satan is the example where "just say no" really works. If Satan has no power to tempt a person then Satan virtually disappears out of a person's life. He's just not even around. Like I've pointed out, it's not like Satan was running around kicking sand in the faces of baby dinosaurs before humans were around. Satan exists only in the form of temptation and deception. He has no power over human bodies or souls and he certainly has no power to judge their fate.
So in this very valuable exhortation and teaching by Jesus, while he is focusing on bolstering the disciples' courage to speak the truth and declare the faith even if their lives are threatened, he is also reminding them that only One, who is God, can go past destroying the body and also destroy the immortal soul, should God have to send that person to hell where such is achieved.
Fear of God means fearing to lose your relationship to God. It's not fear of God like God is waiting around each corner to do something bad to you. (That's a talent of humans, unfortunately). God waits around each corner to love each person and to be loved. Fear of God is not terror, but the fear of losing one's relationship with God so that one may indeed lose not only body but also soul for eternity.
OK, while I'm at it I ought to be sure I've walked you through the right way to interpret this whole passage. First of all Jesus is encouraging the disciples to not be afraid of those who oppose their preaching, even if the opponents threaten them with their lives. Next he is telling them to keep it all in context, that they are not going to convert the whole world. This is what Jesus means when he says they won't get to all of Israel before the Son of man comes. Remember that Jesus was only preaching to Jews when he lived. So Israel means the world in this context, not just the "state" of Israel. So Jesus was saying that just as he would not get to convert all of Israel, the disciples should not assume that they will either. All of "Israel" will only be converted when the Son of man comes (the Second Coming at the End of Days/Time and Final Judgment). So Jesus is basically tell them to be realistic in their aspirations to evangelize and convert.
This is why Jesus goes into a whole section about humility. This is an important concept because he is distinguishing between being a good role model and being "better" than someone. Jesus is saying that if he himself cannot convert everyone then how can they think that they can convert everyone? The followers are not better than or more talented or gifted than the master. So Jesus is cautioning them not to start to think that they are better than him or can achieve "more." However, he then tells them that followers should emulate and try to be like their master. This is why he says "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord." You see? Jesus is teaching the disciples to emulate him but not to assume that they can do what he could not (specifically convert all of Israel).
He then goes on to repeat a common slander that was made against Jesus by his detractors and those who opposed his teaching. Jews who opposed Jesus often accused him of being Beelzebub, which is the devil. So Jesus is basically saying, somewhat wryly, that if these opponents are crazy enough to call Jesus the devil, imagine how crazy they will be to you, his followers. So he is repeating his advice which is that if people are crazy enough to think that Jesus is the devil, then they will think that of the disciples too, and to not fear them, but not to bother with them after the initial attempt to evangelize and convert.
Jesus then builds on this advice about the slander by pointing out that the truth will always come out. People who accuse Jesus and his followers of being Beelzebub, etc, will learn the truth at some point or another (though it might be when they die and get the unpleasant surprise then). So Jesus is reassuring them that even if they are accused of dreadful and false things, do not despair, because the truth will come out.
Jesus then exhorts them to not just wait for the truth to come out but always to highlight and amplify the truth at all times. So what they have learned from Jesus, for example, they should take and broadcast as much as they can. This is, by the way, another scriptural reference that refutes that Jesus "had secrets" or taught the disciples secret lore that only New Age geniuses can detect in the future through secret lemonade writing or something. Jesus continually tells the disciples to repeat to everyone all that he, Jesus, had taught them.
Then he goes into the reminder to not fear those who can kill the body, but fear losing one's body and soul by losing God and ending up in hell, as I detailed already above.
I hope this helps. This is crucial teaching by Jesus in his very words and should be well understood in factual analysis by all Christians and people of faith.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 12:46-50
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
But he answered and said unto him, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?"
And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, "Behold my mother and my brethren!
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
But he answered and said unto him, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?"
And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, "Behold my mother and my brethren!
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Bible reading and the resurrection discussion
St. Matthew 28: 1-10
Now late in the night of the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and drawing near rolled back the stone and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment like snow. And for fear of him the guards were terrified, and became like dead men. And for fear of him the guards were terrified, and became like dead men. But the angel spoke and said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was laid. And go quickly, tell his disciples that he has risen; and behold he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Behold, I have foretold it to you.” And they departed quickly from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Hail!” And they came up and embraced his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; so take word to my brethren that they are to set out for Galilee; there they shall see me.”
St. Mark 16: 1-8
And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb, when the sun had just risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll the stone back from the entrance of the tomb for us?” And looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled back, for it was very large. But on entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, “Do not be terrified. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you.” And they departed and fled from the tomb, for trembling and fear had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
***
I wish to point out several points of remarkable illumination in these two separate telling of the same events. This is such a familiar story that people tend to either gloss over some of the detail, therefore missing key points, or they obsess with wording differences and read into the account differences in the events that do not exist.
You know how when you go to visit family or friends, and they tell you a story of something that happened, that one tends to be the “detail” person while the other “cuts to the chase?” Spouses often interrupt each other’s telling of a story in order to provide a detail that is skipped over, or to correct a detail. Yet nonetheless they are speaking of the same event, but choosing different words and points of emphasis. You can be sure that recounting of these events were repeated many times over the years by the people who were actually there, and so both of these versions are of course correct and authentic (as is everything in the holy scriptures, since the Holy Spirit has guaranteed and guided the penmanship).
Here are things to notice and to learn from these events:
O The arrival of the angel from heaven was witnessed by the guards, not by the women. Matthew details the arrival of the angel with an earthquake, with countenance like lightning, with raiment like snow, and to the terror of the guards and their subsequent fainting into unconsciousness. It’s easy to mistake that the women witnessed the arrival of the angel because Mark immediately goes from describing the fainting of the guards (4) to (5) writing “But the angel spoke and said to the women…” Just because he skips in one sentence from events with one set of people to the next set of people, it does not mean that they were simultaneous. The Bible is full of examples where even years pass between one sentence and the next. It is a collection of books and letters that were written under very sparse and difficult circumstances and so each author, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, crammed into each sentence what he viewed as the essential information, and very little was spent on “scene setting” or specifics of timeframe. Matthew was clearly writing information gleaned from the guards themselves. How do we know this? Matthew gives this great detail about the arrival of the angel, followed by lines 11-15 reporting the private conversations of the guard with the chief priests about what had happened, and how they were paid to be silent. So Matthew wrote “from the guards’ perspective” because he clearly had a source among either the guards themselves or attendants of the priests who witnessed the telling of the guards’ experience with the angel to the priests and the bribe.
