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2012-03-30T16:49:16-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Saturday in Lent 5 – John 13:1-17

Last updated on: March 30, 2012 at 4:49 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

John 13:1-17

This meditation is really a Maundy Thursday meditation, but here it is on the Saturday before Holy Week.

Jesus says to you today: “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). This name, “Maundy Thursday,” comes from the Latin words mandatum novum, or “new commandment,” taken from John 13:34.

Now why is this a new commandment? The commandments to love God and love your neighbor as yourself come from the Old Testament. It is new because the commandments to love God and love neighbor are hidden away among 612 other commandments. Each of these was either about loving God or loving neighbor, and yet it was easy to miss. New, because it is through Jesus Christ Himself that we see the love incarnated that we are commanded to have. New, because Jesus is about to demonstrate with His life the love that He teaches with His mouth.

So Jesus gives us a new commandment – in fact, the commandment above all others: the commandment to love. On Maundy Thursday, even before the ultimate story of love found in Good Friday, we find in John 13 a complete teaching on love. For on Maundy Thursday, and every day of our lives, Jesus gives us the example of love, the commandment of love, and the strength to love.

Though the entire life of Jesus was an act of sacrificial love, on Maundy Thursday, Jesus gave His disciples – and that includes us – a striking example of love. For on the night in which He was betrayed, He did not demand that His disciples serve Him . . . . He didn’t pamper Himself . . . . He didn’t give His body rest and luxury to prepare for the exhausting and most trying day ahead.

On the night in which He was betrayed, which was also the night He was tried and sentenced, before He did anything else . . . He washed His disciples’ feet.

Now we may not appreciate the significance of this job in 21st century America, but in Jesus’ day, this was one of the lowest jobs around, reserved for common servants. You may not appreciate how humbling it is to wash another person’s feet, especially in a culture where sandals were worn every day and baths were only as frequent as new moons. But feet in the 1st century – who are we kidding? – feet in every century – are dirty, stinky, and smelly. As a parent of young children, I see that every day. (That’s right, blame the kids!)

I remember once in eighth grade when I was on a youth leadership retreat, and the leaders of the youth group decided to have a foot-washing ceremony one night. Earlier that day, I had gone off by myself to explore and play. I seem to remember something about a tire swing on a tree and a bunch of really wet mud all around it. But I digress.

We gathered in a circle to wash each other’s feet. Slowly, the bowl and towel passed around the circle, until it was Christina Cathcart’s turn to wash someone’s feet: mine. When I took off my shoes and socks, I embarrassingly discovered a ring of black all around my ankles and suddenly remembered the tire swing and pool of mud. I may have been embarrassed, but Christina Cathcart was mortified. How humbling to her, and yet more than anyone else that night she had an opportunity to understand love.

But what if the person washing your feet were Jesus Christ Himself, wiping your feet with His own clothing? This was only one among many acts of love He performed in a life that was a living, walking advertisement for love. As John writes of Jesus, “having loved his own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”

When Peter learned the lesson of love, He asked to have not only His feet but also His whole body washed. And we, who are His disciples, are to have our whole bodies and souls washed by Him. This is what He does for us in baptism, coming to us in love, and offering to cleanse us. This is what He does in the Lord’s Supper. In the Prayer of Humble Access we pray: “Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood.”

Here, on Maundy Thursday, then, we see both Baptism and the Holy Communion, as Jesus offers Himself to us that we might live in love.

How humbling, that the Lord who washed His disciples’ dirty, stinking feet in the upper room, has washed your sinful soul – much, much dirtier and stinkier than feet can ever get. How humbling, that the King of Glory should come to His disciples this way, and dirty Himself with the stains of our darkest sins, day after day, broken commandment after broken commandment of dirty, slimy sin!

Notice that Jesus gives the example of love first, and then the commandment – as if to say to us: “anyone can tell you to love, but let me show you first so that you will truly understand.” Which is easier? To say, “Love one another” or to actually love and then say “Love as I have loved you”? Jesus follows up His humble example with a concrete commandment, John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

It’s not enough for us to simply have our feet washed by our Lord: He washes us so that we might become like Him. He washed His disciples’ feet, so that they might learn love. And He washes your body and soul, so that you might learn to love and serve, as He did.

This love that was so real in the life of Jesus must be made just as real in the life of His disciples. Palm Sunday teaches that the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of humility, service, and love. And Jesus says, “If you want to be great in the Kingdom of heaven, then learn to be the servant of all.” “No disciple is greater than His master but strives to be like Him in all things.” And now: “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

It is your Christian duty – and a duty that should proceed spontaneously from a washed soul – to wash the feet of the saints. “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

Look for opportunities to serve; make yourself the most humble person you know; take the lowest job in the room. Anoint the Body of your Lord Jesus Christ – anoint His Body, the Church – by loving one another, as He first loved you. The new commandment to love one another begins by loving God but must continue by loving the saints. It must conclude by loving those not like you. Love those who are not like you and who may not reciprocate the favor. Love those who hate you. Remember that Jesus washed the feet and offered His love feast to the very one who betrayed Him.

If we keep opening our arms and doors of our churches, God’s communities of love, we will get some different, strange people come through those doors – and we must love them. We might get some teenagers and young people who don’t dress quite like us or talk just like us or who might say or do some startling things. And we must love them. We might meet neighbors who will eat our food, and play our games, and hear our music – and never even think about coming into God’s house – and we must love them too.

“As I have loved you, you also love one another.”

But how shall we ever find the strength within ourselves for such an impossible task – to love as our Lord loved us? Jesus was able to love perfectly, in spite of the pain He endured, in spite of being rejected, not just because He was God but also because His human nature actively choose to obey the Father and was sustained by the Holy Spirit. That is where He found His strength.

We can only obey this great commandment of Jesus – to love as He loved us – through the same strength that Jesus Christ found: the strength of God the Father through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.

There are many ways to find the strength of God, but all of them are only through Jesus Christ. But Jesus gave His disciples a special way to celebrate His love and be strengthened to love with His love and power: His supper. After Jesus had shown His disciples the example of love, and after He had given them the commandment of love. He gave them the power of love through the sacramental meal He ate with them. He gave Himself to them, just as He would on the Cross a short time later.

