Holy Saturday marks the end of Lent

Holy Saturday marks the end of Lent.

Lenten disciplines normally end in the early evening. Those Christians not attending an Easter vigil service or Mass might serve a buffet or a dinner sometime after 6 p.m. featuring foods symbolic of the Easter season. Those attending church that evening often fast until after the service has ended.

Whether you are having your Easter dinner today or tomorrow, these two posts feature more on the significance of this particular day:

- What happened after Jesus’s body was removed from the Cross and a description of an Easter vigil service.

- The foods which symbolise Easter in the Eastern European tradition.

A very happy Easter to all my readers!

 

Good Friday: in whom can we trust?

Before going into today’s subject matter, some of you might be interested in my previous posts for Good Friday:

The greatest reality show ends with a popular vote

Barabbas: an inspiration for liberation theology?

Meditations on the Cross

Reflections on the Crucifixion

Readers might find this an odd theme for Good Friday, but I have read three pastors’ studies of events leading up to and during the Crucifixion and noticed an unusual word common to all of them.

That word is ‘trust’.

In my recent post on Judas, I cited the Revd P G Mathew’s sermon, ‘The Failure of Materialism’. Mr Mathew says (emphases mine):

Judas’ confession was not like the true confession of David found in Psalm 51 or the true confession of the prodigal son that we read about in Luke 15. No, the confession of Judas was like that of Pharaoh recorded in Exodus 9:27 and 10:16, when Pharaoh told Moses he had sinned. It was like the confession of Saul to Samuel when he was caught. In 1 Samuel 15:24 and 30, Saul told Samuel “I have sinned.” But the truth is, this was confession without the forsaking of sin. It was confession without turning to God in faith. It was confession without godly sorrow, without trusting in God and asking for the forgiveness of sins …

Judas did not trust in Christ. He never exhibited the true repentance demonstrated by David, Peter, or the dying thief on the cross, who trusted in Christ, was gloriously saved, and died in faith. We must realize that this true repentance, which Judas failed to experience, is a gift from God … 

A fool is one who wastes all of his life to amass cold cash that will only leave him cold and empty. The Bible is full of examples of materialists. Achan trusted in money but it failed him. Joshua confronted Achan with his sin, and in Joshua 7:20-21 we read, “Achan replied, ‘It is true!’” Here Achan is demonstrating remorse, not repentance …

I am against trusting in money instead of trusting in God. Like Lot’s wife, Judas is a warning to all of us. Money did not save Judas. Money did not save Achan. Money did not save Balaam. Money did not save Demas. Money did not save the rich young ruler.

A little over a year ago, the Revd David Kautt of Northwest Christian Church in McKinney, Texas,  preached a sermon ‘The Generous, Faithful, Compassionate and Saving God’. (I hope that he, his family and congregation were kept safe during the recent tornadoes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.)

Mr Kautt’s sermon discusses Christians who are undergoing personal trials causing them inner pain.

Is there something God’s people need when they are hurting? And, is there somewhere they can go to find that something? …

It is God’s generous nature that comforts us in the day of trouble! The psalmist said it like this in Psalm 37:25, “I was young, and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread!” It is God’s generous nature that encourages God’s people when they are wounded and weary. Psalm 34:8-10, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed it the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him! The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack ANY good thing!” …

Look at Jesus’ life the last few hours of His life, before He died on Calvary’s cross, who helped Him as He wrestled with the thought of drinking the cup of God’s wrath poured out on Him because of our sins? Did the disciples help Him? No! They were snoring there in Gethsemane! Did Judas help Him? No! He was off plotting and pulling together Jesus’ betrayal! So, who helped Him? Luke 22:43 – Scripture says that His Father, the faithful God of heaven, helped Him by sending His angel to strengthen Him!

Or, what about His trials before the Sanhedrin, before Herod, and before Pilate? Who helped Jesus through all of that? Peter didn’t help Him. In fact, 3 times he denied he even knew Jesus! What kind of help is that? What about the other disciples? They were long gone, saving their own skins … Who helped Jesus as He [hanged] there in agony, on that cruel Roman cross? The very same faithful and true God to whom Jesus said, “Father into Your hands I commit My spirit!”