O Notice that the angel arrives with a great earthquake and glowing like lightning and with snow white garments. The angel rolls the stone back, but not to let Jesus out, because Jesus had already risen and gone from the tomb, with the stone still in place. The angel arrives in the power of God, and this is another example of what “real angels actually look like.” Angels are made of the spirit of God and therefore they are robust and forceful in their light and power. Too many depictions of angels nowadays are of pussy foot girl angels who have costumes straight out of Hollywood central casting. This is a problem not because I am a spoil sport but because it leads to the sin of underestimating the role and the power of angels as God’s agents and his actual voice here on earth when they appear.
O The angel appears in order to be the witness to what has happened. Remember that “witness” in Biblical times means something different from what it means today. In biblical times to provide witness means to attest to the trust of something; it is a verbal form of contract making and a deposition of what has actually, truthfully occurred. God taught humans how to tell the truth and forge agreements among themselves through the giving of witness. Today people think “witness” means an observer or onlooker. But in biblical times, and this is one reason people know that what is written in the Bible is truthful, a witness is someone who is in the position to attest to the truthfulness and fullness of an event, and provides a “seal of truth” to the events that are related to others. So the angel arrives with a bang and in glory, first to demonstrate being sent by God through his obvious appearance and power, and second to roll the rock aside to point out the truth of what has happened, which is that Jesus has arisen.
O Therefore Mark relates that when the women arrive the angel appears to them as a young man in a white robe, who amazes them by sitting in the tomb, with Jesus missing. It is not God’s intention to frighten and intimidate the women, so the angel has “cooled off” in the sense that he is not appearing to them clad in the power of God, as he had to the guards. God fully intended to give the guards a thump with the thunderous appearance of the angel, in order to force them to run to their superiors, and the priests, and tell the truth what has happened. We know this because the angel reassures the women, reported just about word for word by both Matthew and Mark, while the angel sure was not looking to reassure the guards. The angel fully intended to arrive with a bang of God’s glory to stun the guards and force them to panic and tell the truth of what happened to the priest, which they did. The angel arrived with earthquake and glory to terrify and amaze the guards, stunning them into panicked truthfulness, and therefore they became witnesses to Christ resurrected, even though they were promptly bribed to be silent. Clearly attendants and the priests heard the witness of the guards and that was enough.
O The angel then informs the women that Jesus has risen and that he has gone to Galilee before them. Notice, now, with what I explained about how God taught humans how to bear witness in mind, what the angel says and does. The angel succinctly refers to Jesus by name, that he was crucified and that he has risen. God’s angel knows that humans would be dumbstruck by such a sight and so carefully states for them that they aren’t imagining things, or gone crazy, or been tricked, but that yes, Jesus (of Nazareth) is not here, he was crucified but he is now risen, and that he has gone ahead to Galilee, and that this all occurred as Jesus had foretold to them. Matthew includes the words “Come, see the place” where the angel says to the women to view the place where the Lord was laid in the tomb. Again, this is part of giving witness, to state the obvious and point to the physical truthfulness of what is being said. In Mark he also takes care to record the actual words “Behold the place where they laid him.” When you read the Bible you must understand there is no such thing as conversational dialogue. All dialogue that is included in the Bible operates under the rule of giving witness. So the only “dialogue” that is included is not for context setting, for embellishment, or for dramatic chitchat purposes, but because people were entirely a verbal and visual society at that time, a statement and observation were the component pairs of giving witness. So the angel succinctly provides witness for the women.
O The angel then tells the women to give this message to the disciples. Matthew reports “And go quickly, tell his disciples that he has risen; and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him.” Mark reports “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you.” Notice that Mark reports that the angel refers to Peter by name. This is wondrous and should be a great source of faith to those who notice this detail and contemplate its meaning. The angel is speaking for God (obviously, as angels are entirely the agents and will of God) and he specifies the disciples and Peter, elevating Peter by virtue of mentioning him by name separate from all the other Apostles and disciples. Yet the last we had heard of Peter was the denials before the crucifixion, and the only disciple at the crucifixion was the Apostle John. At that point the resurrected Jesus had not yet appeared to Peter, giving him the primacy to “feed his sheep” as John reports in detail. By the subtle, one word mention of Peter’s name by the angel, spoken in the tomb of the resurrected Jesus, Peter is affirmed by God’s very agent, the angel, to be the leader of the Christians. With two words, “and Peter,” the angel of God is letting the women know that the angel is giving witness to Peter’s role as the primacy of the Church. Before being crucified, Jesus had named and appointed Peter as the rock, giving him “the keys” to bind or unbind. Much is made of Peter’s weakness in denial after that as Jesus is arrested. But before Peter and the risen Jesus are actually reunited, God’s angel “witnesses to” God’s acknowledgment of Peter as possessing the continuing primacy of the Church. John relates how when the Apostles heard from the women that Jesus had risen, that he and Peter raced to the tomb to see for themselves. John was the faster runner and so arrived first, but waited for Peter to arrive and go in first, out of respect. We know from Mark’s detail of what the angel said that the women would have told the disciples that the angel asked for them to be told, “And Peter.” God himself was putting a seal of affirmation on Peter’s continuing role. This would have been abundantly clear to all who heard the words of the angels repeated. Non Catholic Christians often miss these enormously important words by the angel of God, where God’s agent, the angel, states the primacy of Peter while standing in the tomb, before Jesus himself actually reiterates Peter’s role. The angel from God clearly states the name of the man who will become the first Pope, “And Peter.”
Now, I need to clear up this mess about Mary Magdalene. I say it is a mess because there are people who have totally misunderstood the Holy Scriptures and have the nerve to imply a romantic relationship with Jesus as a result of that misunderstanding. Mary Magdalene was a great saint and she deserves a clean and authentic understanding of her witness. Mark mentions that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, while Matthew does not allude to the first meeting. As I’ve explained, the gospels were written in conditions where the gospel writers were concise and targeted in what they recorded, with individual variation as they recalled individual conversations or events, or as their witnesses provided (for example, Luke clearly obtained information from the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus). It is St. John who provides the most detail and where one can truly understand the compassionate chaste love that Jesus had for Mary Magdalene.
St. John 20: 10-18
The disciples therefore went away again to their home.
[This refers to the women telling the disciples and Peter what the angel had told them. Peter and John ran to the tomb, observed for them selves and then returned to their home.]
But Mary was standing outside weeping at the tomb. So, as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why art thou weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
[If you read this carefully and not jump to some sensational conclusions, the scripture is very clear what happened. Mary Magdalene and other women saw the first angel, heard what he said, and ran to tell the disciples, who then sent Peter and John at a run to the tomb to see for them selves. Mary Magdalene FOLLOWED Peter and John and returned to the tomb a SECOND time. After Peter and John saw for them selves and left, Mary Magdalene STAYED BEHIND at the tomb and LOST HER FAITH. TWO angels now appear and ask her why she is crying. She says “she doesn’t know where the Lord is” despite having been clearly told he is risen and in Galilee by the first angel at the tomb. *Rolls eyes and sighs*].
