The End of the Story

First, a minor note--anyone else notice that under the Mark passage on p1451, the writers of the Chronological Bible state that Easter Sunday was on April 5th, 30 AD. I have never seen any kind of certainty like that before and found it very interesting. In the end, it's not when Christ was resurrected, but THAT he was.

Yesterday, I posted my mosaic of the Stations of the Cross, but if we ended the story there, it would be just another sad tale. No, we read how the story ended today, and another picture from Loyola's chapel tells how the story ended.

Not reading Latin, I went online to try to translate the two statements. The first loosely means "the heart of Jesus open to us" (and that assumes I spelled the words correctly), and the bottom statement translates to "I am your salvation."

This is Christ victorious, victorious over sin, death and the power of the devil, to quote someone with which you may be familiar. This is Jesus conquering once and for all the grip that sin holds over us in our lives, and re-establishing the chasm that had existed between God and man. This is Jesus establishing his supremacy over Satan for all time. This is Jesus fulfilling thousands of years of prophecy, much of which was misunderstood or misinterpreted.

Nothing can withstand the power of Jesus, and with his resurrection, Jesus made clear to his disciples once and for all that while he was a man, he was also God. They certainly had many hints in the time they spent with him--I would think that the miracles and the Transfiguration might have been pretty good hints, but that's me using 20/20 hindsight. Now there are no more secrets.

This is the Jesus we worship today, the man who gave himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, the man who did for us what we ourselves were incapable of doing. Almost from the beginning of history, the gulf of sin has separated us from God, and Jesus' death and resurrection eliminated that gulf forever. We live with God in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, and when that blessed day comes when we're reunited with the Lord, we'll do it eternally. As such, no stained glass or any other depiction can give justice to the gift that Jesus obtained for us through his death, and no thanks can come close to expressing its importance. Feeble as it is, our thanksgiving is what we do to spread the comfort and joy that only Christ can give.

Scott

Lookng for Jesus (Nov 9)

The angel said to the woman, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified."
                                                    Matthew 28:5 NIV

Today's verse involves Jesus, a woman, an angel and relationships.  Let us look at the subjects. Have you considered angels, their servant roles and their function?

Angels have been mentioned many times in our reading.  Often they have the function of a messenger.  Consider the angel who stood blocking the passage of Balaam's donkey.  The angel who appeared to Gideon with the message to not fear, for the Lord was with him.  An angel gave the message to Elijah to meet the messengers of the King of Samaria with the question of why they were going off to consult Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron.  Angels presented themselves before the Lord just before Job's tests began.  An angel gave the message of Mary's pregnancy to Joseph.  An angel opened the doors where the apostles were imprisoned in Acts 5.  An angel told John in Revelation 22 that words were trustworthy and true.

The woman, a human, on her search for the crucified Jesus, certainly had many fears.  The angel provided encouragement.  Many followers of Christ at that time had fear, consider the disciples and how they kept a very low profile until Pentecost.  Like the woman, we to can have fears in life as we seek our Lord Jesus.  Our search for Jesus is now aided by the third being of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who points us to Christ and allows us to understand much.  Give thanks to God!

Angels do have an active servant role and are Spiritual beings with an attendant role to God.  They can help relieve our fears and as a result, encourage us on our path with and toward Jesus; however their activities should not take our focus, our eyes, our goal from Jesus. 

Where do you look when you have uncertainties, when you have fears?

In your daily life, how are you looking for the risen Lord?  Can others tell you are looking for Jesus?

Pray to keep your eyes open to Jesus in your daily life.

In Christ,

David P

The Stations of the Cross

Walk into any Catholic church and you'll see the Stations of the Cross somewhere or another, and if you're lucky, it will be in the stained glass. The Stations depict the 14 steps that Jesus went through as he did for us what we never will be able to do for ourselves--absolve ourselves of our sin. These stations, as the picture notes, are from the campus church at Loyola, where my younger daughter attends school. If you know how to increase the size of your browser window (I use Firefox, and if you hit CTRL + at the same time, you'll make the window larger), you can see the picture better, because the size of the picture is approximately 20"x12". For those that care, this is a mosaic I made of 14 separate pictures, taken earlier this year.

