Easter 4 (John 10:11-18) “I am the Good Shepherd.”
Sheep need a shepherd.
Without a shepherd sheep wander, get lost and fall into danger.
When our Heavenly Father looks on the human race He sees a people who are wandering, who are lost, who are in great danger. Our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to inspire Moses and the Prophets to observe how sheep need a shepherd to guide, guard and protect them.
Moses and the prophets understood the comparison. Human beings are not sheep. Human beings are like sheep in many ways. We need someone to guide us, guard us and to protect us from our own demand and fear. We need someone who can fulfill the role a shepherd fulfills for sheep. We need Jesus.
Our Heavenly Father sent his son, His only Begotten and co-eternal Beloved into the world as the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd cares for the sheep. The Good Shepherd lives with the sheep. The Good Shepherd calls his sheep by name. And, the Good Shepherd lays down his life to protect his sheep even when the sheep willfully abandon the shepherd and fall into danger.
Jesus came into the world of matter, energy, time and space to seek the lost. He left the eternal realm of ineffable love and holiness to enter into a world formed by fear, pride and the will to power. He came in holiness with compassion in the fullness of love.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to our planet to seek the lost who willfully and spitefully refuse to be found. He came anyway.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to a people who argued incessantly over who was righteous and who was unrighteous, over who was the true Israelite , over who deserved God’s reward and who deserved God’s punishment. He came anyway.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to enter into a personal relationship with individuals who wanted to use him to get what they valued most: wealth and power. He came anyway.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to embrace a species which was so lost in separation that they would react to his presence with fear, anger, hate and death. He came anyway.
Jesus came to earth to meet us where we are in all of our pain and pride so that he could find us, rescue us, and transform us in the perfection of love and compassion.
Only the one who unifies divinity with humanity in his own person can truly understand the problem and the solution. Only the one who willingly surrenders his own life to embrace the ultimate separation of death can transform death back into life.
As Jesus is the love of God personified so Jesus is the Life of God made flesh. By his own choice Jesus came to earth to seek the lost who refuse to be found. By his own choice Jesus surrendered all of his divine prerogatives so that he could be fully human in weakness and fully divine in love.
By his own choice Jesus entered into a world that rejected him, abandoned him and killed him. By this one real choice Jesus accomplished what no prophet, priest or king could ever accomplish. Jesus reunified a lost and separated humanity with God in his own person. Jesus transformed death back into life by embracing death.
When Jesus dies on the cross he embraces the very power of death. His embrace is the embrace of infinite and eternal love. In the vast expense of that ocean of love life swallows up death and transforms death back into life.
In Jesus, sin transforms into virtue, death transforms into life, separation transforms into love.
The Good Shepherd our Heavenly Father sent into the world is the Lord of life. He is the Lord of Love. He is Jesus Christ for all people of all nations for all time.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Easter 3
Easter 3 (Luke 24:36b-48) Why are you frightened?
Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love not only casts out fear, he transforms fear into faith. Perfect love is Jesus Christ.
Fear is a reaction and a distortion.
There is value in caution. There is wisdom in being careful. Fear is a distortion of both. Fear is a reaction to real or imagined threat. Fear activates a section of the brain that floods the body with biochemicals to prepare us for fight, flight or freeze.
It was fear that led the religious authorities to condemn Jesus and demand his execution. Some feared he would use his obvious power to overthrow the established order. Some feared he would start a war. They had no evidence to support their fear. Jesus never practiced violence or authorized violence. Fear does not pay attention to fact. Fear reacts to demand.
The demand the religious authorities brought to Jesus was submit. Submit to our will. Do God’s work our way for our benefit. Pride led the religious authorities to oppose Jesus. Fear led them to condemn Jesus because they recognized Jesus was not theirs to control.
The political authority in Jerusalem ordered Jesus’ execution through fear. Pilate feared the religious authorities would instigate a riot. The Emperor did not reward governors for abstract concepts of justice. The emperor rewarded results. The result Rome wanted from Pilate was control. Civil unrest was a sign of failure. It was better for the security of the Empire to execute an innocent man.
The apostles also feared. Despite the fact that Jesus clearly and explicitly told them that he would be arrested, killed and then on the third day rise from the dead, they did not believe. They rejected what Jesus taught. They imposed their own expectation and demand on Jesus. They wanted him to succeed in the categories of command and control. They could not and would not embrace the categories of sacrificial love and compassion.
From the moment the secret police arrested Jesus, virtually all of the followers of Jesus reacted with fear. They ran. They hid. They abandoned Jesus. Only Jesus’ mother and her two companions and Jesus’ best friend overcame their fear. They stood with Jesus at the foot of the cross. They, too, feared the religious and political authorities. What set them apart was love.
Mary’s maternal love overcame her fear. John’s loyalty to his best friend overcame his fear. Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love transforms fear. Jesus is that perfect love. Mary and John overcame their fear as they expressed their fragile and imperfect love for Jesus. As they turned to Jesus it was the infinite and eternal love of Jesus that transformed their human love into divine love.
Jesus just doesn’t have love. Jesus is love personified. The personal relationship with Jesus reunifies the soul with the divine. The Way to salvation begins with the love we are able to experience. However imperfect and feeble that love may be, it is a type and shadow of divine love. It is the channel for the living waters of divine love.
The apostles had knowledge but they lacked love. Because they lacked love they lived with fear. That fear inhibited their ability to embrace faith.
When they saw the risen Lord Jesus they reacted with surprise and terror. They thought he was a ghost. The Bible clearly teaches that there are no ghosts. According to the superstition of the time a ghost was the shadowy afterimage of a dead human being. Ghosts had unfinished business with the living. Ghosts inspired fear and terror in the living by activating guilt.
The apostles had much to be guilty of. They had abandoned Jesus. They had rejected his teaching. Peter denied Jesus three times. Judas not only betrayed Jesus through pride but committed suicide in his despair. If Jesus had somehow returned as a ghost with unfinished business then the apostles knew very well they were in trouble.
Jesus was not a ghost.. He had risen physically from the dead. Our Heavenly Father filled the dead body with eternal life. That life transformed every organ, every cell, every molecule, every atom, every subatomic particle with life.
Jesus did not have unfinished business. He had a plan, the plan of salvation. And, he had a purpose: steadfast, holy, unconditional love.
We read in the gospel account how Jesus questioned his followers. Why do you fear? When in life did I ever threaten anyone? Why do you doubt? When in life did I never fulfill my word?
Then, Jesus invited them to test his physical reality. I’m here. I’m real. You really do see me. You really do hear me. Go ahead. Touch me.