When she had said this she turned round and beheld Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why art thou weeping? Whom dost thou seek?” She, thinking that he was the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if thou hast removed him, tell me where thou has laid him and I will take him away.”
[Despite being told BY AN ANGEL that Jesus is risen and in Galilee, and even carrying this message to the disciples, Mary Magdalene goes back all weepy to the tomb and thinks that Jesus is still dead and asks “the gardener” for his body. Um, even two angels sitting in the tomb is not a big clue to her that he really is risen and in Galilee as the first angel had said. When two MORE angels do not get through to her, Jesus has to reappear from Galilee to restore her faith, which really is gone. How anyone can hear from an angel that Jesus is risen and in Galilee, carry the message to the disciples, run back with Peter and John, see TWO MORE angels after Peter and John leave and STILL NOT BELIEVE is beyond me. But to be kind, remember that Jesus had to cast seven demons from her. She was not the most stable person on earth, that’s for sure. So Jesus, knowing all this of course, and caring for her as he did for everyone, appears to her in person, “changing his plans” you could say, to go ahead to Galilee and meet them there as the angel had explained he would do. This was not romantic love; this was concern for a disciple who had lost her faith even in the face of the angel telling her, and then the physical presence of two angels in the tomb, witnessing to the Good News.]
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” Turning, she said to him, “Rabboni!” (that is to say, Master). Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me."
OK? Get it now? The first angel tells the women that Jesus has gone to Galilee and will meet up with them all there. The women tell the disciples and after Peter and John check the tomb, the disciples are ready to obey, baffled as they are. But Mary returns to the tomb in a weepy fit and loses her faith rather than finding it justified and validated. She was a very fragile and troubled woman. It would not be a stretch to say she is prone to nervous breakdowns, and she clearly had one as a result of the crucifixion. How do we know this? By reading what John carefully reported. John had no axe to grind with anyone; you can clearly see that because even though he was the disciple that “Jesus loved” he never let that go to his head in ego, and often would not refer to himself by his own name in major events in the Gospel. John was an incredibly spiritual and mystical teacher (obviously, as one reads the Book of Revelation) and so he tended to include “human detail” in his Gospel that others would not think to include. He knew that it was important that people could read and relate to a woman who, among those who knew Jesus the most, still could not believe over and over again on the day that Jesus arose from the dead. She didn’t believe the first angel, she didn’t take comfort in the disciples’ obedience to the words of the angel, she didn’t believe the silent witness of a SECOND SET of angels who appeared at the tomb after Peter and John left “just for her” AND she did not recognize Jesus when he appeared himself! Jesus “changed his plans” in order to appear to her and stop the erosion of her faith and her implied nervous breakdown. (You don’t see the Virgin Mary having a seizure at the tomb). So Jesus changes his plans in order to appear to her and stop her personal disintegration and he gives her additional information for the disciples as a result. Mary Magdalene wants to hop all over him to touch him (after not believing and after not recognizing him, no less) because when people are going a little bit crazy then tend to grab people and things to try to stabilize themselves and control the other person. Jesus obviously does not permit this. Because this is her reaction Jesus knows he has to explain to her and thus give her a message to deliver that he is not to be viewed as being physically present in the world because he will ascend to heaven soon. Jesus had planned to explain this in person to all the disciples but Mary Magdalene had this freaking meltdown and breakdown at the tomb and would not move on with the other disciples to Galilee as instructed by God’s angel.
Um, OK, so now that you are seeing this with clear scholarly eyes, if Mary Magdalene was like this as a personality, can you imagine what her family was like? It’s not like she was an orphan; no one was in those days in the Christian community. She was a fragile, hysterical and weak in faith woman who nonetheless persevered to become a loyal companion and saint. Those so called “Gnostic” writings and gospels were mostly written by family apologists and descendants who angled to be “in with the in crowd.” So Mary Magdalene’s family, it is a safe bet, were of the exaggerating, hysterical ilk that she was, and thus came up with the, entire well, bilge, that exaggerated her role in her so called “gospel.” You don’t need to be Einstein to understand that.
Let me be blunt. How “close” could she have been to Jesus if she can’t freaking believe the words of the angel of God himself? If she stays and weeps at the tomb after Peter and John have left to follow instructions and meet Jesus at Galilee? If she then insists his body must be hidden somewhere and he’s still dead even though now two angels are sitting in the freaking empty tomb? And then she does not recognize Jesus? This is someone who supposedly had “something something” going on with the Lord? Only a drug, drink or power addled lunatic would believe that. John gently and clearly lays out what happened with Mary Magdalene’s crisis of faith so that equally weak and frail people could learn from it and be heartened in the goodness of the Lord. Jesus patiently changes his plans to meet all of them together at once in Galilee in order to appear to her, stop her obvious breakdown and disobedience of the angel's instructions to go to Galilee, and give her something useful to do to get her back on track, which is to announce that he will ascend and so they should not get used to “touching” him (which means to get used to his continual bodily presence). Mary Magdalene appears to get a gripe and understand once Jesus explains that he is to ascend to heaven soon, and that this is something all the disciples must understand. Again, her ability to pull herself together and understand what is happening is tribute to her disciple and saintly qualities, and is contrary to what would be expected from someone in a “theoretically”(and dead wrong) personal relationship with Jesus. I'm dumbfounded when people claim to read the Bible in plain black and white and then cannot comprehend the events I reiterate above where John explains the circumstances of Jesus' appearance to Mary Magdalene. Jesus was not giving her "first prize" of appearing to her first. He was intervening to prevent her total loss of faith as she refused to believe even after hearing the one angel and viewing the second two angels.