There's not much I can add, other than we can never think about these events enough, nor show even remotely enough gratification or thanks for this ultimate sacrifice. These aren't just words on a page, but torture and rejection by Jews and Gentiles alike. And he did it for us--the least we can do is be thankful.

Scott

What Shall I Do? (Nov 7)

"What shall I do with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
                                            Mark 15:12 NIV

When reading today's passage my thoughts considered Pilate, in his leadership position what he did with many things.  My thoughts focused on the conflicting data Pilate had and how he gave the decision making role of a leader to a crowd with an agenda.  What an extreme avoidance of leadership responsibilities.  Recollect after the events, Pilate washed his hands, a true leader takes responsibility for his choices, Pilate was not a true leader, but rather a person who had some responsibility and who was more concerned about what Caesar would say.

A sage question that Pilate asks in today's reading is "What shall I do with the one you call the king of the Jews?"  This is a question that we face on a daily basis today.  Perhaps a better wording of the question we face is; what shall I do with Christ on a moment by moment basis on my life's journey?


Consider and reflect on what you do with Christ on Sunday morning in church, on Friday and Saturday night, at work, on vacation, as you come and go.  Is Christ on your mind, on your lips and in your heart as God commanded to Moses and the Israelites about the law?  Remember, Christ is the fulfillment of the law.

What did Pilate get for his role in crucifying Christ?  When the Roman Empire made Christianity its official religion, a command was given to erase Pilate's name from History.  As a result of the efforts to erase Pilate's name, for many years, there was no extra biblical references to Pilate.  That changed when archaeologists in Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea, during excavation, found a Stella with Pilate's name on it.

Stella with Pilate's name on it, first extra biblical reference to Pilate.

Consider your leadership roles and how you take that leadership.

Consider what you do with Christ on a moment by moment basis.

Pray for your eyes, heart, and mind to be open to the Spirit's call pointing you to Christ.

In Christ,

David P

Pilate

I'll build a bit on what I wrote yesterday, in particular the relationship between a governed nation and the governing nation. In today's reading, again, all four Gospel writers reported on the same events, with John taking not as much a different view as one that supplements the other three. In particular, John 19:12 states:

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” 

When looking for a definition of "empire," this one from Wikipedia came closest to expressing the point I'm trying to make:

"An empire is a state with politico-military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the imperial (ruling) ethnic group and its culture." 

Not all people in the Roman Empire were Romans, and obviously this was the case regarding the people of Israel. Everything the Jews did differed from the Romans, and the only reasons the Romans were there in the first place was because of their military might. Since they had different customs, lifestyles and religions, one would expect no commonality between the Romans and Israel, and this is generally the case as we read the New Testament. The occasions where a Roman is portrayed positively, such as the faithful centurion described in Matthew 8:5-13, are given as exceptions to the general rule that the Romans were the enemy of the people of Israel. As an occupying army, this was most certainly true, to use a certain phrase.

Pilate tried to release Jesus FOUR times:

1. In exchange for Barabas (John 18:39-40)

2. After he was flogged (John 19:1-6)

3. After Pilate tried to talk with Jesus (John 19:7-12)

4. One last final plea to the Jews (John 19:13-16)

I'm not excusing Pilate, he did in the end bow to peer pressure as a ruler in a country where he was greatly outnumbered. If the people of Israel had been so inclined, they could have overrun Pilate and his armies, and it would have been a completely Pyhrric victory, since Tiberius, the Roman emperor at this time, would have sent an army that would have laid waste to Israel. Knowing all this, the Israelites implore Caesar's name to compel Pilate to act according to their wishes. They hated Jesus so much that they were willing to invoke the person who ruled over them.

A common complaint in days of old was that the Jews killed Jesus, but that conveniently overlooks that without Pilate's approval, nothing could have been done. It took a Gentile to allow the event to occur, so in the end, both Jew and Gentile are complicit in his death. And, as always, before we get too far in patting ourselves on the back in how WE didn't have a hand in this, he died for our sins also. 

I don't usually do this, but be sure to check back tomorrow--I'll have a picture in my post that I think will you'll find interesting and illuminating.

Scott

That Day...

Luke 23:12 states:

That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies. 