Here before us, on the Lord’s Table whenever we partake, is liquid and solid love – given for you. Here is the power to keep His commandment. And here before us every day, in all of the ways that Jesus offers Himself to us each day, we have Jesus Christ, love incarnate and the power to love.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Resolution: I resolve to find one specific way to love today.

Prayer: Father, as You have loved us by sending Your Son; Jesus, as You have loved us by giving up Your life for us; so may You give us the gift of love through Your Spirit that we may obey Your commandment to love and be made like our Master in all things. Amen.

Points for Meditation:

1. As you meditate on the Gospel narratives of Christ’s betrayal, Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection, meditate on the love of God as He gives them through the life of Christ.

2. As you prepare to partake of the Lord’s Supper this week, take extra care to prepare yourself by meditating on the Lord in His Supper.

Foot washing by soldier – CC image courtesy of Librarian Flickr Official U.S. Navy Imagery’s photostream

2012-03-11T22:27:31-05:00

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Thursday of Lent 3 – Mark 11:12-26

Last updated on: March 11, 2012 at 10:27 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Mark 11:12-26

Nasty, mean Jesus! Who does he think he is – causing a fig tree to wither? Obviously, he wasn’t environmentally friendly. Maybe we can wish this side of Jesus away by taking our Jeffersonian scissors to the parts of the Bible we don’t like and neatly excising them.

Nasty Jesus!

If our reaction isn’t necessarily one of disdain for the one who withers trees, it’s likely at least to be confusion. Maybe we’re not perturbed that Jesus withered the fig tree, but we might be questioning why.

The truth is, once again, that you are the fig tree in this story. It’s amazing how many times God has written you into the Bible, hidden in the symbols and stories of Scripture. But here we all are, and we should not be surprised at what the Lord has to say to us, if we know Him.

When Jesus first spotted the fig tree, He noticed the leaves on it, and from a distance it looked like a healthy fig tree that was bearing its fruit in season. In ancientIsrael, fig trees would bear fruit before their leaves, and so when Jesus saw the leaves, He assumed that He would find fruit.

What He found, however, was a barren tree but one that should have produced fruit. Therefore, Jesus cursed the tree, and there’s the problem. I can’t believe in a Jesus who would curse a poor innocent tree. We have a problem with God cursing things, it seems.

So why does He cause the fig tree to wither? Are we to imagine a scene from Bruce Almighty in which Jesus points His finger randomly at bits of His creation and causes them to blow up – just because He can?

The fig tree, of course, is not just a fig tree. It is the nation ofIsrael, God’s tree that He had carefully planted and cultivated. But in the end,Israelbore leaves but no fruit, and now God had come to judge His people.

Why should this surprise us? Isn’t this the message of the very first Psalm?

“He (the wise and righteous man) shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Didn’t John try to warn us that when the Christ came this is what He would do? “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9).

If you’re offended that Jesus cursed a fig tree and it withered and died, then I’ve got some bad news for you: you’re not going to like the Final Judgment and may not be too crazy about eternity. Shouldn’t we expect that a righteous, faithful, and holy God would follow through on the promises He made to us? That He would bless those who were faithful and bore fruit and would curse those who didn’t?

From the beginning, John tried to warn us: “Repent, for theKingdomofHeavenis at hand!” The King is here, and He has His winnowing fork in His hand to separate the wheat from the chaff. The King is coming, and when He comes again to judge both the quick and the dead, some will wither before His holy Word!

Do not think it strange that Jesus curses the fig tree on the Monday before His Crucifixion, for He has come to remove the curse upon mankind and the earth.

“Do you see that fig tree?” He is saying. “That fig tree is all of you. If you fail to produce good fruit in this life, then I shall make sure you never produce fruit again! But that fig tree is also Me. Because none of you can produce good fruit on your own and all of you are doomed to die and be thrown into the fire, I am going to be that tree for you.”

“By the fruit of a Tree you died, and by the fruit of a Tree you shall live. When you presumed to feed yourself and give yourself life, on that day you surely died. But on the day when you die to yourself and bend to feed off Me, on that day you shall surely live.”

“Cursed is everyone who shall hang on a tree (Galatians3:13; Deuteronomy21:23). And so I shall hang on the Tree for you and bear your fruitlessness for you, for my leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:3). I will become for you the fruit that hangs on the Tree, the Cross, and I will be for you the Tree of Life. Eat of my fruit and become a part of me, and you shall have life.”

Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. You have had Advent to prepare for the Life which is Christ, and now you also have Lent. Hear, then, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew7:18-20).

Seek Jesus, the Tree of Life. Seek to be united to Him today, and so shall you be made into a tree of life that bears good fruit when He comes.

Prayer: Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the words which we have heard this day with our outward ears, may, through thy grace, be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honor and praise of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Point for Meditation:

1. Meditate on your being the fig tree that deserves to be cursed and die and how Jesus has turned you into a tree of righteousness fed by Him.

2. Praise God for the fruit that He has caused to grow in your life.

3. Consider in what ways you have been barren before the Lord.

4. Practice thinking of every event you encounter today as an opportunity to either bear fruit in Christ or to prepare yourself to bear fruit.

Resolution: I resolve to find one way to consciously seek to eat of the fruit of life, Jesus Christ, today and to prepare the ground of my heart so that He may bear His fruit in me.

Bruce Almighty – Wikipedia entry on Bruce Almighty

2012-03-05T12:43:29-05:00

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Tuesday of Lent 2 – John 10:1-30 – Part III

Last updated on: March 5, 2012 at 12:43 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

John 10:1-30 – Part III

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, both knows and leads His sheep. But this knowledge (which is love) and this leading (which is love by serving) means that the Good Shepherd also gives His life for the sheep (verse 11 and 15).

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, loves His sheep: He loves you more than father, mother, husband, wife love you. Ultimately, He loves you and leads you by being willing to die for you. He gave His life for you by becoming like you. The Incarnation is not merely a necessary stepping stone to the Crucifixion. God gave His life for you by becoming like you that you might become like Him.