Once you understand that the Bible events and people can be believed literally because it adheres to the principles of “witnessing,” then you stop fantasizing that the Bible does not describe to a T the “historical, real” Jesus, because it does, in total, from start to finish. The four Gospel writers, and the authors of the Epistles, recorded the true and essential information with fidelity and loving compassion for those who would read their writings after them. Even though there was no “Project Workbench” in Biblical times, the Holy Spirit guided their hands and ensured the overlap and cohesion that is essential to proclaiming the truthful “historic” Good News. It was inspiration and a keen sense of responsible witnessing and reporting that led Mark, for example, to carefully record the “disciples and Peter” detail, and for John to record in detail the breakdown and restoration of Mary Magdalene’s faith at the tomb of the risen Jesus. The authentic books of the Bible contain no “agenda.” The only “agenda” creeps in with so called “gospels” and “secret writings” that those who sought spin and personal gain authored, sometimes in innocence as they tried to record some of the lore of those times, but often, as you can see with the so called “Judas” writings, to put spin on a family member’s actions or to advance a cult belief. The Holy Spirit, through the Early Church Fathers, is the ultimate Editor. The Holy Spirit ensured that Peter and his heirs “bound” or “did not bind” only what is true and good, and not individual or cultist agendas. Nothing I’ve written is new or revisionist. In fact I continually take people back to read clearly what is attested to in black and white. I hope this was helpful, though as usual, since I’ve been shunned, my writings appear very late among the whisperers, after much irreparable damage has already been done.
Now late in the night of the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and drawing near rolled back the stone and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment like snow. And for fear of him the guards were terrified, and became like dead men. And for fear of him the guards were terrified, and became like dead men. But the angel spoke and said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was laid. And go quickly, tell his disciples that he has risen; and behold he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Behold, I have foretold it to you.” And they departed quickly from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Hail!” And they came up and embraced his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; so take word to my brethren that they are to set out for Galilee; there they shall see me.”
St. Mark 16: 1-8
And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb, when the sun had just risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll the stone back from the entrance of the tomb for us?” And looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled back, for it was very large. But on entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, “Do not be terrified. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you.” And they departed and fled from the tomb, for trembling and fear had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
***
I wish to point out several points of remarkable illumination in these two separate telling of the same events. This is such a familiar story that people tend to either gloss over some of the detail, therefore missing key points, or they obsess with wording differences and read into the account differences in the events that do not exist.
You know how when you go to visit family or friends, and they tell you a story of something that happened, that one tends to be the “detail” person while the other “cuts to the chase?” Spouses often interrupt each other’s telling of a story in order to provide a detail that is skipped over, or to correct a detail. Yet nonetheless they are speaking of the same event, but choosing different words and points of emphasis. You can be sure that recounting of these events were repeated many times over the years by the people who were actually there, and so both of these versions are of course correct and authentic (as is everything in the holy scriptures, since the Holy Spirit has guaranteed and guided the penmanship).
Here are things to notice and to learn from these events:
O The arrival of the angel from heaven was witnessed by the guards, not by the women. Matthew details the arrival of the angel with an earthquake, with countenance like lightning, with raiment like snow, and to the terror of the guards and their subsequent fainting into unconsciousness. It’s easy to mistake that the women witnessed the arrival of the angel because Mark immediately goes from describing the fainting of the guards (4) to (5) writing “But the angel spoke and said to the women…” Just because he skips in one sentence from events with one set of people to the next set of people, it does not mean that they were simultaneous. The Bible is full of examples where even years pass between one sentence and the next. It is a collection of books and letters that were written under very sparse and difficult circumstances and so each author, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, crammed into each sentence what he viewed as the essential information, and very little was spent on “scene setting” or specifics of timeframe. Matthew was clearly writing information gleaned from the guards themselves. How do we know this? Matthew gives this great detail about the arrival of the angel, followed by lines 11-15 reporting the private conversations of the guard with the chief priests about what had happened, and how they were paid to be silent. So Matthew wrote “from the guards’ perspective” because he clearly had a source among either the guards themselves or attendants of the priests who witnessed the telling of the guards’ experience with the angel to the priests and the bribe.
O Notice that the angel arrives with a great earthquake and glowing like lightning and with snow white garments. The angel rolls the stone back, but not to let Jesus out, because Jesus had already risen and gone from the tomb, with the stone still in place. The angel arrives in the power of God, and this is another example of what “real angels actually look like.” Angels are made of the spirit of God and therefore they are robust and forceful in their light and power. Too many depictions of angels nowadays are of pussy foot girl angels who have costumes straight out of Hollywood central casting. This is a problem not because I am a spoil sport but because it leads to the sin of underestimating the role and the power of angels as God’s agents and his actual voice here on earth when they appear.
O The angel appears in order to be the witness to what has happened. Remember that “witness” in Biblical times means something different from what it means today. In biblical times to provide witness means to attest to the trust of something; it is a verbal form of contract making and a deposition of what has actually, truthfully occurred. God taught humans how to tell the truth and forge agreements among themselves through the giving of witness. Today people think “witness” means an observer or onlooker. But in biblical times, and this is one reason people know that what is written in the Bible is truthful, a witness is someone who is in the position to attest to the truthfulness and fullness of an event, and provides a “seal of truth” to the events that are related to others. So the angel arrives with a bang and in glory, first to demonstrate being sent by God through his obvious appearance and power, and second to roll the rock aside to point out the truth of what has happened, which is that Jesus has arisen.
O Therefore Mark relates that when the women arrive the angel appears to them as a young man in a white robe, who amazes them by sitting in the tomb, with Jesus missing. It is not God’s intention to frighten and intimidate the women, so the angel has “cooled off” in the sense that he is not appearing to them clad in the power of God, as he had to the guards. God fully intended to give the guards a thump with the thunderous appearance of the angel, in order to force them to run to their superiors, and the priests, and tell the truth what has happened. We know this because the angel reassures the women, reported just about word for word by both Matthew and Mark, while the angel sure was not looking to reassure the guards. The angel fully intended to arrive with a bang of God’s glory to stun the guards and force them to panic and tell the truth of what happened to the priest, which they did. The angel arrived with earthquake and glory to terrify and amaze the guards, stunning them into panicked truthfulness, and therefore they became witnesses to Christ resurrected, even though they were promptly bribed to be silent. Clearly attendants and the priests heard the witness of the guards and that was enough.
O The angel then informs the women that Jesus has risen and that he has gone to Galilee before them. Notice, now, with what I explained about how God taught humans how to bear witness in mind, what the angel says and does. The angel succinctly refers to Jesus by name, that he was crucified and that he has risen. God’s angel knows that humans would be dumbstruck by such a sight and so carefully states for them that they aren’t imagining things, or gone crazy, or been tricked, but that yes, Jesus (of Nazareth) is not here, he was crucified but he is now risen, and that he has gone ahead to Galilee, and that this all occurred as Jesus had foretold to them. Matthew includes the words “Come, see the place” where the angel says to the women to view the place where the Lord was laid in the tomb. Again, this is part of giving witness, to state the obvious and point to the physical truthfulness of what is being said. In Mark he also takes care to record the actual words “Behold the place where they laid him.” When you read the Bible you must understand there is no such thing as conversational dialogue. All dialogue that is included in the Bible operates under the rule of giving witness. So the only “dialogue” that is included is not for context setting, for embellishment, or for dramatic chitchat purposes, but because people were entirely a verbal and visual society at that time, a statement and observation were the component pairs of giving witness. So the angel succinctly provides witness for the women.
