“[Jesus said] If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Today is an especially joyous day, not simply because we are gathered together to worship God and His Son Jesus Christ and receive His Body and Blood, but because we will also be welcoming Delilah Denny into the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism. Baptism is both a sign and a reminder to all of us that once we were separated from God because of our trespasses and sins. But God, in His great love and mercy, sent His Son to die on the Cross and rise from the dead, thus destroying sin and death. Baptism is the outward and visible sign of the washing away of our sins and of our entrance into the family of God. What are the characteristics of the family of God, the Church? What does it mean to live as a part of this family? Fundamentally, to be a member of the Body of Christ means to be a part of a set apart people. As St. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” What this means is that we are no longer in the world. We live in the world, but we are no longer governed by its rules and priorities. On the contrary, we belong to God, and therefore, we are called to live for Him and represent Him in the way that we live our lives. In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus is telling His disciples what their life and the life of the Church will be like after He has completed His earthly mission. After reminding the disciples that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and proclaiming to them that He intends to continue His mission through them, Jesus then declares to them, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Here is the first characteristic of the Church: it is made up of people who demonstrate their love for Jesus Christ by keeping His commandments. The love of Christ is not simply demonstrated in professions of love and warm feelings for Christ, but in faithful obedience to His commands. Here we have clear evidence to support the idea that Jesus does not principally regard love as a warm feeling of affection, but as an act of the will that is rooted in obedience, a lifestyle marked by faithfulness. After declaring that obedience to His commands as being the true sign of love for Him, Jesus then says to the disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…” Jesus reassures His disciples that even though His earthly ministry is coming to an end, they and the Church will not be left on their own to try to figure things out and carry on Christ’s mission to the world. Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity will be with them and live His life in their midst so that they will have the power and the ability to keep Christ’s commands and to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. To put it another way, the mark and characteristic of the Church is that it is a family marked by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in its midst. And when we think about the role of the Person of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity, we see that the principal role of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity is that of love or in the Greek, perichoresis. God the Father loves the God the Son, who loves God the Holy Spirit, who loves God the Father. The relationships in the Trinity are marked by intimacy and love. Jesus compares the oneness of this indwelling to the oneness of the fellowship of His Church. In John 17:21 Jesus prays, “That they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent Me.” Thus, the principal mark of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church is love. The Church is not simply an organization, but something much more intimate. We are a family who enjoy God’s power and presence in our midst and we enjoy a special intimacy and love with God and each other. St. John the Divine, in our Epistle lesson for today, emphasizes the Church as a community marked by love and obedience filled with the Holy Spirit. He writes, “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” In just a few minutes, we will receive Delilah Denny into Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Delilah will not only be cleansed from sin and raised to new life in Jesus Christ, but she will become part of a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a holy people. Delilah will grow up in a spiritual family with a life surrounded by love, marked by obedience and faith, and filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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“[Jesus said] I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Just this past week there was a story that went viral on the internet about a mega church in North Carolina that hosted an event called the Stronger Men’s Conference. What the conference organizers did at the beginning of the conference was have a male stripper or pole dancer come out and do various things such as climb the pole and swallow swords. Apparently, this was supposed to be a demonstration of authentic and real masculinity. The conference’s guest speaker was Pastor Mark Discoll, a pastor who has been involved in some controversy over some of his actions as Pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Well, Mark Driscoll comes out to speak and he immediately falls to his knees and calls out the male stripper, condemning it as idolatry and sensuality and Jezebel spirit and completely inappropriate. As the result, the pastor of the host church immediately dismissed him from the rest of the conference. This recent incident served to highlight the growing problems with contemporary American evangelical Christianity—that its leaders are too focused on entertainment, and not Christ centered worship, sound theology, sound teaching, and pastoral care. Rather than be faithful pastors, they want to be celebrities with large churches, book deals, and speaking/ preaching tours. Rather then be truly prophetic in the Biblical sense, they’d rather be edgy. Rather than challenge their congregations towards love of God and service to others, they would rather pander to the latest fad. As we wring our hands and fret about the state of Christianity in America, what a relief it is to hear our Scripture lessons for today, Good Shepherd Sunday. In John’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ declaration, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Now you may remember that I told you that John’s Gospel is the little different than the other three. I told you that John’s Gospel is more thematic than chronological. John’s Gospel contains the Seven signs-the seven miracles that Jesus performs, and how they demonstrate His identity as the Son of God. John’s Gospel also contains Jesus’ “I am” statements, which also point to His identity as the Son of God. Jesus says “I am the good shepherd, I am the door of the sheep, I am the Way the Truth and the Life. Jesus’ use of the phase “I am” is deliberate. Do you remember what God said to Moses when Moses encountered God in the burning bush? Moses asks God His Name. And God replies, tell them that “I am who I am” has sent you. So “I am” is nothing less than the Divine Name of God Himself. Jesus declares “I am the Good Shepherd.” Not only is Jesus declaring His identity as the Son of God, but He is also illustrating for us His role and function as the Son of God. Jesus is the One who cares for His people. And Jesus proceeds to spell out what that looks like, the marks of a Good Shepherd. He uses the shepherd as a role model for two reasons: One, because people were very familiar with shepherds and how they did their work. Two, was because rulers in the ancient Middle East were often referred to as the “Shepherds” of their people. Jesus says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The first characteristic of the good shepherd is that he places the welfare of his