The entire life of obedience of the Son, even the 30 years before His public ministry, were given for you that He might fulfill the Law for you and become obedient that you might become obedient. This life is not a life of obedience by compulsion, as if He were forced to obey, and it wasn’t a life of automatic obedience, as if since He was also God the human Christ didn’t have to choose to obey. No, this life of obedience was a life of love and submission, willingly undertaken for the joys set before Him. One of those joys was our redemption that we might join Him in His life.

But He also did give His life by becoming obedient, even to the point of death, even the death of the Cross. The Good Shepherd sacrificed His life that the bad sheep might become good sheep and live.

But this life of love, this knowledge of us and service for us cannot be one-sided. What should be the response of the sheep whom He has delivered from wandering and starvation and wild beasts, from sin and death and Satan?

If we want to be His good sheep, we must follow Him in all things. All things. This means the Resurrection and heaven, but it also means the Cross and humiliation. To follow the Good Shepherd, you must be willing to follow him even to the point of death, even if you don’t feel like it.

You want to know something? He didn’t “feel” like being crucified either. He asked for the cup to be taken from Him 3 times, and 3 times the Father said “No.” Do you think it felt good to be nailed to the Cross and have the blood and life drain from you? Do you think He had a good time when He took upon Himself the sins of the world? But in spite of His own desires and human feelings, He obeyed the voice of His Father. He could have said, “Because I don’t feel like it, I won’t do it. Let men die in their sins – but not me.”

The Cross which you see in your church and on your Bibles and in your lives is Christ’s shepherd’s staff, turned into an instrument of death . . . but then into an instrument of life. The Cross, wherever you see it, is a symbol of Jesus Christ your Good Shepherd.

But now you must be the good sheep. As He gave His life for you, you must give your life to Him. It’s unlikely that you will die a martyr’s death for Him: most are not called to this. Instead, you are called to something much more difficult: to learn to love and serve Him as He has first loved and served you; to obey the will of the Father as Christ and the angels and saints in heaven obey it; and to stop wandering and going your own way each day but instead follow wherever He leads you.

Jesus Christ is your Good Shepherd, who knows you better than you know yourself. There are many dangers in this world – and many of them lie within ourselves. But the Good Shepherd will lead you safely through all of them. Learn to hear His voice and learn to follow. But follow, wherever His steps lead, even if they lead through the valley of suffering, because He will lead you to greener pastures on the other side.

Yes, the steps of your Good Shepherd led to the Cross, but it is by following those same steps, that you shall also follow Him into heaven. And there you will find heavenly food and living water to refresh you. There you will find safety and peace forevermore.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd of the sheep, who came to seek and to save that which was lost; I beg you to be present today in your power with the sheep for whom You gave Your life. Show forth Your compassion to the helpless, enlighten the ignorant, protect those in peril, and bring home the wanderers in safety to Your fold. Feed those who hunger and clothe those who are naked, with the food and clothing that You are; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Point for Meditation and Resolution: In what ways in the Good Shepherd asking you to lay down your life for Him? It might be in the sins that He is directing you to repent from during Lent. There might be some thing in this life that you are too attached to that is distracting you from Him. There may be some form of seeking and worshiping Him that He is calling you to. Choose one of these and resolve to follow Him in laying down your life for Him today.

Marble statue of the Good Shepherd – Wikipedia entry on Good Shepherd

2011-12-27T00:40:43-05:00

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St. John the Evangelist – Revelation 1

Last updated on: December 27, 2011 at 12:40 am By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Revelation 1

Who is Jesus Christ?

There are many ways in which He has revealed Himself to us, and all of these are important. Sometimes I think the dominant way contemporary Christians see Jesus is as a good friend. He’s kinda just one of the guys, though definitely the leader of the pack. We can almost picture Him in blue jeans, and we’re sure He would never be caught dead wearing vestments! At other times, particularly in contemporary praise choruses, it’s almost as if He’s our lover, and we sing passionately about our feelings for Him.

On St. John’s Day, I like St. John’s way of seeing Him. Now before we see Jesus as John saw Him, we should remember a few things about John. This is the same John who Jesus saw fishing with his brother James and father Zebedee when He called John to Himself. This is the John who spent 3 years of his life following Jesus as His disciple and the same John who saw the many miracles of Jesus and heard His teaching. He is the John who saw Jesus transfigured in all His glory on the mountain, the John who witnessed His Crucifixion, and the John who took Jesus’ own mother in with him to his home. He is the disciple whom Jesus loved and who reclined intimately on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper.

Because John hung out with Jesus for 3 years, and was one of the 3 closest friends of Jesus, we might expect John to see Jesus as He appeared to him when He was still on earth. We might expect him to see Him as the one who now called Him “friend” and no longer a slave or servant.

But how Jesus Christ actually reveals Himself to John is so glorious, so awesome, so terrifying, that John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, when he sees Him falls at His feet as if dead. This is not a conscious act of prostration before Jesus that John commits: it’s an unconscious, involuntary reaction that St. John has when he sees Jesus Christ in His glory. It is a reaction of fear, the kind of fear that makes a grown man who has seen persecution and has been exiled toPatmos quake in his knees and lose control of his bodily functions.

What was it that John saw? Why would he have this reaction to one he loved so much and was so intimate with?

What John saw was Jesus Christ as He is. What he saw was one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. What John saw was One whose head and hair were white as wool, as white as snow and whose eyes were like a flame of fire. He saw One whose feet were like fine brass as if refined in a fiery furnace, and what he heard was One whose voice is the sound of many waters. He saw the One who had seven stars in His hand and a sharp two-edged sword that is living and powerful and can pierce, even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

John saw all this and One whose countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. So he fell at His feet as if dead.

Is this the way we see Jesus Christ? Is this the way we come into His presence? I don’t think it is most of the time, or, for some of us, ever.

It’s important to realize that John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and, as other parts of Revelation make clear, he is partaking of a heavenly worship service. John is seeing a vision of Jesus Christ as He is when He comes to us in our worship on the Lord’s Day.

But is this how we see Him? “Come as you are,” we’re told. “We’re a church that’s for people just like you. Come in your blue jeans, as Jesus would come. Come slurping your Starbucks, and come at the last minute. Come with your head filled with your plans for what you’ll do with what’s left of your weekend. Come and sing happy, uplifting songs that will make you feel good about yourself and get you in the right mood.”