O The angel then tells the women to give this message to the disciples. Matthew reports “And go quickly, tell his disciples that he has risen; and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him.” Mark reports “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you.” Notice that Mark reports that the angel refers to Peter by name. This is wondrous and should be a great source of faith to those who notice this detail and contemplate its meaning. The angel is speaking for God (obviously, as angels are entirely the agents and will of God) and he specifies the disciples and Peter, elevating Peter by virtue of mentioning him by name separate from all the other Apostles and disciples. Yet the last we had heard of Peter was the denials before the crucifixion, and the only disciple at the crucifixion was the Apostle John. At that point the resurrected Jesus had not yet appeared to Peter, giving him the primacy to “feed his sheep” as John reports in detail. By the subtle, one word mention of Peter’s name by the angel, spoken in the tomb of the resurrected Jesus, Peter is affirmed by God’s very agent, the angel, to be the leader of the Christians. With two words, “and Peter,” the angel of God is letting the women know that the angel is giving witness to Peter’s role as the primacy of the Church. Before being crucified, Jesus had named and appointed Peter as the rock, giving him “the keys” to bind or unbind. Much is made of Peter’s weakness in denial after that as Jesus is arrested. But before Peter and the risen Jesus are actually reunited, God’s angel “witnesses to” God’s acknowledgment of Peter as possessing the continuing primacy of the Church. John relates how when the Apostles heard from the women that Jesus had risen, that he and Peter raced to the tomb to see for themselves. John was the faster runner and so arrived first, but waited for Peter to arrive and go in first, out of respect. We know from Mark’s detail of what the angel said that the women would have told the disciples that the angel asked for them to be told, “And Peter.” God himself was putting a seal of affirmation on Peter’s continuing role. This would have been abundantly clear to all who heard the words of the angels repeated. Non Catholic Christians often miss these enormously important words by the angel of God, where God’s agent, the angel, states the primacy of Peter while standing in the tomb, before Jesus himself actually reiterates Peter’s role. The angel from God clearly states the name of the man who will become the first Pope, “And Peter.”
Now, I need to clear up this mess about Mary Magdalene. I say it is a mess because there are people who have totally misunderstood the Holy Scriptures and have the nerve to imply a romantic relationship with Jesus as a result of that misunderstanding. Mary Magdalene was a great saint and she deserves a clean and authentic understanding of her witness. Mark mentions that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, while Matthew does not allude to the first meeting. As I’ve explained, the gospels were written in conditions where the gospel writers were concise and targeted in what they recorded, with individual variation as they recalled individual conversations or events, or as their witnesses provided (for example, Luke clearly obtained information from the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus). It is St. John who provides the most detail and where one can truly understand the compassionate chaste love that Jesus had for Mary Magdalene.
St. John 20: 10-18
The disciples therefore went away again to their home.
[This refers to the women telling the disciples and Peter what the angel had told them. Peter and John ran to the tomb, observed for them selves and then returned to their home.]
But Mary was standing outside weeping at the tomb. So, as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why art thou weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
[If you read this carefully and not jump to some sensational conclusions, the scripture is very clear what happened. Mary Magdalene and other women saw the first angel, heard what he said, and ran to tell the disciples, who then sent Peter and John at a run to the tomb to see for them selves. Mary Magdalene FOLLOWED Peter and John and returned to the tomb a SECOND time. After Peter and John saw for them selves and left, Mary Magdalene STAYED BEHIND at the tomb and LOST HER FAITH. TWO angels now appear and ask her why she is crying. She says “she doesn’t know where the Lord is” despite having been clearly told he is risen and in Galilee by the first angel at the tomb. *Rolls eyes and sighs*].
When she had said this she turned round and beheld Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why art thou weeping? Whom dost thou seek?” She, thinking that he was the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if thou hast removed him, tell me where thou has laid him and I will take him away.”
[Despite being told BY AN ANGEL that Jesus is risen and in Galilee, and even carrying this message to the disciples, Mary Magdalene goes back all weepy to the tomb and thinks that Jesus is still dead and asks “the gardener” for his body. Um, even two angels sitting in the tomb is not a big clue to her that he really is risen and in Galilee as the first angel had said. When two MORE angels do not get through to her, Jesus has to reappear from Galilee to restore her faith, which really is gone. How anyone can hear from an angel that Jesus is risen and in Galilee, carry the message to the disciples, run back with Peter and John, see TWO MORE angels after Peter and John leave and STILL NOT BELIEVE is beyond me. But to be kind, remember that Jesus had to cast seven demons from her. She was not the most stable person on earth, that’s for sure. So Jesus, knowing all this of course, and caring for her as he did for everyone, appears to her in person, “changing his plans” you could say, to go ahead to Galilee and meet them there as the angel had explained he would do. This was not romantic love; this was concern for a disciple who had lost her faith even in the face of the angel telling her, and then the physical presence of two angels in the tomb, witnessing to the Good News.]
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” Turning, she said to him, “Rabboni!” (that is to say, Master). Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me."
OK? Get it now? The first angel tells the women that Jesus has gone to Galilee and will meet up with them all there. The women tell the disciples and after Peter and John check the tomb, the disciples are ready to obey, baffled as they are. But Mary returns to the tomb in a weepy fit and loses her faith rather than finding it justified and validated. She was a very fragile and troubled woman. It would not be a stretch to say she is prone to nervous breakdowns, and she clearly had one as a result of the crucifixion. How do we know this? By reading what John carefully reported. John had no axe to grind with anyone; you can clearly see that because even though he was the disciple that “Jesus loved” he never let that go to his head in ego, and often would not refer to himself by his own name in major events in the Gospel. John was an incredibly spiritual and mystical teacher (obviously, as one reads the Book of Revelation) and so he tended to include “human detail” in his Gospel that others would not think to include. He knew that it was important that people could read and relate to a woman who, among those who knew Jesus the most, still could not believe over and over again on the day that Jesus arose from the dead. She didn’t believe the first angel, she didn’t take comfort in the disciples’ obedience to the words of the angel, she didn’t believe the silent witness of a SECOND SET of angels who appeared at the tomb after Peter and John left “just for her” AND she did not recognize Jesus when he appeared himself! Jesus “changed his plans” in order to appear to her and stop the erosion of her faith and her implied nervous breakdown. (You don’t see the Virgin Mary having a seizure at the tomb). So Jesus changes his plans in order to appear to her and stop her personal disintegration and he gives her additional information for the disciples as a result. Mary Magdalene wants to hop all over him to touch him (after not believing and after not recognizing him, no less) because when people are going a little bit crazy then tend to grab people and things to try to stabilize themselves and control the other person. Jesus obviously does not permit this. Because this is her reaction Jesus knows he has to explain to her and thus give her a message to deliver that he is not to be viewed as being physically present in the world because he will ascend to heaven soon. Jesus had planned to explain this in person to all the disciples but Mary Magdalene had this freaking meltdown and breakdown at the tomb and would not move on with the other disciples to Galilee as instructed by God’s angel.