… People of God, it is your God’s great faithfulness, His absolute truthfulness and trustworthiness that shall comfort you in your time of distress! It is! And, it is God’s great faithfulness and truthfulness that calls you to be faithful! Psalm 50:14 – “Offer to God sacrifices of thanksgiving and pay your vows – fulfill your promises to the Most High!” Read 2 Timothy again sometime, and be careful to observe how both sides of that marvelous equation – God’s faithfulness AND the faithfulness of God’s people – are played out in the final days of the apostle Paul’s life!

John MacArthur also mentions ‘trust’ in one of his sermons on Good Friday, ‘Jesus’ Trial, Peter’s Denial’. He takes for his text John 18:12-27:

Jesus Faces Annas and Caiaphas

 ¹²So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

 ¹⁵ Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, ¹⁶ but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. ¹⁷ The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves.Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

 ¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. ²⁰Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²²When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” ²⁴Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Denies Jesus Again

 ²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” ²⁷Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Before we get to John MacArthur, remember what Peter said in John 13:36-38:

³⁶Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” ³⁷ Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” ³⁸Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

Peter was sure that he could handle the challenges which were looming just a few hours from the time he made that statement. It was a plea — he almost begged to follow Jesus. Yet, when the big moment came, Peter bailed out.

Jesus knew that most of the disciples were not ready for what was coming. In addition to Peter’s plea to follow Jesus, we also read what Thomas, Philip and Jude said in John 14. After three years, they were still infants in the faith.

Incidentally, only the Apostle of Love, John, the author of this gospel, was at the foot of the Cross.  A reminder for Church complementarians: John was there with three women (John 19:25-26) — Jesus’s mother Mary, Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene (from whom Jesus had previously cast out several demons). Where were the other men, especially the apostles with whom Jesus had spent the last three years?

To begin with this passage of John 18, I explained (with the help of another John MacArthur sermon) more on Caiphas here. MacArthur describes Annas, who oversaw the sales of animals for sacrifice in the Temple, as corrupt and despised:

… at least one Passover time had a quarter of a million sacrificial lambs. That’s a lot of money. That’s quite a business. And Annas had made his money on extortion. In fact, the whole temple ground became known … that area became known as “The [Bazaar] of Annas.” And he ran it. In fact, the Jews themselves hated Annas. They hated him. The Talmud … says about Annas … : “Woe to the house of Annas. Woe to their serpent’s hiss. They are high priests. Their sons are keepers of the treasury. Their sons‑in‑law guardians of the temple and their servants beat the people with staves.” They had a monopoly going. They had … they were in control of everything. So the Talmud gives us an indication of the Jewish hatred of Annas and his house.

Now, to add to that problem, not only was he the brains behind the whole scene, guess who had twice messed up his operation? None other than Jesus who when He began His ministry went in there and chased everybody out and evidently did it again at the close of His ministry. This did not make Him very popular with Annas. So naturally if they wanted to get an indictment of Jesus, they would go to Annas …

Annas hated Jesus because he had been hit right where it hurts, in the moneybag. He hated Jesus because Jesus represented to him something threatening the security of his office, even as he did to Caiaphas who was scared that Jesus was going to take over, start a revolution and Caiaphas would lose his job. He was purely a paid politician, paid by the Romans.

Now to Peter’s first denial of Jesus to the servant girl in verse 17. Peter trusted in his own ability to be loyal to Jesus, but as we all know from our own experience, human ability is fallible. We are drawn to temptation and open to Satan’s influence.

Earlier in the garden of Gethsemane, Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (John 18:10):

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

Jesus subsequently healed the man’s ear and ordered that the violence stop (Luke 22:51).

Overcome with overconfidence, Peter followed Jesus and another disciple to the Court of the High Priest. Scholars are divided on who this disciple was, but he knew the High Priest and was admitted with Jesus.

Peter, who had no such connection, had to wait outside until he was cleared for admittance.  The servant girl probably had some time to scrutinise him and when the disciple brought him into the entrance, she asked Peter if he, too, followed Jesus.

Peter instantly became vulnerable and started questioning his own resolve. So, it wasn’t long at all before he caved in and denied knowing Jesus.  He was going to follow Jesus to the end, but he couldn’t now because he had taken the easy way out by lying. He couldn’t go back on it, because word would have spread that one of Jesus’s disciples had lied — which would have reflected similarly (and badly) on Jesus.

MacArthur advises:

… take the lesson, it’s all there. If you’re not really trusting in God at every moment, you’ll get shot down on the little thing that you don’t even expect. You get that kind of self‑confidence and that kind of smugness that says -‑ I can handle this deal, I’m looking forward to this, and I can make it through that … I’ve got it all figured out how I’m going to handle that and not get tempted. And then on the way something happens and tears you up because you’re confiding, in the flesh, you see. And you’re strengthening yourself in the flesh and the trust that you need in the Lord is a moment by moment thing.