“Come, sit casually, and listen to a lecture about how to lead the good life or an inspirational talk about how you can solve life’s problems. Come be entertained by our light rock band and preacher who knows a lot of good jokes and anecdotes.”

The Jesus that John came to – the Resurrected, Ascended Christ who sits enthroned on the right hand of God and is the King of kings, surrounded in glory by the 4 Living Creatures and 24 elders and a rainbow and lightnings, thunderings, and voices – is the same terrifying God that the Old Testament prophets saw. This Jesus Christ is the God of Glory who Moses saw on Mt. Sinai, when He saw the God of Israel, under whose feet was a pavement of sapphire (Exodus 24:10), and who made the top of the mountain a consuming fire (Exodus 24:17) and made Moses’ face shine. The Jesus Christ that John saw was the One who holy Isaiah saw, surrounded by cherubim and seraphim, the sight of which made Isaiah cry out: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (6:5).

This is the Lord of Glory who Ezekiel saw, the One sitting on the throne, surrounded by angels and the living creatures, lightning and the noise of many waters, and fire all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When Ezekiel saw it, he fell on his face (1:28).

This Jesus Christ who John saw, and whose presence made John fall at His feet, this Jesus Christ is the Resurrected and Ascended Lord who we worship. Let us come into His presence seeing Him for who He is.

This is the Lord who has revealed Himself to us. Mercifully, He is also the same Lord who laid His right hand on John and said to him: “Do not be afraid.” And so, knowing that we come before a Terrible, Consuming Fire who makes us want to fall down dead, we also come boldly before the Throne. This same Jesus who is the Shekinah Glory and is Heaven itself, is also the One who was born a baby and made man for us.

Let us come before Him today and every day with both fear and trembling, with praise and thanksgiving, and with quiet confidence in His mercy and goodness to us.

Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to spend some time today meditating on who Jesus Christ is, especially as He has revealed Himself in glory. As I do this, I will listen for His voice and what He is telling me today is pleasing in His sight.

Prayer: O God, who on the mountain revealed to chosen witnesses Your only-begotten Son, wonderfully transfigured in dazzling clothes and burning fire; Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the distractions of this world, may be permitted to behold the King in His beauty, who with You, O Father, and You, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, world without end. Amen.

Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it, being illumined by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

2011-12-22T13:24:16-05:00

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Friday of 4th Sunday in Advent – Revelation 22:9-21

Last updated on: December 22, 2011 at 1:24 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Revelation 22:9-21

In the book of Revelation, then, we experience God’s time, we experience the Advent or Coming of Jesus Christ for all time. It’s no wonder that the compilers of the lectionary of the Prayer Book put the last part of Revelation during the season of Advent. The wisdom of this move is never clearer than in Revelation 22 which ends with a the cry of the Spirit and the Bride shouting a loud “Come, Lord Jesus!”

The truth is that Jesus Christ has come, is coming, and will come, for He is the One Who Was, Who Is, and Who Is to Come. Throughout our lives and in Advent especially, we are to meditate on all three dimensions of time and how Christ comes in each. Only then will we have a more perfect sense of Christ’s coming, of His Kingdom, His Power, and His Glory.

Definitively, Jesus Christ has come in His Incarnation, public ministry, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and at Pentecost. Progressively, He comes to His people to dwell with them each and every day that they seek Him and abide in Him. Finally, He shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead and to take us into the highest heaven, thus completing all, including our glorification. In heaven, we will experience time a little differently because Jesus Christ will cease His coming because He will always be with us in a way that He is not on earth.

In Revelation 22, time has come full circle for humanity, only with a greater kingdom, power, and glory than Adam could ever dream of. We read yesterday of the restoration and exaltation of Eden as what Adam had lost is gained for us through the Second Adam. We read of theRiverofLifeand Tree of Life and the New Sun and the like.

But there is one more similarity between Genesis 2 and Revelation 22, and that is the matter of obedience. When God created Adam to have a relationship with Him and lovingly placed him in the Garden, God required something in His covenantal relationship with Him: obedience. From the beginning, man’s relationship to God has been an ethical one that is based on who God is, as the Creator and Almighty Lord, and who we are, creatures created in His image to worship Him and do His will on earth.

In the beginning, God gave Adam 2 commandments: to be fruitful and multiply and take dominion over the earth, and not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As we are all too painfully aware, man created for obedience to God and fellowship with Him and to rule with Him descended into obedience, was cut off, and created a kingdom without God, which is a form of Hell.

Wherever God is present, whenever He comes to men, He demands and deserves their complete obedience. Obedience, which is the proof of our humility (as opposed to pride), our faithfulness (and not just an empty intellectual faith), and our love. We sometimes forget that the Lamb is the Holy, Unblemished Lamb of God and can only abide with the righteous, those united to Him by a true and living faith.

Therefore, Jesus says that He is coming quickly, and when He comes He will bring His reward with Him, to give to everyone according to his work (verse 12). “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (verse 14). When seen in terms of the past, present, and future coming of Jesus Christ, these rewards of blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience, make a fascinating study.

When Christ came the first time, He confronted a humanity that was utterly fallen and as worthy of destruction as Noah’s generation. But rather than simply condemn us all, as we deserved, and still having to be both holy and just but also merciful and loving, He rewarded our disobedience by taking upon Himself the curse our sins deserved. The One who was without sin and who is the Judge of both heaven and earth became sin for us and took upon Himself the judgment we deserved.

When Christ comes to us in the present, it’s sometimes confusing. We know that His judgment on those who love and obey Him is that they are made righteous through Him. We know that even in our suffering, He is with us, blessing us by uniting us to Him. But the confusing part is that in earthly terms, we don’t always see the blessings we look for. With David, we notice that the wicked seem to prosper in this life and that there are a lot of Lazaruses at the gates of rich men. We see St. Paul who lived a life, by human measures of misery and suffering and frustration, but in that sameSt. Paulwe see the fruit of joy and love and a blessing far beyond physical comfort.

In His Second Coming, things shall become crystal clear and every form of blessing and cursing will match up perfectly with our status before the Lord.