It still wasn’t enough. The apostles had started to shift into a state of joy but not faith. It seemed too good to be true. Perhaps this was all an illusion. Perhaps it was a dream.
So Jesus asked for something to eat. It was a very understated yet powerful reassurance that he was alive, real and physical.
Then, Jesus reminded them of his teaching. Finally, Jesus led them in Bible study. He explained to them what they thought they already knew. He drew on the words of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms to provide the framework of faith.
Jesus demonstrated how he physically embodies the pattern of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation as revealed by the Holy Spirit to Moses, the prophets and the Psalmist many centuries before. The book sets forth the plan. Jesus is the plan.
Jesus frames his own personal experience in the context of the scriptures. Then he tells the apostles: you are witnesses of these things. You saw, heard and touched the living reality of the Plan of Salvation in your personal relationship with me. Now, your mission is to tell everyone what you experienced.
What the apostles experienced was the amazing, unbelievable yet undeniable truth that God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ.
Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love transforms fear. Perfect love is the Real Presence of the infinite and eternal God in the person of Jesus Christ.
As perfect love Jesus appeared physically to his apostles and asked: why are you frightened? Why do you react with fear? Discern the place of pride that rejects the reality of the living God. That is the false deity you have created for yourself. It is that false deity that keeps you enslaved to fear.
Surrender your demand to be in control and yield your mind, heart and will to love. It doesn’t matter how imperfect or weak that love is for now. It will grow. It will develop. It will transform you and enable you to flourish in love.
Jesus asks us the same question. Why do you fear? Why do you allow yourself to be defined by fear? Why do you cooperate with those who seek to manipulate you and to control you with fear? There is another way. It is the way of Moses, the prophets and the psalmists. It is the way of Holy Mother Mary. It is the way of John, the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved.
Listen to the reading of the scriptures.
Look at the icons and images of the saints.
Smell, touch and taste the sacramental bread and wine.
Jesus is the Real Presence of the Divine in all of the senses. Jesus is the personification of perfect love who casts out fear and transforms fear. Jesus is the personal pattern of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation revealed to Moses, the prophets and the psalmist.
Why do you fear? God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ.
Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love not only casts out fear, he transforms fear into faith. Perfect love is Jesus Christ.
Fear is a reaction and a distortion.
There is value in caution. There is wisdom in being careful. Fear is a distortion of both. Fear is a reaction to real or imagined threat. Fear activates a section of the brain that floods the body with biochemicals to prepare us for fight, flight or freeze.
It was fear that led the religious authorities to condemn Jesus and demand his execution. Some feared he would use his obvious power to overthrow the established order. Some feared he would start a war. They had no evidence to support their fear. Jesus never practiced violence or authorized violence. Fear does not pay attention to fact. Fear reacts to demand.
The demand the religious authorities brought to Jesus was submit. Submit to our will. Do God’s work our way for our benefit. Pride led the religious authorities to oppose Jesus. Fear led them to condemn Jesus because they recognized Jesus was not theirs to control.
The political authority in Jerusalem ordered Jesus’ execution through fear. Pilate feared the religious authorities would instigate a riot. The Emperor did not reward governors for abstract concepts of justice. The emperor rewarded results. The result Rome wanted from Pilate was control. Civil unrest was a sign of failure. It was better for the security of the Empire to execute an innocent man.
The apostles also feared. Despite the fact that Jesus clearly and explicitly told them that he would be arrested, killed and then on the third day rise from the dead, they did not believe. They rejected what Jesus taught. They imposed their own expectation and demand on Jesus. They wanted him to succeed in the categories of command and control. They could not and would not embrace the categories of sacrificial love and compassion.
From the moment the secret police arrested Jesus, virtually all of the followers of Jesus reacted with fear. They ran. They hid. They abandoned Jesus. Only Jesus’ mother and her two companions and Jesus’ best friend overcame their fear. They stood with Jesus at the foot of the cross. They, too, feared the religious and political authorities. What set them apart was love.
Mary’s maternal love overcame her fear. John’s loyalty to his best friend overcame his fear. Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love transforms fear. Jesus is that perfect love. Mary and John overcame their fear as they expressed their fragile and imperfect love for Jesus. As they turned to Jesus it was the infinite and eternal love of Jesus that transformed their human love into divine love.
Jesus just doesn’t have love. Jesus is love personified. The personal relationship with Jesus reunifies the soul with the divine. The Way to salvation begins with the love we are able to experience. However imperfect and feeble that love may be, it is a type and shadow of divine love. It is the channel for the living waters of divine love.
The apostles had knowledge but they lacked love. Because they lacked love they lived with fear. That fear inhibited their ability to embrace faith.
When they saw the risen Lord Jesus they reacted with surprise and terror. They thought he was a ghost. The Bible clearly teaches that there are no ghosts. According to the superstition of the time a ghost was the shadowy afterimage of a dead human being. Ghosts had unfinished business with the living. Ghosts inspired fear and terror in the living by activating guilt.
The apostles had much to be guilty of. They had abandoned Jesus. They had rejected his teaching. Peter denied Jesus three times. Judas not only betrayed Jesus through pride but committed suicide in his despair. If Jesus had somehow returned as a ghost with unfinished business then the apostles knew very well they were in trouble.
Jesus was not a ghost.. He had risen physically from the dead. Our Heavenly Father filled the dead body with eternal life. That life transformed every organ, every cell, every molecule, every atom, every subatomic particle with life.
Jesus did not have unfinished business. He had a plan, the plan of salvation. And, he had a purpose: steadfast, holy, unconditional love.
We read in the gospel account how Jesus questioned his followers. Why do you fear? When in life did I ever threaten anyone? Why do you doubt? When in life did I never fulfill my word?
Then, Jesus invited them to test his physical reality. I’m here. I’m real. You really do see me. You really do hear me. Go ahead. Touch me.
It still wasn’t enough. The apostles had started to shift into a state of joy but not faith. It seemed too good to be true. Perhaps this was all an illusion. Perhaps it was a dream.
So Jesus asked for something to eat. It was a very understated yet powerful reassurance that he was alive, real and physical.
Then, Jesus reminded them of his teaching. Finally, Jesus led them in Bible study. He explained to them what they thought they already knew. He drew on the words of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms to provide the framework of faith.
Jesus demonstrated how he physically embodies the pattern of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation as revealed by the Holy Spirit to Moses, the prophets and the Psalmist many centuries before. The book sets forth the plan. Jesus is the plan.
Jesus frames his own personal experience in the context of the scriptures. Then he tells the apostles: you are witnesses of these things. You saw, heard and touched the living reality of the Plan of Salvation in your personal relationship with me. Now, your mission is to tell everyone what you experienced.