Um, OK, so now that you are seeing this with clear scholarly eyes, if Mary Magdalene was like this as a personality, can you imagine what her family was like? It’s not like she was an orphan; no one was in those days in the Christian community. She was a fragile, hysterical and weak in faith woman who nonetheless persevered to become a loyal companion and saint. Those so called “Gnostic” writings and gospels were mostly written by family apologists and descendants who angled to be “in with the in crowd.” So Mary Magdalene’s family, it is a safe bet, were of the exaggerating, hysterical ilk that she was, and thus came up with the, entire well, bilge, that exaggerated her role in her so called “gospel.” You don’t need to be Einstein to understand that.
Let me be blunt. How “close” could she have been to Jesus if she can’t freaking believe the words of the angel of God himself? If she stays and weeps at the tomb after Peter and John have left to follow instructions and meet Jesus at Galilee? If she then insists his body must be hidden somewhere and he’s still dead even though now two angels are sitting in the freaking empty tomb? And then she does not recognize Jesus? This is someone who supposedly had “something something” going on with the Lord? Only a drug, drink or power addled lunatic would believe that. John gently and clearly lays out what happened with Mary Magdalene’s crisis of faith so that equally weak and frail people could learn from it and be heartened in the goodness of the Lord. Jesus patiently changes his plans to meet all of them together at once in Galilee in order to appear to her, stop her obvious breakdown and disobedience of the angel's instructions to go to Galilee, and give her something useful to do to get her back on track, which is to announce that he will ascend and so they should not get used to “touching” him (which means to get used to his continual bodily presence). Mary Magdalene appears to get a gripe and understand once Jesus explains that he is to ascend to heaven soon, and that this is something all the disciples must understand. Again, her ability to pull herself together and understand what is happening is tribute to her disciple and saintly qualities, and is contrary to what would be expected from someone in a “theoretically”(and dead wrong) personal relationship with Jesus. I'm dumbfounded when people claim to read the Bible in plain black and white and then cannot comprehend the events I reiterate above where John explains the circumstances of Jesus' appearance to Mary Magdalene. Jesus was not giving her "first prize" of appearing to her first. He was intervening to prevent her total loss of faith as she refused to believe even after hearing the one angel and viewing the second two angels.
Once you understand that the Bible events and people can be believed literally because it adheres to the principles of “witnessing,” then you stop fantasizing that the Bible does not describe to a T the “historical, real” Jesus, because it does, in total, from start to finish. The four Gospel writers, and the authors of the Epistles, recorded the true and essential information with fidelity and loving compassion for those who would read their writings after them. Even though there was no “Project Workbench” in Biblical times, the Holy Spirit guided their hands and ensured the overlap and cohesion that is essential to proclaiming the truthful “historic” Good News. It was inspiration and a keen sense of responsible witnessing and reporting that led Mark, for example, to carefully record the “disciples and Peter” detail, and for John to record in detail the breakdown and restoration of Mary Magdalene’s faith at the tomb of the risen Jesus. The authentic books of the Bible contain no “agenda.” The only “agenda” creeps in with so called “gospels” and “secret writings” that those who sought spin and personal gain authored, sometimes in innocence as they tried to record some of the lore of those times, but often, as you can see with the so called “Judas” writings, to put spin on a family member’s actions or to advance a cult belief. The Holy Spirit, through the Early Church Fathers, is the ultimate Editor. The Holy Spirit ensured that Peter and his heirs “bound” or “did not bind” only what is true and good, and not individual or cultist agendas. Nothing I’ve written is new or revisionist. In fact I continually take people back to read clearly what is attested to in black and white. I hope this was helpful, though as usual, since I’ve been shunned, my writings appear very late among the whisperers, after much irreparable damage has already been done.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 5:8
[From the teaching of the Beatitudes by Jesus to the crowds].
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
***
My copy of the Bible has this footnote which is accurate and I wish to emphasize to all. "The clean of heart: those free from sin and single-hearted."
Being clean of heart does not just mean avoiding dirty deeds and thoughts. Being clean of heart means avoiding all sin AND maintaining your heart in a condition so that it has only one, single loyalty. You cannot be duplicitous (serving two masters or having dual moralities) and be free from sin, and in neither case can you then see God. What Jesus is saying is that to "see God," both in life and after passing, in eternal life in heaven, one must have a clean heart that is free of sin and only serves the simple and pure purposes of God.
When one focuses on God above all, for God's sake alone, one does not abandon or short change loved ones or family; one then raises them all with him to a higher level of love and attentiveness than he or she did when they put other people or things ahead of God. The clean of heart can "see" (think of seeing as comprehending and accessing) God and therefore the grace of God is fully available to this pure and cleanly "open to God" heart.
People today use a mental shorthand that robs them of understanding the teachings of Jesus and the instructions of God. Many read the phrase "clean of heart" and unconsciously substitute "a guilt free conscience," since that's how modern man and woman think, which is incorrect. Lots of people sin with a totally free conscience, and lots of people have divided loyalties with a totally free conscience (often saying they "have to do it because of circumstances.") That is NOT the same as a clean heart.
I hope this helps. It better... time's a wasting.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
***
My copy of the Bible has this footnote which is accurate and I wish to emphasize to all. "The clean of heart: those free from sin and single-hearted."
Being clean of heart does not just mean avoiding dirty deeds and thoughts. Being clean of heart means avoiding all sin AND maintaining your heart in a condition so that it has only one, single loyalty. You cannot be duplicitous (serving two masters or having dual moralities) and be free from sin, and in neither case can you then see God. What Jesus is saying is that to "see God," both in life and after passing, in eternal life in heaven, one must have a clean heart that is free of sin and only serves the simple and pure purposes of God.
When one focuses on God above all, for God's sake alone, one does not abandon or short change loved ones or family; one then raises them all with him to a higher level of love and attentiveness than he or she did when they put other people or things ahead of God. The clean of heart can "see" (think of seeing as comprehending and accessing) God and therefore the grace of God is fully available to this pure and cleanly "open to God" heart.