flock over his own personal welfare. He is committed to their well-being. He does not run away at the first sign of hardship or danger, but instead stands his ground to protect and care for his flock. By contrast, Jesus says that a bad shepherd is no shepherd at all. He is a hireling. He doesn’t care about the sheep or their welfare. He's simply doing a job. When hardship or danger comes, he runs away. By going to the Cross and dying on our behalf, Jesus truly does lay down His life for the sheep. Jesus says, “I know my own and my own know Me.” The second characteristic of the good shepherd is that he is close to his flock. He knows and understands their needs. He has a relationship with them. And because he knows them and has a relationship with them, the flock knows the shepherd too. Jesus tells us that His relationship with His flock is like His relationship with the Father. Jesus and the Father have an intimate relationship. Jesus even says, “I and the Father are One.” “I only do that which I see the Father doing.” In the same way, Jesus the Good Shepherd has an intimate relationship with each of us. He knows us deep down. He knows about our needs, our hurts, our struggles, and our joys. And Jesus desires that we would be so intimate with Him that we would make His desires, His purposes, and His plans our own. That we would abide in Him and bear much fruit as it says in John 15. Jesus then says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The third characteristic of the good shepherd is that he is always searching for the lost sheep so that he can bring them into the flock and they can find safety and pasture. Jesus here is making a reference to the Gentiles, that He has come not simply as the Savior of Israel, but as the Savior of the whole world. Jesus has come to bring His salvation to all who would hear His voice and believe in Him. Jesus desires that the whole world come to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. Jesus the Good Shepherd is always out searching for those who are lost, so that He can gather them to Himself. As Jesus is the Good Shepherd, we have relationship with Him and He gives us salvation, love, and security. As the sheep, we are those who need to be led as we tend to go astray. Isaiah 53:6 says, “all we like sheep have gone astray.” The confession in the Prayer Book says, “Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.” We need to be cared for because we are vulnerable. We are vulnerable to the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Rather than trying to make it on our own, we need to cling to the safety of the flock, the Church. How are we, as the sheep, as the flock of God supposed to live? St. John describes for us in today’s Epistle reading how we as the sheep of God are to follow our Good Shepherd: First, a good sheep purifies himself as Jesus is pure. We are to progressively rid ourselves of sin. Jesus did not die for our sins so that we can keep on sinning. Rather, Jesus died for our sins so that we might abide in Him and live His life in us. To sin is to deny the life of Jesus in us, and to defile ourselves. To sin is to choke out the seed that God has planted in our hearts. John explicitly states that the evidence for those who are the children of God and those who are not is by the way we live. He says, “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.” Second, John says, the one who does not love his brother also does not love God. We cannot, as Jesus says, love God whom we have not seen if we do not love our neighbor who we have seen. Therefore, if we are truly the sheep who follow the Good Shepherd, then we practice obedience to God’s commands, and we love our neighbor. To live this kind of life, we must continue to listen for the Shepherd’s voice and stay connected to the flock. The path of discipleship is not through conferences that excite us and stimulate our senses. Rather, the path of discipleship, of following the Good Shepherd is a steady one of faithfulness. It something that we practice each and every day. We pray, talking to God as a regular habit, asking for the things that we need, listening to God’s guidance and counsel, interceding on behalf of others, especially our loved ones, friends, and neighbors. We come together each Sunday to worship God, hear the Word read and taught and we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. It is this way of following the Good Shepherd that we begin to discover and experience those great truths found in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life—the life was made manifest , and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us…”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You have probably heard the expression “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” We say it every Sunday, when we recite the Nicene Creed; “We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” What does that mean? Let’s break it down: “One” means that we believe that the Church is one, that we as Christians are one with Christians everywhere in the world and throughout the history of the Church since New Testament times. We believe in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. “Holy” means that the Church is holy because the Holy Spirit dwells in the Church and sanctifies its members setting them apart to God in Christ and call them to a holy and righteous life. “Catholic” means the Church is “catholic” (according to the whole) because it keeps the whole faith it received from the Lord Jesus Christ, in continuity with the whole Church in all times and places. The Church is called “apostolic” because it holds the faith of the first apostles sent by Jesus Christ. In continuity with the Apostles, the Church is likewise sent by Christ to proclaim the Gospel and to make disciples throughout the whole world. Our Gospel lesson for today from St. Luke captures for us the moment when Jesus declares to His disciples the imminent establishment of the Church and its identity and mission. Here is St. Luke’s description of the incident we read last week in John 20:19-23: Jesus appears to His disciples, and He shows them that He is not a ghost, by showing them His sacred wounds and by eating food in their presence. As we examined last week, a ghost does not have wounds, nor does a ghost eat food. Once Jesus has established for the disciples that He is truly resurrected from the dead, and present with them, He then proceeds to sum up all that He has done and what will now happen moving forward. Jesus reminds them that He is the Messiah, the Christ, and that His coming, and His earthly ministry, His teaching and His miraculous signs, culminating in His death and resurrection, was all the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy—in the first five books of Moses, in the books of the Prophets, and in the Psalms as well. Then in verse 45 Luke writes, “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This tells us that since the Scriptures are spiritual and supernatural writings, the ability to understand and proclaim their meaning to others is also a spiritual and supernatural act. It does not come principally from intellectual or academic study, but it comes from God Himself through the Holy Spirit. It is also a reminder that the Church’s authority and power comes from God through the Holy Spirit: remember last week in John’s Gospel, Jesus declares to the disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you...Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” With these words, Jesus declares that He is establishing His Church, and that this Church, made of up of all those who believe in Him and who led by His Apostles, those who were eyewitnesses of His earthly ministry, and His death and resurrection, all of whom are now commissioned to go out into the world in Christ’s name. To do what? Jesus continues, declaring, “That repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” So then, the Church is a Holy Spirit empowered institution, created and established by Christ Himself, a supernatural body empowered by Christ, entrusted with the faith first given to the Apostles, to go out into the world and to preach the Gospel to all nations. St. John the Divine, in his first letter, uses the same kind of language he used at the beginning of his Gospel, to describe Christ’s commission to him and to the other Apostles, and to the whole Church. John writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life—the life was made manifest , and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us…” This is the Gospel and the Great Commission that the Church, proclaims and practices. This Gospel comes to us from the Apostles, who as St. John says, heard it from Christ, seen it with their own eyes, looked upon and touched with their hands (remember Thomas?), this life and ministry and story of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, this we proclaim to you. For what purpose? So that you (all of us) may have fellowship with us (the Church and the Apostles). This then, is what we mean when we say that we believe in and are baptized into Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We believe in the Apostolic faith, which was handed down to the present day from the Apostles. We can find this Apostolic faith in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the Church. We are to take this faith that we have received and teach it to our children, and proclaim it to all the nations to make disciples of them. Here at St. John the Divine Church, we come together to worship God and His Son Jesus Christ, to glory Him in all that we say and do. We take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we believe it, teach it, and as St. John the Divine, writes, we proclaim it also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and that indeed our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Today is unofficially known as Low Sunday, as it is the first Sunday after Easter Day, usually the Sunday when many Rectors let the curate preach, the Sunday when many of the church regulars are away for the weekend. But this Sunday is also known as Doubting Thomas Sunday, since it is this encounter between Jesus and Thomas the Doubting disciple that is featured on this day. Back in my Episcopal Church days, Doubting Thomas Sunday was held up as a special day, since the leadership of the Episcopal Church believed that Thomas’ “doubting” made him special, and even more spiritually virtuous than his fellow apostles who believed in Jesus’ resurrection already. It’s like that old expression, “I’m from Missouri, show me!” This expression refers to people from Missouri, who want to be shown the facts and make an informed decision. Missourians are not gullible and will not simply take your word for it. The truth about Thomas’ original doubt that Jesus had truly arisen from the dead, and his insistence on specific evidence to be convinced of Jesus’ resurrection is not remarkable or special, even if it set him apart from the other disciples. On the contrary, Thomas’ doubt is commonplace. There are many examples of individuals demanding that God meet some specific proof so that they will believe that God is real. Who wouldn’t doubt something as incredible as the Resurrection? It’s not as if being resurrected from the dead is a commonplace event—it’s never happened before! Furthermore, it can be argued that doubt is simply a form of a defense mechanism—I don’t want to believe, because I’m not prepared to accept the consequences of belief. What is remarkable in this episode is the great love that Jesus has for Thomas and all of us, and that He desires for us to be believing, not disbelieving. St. John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with Thomas and the rest of the disciples starts off with a bang: the disciples have locked themselves up in a house, fearing that the authorities will come and arrest them at any minute. Yet, despite the locked doors, Jesus comes and stands among them. Jesus didn’t kick down the doors. Nor was Jesus a ghost—John tells us that the first thing Jesus does is show the disciples His hands and His side. Ghosts don’t have flesh wounds! So if Jesus isn’t a ghost, and He didn’t kick open the door, then how did He get in the room? I think C.S. Lewis describes it best: Lewis says that Jesus was able to enter the room and not kick open the doors and not be a ghost was because the resurrected Jesus was the most real and substantial being in the entire room. Compared to Jesus, the disciples were ghosts, and the walls were like fog. Having presented Himself in the room, and having demonstrated that He was not a ghost, but has risen from the dead, Jesus then blessed the disciples and gives them their Commission to go and continue His work in the world as His ambassadors: Jesus tells them that they will have His authority to go out into the world in His Name. Surprisingly, Thomas is not with the rest of the disciples when this takes place. Does this mean that Thomas is not one of the Apostles? No. Thomas is still numbered among the Apostles-even though Thomas is not physically present, he still has the same commission and authority as the others. Why is Thomas not there? Gregory the Great says that the reason Thomas is absent when Jesus appears to the disciples is because Jesus wants to have the opportunity to address the doubt that Thomas already feels, and in so doing, address the doubt that so many throughout the centuries have had about Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. John then tells us that when Thomas rejoins the other disciples, they tell him all about Jesus’ visit and what happened. Thomas is skeptical, and tells them, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” Fast forward to the following week, Jesus comes and appears to the disciples again. And what does Jesus do? The first thing Jesus does is go to Thomas and invite him to do the very thing that will convince him to believe. Jesus invites Thomas to look at His hands and see the marks of the nail. Jesus invites Thomas to put his hand in Jesus’ side. Jesus says to Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” This is such a beautiful example of Jesus’ heart for people. Jesus knew about Thomas’ doubts, and He wanted to dispel them. Jesus wanted Thomas to believe! My friends, the same is true for you and me and for everyone who wants to believe, but doubts. Jesus wants to answer our doubts. He wants us to believe in Him! Nevertheless, I think that it is important to note that complete and perfect proof about Jesus and who He is not available to those who don’t or won’t believe. On the contrary, that’s why Jesus wants us to have faith. He wants us to believe despite our doubts and our fears. It was St. Augustine who said, “I believe, then I understand.” It is faith that unlocks belief, which then unlocks greater understanding. When Thomas encounters Jesus, and sees His hands, and places his hand in Jesus’ side, he exclaims, “My Lord and My God!” This is the response that Jesus wants from all of us, that simple declaration of faith and belief. It is this confession that makes everything else possible. We know from church history that Thomas went on to become the first missionary to India. Thomas first proclaimed the Gospel to the people there. Did you know that when the first Western missionaries arrived in India, they encountered Indians who were already Christians! When they asked these Indian Christians who first brought them the Gospel, they said it was Thomas the Apostle! That is why there is a Church in India called the Bar Thoma Church, because it is descended from those first Indians converted by Thomas himself. When Thomas makes his declaration of faith in the risen Lord, Jesus