Therefore, in this life, since obedience is our command, and obedience should be our joy, and only the obedient will see Christ come and visit them, we should live as if Jesus Christ has already come to us, for in fact He has.

I therefore have faith that Jesus Christ has come in the past to make things right again and bless those who put their trust in Him and not themselves. Part of this faith, of course, is my faithful obedience, the proof that I believe in the Christ who has come. In the present, as Christ comes to me, I have love, and I offer up myself as a living, loving, sacrifice to Christ, intending to obey all that He commands. And I have hope that He will come again to consummate all things and to be with us forever.

Being stuck in the confusing present, I cry out with the Spirit and the Bride: “Come!” Having faith in the Christ who has come, I cry out “Come to me today, as you have faithfully come to your people in the past.” In this present life, I am hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; and struck down, but not destroyed. But if I do not cry out to Jesus daily, I will be crushed, despairing, forsaken, and destroyed, and this is often how I feel. And knowing that no matter how comforting and blessing and joyful the presence of Jesus in this life is, I cry out “Come! Come and fulfill all things, for I am ready.”

In the end, what I want is what every man wants: his truest companion, who is someone even more wonderful than woman. Our True Companion in Heaven, one more perfect and rewarding than any human relationship, even the most blessed marriage, is Jesus Christ Himself. I hope and even pant for His Second Coming, but while He chooses to tarry, I will ask Him to come today, each and every moment, for that is what I need today, each and every moment.

In the seeking of God, I therefore become an imitator of the Second Adam and not the First. In seeking God and asking Him to come again, the greatest miracle in the world is performed again: God comes down to be with man, even this crushed and perplexed man. And though my outer man is manifestly perishing each and every year, when Jesus comes to me again, my inner man is renewed.

Therefore, as the angel commanded, I will worship God, and I will worship today simply by asking Jesus Christ to Come!

Here’s a poem I wrote years ago about my desire for God to come.

come

God

come.

I am weary

too weary

to draw words

from the depths of my empty throat

too weak to call to you

with a physical power

come.

though I am mute and dying

come.

I am weak

when I am my strongest

I am weakest now

come.

for I know

it is when I am my weakest

that

YOU ARE

present

as a small still voice

filling my being with unspoken words

when the universe

in its silence

cannot speak to me

come.

I listen

not for words, my ears are useless

and hearing cannot detect you

yet I lie

if I say

I cannot sense your presence.

You alone define

yourself

to me

(how else can I know you?)

through a sense not human

it must be divine,

even though I am too fragile

too sinful

to exist with your whole being

come.

Sometimes I cry

dead dry tears

for unseen love, power and beauty

beyond my sense and comprehension:

with unutterable groans of desire to be with you

I cry

come.

My being screams dryly

with a thirst much greater than the universe’s deserts

come.

Sometimes I wish I could die

my soul sighs at beauty

the reflection of you

in the universe

witnessed unmistakably by man

the most beautiful of all your creations.

I will die

I will lie down at your side forever

unrestricted, ecstatic joy will be mine

I will know you

and an understanding of infinity

and love

will reside with me

as I reside with and am known by you.

OmnipotentInfinityLove

multiplied by Itself for eternity

You

God

come

to me.

Resolution: I resolve to ask Jesus to come to me as many times today as I can. When I am in need, I will ask Him to come, and when I know that He has come I will be joyful and give thanks.

Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus!

Point for Meditation: Make a list of the ways that Jesus Christ comes to you today. Add to this list as other ways occur to you. Keep this list somewhere safe and practice seeing Jesus Christ in all of the ways He comes to you, even in this life.

Hans Memling Last Judgment Triptych – wikipedia entry on Last Judgment.jpg

2011-09-14T20:23:02-05:00

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Thursday of the 12th Sunday after Trinity – Luke 23:50-24:12

Last updated on: September 14, 2011 at 8:23 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Luke 23:50-24:12

I love Joseph of Arimathea!

It would be easy in this passage, with the empty tomb just around the corner, to completely forget about Joseph of Arimathea and what he has to say to us this morning. I love the roads less traveled in Scripture because they contain so many scattered jewels that I have not stopped to appreciate before.

One of the most important things we first realize about Joseph of Arimathea (from St. Matthew’s account) is that Joseph was rich. I mention this because usually Jesus is giving the rich a pretty hard time: it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter theKingdom ofHeaven. And yet what do we discover about this rich man Joseph? He was “waiting for thekingdom ofGod.”

On his own, a rich man has about as much chance of seeing God as a camel does of passing through the eye of a needle. But becoming spiritually poor for the sake of the riches of God, a rich man has exactly as much chance of entering theKingdomofHeavenas a poor man.

The second strike against poor Joseph is that he was a council member of the Sanhedrin. Throughout the Gospels it is particularly the leaders of the Jews who hate, reject, and conspire against Jesus. In fact, it is the Sanhedrin that has just met and sentenced Jesus to death. But not Joseph of Arimathea.

Already, Joseph is so unlike other rich rulers inIsrael, but there is more. Like Simeon and Anna back in Luke 2, Joseph was waiting for theKingdomofGod, and when he heard that Jesus had died, he went looking for it (him.)

Now Joseph could have been like any of the 12 disciples who were at this time nowhere to be found. He could have lurked about at a distance, not daring to openly profess his hope in Jesus of Nazareth. He could have secretly hired someone to find the body of Jesus so that his hands could remain clean.

But this is not what Joseph does. Making use of his God-given human authority, he marches right up to Pontius Pilate (of all people!) and asks for the body of Jesus. Now Pilate, who had already acceded to the demands of the Jews to gain favor for himself, something Joseph knew full well, might easily have not wanted to get involved. He may even have become angry. It probably took courage for Joseph to ask: in fact, Mark15:43says that Joseph had to “take” courage.

After Pilate had given Joseph permission for Jesus’ body, Joseph “took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock.” How amazing that this rich man who could have ignored Jesus’ dead body, or at least had the propriety to hire someone to do his dirty work, goes and takes care of the body of Jesus himself. We must imagine the details here. Most of the time, if you’re like me, you’re in such a rush to have Jesus be resurrected that you don’t meditate on the fact that He must truly have been dead. We rush to the Crucifixion, spend some time there, and then rush to the Resurrection. But Jesus is here in His death as well, and Joseph teaches us this.