Now if Peter had trusted Jesus, he would have a) been patient about his destiny (John 13:36), b) he would never have cut off the High Priest’s servant’s ear and c) he would not have lied, enabling him to be right where he wanted to be — standing close to our Lord.

After that first denial, Peter’s bravado left him. He no doubt felt uncomfortable on several levels. Physically, he was cold in the very early hours of the morning. His guilt about having proclaimed to Jesus that he wanted to go wherever He went just hours before followed by a denial of any connection with  Him no doubt aggravated his physical discomfort. He would find no relief from his guilt, because as long as he was around the Court of the High Priest, he would have to maintain his lie.

Because he was feeling chilly, Peter then went to warm himself by the fire shared by the servants and officers of the Court of the High Priest.  He was mingling with the enemy.

Peter comes in for a lot of criticism from Protestant theologians, but as MacArthur said above, we can learn from this episode. How many times have we relied too much on our own self-confidence only to stumble, sometimes spectacularly? With more trust in Jesus and imitation of His example, we can avoid these pratfalls more often.

Jesus bailed Peter out in Gethsemane but He didn’t this time. Perhaps we fall when we’re in a similar state of mind to Peter’s at that moment. Perhaps these are providential exercises in humility — not punishments but lessons to bear in mind for the future.

I’ll return to this in a moment. First, let’s look at verses 19 through 24, where Annas, the high priest in this passage, questioned Jesus about His doctrine. Jesus replied that He has preached openly in synagogues and in the Temple. This is significant, because when a religious teacher says something unorthodox, he is normally banished from houses of worship and forced to go into an open-air setting. We saw this example in my posts about non-conformists and pietists. The established churches forced them out of town into fields and hillsides.

Jesus invited Annas to question people who heard Him preach to find out more. Then a strange thing happened: one of the officers struck Jesus, accusing Him of disrespect before the high priest. Jesus pointed out that if what He said is false, then the officer should have explained why.

MacArthur unpacks what happened and observes that Annas should have ensured Jesus had reliable witnesses:

Maimondides, the great Jewish medieval scholar said: “Our true law does not inflict the penalty of death upon a sinner by his own confession.” That was part of Jewish law. And Roman law agreed with that as well. They had to have witnesses. He did not have to prove Himself innocent; they had to prove Him guilty. So Annas violated the principles of Jewish justice when he questioned Jesus. But that was nothing different ’cause the whole thing was illegal anyway. And he wanted Jesus to say He was training His disciples for a revolution, or He was teaching heresy. Either way they’d get Him.

Then he explains why Jesus responded the way He did:

You see, they wanted to get the trial over with in the middle of the night when there weren’t any witnesses. Now sooner or later they came up with some and they were false witnesses … And Jesus is not being uncooperative, He’s simply says ‑- I want a legal trial, why don’t you do it right?

You say -‑ Well, did He expect to get a legal trial? No, but He just wanted to make it clear from the very beginning that it was illegal so when it was all over the guilt would be theirs and it would be true what is said that He was hated without a cause. And He was crucified in innocence in a mockery of a trial. And Jesus wants us to be aware of that, to know that.

So, the whole thing was a plot with no evidence. And Jesus really left Annas nonplussed, unable to proceed, with egg on his face. He turned the tables and Annas doesn’t know what to say. This isn’t legal, Annas.

As to the officer’s striking Jesus, MacArthur surmises that he was no doubt an ambitious man who wanted to be a big shot and get a promotion. Nonetheless, not only was it extremely cruel but also quite illegal:

Now, it’s interesting that the word rhapisma, which is the word for “struck with the palm of the hand,” also can be translated “struck with a stick.” And since it is evident that the temple police carried sticks or clubs, it is more likely that he hit Jesus across the side of the face with a club. Again, this was illegal. Not only unkind and ruthless but illegal … never to strike a prisoner. But he hit Him with a club. But there’s something even wonderful about that … Micah 5:1, these words: listen to this, “They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.” Perfect fulfillment. Do you think that guy knew what he was doing? Fulfilling prophecy. And I love the fact that Micah calls Him the Judge of Israel. They didn’t know it. Annas was sitting up there playing judge but … who was [the] real judge? Jesus Christ.