What the apostles experienced was the amazing, unbelievable yet undeniable truth that God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ.
Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love transforms fear. Perfect love is the Real Presence of the infinite and eternal God in the person of Jesus Christ.
As perfect love Jesus appeared physically to his apostles and asked: why are you frightened? Why do you react with fear? Discern the place of pride that rejects the reality of the living God. That is the false deity you have created for yourself. It is that false deity that keeps you enslaved to fear.
Surrender your demand to be in control and yield your mind, heart and will to love. It doesn’t matter how imperfect or weak that love is for now. It will grow. It will develop. It will transform you and enable you to flourish in love.
Jesus asks us the same question. Why do you fear? Why do you allow yourself to be defined by fear? Why do you cooperate with those who seek to manipulate you and to control you with fear? There is another way. It is the way of Moses, the prophets and the psalmists. It is the way of Holy Mother Mary. It is the way of John, the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved.
Listen to the reading of the scriptures.
Look at the icons and images of the saints.
Smell, touch and taste the sacramental bread and wine.
Jesus is the Real Presence of the Divine in all of the senses. Jesus is the personification of perfect love who casts out fear and transforms fear. Jesus is the personal pattern of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation revealed to Moses, the prophets and the psalmist.
Why do you fear? God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Easter 2
Easter 2 (John 20:19-31) “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Seeing is not necessarily believing.
More often than not, people see what they want to see. More often than not the human brain fills in the gaps of sense experience with what we have been trained to expect.
When the Aztecs of Mexico first saw the Spanish Conquistadors wearing armor and riding horses they thought the horse and rider were a single being. Some thought the Spanish were deities. Some thought they were demons. Others thought they were some bizarre new species. They had never seen horses before. They struggled to interpret what they were seeing within the context of what they already knew.
The long history of Scripture is that more often than not, people reject divine revelation. Even those who initially respond to the call of God, such as Abraham and Moses, David and Solomon, and the prophets- even those come to a place where they simply cannot and will not continue the journey of faith in God as God reveals himself.
So it was with the apostles.
All of them had heard Jesus teach about his death and resurrection. None of them took Jesus literally. Each of them brought to Jesus his own set of preconceived ideas about God and expectations for God’s Messiah.
For most people most of the time, seeing is not believing. Despite the human demand for physical tangible verifiable evidence, most people most of the time are reluctant and resistant to Who God reveals himself to be.
During this forty day season of Easter we remember how most of the disciples, those who followed Jesus, resisted the evidence of the resurrection. Mary Magdalene looked right at Jesus and didn’t recognize him. Instead of Jesus she thought she saw a gardener. In her mind she knew dead was dead. Her mind could not accept the evidence of her senses. She needed to hear his voice speak her name before her mind could accept the reality of the impossible.
The apostles, with the exception of the teen apostle John, not only needed to see and hear Jesus, they needed to touch him. They needed to watch him eat and drink to be sure he was physically real. In their minds they knew dead was dead. They could understand that Jesus might be a ghost, a disembodied spirit. They could not believe he had truly and physically risen from the dead.
So it was during those forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. John, the teen apostle, tells us that Jesus appeared to some five hundred of his followers. John also comments that while many believed some doubted.
Some doubted as well they might. No one had ever risen from the dead before Jesus. No one has risen from the dead since Jesus. Jesus is unique. There is no experiment science can design to test the reality of the resurrection. Jesus knew this. That is why he told Thomas, doubting Thomas, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
The French philosopher Descartes once wrote: I doubt that I may believe. Certainly for the apostles, they needed to reexamine what they thought they knew about God before they could accept the fullness of divine revelation in God’s Son.
Descartes recommends doubt as a precursor to belief. He recognizes that even the most rational empiricist sees the world with preconceived ideas and expectations. The best scientist is the one who is willing to examine and test the most fundamental assertions of his own teachers.
What assumptions about God, the universe, humanity and ourselves do we hold in our minds? Those assumptions form lenses through which we see in the world what we expect to see, and see in God what we expect to see.
Where do we need to question our assumptions? What do we need to unlearn about God so that we might draw closer to Who God is?
What preconditions do we set for faith?
The apostle Thomas very emphatically stated his preconditions. He demanded to touch and feel the reality of the nail prints and the side wound in a physical body. Jesus gave him that experience.
It is important to ask ourselves which Jesus do we believe in. It may even be necessary for some people to ask which Jesus do we not believe in.
The real Jesus invites us to enter into a personal relationship with him. The real Jesus makes himself known in the words of Moses, the prophets, and the apostles. The real Jesus infuses his divine life into our souls in the Real Presence of the blessed sacrament.
The blessing in in the belief. The belief is not a set of doctrines or laws. The belief is in a person. The belief is the new life and new way of living that derives from the new relationship. The belief is supported by the testimony of 500 people who saw that person, heard that person and physically interacted with that person.
Five hundred people saw, heard and touched the risen Christ. The rest of us believe on the basis of their experience, the testimony of the Bible, and the Great Mystery of Divine Love in the blessed sacrament of the altar. That is why Jesus said: blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.
Seeing is not necessarily believing.
More often than not, people see what they want to see. More often than not the human brain fills in the gaps of sense experience with what we have been trained to expect.
When the Aztecs of Mexico first saw the Spanish Conquistadors wearing armor and riding horses they thought the horse and rider were a single being. Some thought the Spanish were deities. Some thought they were demons. Others thought they were some bizarre new species. They had never seen horses before. They struggled to interpret what they were seeing within the context of what they already knew.
The long history of Scripture is that more often than not, people reject divine revelation. Even those who initially respond to the call of God, such as Abraham and Moses, David and Solomon, and the prophets- even those come to a place where they simply cannot and will not continue the journey of faith in God as God reveals himself.
So it was with the apostles.
All of them had heard Jesus teach about his death and resurrection. None of them took Jesus literally. Each of them brought to Jesus his own set of preconceived ideas about God and expectations for God’s Messiah.
For most people most of the time, seeing is not believing. Despite the human demand for physical tangible verifiable evidence, most people most of the time are reluctant and resistant to Who God reveals himself to be.
During this forty day season of Easter we remember how most of the disciples, those who followed Jesus, resisted the evidence of the resurrection. Mary Magdalene looked right at Jesus and didn’t recognize him. Instead of Jesus she thought she saw a gardener. In her mind she knew dead was dead. Her mind could not accept the evidence of her senses. She needed to hear his voice speak her name before her mind could accept the reality of the impossible.