With a fatherly love, Joseph takes down the Body of the Son from the Cross. At this point Jesus’ Body is still showing the evidence of the crown of thorns, his intense flogging, his hours of agony on the Cross, the holes in His Body where the nails held Him to the Cross, and the puncture wound in His side. His Body is bloody and bloodless at the same time. It is limp and white and humanly speaking ghastly and disgusting.

This is the body this rich man himself takes down from the Cross. Joseph must take down the Cross, take out the horrible nails still in the body, and unloose the ropes that would have held the body to the Cross. Next, Joseph wraps this disfigured Body in linen, surely his own, and himself carries the Body to an expensive tomb cut out of rock. This is Joseph’s own tomb that he lays Jesus in. How symbolic! Joseph takes the dead Jesus, puts Him in his own tomb, and out of Joseph’s tomb Jesus’ resurrects. This is a picture of salvation and entrance into theKingdomofGodfor all of us: Jesus dies in our place and is resurrected so that we might live with Him.

How blessed it was for Joseph to have Jesus die in his tomb! How blessed for us to have Jesus die in our place!

But what Joseph did we must also do. Joseph used the human authority God had given him and took the courage the Holy Spirit offered to ask Pilate for His Body, and we must use all that God has given us each day and seek Jesus, with courage and without regard for what others might think. Joseph himself found Jesus and took hold of His Body and carried it, and we must take up Jesus, our Cross, daily, and carry Him each day. Joseph spent his own resources, the ones God had blessed him with, and provided a place for Jesus, participating in His death that he might participate in His Resurrection. This rich ruler was not above getting his own hands bloody and dirty: no wonder that there is a tradition that Joseph of Arimathea was one of the 70 disciples.

Our challenge this morning is to be like Joseph: to seek Jesus with courage, to use the gifts of God to seek Him and serve Him, in the hope that by seeking theKingdomofGodwe might, with Joseph and the thief on the cross, also enter intoParadise.

One of the primary ways we honor the body of Jesus today is to honor the Body of Jesus on earth, His Church. His Body is precious to Him, and His Body requires care. His Body is in need, and He has given each of you His riches with which you may care for His Body. More than just having a few minutes’ meditation on the need to seek Jesus in our hearts, we must seek Him in His Body, the Church, and care for it as we would the bloodied body which Joseph of Arimathea cared for.

Some in the Church are poor and weak, some are bloodied and lifeless. We all need to be ministered to with the care shown by Joseph of Arimathea.

Our goal each day should be to be with Jesus in His life; with Jesus on the Cross; with Jesus in the tomb; with Jesus in His Resurrection; and with Jesus in heaven in the presence of the Father. We do this not only in our own hearts but also in our lives, in His Body the Church, and in the world.

Prayer: Lord, I give you thanks this morning for making me rich beyond all earthly measure. I ask that by Your grace You may encourage me to seek You with those gifts and to use them to glorify You. Help me to seek You not only in my heart but also in Your Church, that I, like Joseph, may tenderly care for the Body for which You died.

Point for Meditation: In what ways has God enriched you so that you might give back His gifts for His kingdom, to care for the Body of Christ?

Resolution: I resolve today to seek Jesus with the riches God has entrusted to me. With courage and without regard to the cost to myself, I resolve to lay hold of Jesus in at least one of the ways He is calling me to serve Him today.

CC Image courtesy of Librarian by hoyasmeg on Flickr.jpg

2011-09-07T21:36:13-05:00

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Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

Last updated on: September 7, 2011 at 9:36 pm By Fr. Charles Erlandson

Profound and Pastoral, Scholarly and Faithful!

“Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection” is the sequel to Pope Benedicts XVI’s first book on the life of Christ: “Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordanto the Transfiguration.” What I am writing, I write as an Anglican priest and professor who has read previously only a few articles by Pope Benedict XVI (back when he was Cardinal Ratzinger). I’m happy to say that I find Benedict XVI’s “Jesus of Nazareth” a wonderful commentary on the life of Jesus Christ. While it’s very clear that the Pope is a scholar, it’s also clear he is a man of deep faith: I want both of these in a good commentary on the life of Christ! This Volume 2 of the Pope’s work makes me want to go out and buy his first volume as well. “Jesus of Nazareth”, especially, makes for wonderful Lent, Passiontide, and Eastertide reading!

I heartily recommend “Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection” to all Christians who want to understand Jesus and His teachings better, to be closer to Jesus Christ, and to become more faithful disciples of His in the process. Any writer who manages to combine scholarly erudition with readability and deep insights into faith and theology deserves to be read. This is especially true if the writer is the present Pope!

In his forward, Benedict places his work, and that of scholarly exegesis in general, firmly in its theological context, as a response to the historical-critical exegesis that is even now exhausting itself. In other words, his work will combine the scholar’s care for history with the saint’s devotion to and care for the biblical text. Benedict says that he is not writing another “life of Christ” but wants simply to present the figure and message of Jesus.

When reviewing books, especially ones of a theological nature, I like to look at both the most difficult passages to see if the author will “wimp out” on the reader and to look at the most dense and important passages. Benedict states that the teachings of Jesus on eschatology near the end of the Gospels can be described as “the most difficult text in the whole of the Gospels?” So how does the Pope handle these difficult passages? With great skill and understanding. In essence, he looks at these passages through three temporal lenses. First, he sees them as being in continuity with the tradition that came before. Second, he sees a historical fulfillment in the destruction of the Temple.

Third, he sees them in terms of an eschatology that is beyond our time and reality. I believe this is a faithful way to understand these difficult passages and may be of great help to perplexed Christians. Rather than seeing a naïve and simplistic connection between Jesus’ teaching and the end of the world, Benedict sees in them as well “a time for the Gentiles.”