exclaims, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Here Jesus is not necessarily rebuking Thomas and praising the other disciples. Rather, Jesus is proclaiming that all of us who come to believe in Him later, after He is no longer present on earth in the flesh, are the ones who are truly blessed. If you’re like me, you wonder to yourself, “how great would have been to be there and see Jesus in the flesh, doing all those great and wonderful things!” Yes, it would have been great to be there! But one day we, like Thomas, will see Jesus face to face, and we will say to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!” +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “[Jesus said] You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Back in 2015, I had the opportunity to go to Ethiopia on a short-term mission. Our team was ministering in the city of Gambella, in the western part of the country, near the Sudan. As a priest, I was invited to attend one of the local Anglican congregations in the city and preach. What first struck me when I arrived at the church was that there was no church building. In fact, the Anglican Church in that part of Ethiopia was growing so rapidly that they didn’t wait to get a building before they started having Sunday worship. They simply started meeting under a large tree and continued to meet there until such a time that they had the money to either rent space or build their own church building. The second thing that happened impressed me even more: as soon as I arrived, they bid me to sit down in a chair, and the leaders of the church brought out a large wash basin and they began to wash my feet. I was deeply moved by this experience for several reasons: First, I understood it to be an act of love and service to me as a fellow Christian. They demonstrated their love and hospitality to me and honored me as their visitor. Second, they demonstrated their humility and love for Jesus Christ by literally following His command. Third, by humbling themselves to wash my feet, they demonstrated true holiness, and their holiness and obedience reminded me of my own sin and brokenness and their washing represented Jesus’ washing away of my sin and shame through His life, death, and resurrection. On this holy night, we gather to worship God and to recall the great and mighty acts that Jesus accomplished for our salvation. Tonight, we remember and participate in two things that Jesus did for us and commands us to practice together. First, we remember Jesus instituting the Sacrament of His Body and Blood at the Last Supper. Using the Passover Feast as His backdrop, Jesus takes the bread and wine of the Passover meal and transforms it by the power of His Word. The Passover meal, which represents God’s deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery and death in Egypt, is now given a newer and deeper meaning. Through the Jesus’ words of institution, Jesus declares that the Bread and the Wine become His Body and Blood, and that His Body and Blood are now the food for the people of God, food for eternal life. Just as the people of Israel celebrate the Passover meal together to remember their deliverance from bondage, so at the Eucharist, the people of God eat the Body and Blood of Christ to celebrate and remember the salvation won by Jesus. Just as the Passover meal sustained the people of Israel during their journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land, so the Sacrament of Jesus’ Body and Blood is to sustain us on our journey to eternal life. You may recall from a few weeks ago, I talked about how Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand with the five loaves and two fishes not only demonstrated love and compassion for the people in need but was also a sign that pointed to Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. This sign was a reference back to the Exodus when God fed His people with manna in the desert. Just as the manna in the desert was real food, just as the five loaves and two fish were real food, so the Body and Blood of Jesus is also real food for our souls and spirit. And just as God’s presence sustained the people of God on their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land, so Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist sustains us on our journey toward eternity. God is at work, feeding and saving His people. When we read all of salvation history in the Bible, we understand that that the Exodus foreshadows the Life of Christ, so the Passover meal foreshadows the Eucharist. This understanding is best captured by the painter Marc Chagall, whose work Exodus shows the people of Israel walking through the wilderness to the Promised Land, overshadowed by Christ on the Cross. At great an act as the institution of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood was, Jesus didn’t stop there. John tells us that during the Last Supper, Jesus performed another act of self-giving and humility. He washed the disciples’ feet. Now when we think back to what life was like back then, we know that most people didn’t have horses or wagons to ride on. They walked everywhere. Furthermore, many did not have shoes, so they walked everywhere barefoot. So, when you entered someone’s home, it was customary for a servant to wash your feet. This was considered a menial act, somewhat akin to cleaning garbage cans or bathrooms. Yet, at dinner, Jesus starts washing the disciples’ feet. Peter is offended at Jesus’ taking on of such a menial and degrading task, much like he was offended when Jesus started talking about His coming arrest and crucifixion. Peter declares to Jesus, ‘You shall never wash my feet!” And Jesus rebukes Peter, saying, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Jesus declares to Peter that only by remaining in Him and by living Jesus’ life of humility and service, can Peter gain eternal life. Through His washing of feet, Jesus demonstrates two things: First, His washing of feet is a physical reminder that Jesus cleans us from all our sin and unworthiness, and that we need this cleansing on a regular basis. Second, Jesus’ washing of feet is a demonstration of His humility and service toward each of us. By commanding us to do the same, Jesus is not declaring that we should literally wash each other’s feet; rather, Jesus is reminding us that we are called to imitate His life of humility and service. Just as Jesus gave all of Himself in service to you and me, so we are to do the same for each other. And just as Jesus’ washing of our feet represents His cleansing us from our sins, so when we serve one another in humility and love, we not only help another, but we ourselves are cleansed from the daily grime of our sin and shame. To “wash each other’s feet” is to be healed of our own pride and self-sufficiency and embrace humility. In so doing, we imitate the life of Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. About a year ago I had the opportunity to visit Washington DC and Capitol Hill with Don Shisler, the President of the Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County for a conference concerning homelessness and public policy. It was a homecoming of sorts for me, as I had once served as a staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives when I was in my 20s. What struck me during my return to Capitol Hill was both continuity and change. The buildings, the furniture, and the office furnishings all looked the same, and everyone who worked there was young, good-looking, and well-dressed in conservative business attire. What was very different was that the place itself seemed more remote; it took longer to get into the buildings and there were more places that were off limits to the public. Indeed, the Capitol building itself was no longer accessible to the public! Thirty years ago, you could go into the Capitol building off the street