The apostles, with the exception of the teen apostle John, not only needed to see and hear Jesus, they needed to touch him. They needed to watch him eat and drink to be sure he was physically real. In their minds they knew dead was dead. They could understand that Jesus might be a ghost, a disembodied spirit. They could not believe he had truly and physically risen from the dead.
So it was during those forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. John, the teen apostle, tells us that Jesus appeared to some five hundred of his followers. John also comments that while many believed some doubted.
Some doubted as well they might. No one had ever risen from the dead before Jesus. No one has risen from the dead since Jesus. Jesus is unique. There is no experiment science can design to test the reality of the resurrection. Jesus knew this. That is why he told Thomas, doubting Thomas, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
The French philosopher Descartes once wrote: I doubt that I may believe. Certainly for the apostles, they needed to reexamine what they thought they knew about God before they could accept the fullness of divine revelation in God’s Son.
Descartes recommends doubt as a precursor to belief. He recognizes that even the most rational empiricist sees the world with preconceived ideas and expectations. The best scientist is the one who is willing to examine and test the most fundamental assertions of his own teachers.
What assumptions about God, the universe, humanity and ourselves do we hold in our minds? Those assumptions form lenses through which we see in the world what we expect to see, and see in God what we expect to see.
Where do we need to question our assumptions? What do we need to unlearn about God so that we might draw closer to Who God is?
What preconditions do we set for faith?
The apostle Thomas very emphatically stated his preconditions. He demanded to touch and feel the reality of the nail prints and the side wound in a physical body. Jesus gave him that experience.
It is important to ask ourselves which Jesus do we believe in. It may even be necessary for some people to ask which Jesus do we not believe in.
The real Jesus invites us to enter into a personal relationship with him. The real Jesus makes himself known in the words of Moses, the prophets, and the apostles. The real Jesus infuses his divine life into our souls in the Real Presence of the blessed sacrament.
The blessing in in the belief. The belief is not a set of doctrines or laws. The belief is in a person. The belief is the new life and new way of living that derives from the new relationship. The belief is supported by the testimony of 500 people who saw that person, heard that person and physically interacted with that person.
Five hundred people saw, heard and touched the risen Christ. The rest of us believe on the basis of their experience, the testimony of the Bible, and the Great Mystery of Divine Love in the blessed sacrament of the altar. That is why Jesus said: blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday 2012
A new commandment I give you.
The old commandments are very specific. They can be categorized as a list of what we should do and what we should not do.
The “to do” list includes: the worship of one God on the seventh day, and respect for parents.
The not to do list includes making idols, blasphemy, theft, murder, adultery, deceit and coveting.
God gave the Law though Moses. Embedded in the Law is the sacrificial system. The sacrificial systems states: when (not if) you break these laws these are the rituals you must perform and the sacrifices you must offer. The rituals and sacrifice are designed to heal the break in the relationship with God, other people and our true identity.
We never truly break any Divinely issued law. The Law is immutable. We can violate the law. When we violate the law we break the three primary relationships God designed. As human beings we have been designed to live and move and have our being in a set of three primary relationships.
It is because of that original design that Jesus summarizes all of the Laws and rituals and sacrifices with a single word: Love.
The New Commandment is the principle of Love.
The New Commandment is not a list of things to do and things not to do. It is a principle. It is open ended. It derives its meaning and purpose from the very nature of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Love is the reality of God. It is active, dynamic, creative, spontaneous, unconditional, infinite and eternal.
At the Last Supper, Jesus fulfilled and transformed the old ritual and sacrifice of the Old Covenant.
Jesus took the rituals of the synagogue and the Temple and transformed them through a simple meal. He set the meal in the context of the preeminent historic event of the Old Covenant: the Passover. Jesus declares that he is now the Passover Lamb.
After Jesus dies on the cross there will be no need for future sacrifices. The sacrifice we offer at the altar tonight is a representation of the one pure perfect complete and final sacrifice. At the altar in the bread and the wine the timeless touches time and transform time.
Jesus is truly present to us at the altar of sacrifice as he was truly present to his disciples in the upper room, as he was truly present to holy mother Mary and the beloved apostle John at the cross.
We do not summon a mere memory in the Mass. The Mass is the real Presence of the infinite and eternal love of God in our midst. The Bread is the Body of Christ. The wine is the Blood of Christ.
The Body and the Blood are the font of life, the eternal life of the One God in three persons. There is no life apart from the source of life. There is eternal life in the fountain of life present to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
The New Commandment is the Real Presence of the co-eternal Beloved Son. Jesus is here for us sacramentally so He can produce in us a new way of living.
We cannot produce that new way of living by the assertion of our own will. The assertion of self will only produces pride. That pride erodes through fear and becomes despair.
At the altar of sacrifice, the altar of divine love, Jesus saves us from self will, pride, fear and despair. He saves us by transforming the old life of separation into the new life of reunification. He saves us by transforming the old way of living by fear, self will, pride and despair into the new way of living by faith, hope, love and compassion.
The new commandment is love. Love God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Love God through worship.
Love your neighbor, any one you meet with compassion. Hold the attitude of compassion in your conscious awareness. Ask God and ask other people: how may I help?
Love your self, your own unique particular individual identity. Love yourself through the ongoing process of transformation in holiness.
We love God through worship. We love others through compassion, We love ourselves in the pursuit of personal holiness, the transformation of thoughts, emotions and will.
What Jesus commands Jesus empowers. What Jesus empowers Jesus transforms.
The new commandment is love. The power of love is the infinite and eternal life of the One God in three persons. The transformation is the medicine of immortality, the food and drink of eternal life that springs from the fountain of infinite love.
The commandment is love. The power is love. The process of transformation is love. The love is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
A new commandment I give you.
The old commandments are very specific. They can be categorized as a list of what we should do and what we should not do.
The “to do” list includes: the worship of one God on the seventh day, and respect for parents.
The not to do list includes making idols, blasphemy, theft, murder, adultery, deceit and coveting.
God gave the Law though Moses. Embedded in the Law is the sacrificial system. The sacrificial systems states: when (not if) you break these laws these are the rituals you must perform and the sacrifices you must offer. The rituals and sacrifice are designed to heal the break in the relationship with God, other people and our true identity.
We never truly break any Divinely issued law. The Law is immutable. We can violate the law. When we violate the law we break the three primary relationships God designed. As human beings we have been designed to live and move and have our being in a set of three primary relationships.
It is because of that original design that Jesus summarizes all of the Laws and rituals and sacrifices with a single word: Love.
The New Commandment is the principle of Love.