Being an Anglican, and not a Roman Catholic, I wanted to see how Benedict would handle “the theology of the words of institution.” Benedict begins with a helpful reminder that the words of institution belong in the context of prayer, “the thanksgiving that leads to blessing and to transformation.” In the breaking of the bread, we see the hospitality and caring of God that is to be applied in the caring nature of God’s Church as well. Protestants may not be satisfied with Benedict’s explanation of how Christ can say “This is My Body” while He is still standing there in the flesh, but Benedict expresses Jesus’ meaning without being polemical. In essence, by way of anticipation, Jesus knows that He will indeed offer His life to His disciples and is already in the process of doing it. Nothing very controversial here for many of us.

On a more personal and less theological level, I find that in many places Benedict’s insights not only helped me to understand certain passages better but also to know their deeper meanings. He does a wonderful job of showing how various passages of the Bible all are brought together in parts of the life of Christ (and some of you thought Roman Catholics don’t know their Bible!) For example, I love Benedict’s discussion of Jesus’ passionate prayer in theGardenofGethsemane. Even here, Benedict always keeps the relevant scholarship before, as a means of better understanding the passage at hand.

There are too many other important passages to go through, but I thought Benedict’s handling of Christ’ cry of dereliction on the Cross was very good, placing it, as he does, in the context of what has been called the “corporate personality” of the Psalms. This is in contrast to the individualistic way we tend to read the Scriptures. In other words, Benedict allows for the importance of private piety but always ties them to the life of Christ and therefore the life of the whole Church.

In summary, what we have in Pope Benedict XVI’s “Jesus of Nazareth” is an explanation of the most important man who brought the most important message. It just happens to be written by, arguably, the most important (though all are equal in God’s eyes) Christian alive today. Intelligent and clear, faithful and forceful, I’m sure it will bless the lives of many! My prayer is that “Jesus of Nazareth” will bring many Christians closer to Jesus of Nazareth.

Benedict XVI organizes his book in the following way:

I. The Entrance intoJerusalemand the Cleansing of theTemple

1. The Entrance intoJerusalem

2. The Cleansing of theTemple

II. Jesus’ Eschatological Discourse

1. The End of theTemple

2. The Times of the Gentiles

3. Prophecy and Apocalyptic in the Eschatological Discourse

III. The Washing of the Feet

1. The Hour of Jesus

2. “You are Clean”

3. The New Commandment

4. The Mystery of the Betrayer

5. Two Conversations with Peter

6. Washing of Feet and Confession of Sin

IV. Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer

1. The Jewish Feast of the Atonement

2. Four Major Themes of the Prayer

V. The Last Supper

1. The Dating of the Last Supper

2. The Institution of the Eucharist

3. The Theology of the Words of Institution

4. From the Last Supper to the Sunday Morning Eucharist

VI. Gethsemane

1. On the Way to theMount of Olives

2. The Prayer of Jesus

VII. The Trial of Jesus

1. Preliminary Discussion of the Sanhedrin

2. Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

3. Jesus Before Pilate

VIII. Crucifixion and Burial of Jesus

1. Word and Event in the Passion Narrative

2. Jesus on the Cross (this is subdivided into 8 sections)

3. Jesus’ Death as Reconciliation and Salvation

IX. Jesus’ Resurrection from the Dead

1. What is the Resurrection of Jesus?

2. The 2 Different Types of Resurrection Testimony

– the Confessional Tradition

– the Narrative Tradition

3. Summary: the Nature of Jesus’ Resurrection and its Historical Significance

Epilogue – “He Ascended into Heaven”

2011-08-29T06:56:18-05:00

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Monday of Trinity 10

Last updated on: August 29, 2011 at 6:56 am By Guest Contributor

Luke 19:29-40

The appropriate response to being in the presence of Jesus is joy and praise. Both of these things are needed, and both are present whenever Jesus is present and is received with faith.

It seems odd to be reading about the Triumphal Entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday at the end of summer, in the middle of the long season of Trinity that doesn’t have the landmarks of other seasons like Christmas or Easter. But the Triumphal Entry is a scene that Christians ought to re-enact every day of the year, and so this is a passage for every day of the year and not just one day, just as Christmas and Easter are here every day of the year and not only one.

The truth is that Jesus rides into your life every morning. The question is not “Will He come today?” but “How will I respond when He does come?” Every day we are part of the multitude of disciples in verse 37, some of who rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they have seen. Jesus had done no fresh miracle on Palm Sunday: what is notable is that the multitude of disciples chooses to respond this day to the mighty works they had seen. And if you are a Christian, you too have seen the mighty works of God. You, too, by faith are a witness to the birth of Jesus Christ, the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. You, too, have seen how God has taken the sick and sinful people in your life and healed and saved them. Like me, you have seen the mighty works of God in your own life.

So what is your response today?

That multitude of disciples on Palm Sunday responded with the loud voice of joy and praise because both joy and praise are necessary. Joy comes in and praise goes out of Jesus’ disciples. Joy is subjective (though it has an objective cause: the presence of Jesus) and inward: it is the personal response to the presence of Jesus in your life, through His life, His Word, and His deeds. Joy is for our benefit, but it is a sign to God that we have responded in faith. It is just such joy that has characterized the saints of the past whenever they see Jesus. One of my favorite responses to the presence of Jesus is that of the wise men, who showed by their response both their faith and wisdom. In Matthew 2:10, we read that when the wise men saw the Star which stood over where the child Jesus was “they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.” Not simply “they rejoiced” or “they rejoiced greatly,” but “they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.”

That is to be the first part of our response.

The second part is praise. Praise is outward in nature, for it is not what comes into us but what comes out of us, out of our encounter with Jesus and out of our joy. Unlike joy, which is partially for our benefit, praise is entirely for God’s glory. There is no other motivation in praise than to give to God the glory that is His.

Sometimes the world wants to silence our praise. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples,” the Pharisees tell Jesus.

But Jesus’ response is “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones themselves would immediately cry out.”

You can’t contain the joy of God’s people or the praise of God’s creation. Silence His disciples if you can, but try shutting up the sun and the moon. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19.)

So let us join our voices with the multitude of disciples in saying this morning: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

When you do, even if you are alone in rejoicing and praising this morning, you are never alone. You are always part of the great multitude of disciples, called the Church, who rejoice and praise God every day. These are the saints around the world who sing God’s praises, and they are joined by those who have passed into heaven before us. To their voices and ours are added the voices of the angels and archangels who never stop rejoicing and praising.