and walk around. Today, the public must go to a new and very expensive building called the Capitol Visitors Center. There are very nice meeting rooms and exhibits, and lavish gift shops, and Members of Congress will come to meet with you there. But they will no longer meet you in the Capitol Building itself, except under very special circumstances. It appears while we were taught from our childhood that we live in a democratic republic; our leaders are increasingly remote from the people they are supposed to represent. They are unfamiliar with the problems of average citizens. They have surrounded themselves with more people and more power than ever, yet they seem unable and unwilling to address the many serious problems afflicting our Nation. But today is not about these pretend kings. Today is about the one true King, Jesus Christ. On this Palm Sunday, we wave our palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” because we see Jesus exercising true Kingship. Jesus does not put on the trappings of power and authority. He does not ride on a fancy chariot or a magnificent horse. Nor is Jesus surrounded by a retinue of soldiers and officials. Jesus is not dressed in the purple robes of a king, but those of an itinerant preacher. Jesus rides into Jerusalem in triumph, but on a donkey, surrounded a crowd of ordinary people who have come out to welcome Him and hail Him as their true King. Throughout history, when kings have entered their capital city in triumph, it is because they have come to rule; to make speeches, to issue decrees, and to exercise their power and authority. But Jesus has come for a very different purpose; He has come to die. In just a few days, Jesus will be arrested, tried, and then die a painful and shameful death on a Cross. This is Jesus, the Crucified King. It is in His coming Crucifixion that Jesus shows us His true Kingship. Jesus upholds the Law by obeying His Father’s will and going to the Cross on our behalf. Jesus rules not by might nor by power, but by the sacrifice of Himself for us. Jesus does not insist that we try to reach up and grasp salvation on our own. No, Jesus comes to us and lives among us and then goes to the Cross so that the penalty for sin is paid in full and we are restored to complete fellowship with the Father. Jesus, the Crucified King, demonstrates true humility. As St. Paul writes, “Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8) Jesus Christ is the great King and ruler. But He conquers His Kingdom not with armies and weapons, but by going to the Cross to die. Jesus says in John 12:32 “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” Jesus has conquered and triumphed. Jesus has won for Himself a Kingdom, not of cities and territories, but a Kingdom of the hearts of men and women. This Crucified King bids each one of us to lay down our weapons and open the gates of our hearts so that the King of Glory may come in. He invites us to surrender to His love and life, so that He might reign in our hearts and in our lives for ever and ever. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that He may live in us, and we in Him.
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Back when I was a new priest, serving in Monroe LA as the Curate at Grace Episcopal Church, one of my responsibilities was to be the Chaplain at the parish day school. That meant I got to celebrate and preach at the school masses which were held every Wednesday during the week. One time I used an illustration with the kids that I’m going to share with you today: How many meals have you eaten today? How many this week? How many this month? How many this year? How many meals in your lifetime? I had the kids calculate in their heads the numbers. Many of them came up with some accurate numbers without calculators. My point was that as you start to add up all the numbers, over time that number gets big. As you think about all the meals you have eaten, how many of those meals do you remember? I expect only a few of those meals to be ones that you remember. Now, you might have your list of favorite foods, but you probably cannot remember every time you ate your favorite food. The truth is that all those meals that we ate, starting from the time we were little babies, helped us grow up into healthy adults. We can’t remember every meal, but we do remember fondly those special meals, those special treats and dishes we ate, and who served them to us—maybe it was our mother, our grandmother, or our father or grandfather. Maybe it was something our spouse made for us. Or maybe it was a meal shared with a loved one that we remember. So much of our life is wrapped around food—the preparing of food, eating food, and sharing it with others. Not only does it help keep us strong and healthy, but it is also how people show love and care for each other, and it forms an important part of our relationships. In today’s Gospel lesson from St. John, we read about Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fishes. In this story, we read not only about Jesus’ love and compassion for people in need, but this incident reveals to us who Jesus truly is: that He is the Son of God. Furthermore, we get an understanding of how Jesus intends to build and strengthen His divine life in each of us. In his Gospel, St. John gives us seven miracles, or signs, that Jesus performed. One was at the wedding at Cana when Jesus turned the water into wine. This morning, John shares with us another sign, the feeding of the five thousand, where Jesus uses bread and fish to feed the multitude. The use of bread is significant, as it points back to what God did for the people of Israel in wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. There, God fed the people, with manna that fell from the sky like rain. Bread from heaven. God miraculously feeds his hungry people with bread in the desert. Now we read about Jesus miraculously feeding the people with bread again, this time through the miracle of multiplication. And you will notice that Jesus doesn’t just meet their need, He does it generously, to overflowing. Starting with five loaves of bread and two fishes, Jesus feeds a crowd of five thousand, with twelve baskets full of leftovers! John tells us that the people recognize the miracle that has taken place, and they understand that only God can miraculously provide food for His people in a desolate place like this. They recognize that Jesus is a prophet, but more than a prophet, and they want to make Him their king! Jesus is the King, but He is not to be the kind of king they want Him to be, so John tells us that Jesus went away up to the mountain to be by Himself. What John wants us to understand is that this incident, while miraculous and wonderful, points us to something bigger about Jesus and what He intends to do with us and through us. Jesus, the Son of God and Messiah, has come not just to meet our needs, but He has come to do a deeper work of transformation. Later in John 6, Jesus explains the deeper meaning behind the multiplication of the bread and fishes. Beginning in verse 22, we read about how the crowd started looking for Jesus, but he was on the other side of the lake. The disciples catch up to Him, and Jesus tells them, “Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:26) Jesus goes on to explain that it was not Moses who fed the people manna in the desert, but God. Jesus then says, “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33) When the disciples ask for this bread, Jesus replies, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35). These statements cause more confusion among the disciples, who are wondering how Jesus is going to give them this bread to eat. Jesus then says, “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” (John 6:54-55) These statements remain a mystery and a source of speculation for the disciples. It is not until the Last