The New Commandment is not a list of things to do and things not to do. It is a principle. It is open ended. It derives its meaning and purpose from the very nature of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Love is the reality of God. It is active, dynamic, creative, spontaneous, unconditional, infinite and eternal.
At the Last Supper, Jesus fulfilled and transformed the old ritual and sacrifice of the Old Covenant.
Jesus took the rituals of the synagogue and the Temple and transformed them through a simple meal. He set the meal in the context of the preeminent historic event of the Old Covenant: the Passover. Jesus declares that he is now the Passover Lamb.
After Jesus dies on the cross there will be no need for future sacrifices. The sacrifice we offer at the altar tonight is a representation of the one pure perfect complete and final sacrifice. At the altar in the bread and the wine the timeless touches time and transform time.
Jesus is truly present to us at the altar of sacrifice as he was truly present to his disciples in the upper room, as he was truly present to holy mother Mary and the beloved apostle John at the cross.
We do not summon a mere memory in the Mass. The Mass is the real Presence of the infinite and eternal love of God in our midst. The Bread is the Body of Christ. The wine is the Blood of Christ.
The Body and the Blood are the font of life, the eternal life of the One God in three persons. There is no life apart from the source of life. There is eternal life in the fountain of life present to us in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
The New Commandment is the Real Presence of the co-eternal Beloved Son. Jesus is here for us sacramentally so He can produce in us a new way of living.
We cannot produce that new way of living by the assertion of our own will. The assertion of self will only produces pride. That pride erodes through fear and becomes despair.
At the altar of sacrifice, the altar of divine love, Jesus saves us from self will, pride, fear and despair. He saves us by transforming the old life of separation into the new life of reunification. He saves us by transforming the old way of living by fear, self will, pride and despair into the new way of living by faith, hope, love and compassion.
The new commandment is love. Love God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Love God through worship.
Love your neighbor, any one you meet with compassion. Hold the attitude of compassion in your conscious awareness. Ask God and ask other people: how may I help?
Love your self, your own unique particular individual identity. Love yourself through the ongoing process of transformation in holiness.
We love God through worship. We love others through compassion, We love ourselves in the pursuit of personal holiness, the transformation of thoughts, emotions and will.
What Jesus commands Jesus empowers. What Jesus empowers Jesus transforms.
The new commandment is love. The power of love is the infinite and eternal life of the One God in three persons. The transformation is the medicine of immortality, the food and drink of eternal life that springs from the fountain of infinite love.
The commandment is love. The power is love. The process of transformation is love. The love is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
Easter
Easter 2012
Do not be alarmed. He is not here. He has been raised.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian Faith.
Many people observe the birth, life and death of religious teachers, prophets and leaders. Only Christians celebrate the birth, life, death and resurrection of a single individual.
Only Jesus is the fullness of God in human flesh. In Jesus, God unites His divinity with our humanity never to be divided from it. In Jesus God reveals who he is without the ambiguity of a written text or prophetic commentary. In Jesus God tells us, shows us and proves to us that God is love.
God just doesn’t have love. God is love. It was love that brought the co-eternal Beloved Son to earth. It was love and love alone that defined Jesus. It was love that brought Jesus to the cross to suffer and die. It was love that transformed pain, suffering, sin and death into eternal life.
Jesus did not die a martyr for a cause. Jesus died to swallow up death and transform death into eternal life through the personal reality of eternal love. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life because of what He did on the cross.
Preachers, teachers and prophets can share their insights about the divine. Religion can create rules and rituals to delight the senses and to attempt to control human choice. Law can restrain sin. Philosophers can ask interesting questions. Scientist can offer amazing theories. Poets, musicians and artists can inspire. But in fact, as St. Paul said: now we know in part.
In Jesus God fully and completely knows us. In Jesus we can know God. We know him not just in the tenuous categories of the intellect or the esthetic. We know God personally as a friend.
As we hear the accounts of the resurrection we hear how Jesus met each person individually. He met them where they were at that moment on their spiritual journey. John needed only to see the empty tomb to believe. Mary Magdalene needed to hear Jesus speak her name. The apostles not only needed to see and hear Jesus, they needed to touch him to be sure he was truly alive and physically present.
Jesus reaches out to each of us individually and personally. The normative means Jesus uses to meet us are the Bible, the Sacraments, and other people. He is not limited to those means. Those are the places and the persons he uses most often and consistently to speak to us.
In Jesus God reveals he is real, he is personal, he is love. That love is infinite and eternal. That love is steadfast, holy, unconditional, active, dynamic and creative. It is that love that enabled Jesus to endure the torments of crucifixion. It is that love that enabled Jesus to take within himself human sin. It was that love that enabled Jesus to embrace death, swallow up death, and transform death back into life- eternal life.
It is because Jesus is love that his sacrifice on the cross is personal. There is nothing abstract or esoteric about the cross. It is brutally real. And it is brutally personal. Jesus experienced the effects of your own particular and individual sins. Jesus experienced the death of every individual who has ever lived and will ever live. No one ever dies alone. Jesus is there.
It is because Jesus is love that neither sin nor death can have the last word for him. The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the victory of love and compassion over pride and death.
The victory of the resurrection is the new life God the Father gives all people everywhere in Jesus. The gift is universal. The Holy Spirit offers the gift to everyone in the world without exclusion. There is nothing you need to do to earn it. It is not a right you can claim. It is a gift. It is love. It is the risen Lord Jesus Christ offering himself to you and to everyone.
The new life is infinite and eternal love in Jesus Christ. The new way of living is the way of compassion, healing and reconciliation in Jesus Christ.
If you have never made a real choice to receive the new life in Jesus make that choice now and pray: Lord Jesus I pledge to you this day my life, my love, my loyalty. Amen.
The new life offers a new way of living. It is the way of worship, compassion and transformation. As you receive the blessed sacrament of divine love ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and empower you in this new way of living. The new way is the only way. The new way is a personal life giving and life transforming friendship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Do not be alarmed. He is not here. He has been raised. He has been raised for you for now and forever. Amen.
Do not be alarmed. He is not here. He has been raised.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian Faith.
Many people observe the birth, life and death of religious teachers, prophets and leaders. Only Christians celebrate the birth, life, death and resurrection of a single individual.
Only Jesus is the fullness of God in human flesh. In Jesus, God unites His divinity with our humanity never to be divided from it. In Jesus God reveals who he is without the ambiguity of a written text or prophetic commentary. In Jesus God tells us, shows us and proves to us that God is love.
God just doesn’t have love. God is love. It was love that brought the co-eternal Beloved Son to earth. It was love and love alone that defined Jesus. It was love that brought Jesus to the cross to suffer and die. It was love that transformed pain, suffering, sin and death into eternal life.