Joy comes in and praise goes out of Jesus’ disciples whenever they truly meet Him. Seek Jesus today, rejoice, and give praise to God!

Prayer: Lord, may I, your humble servant like Zacchaeus, seek and find You today. May I remember Your mighty works both when You were on earth and those You have done in my life. When I see You today, as many times as I see You, may I rejoice with exceedingly great joy and cry out with loud praises to You.

Point for Meditation: Joy and praise are intimately connected and effect each other.

Spend some time praising God today and expect to experience joy in the process. Sing some of your favorite spiritual songs: better yet, gather some of your friends and sing them together with gusto!
Find a favorite Psalm and recite it aloud with emphasis.
Find a part of God’s creation that brings you joy and experience God through it today.

Resolution: I resolve today to bring to mind the might things that God has done. I resolve to respond with joy and praise, even if these might be small in the beginning.

Give Us This Day

give us this day

2011-08-06T13:36:47-05:00

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Saturday of Trinity 6

Last updated on: August 6, 2011 at 1:36 pm By Guest Contributor

Luke 12:49-59

For being the Prince of Peace, Jesus sure knows how to stir up trouble!

The truth is, of course, that we are the ones who have disturbed the peace of the cosmos. We are the ones who have broken the law and are to be hauled into court to pay our debt. We are the ones who are at war with God and therefore at war with one another, at war within ourselves, and at war with nature. In fact, the traditional list of 3 kinds of conflict that literary textbooks talk about – man vs. man, man vs. himself, and man vs. nature – is incomplete, for it leaves out the most important kind of conflict of all: man vs. God.

We expect that when God walked into the world that everything would be made better immediately and without any fuss. We thought that we could start a war against God, change sides in the war, and then there would be no more war. As violently as the war began, we would have liked to believe, is how peacefully it will simply ebb away.

But the problem is that this isn’t the case. To bring peace to a war at world with itself, war must be waged, and as General Sherman said, “War is Hell!” To turn an upside down right side up again requires a cataclysm that is violent and very disturbing. And to make known the reality of this war and the 2 opposing sides, it was necessary that the Light of the World illuminate the fundamental division that exists in the world: the division between sheep and goats, disciples of Jesus Christ and rejecters of Jesus Christ, and the children of light and the children of darkness.

The disturbing, violent nature of the cataclysmic work of redemption reverberates throughout the end of Luke chapter 12: in fact, it’s been thundering all around us ever since Peter made his confession in Luke 9:20 and Jesus began to teach about the real nature of what the Christ of God has come to do.

We hear it in Jesus’ voice when He says in verse 50, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.” Jesus knows the terrible price that must be paid to bring peace to the earth and to humans once again. He knows, and He sets His face like flint to obey the will of the Father. And He is greatly distressed while He waits to pay that terrible price. As He gets closer to the Cross, that Cross begins to get heavier and heavier upon Him. This is the deeper magic of Tolkien’s The Return of the King, in which the closer Frodo gets to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring, the heavier it gets.

We feel Jesus’ distress and the shaking of the earth as Jesus reveals the growing chasm between Good and Evil. “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division,” He tells us in verse 51. Even families are divided by the coming of the Christ of God because some will accept Him and some will reject Him.

And then Jesus directs our attention beyond His own pain and conflict, and beyond our present pain and conflict, and to the end of time instead. Even time is disturbed by the coming of the Christ, so that the great dividing line in history is time Before Christ (B.C.) and time In the Year of Our Lord (Anno Domini, or A.D.) Time is also divided because within any given time period, some will not discern the time and will be unprepared for the coming of the Judge, while others will redeem the time. Some will settle with the Judge by accepting His terms of peace, and others will never make peace with Him and will therefore be thrown into the prison of Hell.

This is the terrible war and earthquake and apocalypse of the Christ of God!

And yet for the Christian it is a message of peace, and He truly is the Prince of Peace. The violence and divisions and mighty motion is all necessary to bring peace, but in the end, there is the offer of peace from the Prince of Peace. The terms of peace are to accept the terrible price that was paid to buy peace for us. The terms of peace are unconditional surrender to the One who has conquered for you: the terms of peace are to allow the Prince of Peace to conquer you.

To receive this peace, therefore, we must be united to the Prince of Peace. And here is where we sometimes don’t understand. Being united with Jesus Christ means we partake of all of Him. Will we be baptized with the same baptism with which He was baptized? The baptism He is talking about in verse 50 is His Passion and Crucifixion for us: it meant His death. And if we want to be baptized with Him we must also die, but die to self that we might be raised to life with Him.

This is sometimes a deeply disturbing and terrible thing. You won’t hear many TV preachers – or preachers anywhere – talk about this. It may not be a popular teaching, and yet we all know, in our hearts that it’s true. But making peace with Jesus Christ may actually be painful and difficult. Making the choice to do the will of the Father and give up self causes a great deal of turmoil in our souls. It hurts, it disturbs me, it’s sometime odious to turn from what I want to do in order to serve God. And making a choice to love and serve God with all of your heart and soul and mind when others around you are not making this choice will be the source of distress in your life.

But do not be afraid. When your soul is in trouble over the things that God has asked you to do, be at peace, knowing that you are at peace with God through the Prince of Peace. The Christ who suffered for you also rose for you, and the Christ with whom you must suffer is also the Christ with whom you will be raised up.

For the world which still rejects the Prince of Peace, there can be no peace on earth. But blessed are the peacemakers, those who seek peace with God, for they shall be called the sons of God!

Prayer: Father, may You, through Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, give to me the peace that passes all understanding and keep my heart and mind in the knowledge and love of You and of Your Son, Jesus Christ. May Your blessing, the blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be with me and remain with me always. Amen.

Point for Meditation: Examine the causes of distress in your life. Which ones are caused by running away from God like Jonah? Which ones are caused by the worries and cares of the world? Which ones are caused by the heaviness of what God has asked you to do?

Resolution: I resolve to settle with God whatever I know is not settled with Him in my life. Choose the one thing that most distresses you in your relationship with God and in the things He has asked you to do, and offer that to Him as a peace offering.

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