Back to Peter’s second and third denials, which occurred in rapid succession (verses 25-27). These took place when Peter stood with those connected with the Court of the High Priest. As soon as Peter uttered his third denial, the cockerel crowed. It all unfolded just as Jesus had foreseen in John 13:38.

Luke 22:61-62 tells us:

⁶¹And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” ⁶²And he went out and wept bitterly.

How awful.

Yet, Peter repented and became a great apostle and martyr. We can learn from that, too!

Ending where we entered — here are a few closing words on trust from John MacArthur:

Number one, his problem all began ‑‑ self-confidence. I can make it on my own. I don’t need a daily prayer life. I don’t need a daily time with God. I don’t need a daily time in the Word. I don’t need that, I can make it. I mean, I’ve been around a long time in this Christian deal, I mean, I’m a disciple. I can hack it in the world … And wham! First mistake.

Not only self‑confidence but the second big tragedy in the life of Peter was unpreparedness. He wasn’t ready … He thought he was big stuff, he was little stuff, he was no stuff.

And the third thing, he wound up standing with Christ’s enemies … How many Christians have you know that’s happened in their life? How many times in your life? You started to think you’d arrived spiritually, Satan moved in, tempted you, next thing you knew you woke up one day and you were standing with Christ’s enemies and things were all backwards. That was Peter. That’s exactly the pattern of backsliding. And that’s happened to so many Christians and then they come back to the church or they come to see the pastor or they come to see somebody and they say, “Oh, my life’s all fouled up, I don’t know what happened, I got into this and I got into that. What went wrong?” And you go back and you say ‑You started out by thinking you could make it on your own so you moved into the world, you weren’t ready, you got shot down, you wound up standing with sinners and that’s where you’ve been.

If you’re reading this and you’re in a world of pain wondering why you believe and feel no relief, please think about the matter of trust and ask our Lord for His help. Allow yourself to confide in and rely on Him.

It’s a matter of faith — and trust.

Maundy Thursday and the Last Supper: Jesus’s words of comfort

For newer readers interested in reading more about Maundy Thursday, please see these posts:

What is the Triduum?

‘One of you will betray Me’

Passover, the Last Supper and the New Covenant

Today’s post considers another aspect of the Last Supper, taken from John 14:

It was the best and most comforting sermon that the Lord Christ delivered on earth, a treasure and a jewel, not to be purchased with the world’s goods. — Martin Luther on John 14

The apostle John discusses the Last Supper from chapters 13 through 16 in his gospel. Judas leaves in John 13. (The Byzantine depiction, courtesy of Paradoxplace.com, shows him at the Last Supper earlier on. John is the apostle leaning against Jesus.)

Jesus has much to say and one could write a book on John’s treatment of the Last Supper alone. Every time I read these chapters I find something new. Every verse is worth a page of analysis.

In John 14, Jesus talks to the remaining 11 apostles after their momentous Passover meal together.  He has much to tell them. When this chapter finishes, they will go elsewhere to hear more from Jesus before walking to the garden of Gethsemane where He spends His final hours prior to His arrest.

Here are the first seven verses of John 14 (link in previous paragraph):

¹ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to where I am going.” ⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Did you note two favourite, often-cited verses (2 and 6)?

By this stage, the apostles are apprehensive. At the end of John 13, Jesus has told them that He has now been glorified (after Judas’s departure — which must have been a shock) and that He must leave them. Imagine what they must have been thinking. What do they do now? Who will lead them? Will the authorities be after them?

Jesus knows their anxiety so, instead of being worried for Himself in his final hours, does his best to comfort them. He opens by gently telling them not to be worried any longer. In the second sentence of verse 1, He asks them to trust in His presence. Essentially: ‘You have believed in God from the start, now, believe equally in Me.’

Jesus adds that He has prepared places for them in His Father’s house, where there will be room for all who are invited. Because He has already told them their rooms were being prepared, they can be assured that the invitation and the heavenly lodging stand waiting to be filled. Jesus promises that He will personally come to take them to their new home.

This is a difficult concept for them to grasp, especially when Jesus says that they know the way to where He is going! He tells them that they have known Him for the past three years and they know His teachings. They also have faith in Him, albeit an imperfect one. Therefore, they know the way to Heaven because He is that Way.

Thomas responds by saying that the apostles couldn’t possibly know the way.  Jesus makes it clear:

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In verse 7, if they had ‘known’ Him, implying more faith and understanding, they would really know God the Father because they knew Jesus. He adds that they really will know Him in this way going forward — via His death and resurrection. As we know, this will prove problematic for Thomas.