Jesus did not die a martyr for a cause. Jesus died to swallow up death and transform death into eternal life through the personal reality of eternal love. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life because of what He did on the cross.
Preachers, teachers and prophets can share their insights about the divine. Religion can create rules and rituals to delight the senses and to attempt to control human choice. Law can restrain sin. Philosophers can ask interesting questions. Scientist can offer amazing theories. Poets, musicians and artists can inspire. But in fact, as St. Paul said: now we know in part.
In Jesus God fully and completely knows us. In Jesus we can know God. We know him not just in the tenuous categories of the intellect or the esthetic. We know God personally as a friend.
As we hear the accounts of the resurrection we hear how Jesus met each person individually. He met them where they were at that moment on their spiritual journey. John needed only to see the empty tomb to believe. Mary Magdalene needed to hear Jesus speak her name. The apostles not only needed to see and hear Jesus, they needed to touch him to be sure he was truly alive and physically present.
Jesus reaches out to each of us individually and personally. The normative means Jesus uses to meet us are the Bible, the Sacraments, and other people. He is not limited to those means. Those are the places and the persons he uses most often and consistently to speak to us.
In Jesus God reveals he is real, he is personal, he is love. That love is infinite and eternal. That love is steadfast, holy, unconditional, active, dynamic and creative. It is that love that enabled Jesus to endure the torments of crucifixion. It is that love that enabled Jesus to take within himself human sin. It was that love that enabled Jesus to embrace death, swallow up death, and transform death back into life- eternal life.
It is because Jesus is love that his sacrifice on the cross is personal. There is nothing abstract or esoteric about the cross. It is brutally real. And it is brutally personal. Jesus experienced the effects of your own particular and individual sins. Jesus experienced the death of every individual who has ever lived and will ever live. No one ever dies alone. Jesus is there.
It is because Jesus is love that neither sin nor death can have the last word for him. The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the victory of love and compassion over pride and death.
The victory of the resurrection is the new life God the Father gives all people everywhere in Jesus. The gift is universal. The Holy Spirit offers the gift to everyone in the world without exclusion. There is nothing you need to do to earn it. It is not a right you can claim. It is a gift. It is love. It is the risen Lord Jesus Christ offering himself to you and to everyone.
The new life is infinite and eternal love in Jesus Christ. The new way of living is the way of compassion, healing and reconciliation in Jesus Christ.
If you have never made a real choice to receive the new life in Jesus make that choice now and pray: Lord Jesus I pledge to you this day my life, my love, my loyalty. Amen.
The new life offers a new way of living. It is the way of worship, compassion and transformation. As you receive the blessed sacrament of divine love ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and empower you in this new way of living. The new way is the only way. The new way is a personal life giving and life transforming friendship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Do not be alarmed. He is not here. He has been raised. He has been raised for you for now and forever. Amen.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Palm Sunday 2012
Palm Sunday 2012 Mark 11:1-11
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.”
Sometimes people say the right thing at the right time for the wrong reason. Palm Sunday is one of those occasions.
The people of Jerusalem rejoiced to greet Jesus. They shouted out “Hosanna” Save Now! They knew the name “Jesus” means savior. They wanted him to be their savior.
Jesus had spent three years of public ministry in a very small territory. Most people in Jerusalem for the Passover preparations that day had actually seen and heard Jesus. They saw him heal the sick and feed the hungry. They heard the message that the Kingdom of God had come and was now in the midst of them. They heard but they did not understand.
People frequently see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. The people who met Jesus wanted to be saved. They wanted to be saved from Roman rule. They wanted to be saved from a rigid inflexible and judgmental religious Court. They wanted to be saved from poverty, hunger and fear.
What Jesus taught was far less important to people than what he could do. He could heal with a word. His success rate in healing was 100%. He could take a few fish and a few pieces of bread and feed thousands of people. He could even call people back from death. Clearly, Jesus had the power.
It was the power the people noticed. It was the power people wanted. Some believed Jesus would use this power the way King David had used his power. Some believed Jesus would restore the political fortunes of Israel. Others believed Jesus would decide which of the dozens of sects of the Judaism of the time was the one true religion. Still others, those who followed Jesus as his students, expected to be rewarded with power, position, prestige and privilege. All believed that Jesus would follow in the footsteps of his ancestor David and destroy his enemies while he rewarded his friends.
Reward and punishment was the underlying belief that formed religion, politics and economics. It was such a pervasive belief that everyone accepted it and no one questioned it. No one questioned it except Jesus.
Jesus interpreted his own actions by his teaching. Jesus did not perform miracles from the place of knowledge or power. Jesus performed miracles from the place of infinite and eternal love.
The disciples, the students, heard the message of love and compassion and ignored it. They looked at each other with a wink and a nod that indicated they believed the teaching was a feint not a reality. It was a temporary tactic to catch the rich and powerful off guard.
Certainly, the enemies of Jesus thought the same. It was inconceivable to them that Jesus would not use his power to reward his friends and destroy his enemies. It was clear Jesus was not theirs to control. It was clear Jesus had some hidden agenda beyond all of his talk of divine love and compassion.
The crowds on Palm Sunday welcomed Jesus the Conqueror!
The religious and political authorities were too trapped in a rigid inflexible uncompromising view of God and humanity to be able to welcome Jesus the Beloved of the Father. They could not receive him for who he was so they branded him a traitor, a blasphemer, and in league with Satan. They missed the day of divine visitation.
And, eventually, so did the crowds and the disciples. There was no room in their narrow self-indulgent world view for the infinite possibilities of eternal love. When Jesus failed to meet their expectation and be Jesus the Conqueror they turned on him. Some simply walked away. Some ran away and hid. Others joined the opposition and demanded that Jesus be tortured and killed.
Jesus knew this would happen. He knew that people would not receive him for who he was. He knew why this would happen. And, he knew the inevitable outcome of crucifixion was the only way to solve the underlying problem that led to this terrible moment.
Pride led people to praise Jesus. National pride. Religious pride. Personal pride.
Fear led people to condemn Jesus. Fear of punishment. Fear of something new. Fear of losing control, Fear of self-responsibility.
The will to power motivated people to condemn Jesus for being who he truly was. The will to power states: I know what I know so don’t confuse me with the facts. Don’t even try to reason with me.
The pride of knowledge led people to arrest Jesus. The fear of power led people to condemn Jesus. The will to power killed Jesus.
The bad news is that this is a pattern of behavior in human beings that proceeds from the place of original separation from God. The better news is that as we become aware of this pattern of pride, fear and the will to power we become ready to hear God’s solution to the problem. The best news is that the solution is Jesus Christ.