People today use a mental shorthand that robs them of understanding the teachings of Jesus and the instructions of God. Many read the phrase "clean of heart" and unconsciously substitute "a guilt free conscience," since that's how modern man and woman think, which is incorrect. Lots of people sin with a totally free conscience, and lots of people have divided loyalties with a totally free conscience (often saying they "have to do it because of circumstances.") That is NOT the same as a clean heart.
I hope this helps. It better... time's a wasting.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Bible Reading: Matthew 22:1-14
And Jesus addressed them, and spoke to them again in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a marriage feast for his son. And he sent his servants to call in those invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, 'Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it, and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business; and the rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
"But when the king heard of it, he was angry; and he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; go therefore to the crossroads, and invite to the marriage feast whomever you shall find.' And his servants went out into the roads, and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; and the marriage feast was filled with guests.
"Now the king went in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how didst thou come in here without a wedding garment?' But he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet and cast him forth into the darkness outside, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."
"But when the king heard of it, he was angry; and he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; go therefore to the crossroads, and invite to the marriage feast whomever you shall find.' And his servants went out into the roads, and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; and the marriage feast was filled with guests.
"Now the king went in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how didst thou come in here without a wedding garment?' But he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet and cast him forth into the darkness outside, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."
Friday, September 21, 2007
Bible Reading: an Unchained Melody
Matthew 13: 16-17
But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Matthew 13: 18-23
Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Matthew 13: 34-35
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
"I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation [of the world]" [From Psalm 78]
Psalm 78: 1-8
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in story,
drawing lessons from of old.
We have heard them, we know them;
our ancestors have recited them to us.
We do not keep them from our children;
we recite them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy and mighty deeds of the LORD,
the wonders that he performed.
God set up a decree in Jacob,
established a law in Israel:
What he commanded our ancestors,
they were to teach their children;
That the next generation might come to know,
children yet to be born.
In turn they were to recite them to their
children,
that they too might put their trust in God,
And not forget the works of God,
keeping his commandments.
They were not to be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and defiant generation,
A generation whose heart was not constant,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Matthew 13: 51-52
"Do you understand all these things?" They answered, "Yes." And he replied, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."
Matthew 15: 10-11
He summoned the crowd and said to them, "Hear and understand. It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles the person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one."
Matthew 15: 15-18
Then Peter said to him in reply, "Explain this parable to us." He said to them, "Are even you still without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands do not defile."
Matthew 19: 12
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it [marriage between a man and his wife].
Matthew 21: 14-17
The blind and the lame approached him in the temple area, and he cured them. When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; and have you never read the text, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise'?"
Psalm 8: 1-10
O Lord, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
You have set your majesty above the heavens!
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have drawn a defense against your foes,
to silence enemy and avenger.
When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place-
What are humans that you are mindful of them,
mere mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them little less than a god,
crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them rule over the works of your hands,
put all things at their feet:
All sheep and oxen,
even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims the path of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the
earth!
But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Matthew 13: 18-23
Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Matthew 13: 34-35
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:
"I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation [of the world]" [From Psalm 78]
Psalm 78: 1-8
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in story,
drawing lessons from of old.
We have heard them, we know them;
our ancestors have recited them to us.
We do not keep them from our children;
we recite them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy and mighty deeds of the LORD,
the wonders that he performed.
God set up a decree in Jacob,
established a law in Israel:
What he commanded our ancestors,
they were to teach their children;
That the next generation might come to know,
children yet to be born.
In turn they were to recite them to their
children,
that they too might put their trust in God,
And not forget the works of God,
keeping his commandments.
They were not to be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and defiant generation,
A generation whose heart was not constant,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Matthew 13: 51-52
"Do you understand all these things?" They answered, "Yes." And he replied, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."
Matthew 15: 10-11
He summoned the crowd and said to them, "Hear and understand. It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles the person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one."
Matthew 15: 15-18
Then Peter said to him in reply, "Explain this parable to us." He said to them, "Are even you still without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands do not defile."
Matthew 19: 12
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it [marriage between a man and his wife].
Matthew 21: 14-17
The blind and the lame approached him in the temple area, and he cured them. When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; and have you never read the text, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise'?"
Psalm 8: 1-10
O Lord, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
You have set your majesty above the heavens!
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have drawn a defense against your foes,
to silence enemy and avenger.
When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place-
What are humans that you are mindful of them,
mere mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them little less than a god,
crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them rule over the works of your hands,
put all things at their feet:
All sheep and oxen,
even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims the path of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the
earth!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Bible Reading: Proverbs, Matthew, Thessalonians
Proverbs 17:3
The firing-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.
***
I'd like to explain this proverb because it's one of my favorites, but with people's lack of understanding of the context and meaning, it would be easy to miss the primary message.
One of the reasons that silver and gold were so highly prized was because they were noticeable. Because both silver and gold occur in their natural state, even the earliest of humans were able to spot them among the rocks. Many metals are not found in their natural state, so they would be virtually invisible to people who were not metallurgists and chemists. So early humankind learned to find and value silver and gold. Later as they learned how to heat things with fire, they learned that if they heated the rock that held portions of silver and gold, that they could melt the silver and gold out of the rock and obtain it in a pure state. Silver, number 47 in the periodic table, is soft enough that it could be melted in a "firing pot." There was more silver available, and it was easier to extract, and so only a firing pot was needed to obtain pure silver. Gold, number 79 in the periodic table, is harder to extract and requires a furnace. So to obtain pure gold, humans needed to use a larger and hotter device, a furnace. Also, as gold was more prized, a furnace represents a large scale effort under the patronage of a leader or king. So the proverb is escalating in the level of value of the precious ore (from silver up to gold) and in amount of effort required to obtain it in pure form (from firing pot to furnace.)
By placing the heart after silver and gold in this proverb, it is being illuminated as being even more precious than silver and gold. Therefore, instead of a firing pot or a furnace, the Lord is needed to effect the change of a heart to its purest form. In current lingo people have lost the meaning of "trying" so this is what I'm helping the Bible student to avoid. Today we might say "you try me" as in "annoy" or "stress." But in ancient times, trying referred to the chemistry of purification, just as I described, the melting out of silver and gold from the rock ore that holds it within. So the proverb is treating the heart just the same way as silver and gold, which is to recognize that it is not naturally found in pure form, and must be "tried" out of the impure container that it is within. All humans' hearts are bound within the natural tendency to sin and to be mislead, and also, even those of good heart may be bound within conditions that are oppressive and afflictive (war, poverty, illness, loneliness, and other hardships.) In either case, turning to the Lord is the only way that one can purify one's heart. Only the Lord teaches a person how to discard from around and within their heart all that is bad and unhealthy, and allow the space within to grow in the natural glory of the heart.