Yet, despite all the times the apostles were in the presence of Jesus’s conversations with the Pharisees in which He said the same thing, they still don’t really understand. Here is the next part of the chapter:

⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Philip seems to say, ‘That’s all right, Lord — just let us see God and that will suffice’. One feels sorry for Jesus, after all this time — day and night — spent with His apostles. Indeed, some of Jesus’s frustration appears in verse 9. He asks about Philip’s faith: ‘Do you not believe …?’ Can Philip still not make the correlation between Jesus and God?

There are those today who do not believe in the Holy Trinity — the divine mystery of the Hypostatic Union — yet, here is Jesus saying clearly that God is in Him and He is in God. Jesus speaks on His Father’s authority, and it is God the Father’s presence which works through Jesus.  He tells Philip, ‘If you can’t fully believe that My Father and I share each other’s presence, then at least as a minimum believe on the works you have seen as evidence.’

Of this verse John MacArthur said:

Philip asked for sight; Jesus gave him faith.

Note the next set of verses and what they say about faith (emphases mine):

¹²“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Note that Jesus fulfilled His promise to the apostles: they worked miracles in His name and gave the Church a sound foundation which endures and increases to this day.

(However, just a word of caution here: for some people, the experiential takes over, a possible counterfeit from the ruler of the world, Satan.  Then we’re really confused. The signs and wonders cloud our minds and distort our faith, making us seem more capable than we are. May we be discerning.)

Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus helps us to be His ambassadors and to be obedient to His will. This brings us to our next set of verses, where He made this promise initially to His apostles:

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Let’s imagine this now from the apostles’ perspective. The man they have left their jobs and, in some cases, families only for Him to announce that in the heat of battle that He is going, leaving them. They had some skills for coping but not the whole set. The apostles were no doubt thinking about their survival in a world where Jesus had lived. He had caused controversy, angered the Pharisees and the Romans would surely follow: ‘So where does that leave us?’

Jesus promises a Helper. We know that to be the Holy Spirit, but what would they have thought, particularly in light of what Thomas and Philip said above?  Yet, Jesus tells them that they know this Helper already. How can that be?

At this point, they had some knowledge, some courage and a lot of love for Jesus. That said, Peter would go on to deny Him three times. Thomas would doubt Jesus’s post-Resurrection presence until it came time to place his hands in His wounds. Unimaginable things would happen within a very short space of time. Today, the apostles would have been offered counselling.

Back to our selection of verses, however. Note how Jesus says (verse 17) that the world cannot see or know the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit — the Comforter, the Paraclete — was meant for them and other believers only. Children of the world — followers of Satan — just won’t understand and, therefore, not receive it. That’s still true today.

Since that first Pentecost, Jesus Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to every single true Christian — past, present and future. Countless numbers of people around the world throughout history have received the Holy Spirit and have used His gifts wisely. They did so because, like the apostles, they truly loved – and trusted — Jesus. And because of this, they kept His commandments. Thereby did the Holy Spirit enrich their faith and strengthen their lives in Christ. Observe that Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as ‘the spirit of truth’; this Spirit works in each and every bona fide believer.

Trust inspires love. Love inspires obedience. If you have a good spouse, a wise manager or a valued advisor who says, ‘You know, I really wouldn’t do that’ — whatever it is — if you hold them in high esteem, you won’t do it. And it is the same with Jesus.

MacArthur unpacks ‘obedience’:

You say ‑ Well, what are Christ’s commandments? Well, the whole revelation of His will in the New Testament … And most of all summed up in the words “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Study the gospels, they reveal His commands. But mostly, He told men to believe on Him, didn’t He? And that’s where it all begins. The initiation of obedience begins when you believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Savior, then all the rest are not burdensome, they are not even legalistic. We fulfill the commands in a non‑legalistic way by love, read it in Romans 13. But the starting point is believing in Jesus Christ.

Now for the following verses:

¹⁸“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³Jesus answered him,  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Some will be puzzled by verse 18, because if Jesus is leaving the apostles soon, then how can He not leave them completely? This verse also refers to the Holy Spirit and, indirectly, to the Hypostatic Union of the Holy Trinity — a divine mystery, one which we barely understand, let alone the apostles at that time.