Be wary of any one who declares they and they alone know the one right answer to any problem. Be wary of any one who states that because they have the one right answer they have no need to discuss, reason, evaluate or achieve consensus with other opinions.
The one right way is not a book, a religion, or a political ideology. The one right way is a person: Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the co-eternal Beloved Son of the Eternal Father. Jesus is the infinite and eternal love of God in human flesh.
On Palm Sunday remember the shouts of the people: Save Now. Remember the demand for Jesus to give them what they wanted when they wanted it and how they wanted it. Remember that the demand proceeds from the place of celebration. And, rejoice that Jesus did not give them or us what we demand. He gave us what we need. He gave us himself.
And then repeat the shout of the crowd from the place of divine love and compassion: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.”
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.”
Sometimes people say the right thing at the right time for the wrong reason. Palm Sunday is one of those occasions.
The people of Jerusalem rejoiced to greet Jesus. They shouted out “Hosanna” Save Now! They knew the name “Jesus” means savior. They wanted him to be their savior.
Jesus had spent three years of public ministry in a very small territory. Most people in Jerusalem for the Passover preparations that day had actually seen and heard Jesus. They saw him heal the sick and feed the hungry. They heard the message that the Kingdom of God had come and was now in the midst of them. They heard but they did not understand.
People frequently see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. The people who met Jesus wanted to be saved. They wanted to be saved from Roman rule. They wanted to be saved from a rigid inflexible and judgmental religious Court. They wanted to be saved from poverty, hunger and fear.
What Jesus taught was far less important to people than what he could do. He could heal with a word. His success rate in healing was 100%. He could take a few fish and a few pieces of bread and feed thousands of people. He could even call people back from death. Clearly, Jesus had the power.
It was the power the people noticed. It was the power people wanted. Some believed Jesus would use this power the way King David had used his power. Some believed Jesus would restore the political fortunes of Israel. Others believed Jesus would decide which of the dozens of sects of the Judaism of the time was the one true religion. Still others, those who followed Jesus as his students, expected to be rewarded with power, position, prestige and privilege. All believed that Jesus would follow in the footsteps of his ancestor David and destroy his enemies while he rewarded his friends.
Reward and punishment was the underlying belief that formed religion, politics and economics. It was such a pervasive belief that everyone accepted it and no one questioned it. No one questioned it except Jesus.
Jesus interpreted his own actions by his teaching. Jesus did not perform miracles from the place of knowledge or power. Jesus performed miracles from the place of infinite and eternal love.
The disciples, the students, heard the message of love and compassion and ignored it. They looked at each other with a wink and a nod that indicated they believed the teaching was a feint not a reality. It was a temporary tactic to catch the rich and powerful off guard.
Certainly, the enemies of Jesus thought the same. It was inconceivable to them that Jesus would not use his power to reward his friends and destroy his enemies. It was clear Jesus was not theirs to control. It was clear Jesus had some hidden agenda beyond all of his talk of divine love and compassion.
The crowds on Palm Sunday welcomed Jesus the Conqueror!
The religious and political authorities were too trapped in a rigid inflexible uncompromising view of God and humanity to be able to welcome Jesus the Beloved of the Father. They could not receive him for who he was so they branded him a traitor, a blasphemer, and in league with Satan. They missed the day of divine visitation.
And, eventually, so did the crowds and the disciples. There was no room in their narrow self-indulgent world view for the infinite possibilities of eternal love. When Jesus failed to meet their expectation and be Jesus the Conqueror they turned on him. Some simply walked away. Some ran away and hid. Others joined the opposition and demanded that Jesus be tortured and killed.
Jesus knew this would happen. He knew that people would not receive him for who he was. He knew why this would happen. And, he knew the inevitable outcome of crucifixion was the only way to solve the underlying problem that led to this terrible moment.
Pride led people to praise Jesus. National pride. Religious pride. Personal pride.
Fear led people to condemn Jesus. Fear of punishment. Fear of something new. Fear of losing control, Fear of self-responsibility.
The will to power motivated people to condemn Jesus for being who he truly was. The will to power states: I know what I know so don’t confuse me with the facts. Don’t even try to reason with me.
The pride of knowledge led people to arrest Jesus. The fear of power led people to condemn Jesus. The will to power killed Jesus.
The bad news is that this is a pattern of behavior in human beings that proceeds from the place of original separation from God. The better news is that as we become aware of this pattern of pride, fear and the will to power we become ready to hear God’s solution to the problem. The best news is that the solution is Jesus Christ.
Be wary of any one who declares they and they alone know the one right answer to any problem. Be wary of any one who states that because they have the one right answer they have no need to discuss, reason, evaluate or achieve consensus with other opinions.
The one right way is not a book, a religion, or a political ideology. The one right way is a person: Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the co-eternal Beloved Son of the Eternal Father. Jesus is the infinite and eternal love of God in human flesh.
On Palm Sunday remember the shouts of the people: Save Now. Remember the demand for Jesus to give them what they wanted when they wanted it and how they wanted it. Remember that the demand proceeds from the place of celebration. And, rejoice that Jesus did not give them or us what we demand. He gave us what we need. He gave us himself.
And then repeat the shout of the crowd from the place of divine love and compassion: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.”
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Lent 5
Lent 5 (John 12:20-33) I, if I be lifted up will draw all people unto me.
The cross is the great scandal of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation.
The idea that God would permit His Son to die the terrible death of crucifixion was incomprehensible to people in Jesus’ day. It is horrifying to most people today. It only makes sense in the context of the way Moses and the Prophets describe the fundamental problem confronting the human race. And, it only makes sense if we understand who God is.
The problem Moses and the prophets describe in scripture is separation. Our species made an original choice to separate from God. The two major consequences of that separation are sin and death.
People sin because we have separated from God. The separation produces the sin. People die because we have separated from God. The separation produces death.
Most people and consequently most religion that people create reverse the order. Most religion teaches that our actual sins produce the separation. And so, if you tell a lie you separate from God.
Most people and the religions we create tend to describe God in terms of rewards and punishments. If we do good we get good. If we do bad we get bad. In this system death is either a punishment or simply part of the natural order of things. We can avoid the punishment and overcome the natural order by getting God’s attention and acquiring sufficient merit to earn God’s reward of an afterlife.
Moses and the prophets and the other Biblical authors have a very different perspective. Over the course of thousands of years of history the people who contributed their observations of human behavior to the Bible all come to the same conclusion. It is the original separation from God that results in people committing sin and experiencing death.