In Biblical times the heart was viewed as the center of all of a human's actions. Specific feelings and activities attributed to the heart in the Bible include: thought, love, hatred, joy, sorrow, rebellion, pride, desire, obedience, reason, consideration, perception, understanding, meditation, imagination, purpose, presumption, fear, mystery, doubt, and faithfulness/faithlessness. Remember, then they did not know of the functions of the brain, so the heart was the seat of both feeling and thought, and therefore of a human's entire value system. You can see in this list that the ancients recognized a mixed bag of qualities available to the heart, such as the extremes of obedience and rebellion, love and hatred. So in this proverb the reader is being taught that just as silver and gold are extracted from the ore, so too can a heart be purified in order to contain only the finest and most good of the qualities listed above. A heart that is "tried" by turning to the Lord and learning his ways is therefore able to purify out the hatred, and fill with love. A heart is "tried" to purify out the pride and fill with obedience and reason. So this proverb is not saying that the Lord sends affliction and is "trying the patience" of a person to test them into a pure heart, but rather, this wise proverb refers to the Lord as the instrument and way of purity of heart.
Centuries after this proverb was written, Jesus spoke about the reward that the pure of heart achieve:
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God.
The wise St. Paul also shows knowledge of both the proverb, and the beatitude spoken by Jesus, as he brings the two together here:
Thessalonians 2:4
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, who trieth our hearts.
You can see how important it is to understand what I've explained about the proverb in order to correctly understand what Paul is saying. He is saying that by following the gospel, even if men want the person to sin and speak incorrectly, that God purifies the gospel followers' heart. A hasty reading of this saying from Paul without understanding the proverb he is alluding to might make one think that he is saying that God sends certain men to "try" and "test" the believer. That is not what he is saying, and he makes that clear in the order of the words, as it builds up to the point, just as does the proverb itself, a proverb he assumes is known to most readers of this epistle.
God gave gospel as instrument...use it to proclaim.... even if others disagree....God through gospel purifies the heart.
One other thought; Paul uses the words "allowed of God" and "to be put in trust with the gospel" to underscore and emphasis the gospel as a gift and a choosing. God allowed people to hear the gospel and God allowed people to find their faith within them to trust the gospel. Paul is affirming again here that faith itself is a gift from God.
The firing-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.
***
I'd like to explain this proverb because it's one of my favorites, but with people's lack of understanding of the context and meaning, it would be easy to miss the primary message.
One of the reasons that silver and gold were so highly prized was because they were noticeable. Because both silver and gold occur in their natural state, even the earliest of humans were able to spot them among the rocks. Many metals are not found in their natural state, so they would be virtually invisible to people who were not metallurgists and chemists. So early humankind learned to find and value silver and gold. Later as they learned how to heat things with fire, they learned that if they heated the rock that held portions of silver and gold, that they could melt the silver and gold out of the rock and obtain it in a pure state. Silver, number 47 in the periodic table, is soft enough that it could be melted in a "firing pot." There was more silver available, and it was easier to extract, and so only a firing pot was needed to obtain pure silver. Gold, number 79 in the periodic table, is harder to extract and requires a furnace. So to obtain pure gold, humans needed to use a larger and hotter device, a furnace. Also, as gold was more prized, a furnace represents a large scale effort under the patronage of a leader or king. So the proverb is escalating in the level of value of the precious ore (from silver up to gold) and in amount of effort required to obtain it in pure form (from firing pot to furnace.)
By placing the heart after silver and gold in this proverb, it is being illuminated as being even more precious than silver and gold. Therefore, instead of a firing pot or a furnace, the Lord is needed to effect the change of a heart to its purest form. In current lingo people have lost the meaning of "trying" so this is what I'm helping the Bible student to avoid. Today we might say "you try me" as in "annoy" or "stress." But in ancient times, trying referred to the chemistry of purification, just as I described, the melting out of silver and gold from the rock ore that holds it within. So the proverb is treating the heart just the same way as silver and gold, which is to recognize that it is not naturally found in pure form, and must be "tried" out of the impure container that it is within. All humans' hearts are bound within the natural tendency to sin and to be mislead, and also, even those of good heart may be bound within conditions that are oppressive and afflictive (war, poverty, illness, loneliness, and other hardships.) In either case, turning to the Lord is the only way that one can purify one's heart. Only the Lord teaches a person how to discard from around and within their heart all that is bad and unhealthy, and allow the space within to grow in the natural glory of the heart.
In Biblical times the heart was viewed as the center of all of a human's actions. Specific feelings and activities attributed to the heart in the Bible include: thought, love, hatred, joy, sorrow, rebellion, pride, desire, obedience, reason, consideration, perception, understanding, meditation, imagination, purpose, presumption, fear, mystery, doubt, and faithfulness/faithlessness. Remember, then they did not know of the functions of the brain, so the heart was the seat of both feeling and thought, and therefore of a human's entire value system. You can see in this list that the ancients recognized a mixed bag of qualities available to the heart, such as the extremes of obedience and rebellion, love and hatred. So in this proverb the reader is being taught that just as silver and gold are extracted from the ore, so too can a heart be purified in order to contain only the finest and most good of the qualities listed above. A heart that is "tried" by turning to the Lord and learning his ways is therefore able to purify out the hatred, and fill with love. A heart is "tried" to purify out the pride and fill with obedience and reason. So this proverb is not saying that the Lord sends affliction and is "trying the patience" of a person to test them into a pure heart, but rather, this wise proverb refers to the Lord as the instrument and way of purity of heart.
Centuries after this proverb was written, Jesus spoke about the reward that the pure of heart achieve:
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God.
The wise St. Paul also shows knowledge of both the proverb, and the beatitude spoken by Jesus, as he brings the two together here:
Thessalonians 2:4
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, who trieth our hearts.
You can see how important it is to understand what I've explained about the proverb in order to correctly understand what Paul is saying. He is saying that by following the gospel, even if men want the person to sin and speak incorrectly, that God purifies the gospel followers' heart. A hasty reading of this saying from Paul without understanding the proverb he is alluding to might make one think that he is saying that God sends certain men to "try" and "test" the believer. That is not what he is saying, and he makes that clear in the order of the words, as it builds up to the point, just as does the proverb itself, a proverb he assumes is known to most readers of this epistle.
God gave gospel as instrument...use it to proclaim.... even if others disagree....God through gospel purifies the heart.
One other thought; Paul uses the words "allowed of God" and "to be put in trust with the gospel" to underscore and emphasis the gospel as a gift and a choosing. God allowed people to hear the gospel and God allowed people to find their faith within them to trust the gospel. Paul is affirming again here that faith itself is a gift from God.
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