Supper, when Jesus institutes the Eucharist, that they begin to understand. It is here that we discover that in leaving us the Eucharist, Jesus intends to feed us with Himself. And it is His food, His bread, that will feed our souls and our spirits so that we may gain eternal life and live His divine life through us. St. Paul expounds on the meaning of Jesus’ feeding of our souls and spirits in our Epistle reading for today. When we feed on Jesus in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, something real and tangible is given to us. It is spiritual nourishment for eternal life. Another name for it is grace—God’s unmerited favor! But it’s more than simply God doing something “nice” for us. Grace is God’s eternal life being given to us and infused into us. Paul says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6). Paul goes on to says that this eternal life that we have been given is not the result of the works that we do, because none of us could ever earn or deserve this grace, this gift of the divine life of God imparted to us. Good works cannot save us. We are simply the recipients of God’s grace and love, given to us through Jesus Christ, by His death, resurrection, and ascension, and by His divine life imparted to us through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Good works cannot save us. Rather, we are saved to do good works! Again, Paul says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) Jesus gives us His Body and Blood as food for our souls and spirits so that we can live out the divine life He has given to us. Most of us cannot remember how many times we have received the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. But we know that because we have received it, that the life of Jesus is growing in us. Just as all the meals that we have eaten in the course of our life made us grow healthy and strong, so the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation enable us to grow strong and healthy in the life of God. Through it, we can do the things Jesus commanded us to do, love those He commands us to love, and experience His joy and presence in our lives. And just as we fondly remember those special meals and the special people who served them or shared them with us, so we remember Jesus each time we partake of His Body and Blood. This Jesus we love and serve is not an abstraction, nor a nostalgic memory from the past. We serve and living Savior and Friend who loves us and has given all of Himself so that we might give ourselves away that the Life of Jesus would be spread throughout the whole world for the life of the world. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “And [Jesus] told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.’ And His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Just recently I watched an interview with George Barna. George Barna is a Christian and a researcher and is the founder of the Barna Group, a market research firm that specializes in studying the religious beliefs and practices of Americans and the intersection of faith and culture in the United States. In his video he made an astounding assertion—that only 4% of Americans make decisions based on a Christian worldview and that only 25% of Americans even believe in a Christian worldview. Now what is a Christian worldview? Fundamentally, a Christian worldview is one that views the world through the lens of the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church. Barna’s statement, backed by market research, says that American society in general is one that has turned away from God and no longer thinks in Christian terms. I want you to keep that in mind as we consider today’s Gospel lesson from St. John. Today’s passage is St. John’s account of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. What is interesting about John’s version is that it takes place very early in his Gospel account, right after the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle or sign. John tells us that Jesus returned to Capernaum after being at Cana, and then went to Jerusalem for the Passover. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, on the other hand, record the incident as taking place during Holy Week, after Palm Sunday and before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. We can resolve this problem in two ways, both of which are valid: First, Origen (one of the Church Fathers) reminds us that the Gospels are not exact biographical accounts but are accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus to proclaim to us that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. And St. John himself tells us that if he had tried to include all the things that Jesus said and did, that there would not be enough books to contain it all (see John 21:25). John reminds us, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.”(John 20:31) Second, St. Augustine (another Church Father) asserts that there is textual evidence to conclude that Jesus performed the act of cleansing the Temple not once, but twice: the first time recorded by John, the second time recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. When we consider this event, we’re a little taken aback, because we don’t see Jesus acting very warm and fuzzy for people. Last week Jesus called Peter, Satan. This week, He is driving people out of the Temple courts and overturning tables. But we understand (we think) why Jesus is angry. Jesus is angry because of the corrupt spiritual practices of the Jewish people at that time. He’s angry that the Temple, which is a place reserved exclusively for the worship of God, is being used as a market. Jesus, being the Son of God, is rightly consumed with the idea of the right worship of God, that the holy place is not to be contaminated by corrupt beliefs and practices. We get that, and we’re appalled right along with Jesus. And we ask ourselves, “How could the Jews have allowed things to get so bad?” But that’s the wrong way to look at it. Because the truth is that spiritual corruption is built in all of us because of sin. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, explains to us the problem in considerable detail. Paul says that that God gave us a perfect Law, highlighted in the Ten Commandments, which we read for our Old Testament lesson this morning. God laid out for us the path to have a relationship with Him and to live a life that was both pleasing to Him and intended to bring us joy and satisfaction. But just as the Jews failed to keep the covenant they made with God, so have we. We know what is right and we don’t do it. Instead, we keep on doing the things that we know are wrong. That is why we have no cause for self-satisfaction when it comes to the spiritually corrupt Jewish religious practices found in the New Testament. Because we’re spiritually corrupt too. If we’re honest with ourselves, when we come to church, we’re not always focused on worshipping God, we’re focused on something else. We’re focused on ourselves. Another thing that George Barna talked about in his interview is that his market research has revealed that many American Christians have a hard time staying faithful to what they profess to believe. Barna says that we have a conversion experience, and we fall in love with Jesus, and we’re really growing spiritually—for a time. Then we start to get distracted. We start focusing on other things. We begin to demote Jesus in the order of our life’s priorities. Generally, the reason for this is that we don’t want to surrender ourselves completely to Jesus. We won’t yield to Him, and say, okay, Jesus, you’re in charge of my life. Lead me to where you want me to go, and I will follow You. No, we want to stay in control. “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Jesus came and cleansed the Temple because He insists that we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. And