Neither sin nor death were part of our Heavenly Father’s Plan for our species. The Father planned for humanity to be the loving companion of God the Son through the indwelling real presence of God the Holy Spirit.
A soul in union with Divine Love and holiness does not sin.
A soul in union with Divine love and holiness does not die.
Our Heavenly Father designed our species to live and move and have our being in the active dynamic spontaneous creative and eternal life of the holy and blessed Trinity.
Separation plunged our species into darkness. Separation has produced a terrible and profound existential pain in the human soul. That pain distorts the way we think, feel and make choices. That pain eventually kills us.
God’s solution to this problem is Jesus Christ.
Jesus unites humanity with divinity in a single person.
Jesus never separated from God; but, Jesus experienced human separation from God on the cross.
Jesus never lived with the existential pain of separation; but, Jesus experienced that pain on the cross.
Jesus never sinned; but, Jesus became sin on the cross.
Jesus is the very source of human life; but, Jesus willingly experienced death on the cross.
The cross is central to the Plan of Salvation. It is on the cross that the love of God incarnate in Jesus Christ experienced human separation and transformed the consequences of separation. Jesus transforms sin back into love. Jesus transforms death back into life.
Religion cannot do this. Law cannot do this. Knowledge and power cannot do this. Only the Infinite and Eternal love of God incarnate in Jesus Christ and personally present in Jesus Christ can do this.
The Plan of Salvation is not a religion because the problem is not a religious problem. The problem is separation, pain, sin and death. The solution is reunification, grace, love and life.
No mere mortal can solve the problem. The only solution is the solution God Himself provides. The solution is the universal Savior of all humanity. The solution is Jesus Christ.
As it was in the beginning so it is now.
In the beginning our Heavenly Father invited our species to choose love. We chose power and in that choice separated from God and manifested pain, sin and death.
In Jesus God reunifies humanity with the very source of life. Once again we have a choice. We can choose love in Jesus. We can choose to receive reunification. Jesus did all of the work on the cross. He presents the gift of infinite and eternal love to all people everywhere. The gift is Himself.
From the horrific pain and suffering and death on the cross Jesus makes his appeal to all people everywhere. In that appeal he doesn’t just preach or teach salvation. Jesus is salvation.
The gift of God is Jesus Christ, the co-eternal Son of God.
In Jesus, God demonstrates to us that He loves us so much he is willing to allow the co-eternal son to suffer and die on the cross in order to give all of us a new life and a new way of living. It is the way of the original blessing God offered our species. It is the second chance to choose love.
Jesus says to all people everywhere: “I, if I be lifted up will draw all people unto me.” All means all. Everyone is invited to receive the gift. None are excluded. The gift is love. The gift is life. The gift is Jesus Christ.
The cross is the great scandal of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation.
The idea that God would permit His Son to die the terrible death of crucifixion was incomprehensible to people in Jesus’ day. It is horrifying to most people today. It only makes sense in the context of the way Moses and the Prophets describe the fundamental problem confronting the human race. And, it only makes sense if we understand who God is.
The problem Moses and the prophets describe in scripture is separation. Our species made an original choice to separate from God. The two major consequences of that separation are sin and death.
People sin because we have separated from God. The separation produces the sin. People die because we have separated from God. The separation produces death.
Most people and consequently most religion that people create reverse the order. Most religion teaches that our actual sins produce the separation. And so, if you tell a lie you separate from God.
Most people and the religions we create tend to describe God in terms of rewards and punishments. If we do good we get good. If we do bad we get bad. In this system death is either a punishment or simply part of the natural order of things. We can avoid the punishment and overcome the natural order by getting God’s attention and acquiring sufficient merit to earn God’s reward of an afterlife.
Moses and the prophets and the other Biblical authors have a very different perspective. Over the course of thousands of years of history the people who contributed their observations of human behavior to the Bible all come to the same conclusion. It is the original separation from God that results in people committing sin and experiencing death.
Neither sin nor death were part of our Heavenly Father’s Plan for our species. The Father planned for humanity to be the loving companion of God the Son through the indwelling real presence of God the Holy Spirit.
A soul in union with Divine Love and holiness does not sin.
A soul in union with Divine love and holiness does not die.
Our Heavenly Father designed our species to live and move and have our being in the active dynamic spontaneous creative and eternal life of the holy and blessed Trinity.
Separation plunged our species into darkness. Separation has produced a terrible and profound existential pain in the human soul. That pain distorts the way we think, feel and make choices. That pain eventually kills us.
God’s solution to this problem is Jesus Christ.
Jesus unites humanity with divinity in a single person.
Jesus never separated from God; but, Jesus experienced human separation from God on the cross.
Jesus never lived with the existential pain of separation; but, Jesus experienced that pain on the cross.
Jesus never sinned; but, Jesus became sin on the cross.
Jesus is the very source of human life; but, Jesus willingly experienced death on the cross.
The cross is central to the Plan of Salvation. It is on the cross that the love of God incarnate in Jesus Christ experienced human separation and transformed the consequences of separation. Jesus transforms sin back into love. Jesus transforms death back into life.
Religion cannot do this. Law cannot do this. Knowledge and power cannot do this. Only the Infinite and Eternal love of God incarnate in Jesus Christ and personally present in Jesus Christ can do this.
The Plan of Salvation is not a religion because the problem is not a religious problem. The problem is separation, pain, sin and death. The solution is reunification, grace, love and life.
No mere mortal can solve the problem. The only solution is the solution God Himself provides. The solution is the universal Savior of all humanity. The solution is Jesus Christ.
As it was in the beginning so it is now.
In the beginning our Heavenly Father invited our species to choose love. We chose power and in that choice separated from God and manifested pain, sin and death.
In Jesus God reunifies humanity with the very source of life. Once again we have a choice. We can choose love in Jesus. We can choose to receive reunification. Jesus did all of the work on the cross. He presents the gift of infinite and eternal love to all people everywhere. The gift is Himself.
From the horrific pain and suffering and death on the cross Jesus makes his appeal to all people everywhere. In that appeal he doesn’t just preach or teach salvation. Jesus is salvation.
The gift of God is Jesus Christ, the co-eternal Son of God.
In Jesus, God demonstrates to us that He loves us so much he is willing to allow the co-eternal son to suffer and die on the cross in order to give all of us a new life and a new way of living. It is the way of the original blessing God offered our species. It is the second chance to choose love.
Jesus says to all people everywhere: “I, if I be lifted up will draw all people unto me.” All means all. Everyone is invited to receive the gift. None are excluded. The gift is love. The gift is life. The gift is Jesus Christ.
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