It wasn't that long ago, maybe within the past two or three years, when I was at a Wednesday evening Lenten service and heard this verse read from the lectern.  All the Gospel writers commented on this particular event of Christ being brought before Pilate, but only Luke mentioned this quite notable fact, and I know that it certainly caught my attention that evening, so much so I looked it up when I got home to see if I was missing something, because I had not been familiar with this verse prior to that evening. To understand my surprise, let me remind you a bit about  the lineage of Herod.

Whenever we see the name Herod in the Bible, we need to remember that there were five, all related:

Herod the Great--King of Judea from 37-4 BC, and thus the Herod present at the birth of Jesus

Herod Archelaus--Governor of Judea and Samaria 4 BC-6 AD, and the Herod who ordered the newborns killed

Herod Antipas--Tetrarch of Galilee from 4 BC-39 AD, and the executor of John the Baptist AND the Herod referred to in the verse above

Herod Agrippa I--King of Judea 37-44 AD, and executor of James and for all you Acts BSF participants, the Herod of Acts 12:21-23 that was struck down when he didn't deny that he was God

Herod Agrippa II--King of Judea, and Paul went before him at in Acts 25:13-26:32

That's a lot of Herods, but one thing is constant amongst all of them--all are puppet rulers of the Romans, who were the true rulers of Judea and the surrounding area after the conquest by Pompey in 63 BC. As such, not only did all of Israel despise the Romans, so did its rulers, since their control and authority had been usurped by Romans. Nobody likes to be told what to do in their own territory, and that's what the people of Israel had been under for the prior 90+ years, with about 70 of those years being overseen by some form of Herodic rule.

And yet, when Christ was involved, Herod was displeased enough to become friends with Pilate, become friends with the man who ruled over him and his country, became friends with the man who would allow him to do what he himself couldn't do, order the crucifixion of Christ. We can't say for certain, but this may have occurred because Herod didn't get from Christ what he wanted--a show, a miracle, something to amuse and divert him. As Luke 23:8-11 make clear, when Herod didn't get what he wanted, he decided to get rid of a rabble-rousing irritant instead--after all, what's the point of having a miracle man around if he won't perform miracles?

The old saying goes "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," and that applies in this particular case between Herod and Pilate. After Christ's death and resurrection, we hear no more about Pilate or this particular Herod. The uneasy relationship between Israel and Rome would worsen until Herod's temple, built in 20 BC, would be desecrated and destroyed in 70 AD. But, for a brief moment of detente, two enemies came together to rid themselves of a common enemy. It was God's will that Jesus die for our sins and be resurrected, but it took the leaders of two nations to get it done--God wasn't going to make it easy. But in the end, it served a purpose--it took both Jew AND Gentile to execute Christ, and when he was resurrected, it was for the salvation of both Jew and Gentile.

Scott

Gethsemane

As is my wont, I'll break down Jesus in Gethsemane by contrasting the accounts in the four Gospels:

1. Jesus enters Gethsemane--all four Gospels record this, but John's account of the entrance differs from the other three

2. Judas greets Jesus--all four report basically the same thing

3. Disciples defend Jesus, with only John stating that it was Peter who cut the soldier's (Malchus) ear

4. Jesus stops the disciples from fighting, and all four Gospels have DIFFERENT quotes for Jesus--I found that fascinating

5. A person fled--only reported in Mark, and it is hypothesized that it WAS Mark who fled

6. The disciples at this point desert Jesus, but only one account (Matthew) states this

Some interesting variances on a critical event--nothing Earth-shattering, just worthy of reporting.

Now I'll comment a bit on Judas, since I've often thought about him and just what befell him. I used to think of him as Pharaoh, a tool used by God to accomplish his ends, but both Luke (in Acts) and John suggest otherwise. As far back as John 6:70-71, Judas was identified as a "devil," and we'll read in Acts 1:16-20 just how the remaining disciples felt about Judas. I still won't go as far as to state where Judas is today, because it was never my decision in the first place, but the best description I've ever heard on the matter suggests that even though Judas fulfilled prophecy, it didn't have to be HIM--he chose to betray Jesus.

The  important part of these events is that each and every day, we enter Gethsemane with God in our own way. If we falter, or even worse, betray him in the face of adversity or obstacles, we're just the same as the disciples, and to be perfectly honest, we all have at one point or another. However, just like the disciples, we will be forgiven, not through anything we can do on our own, but through Christ's death and resurrection. Never forget that part.

Scott