Jesus is determined that we should be right with God, no matter what it takes. C. S. Lewis wrote, “God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.” He will not leave us alone until He has accomplished His purposes within us. And we read further that when Jesus cleansed the Temple, he was challenged by members of the Jewish religious establishment, demanding to know by what authority He did these things. And Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They are incredulous because they know that it took decades to build the Temple. But, as John explains, Jesus was talking about the temple of His body. What is Jesus talking about? His coming death and resurrection! Jesus’ death and resurrection is the solution to the problem of our spiritual corruption. There’s nothing wrong with God’s law and God’s plans for us. The problem is that we need transformation, not reformation. We need hearts of flesh to replace our hearts of stone. We need the Holy Spirit living and working in us so that we can follow God and live a life that gives glory to Him. The Jews in Jesus’ time had to go to the Temple to worship God. Because the Temple of Jesus’ Body died on the Cross on Good Friday and was raised to life on Easter Sunday, then we no longer need to go to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God. God the Holy Spirit now makes His home in us. Therefore, we can turn away from sin and spiritual corruption and worship and serve God the way we were meant to. +In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [Jesus said] “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
If you’re over the age of 50, you might remember that country song by Lynn Anderson that went something like this: “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden!” It’s a song about a woman telling her man that no relationship is perfect and without its challenges, so don’t run away at the first sign of trouble. Unfortunately, we can think of our relationship with Christ as perfect in the beginning. When we are converted, we experience such a sense of joy and wonder and excitement. Then troubles begin to come our way, and we complain that things weren’t supposed to be like this at all! No doubt that is what Peter is feeling when Jesus starts telling him and the other disciples about His impeding future: about His coming arrest, trial, and execution at the hands of the Jewish religious establishment in Jerusalem. Up that that point Peter and the other disciples believed that since Jesus is the Messiah, that He has come to restore the Kingdom of Israel. They believe that Jesus will be a King like David, who will come and drive out the Romans and reign in peace and justice over a restored Israel. Peter and the rest of them believe that since they are Jesus’s followers, that they will be the new insiders, and they will have a privileged place in this new order. But Jesus blows up that fantasy, and He explains that as the Messiah, His first task is to win the victory over sin and death. He must purpose the land and the people of Israel from the curse of sin. This victory cannot be won with armies and weapons, but only by Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself on the Cross. That’s what Jesus has come to do: die on the Cross as a sacrifice for sin. But Peter and the other disciples cannot accept this stark truth. They have missed it almost as badly as the Pharisees and other members of the Jewish religious establishment. What Jesus is saying to them is incomprehensible, unthinkable even. So Peter, ever the impulsive one, takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke Him. This prompts Jesus to look at Peter and the rest of the disciples and rebuke Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” What is so significant about this exchange is that it comes not long after Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus tells Peter that he is blessed, because Peter boldly proclaims what God in His love has revealed to Peter—that Jesus truly is the Son of God. But the same man who proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah is now rebuked by Jesus as “Satan.” It seems harsh at first, but if you remember from last week, when we looked at Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the desert, one of the things we see is that while Jesus is tempted just as we are, the temptations that Jesus faces are deeper and more profound. Fundamentally, Satan was trying to tempt Jesus into turning away from His calling and mission as the Messiah, to be a Messiah without the Cross. Now Peter and the other disciples are trying to convince Jesus to do this very thing—be a Messiah without the Cross! This provides Jesus with another teaching moment. Jesus explains to Peter and the others, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Following Jesus is a great privilege: there are many joys and wonders and blessings, no doubt! We can all testify to that. But Jesus also explains that as His followers, we cannot expect to be exempt from the hardships and sacrifices that Jesus experienced. More fundamentally, to follow Jesus means that we give up our right to ourselves. On a surface level, when someone says we are to deny ourselves, it means that we are to think less of ourselves. That’s not what Jesus means at all. Denying oneself does not mean thinking less of oneself, but of not thinking of oneself, and thinking of God instead. To deny oneself means that we put God at the top of our list of priorities. When Jesus says for us to take up our cross, that may mean martyrdom for a few of us, but for most of us, taking up our cross means accepting the path that God has placed us on. Whatever circumstance, hardship, or trouble that we are dealing with today, we don’t run away from it, but we accept it and ask God for the strength to see it through. To take up our cross means that we continue to trust God no matter what. Let’s look at the example of Abraham from today’s Old Testament lesson. After many years of no children, Abraham and Sarah ask God for a son. They keep asking, but nothing happens. The years pass, and so Abraham and Sarah decide to try plan B. Abraham gets the servant girl, Hagar, pregnant, and she bears a son, who is named Ishmael. But that plan doesn’t work as Sarah gets jealous and drives Hagar and her son away. God, in His mercy, appears to them at the oak a Mamre, and tells them that in a year, Sarah, despite her age, will bear a son. Sarah thinks this is so ludicrous that she laughs out loud. But it does come to pass, and Sarah has a son. Abraham and Sarah name him, Issac, which means “laughter!” So God has answered their prayers for a son! But now, God comes to Abraham with a command. Abraham is to take Issac, his only son, the son he loves, to the top of Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him there. Can you imagine how distraught and perplexed Abraham must feel? Yet you will notice that Abraham obeys. He takes Issac his son to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him. Yet when Issac asks him “where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham replies, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” This is the voice of a man who trusts God no matter what. And it is only at the last minute, when Abraham is just about to slay his son, that God stops him and provides a ram for the sacrifice. This story may seem like a harsh one. It may seem cruel for God to put Abraham through such a test. Yet, this is what God does to Himself. God the Father sends His Son, His only Son, whom He loves to die on the Cross as a sacrifice for you and me. And while all that is in the future, Abraham was close enough to God that he knew about God’s character, about His love and faithfulness. Abraham knew he could trust God and obey, no matter what. Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” That which seems impossible becomes possible when done for love’s sake. When a man and a woman get married, they don’t know what the future will bring. They know that in choosing to get married to each other there will be sacrifices and hardships along the way. But they commit to one another out of love and trust. Love for each other and trust that since God is in the middle of their marriage that He will give them the power to persevere through the joys and challenges of marriage and family. Jesus invites each of us to take up our cross and follow Him. This invitation seems like an invitation to death on the surface, and it is in a way. It’s an invitation to die to self. And it’s that sinful, broken self that needs to die. But the good news is that Jesus’ love for us and our love for Him is more than enough to see us through. You see, with every command that Jesus gives to us, He also gives us the power to carry it out. We don’t have to try to struggle through all by ourselves. Jesus is right there with us, encouraging us, supporting us, directing us, and strengthening us. That’s why St. Paul, in our Epistle lesson this morning, rejoices over God. In his letter to the Romans, he boldly and cheerfully exclaims, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Any hardship can be borne because God is on our side. There is never any need for shame or self-condemnation, but only praise and thanksgiving to God. No matter what hardship or sacrifice we are facing today, we will be victorious if we continue to look to God and not ourselves or our circumstances. As St. Paul writes, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” +In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Good morning, everyone! A blessed Lent to all of you! Last Wednesday we began our Lenten journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, then to Gethsemane, then to the Cross, and then to the tomb. You may have noticed in our Scripture lessons for today that we are given several “snapshots” of Jesus’ ministry. First, we have Jesus’ baptism—which we are already familiar with since we read that passage about a month ago. Then we have Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Then in our Epistle reading we hear St. Peter’s discussion of Jesus’s death, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension into heaven and what it means for us. All of these “snapshots” of Jesus’ ministry follow a pattern I want you to notice: Jesus prepares the way for you and me to die to the flesh (sin and death) and be resurrected to new life (in the Spirit) and be restored to relationship with God the Father. Jesus prepares the way in Baptism: As we discussed last month, Jesus’ baptism was different from ours in that His baptism was not a baptism of repentance and a cleansing from sin, but rather a baptism of commissioning for His ministry as the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and His identification as a member of humanity whom He had come to save. But His baptism was an example for us to follow. Just as He was baptized, so we too are baptized. Our baptism is a sign not only of repentance, but of cleansing from sin and an identification with Jesus. As St. Peter writes, “Baptism, which corresponds to this (Noah and his family delivered from sin and death through the ark and the Flood), now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21) Through our identification with Jesus in Baptism, we appropriate His saving works on our behalf. Jesus prepares the way in His Temptation: Jesus’ temptation in the desert takes place right after His Baptism and God the Father’s declaration that Jesus is His beloved Son. Jesus goes into the wilderness, the wild and lonely place, where He fasts and prays and is then tempted by Satan. Now St. Mark doesn’t go into any detail as St. Matthew and St. Luke do in their account of this event. We know from Matthew and Luke that Jesus is tempted in a particular way—Jesus is tempted to use His identity as the Son of God for His own personal satisfaction and glory, to go outside the Father’s will and purpose for His earthly ministry. Or, as Bishop Fulton Sheen so eloquently put it, to be the Savior without going to the Cross. But unlike Adam and Eve, our first parents, who were tempted and then sinned in the Garden, Jesus, the second Adam, is victorious over Satan and temptation in the desert. Jesus’ victory over temptation reinforces His identity as the sinless Son of God. Jesus, as both God and Man, will be the perfect sacrifice on the Cross for the sins of the human race. Adam and Eve, our first parents, succumbed to temptation and sinned, bringing sin into the human race, which has been a curse ever since. Jesus is human in every way, except that He did not sin, even when tempted. Because Jesus was victorious over temptation, therefore, we too can be victorious over temptation because all of us who are baptized are now in Christ. We can draw upon His power and presence to win the victory over temptation and sin. Jesus prepares the way in His death: St. Peter writes, “For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18). This is the Gospel message—that Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, came to earth as a man to be the perfect sacrifice for sinful humanity. Jesus’ death on the Cross was the atoning sacrifice for us. Through His death, we have been set free from the penalty of sin and death and be restored to relationship with the Father and to live the divine life of God. Jesus prepares the way in His descent into Hell: St. Peter then writes, “in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey…(1 Peter 3:19-20) The Apostles’ Creed says “He descended into Hell.” What does this mean? Literally, it means that when Jesus died on the Cross and was in the tomb for three days, His soul went to Hell to proclaim His victory to the spirits there. Those who had died before Jesus came (the patriarchs and the prophets) were given the chance to hear the Gospel and believe in Jesus and be delivered. His coming was also a sign that the power of Hell over the human race had been broken by Christ’s victory. Jesus prepares the way in His resurrection: Jesus’ resurrection was the sign of His victory over sin and death. Therefore, all those who have been baptized into Jesus’ death have the promise of resurrection to eternal life. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead with a new glorified body, so, we too, will be physically resurrected at the Last Day, to worship and serve God for eternity. Jesus prepares the way in His Ascension: St. Peter writes, “Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Peter 3:21-22). Jesus Christ, having been completely obedient to His Father’s will in all things, now sits at the Father’s right hand with all power and authority. And because of the Incarnation, humanity, in the Person of Jesus, now reigns in heaven. Therefore we, as members of the redeemed humanity, have been raised up into the heavenly realms through Christ Jesus. As Athanasius, the Church Father, once wrote, “He (God) was made human so that he might make us sons of God.” Through Christ, the human race has been elevated out of sin and death and we are now free to share in the divine life of God. This holy season of Lent is an opportunity for us to walk with Jesus, and to reconnect with Him in His baptism, temptation, death, resurrection, and ascension. As we practice the Lenten disciplines of prayer, abstinence, fasting, and alms-giving, we are reminded once again of our need for a Savior, and that all of us who are baptized in Christ Jesus can have the victory over temptation, and ultimately, share in the divine life of Him who made us. As St. Augustine wrote, “You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” +In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. |
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