Then there is the following verse — ‘the world will see me no more, but you will see me’. John MacArthur says that it means the world will not have the Holy Spirit for guidance, however, all believers will. Furthermore, those who have received the Holy Spirit have also received the spirit of Jesus Christ. He lives in them and they in Him. It is the deepest, most personal relationship imaginable. It is truly outside the collective.

John’s style is to repeat by rephrasing, layering another theme or providing more information each time. (As another John with whom I once worked told me, ‘Tell them once, repeat it then tell them again’.) Once more (verse 21), John has Jesus reword what He said in verse 15: those who love Him will obey His commandments. Furthermore, Jesus loves those who love Him — as does God the Father.

Jude Thaddeus — subsequently canonised by the Catholic Church and author of the Book of Jude –  asks how it will be possible for Jesus not to manifest Himself to everyone. Jesus repeats His message about faith, love for Him and obeying His commandments. Jesus could probably see the apostles would not be able to understand much more at this point.

Now for the final seven verses of John 14:

²⁵“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. ²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. ³⁰I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, ³¹but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Jesus emphasises that He wanted to tell His disciples personally what would happen and that the Holy Spirit would come to them. He reassures them that the Holy Spirit — the Comforter — will put everything into perspective for them to be able to go forth and preach as well as enabling them to remember details of His ministry — what He did and why.

It would be helpful if more of verse 27 were included in our services. The first sentence is part of the liturgy in many churches, but the next two sentences are just as important. What Jesus leaves us is not the false peace which we receive from our fair-weather friends and neighbours. He leaves us with a lasting, inner peace. Therefore, no matter what goes on around us — unemployment, high taxes, exhorbitant fuel and food costs, terrible schools, questionable theology — we are to focus on Him and, in so doing, to cast aside our fear. Some of you will say, ‘That’s easier said than done, Churchmouse,’ but, as I have said many times before, true peace comes through enhanced faith by studying the Bible and praying often throughout the day. Prayer might consist of a simple plea, ‘Lord, please help me get through this difficult day’ or ‘Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings’. A recitation of the Lord’s Prayer is invaluable.

Jesus tells the apostles that if they truly loved — really understood — Him they would realise that He would have to return to His Father in order for them to spread the Gospel with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 29 is an extension of verse 25 and the second half of verse 7. The circuitry serves the apostles — and us — well.  We can understand why Luther said what he did of this chapter.

In the final verses, Jesus alerts the apostles to His final earthly battle with Satan — ‘the ruler of the world’. Yet, as Jesus says, the death to come from Satan’s influence will have no dominion — no power — over Him. Jesus is blameless. He is innocent. He is perfect.  Satan finds a foot in the door only where there is sin, which is where fallen Man comes into the picture. We have a difficult time dealing with temptation because we are prone to sin. Jesus was not.

From His incarnation, not so long ago on Christmas Day, Jesus was about His Father’s work and carried it out until the end, as God commanded.

There is so much more in John’s gospel to examine. Until next year, when we will return to more of Jesus’s messages to the apostles after the Last Supper.

Further reading:

John MacArthur’s sermons on John 14 –

‘Who Goes When Jesus Comes?’ – John 14:1-6 (1971)

‘Jesus is God’ – John 14:7-14 (1971)

‘The Comforter Is Coming, Part 1′ – John 14:15-19 (1971)

‘The Comforter Is Coming, Part 2′ – John 14:20-24 (1971)

‘The Comforter Is Coming, Part 3′ – John 14:25-26 (1971)

Holy Week: the story so far — and more on Judas

Holy Week culminates with Easter, the greatest feast of the Church year.

We began the week with Palm Sunday. For most Christians the next important day during this time is Maundy Thursday. However, the Gospels also include accounts for intervening events for the first half of the week, some of which are covered in my past posts:

Monday of Holy Week: Jesus and the money changers — Jesus displayed righteous anger in the Temple courtyard (Matthew 21:12-13)

Tuesday of Holy Week: the High Priests plot against Jesus — The proximity of events between Jesus’s raising Lazarus from the dead and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday put the Jewish hierarchy on high alert. The Jewish people were amazed by what Jesus had done and many more began to follow Him spiritually, whilst others believed Him to be a political Messiah. The High Priests therefore concluded that Jesus threatened their own standing in Jewish society on a number of levels. They decided that it was time for Jesus to be quietly arrested, as this was also Passover week (Mark 14:1-2) and Jerusalem was full of pilgrims. The Sanhedrin wanted Jesus to be quickly put to death.

Wednesday of Holy Week: Spy Wednesday and More on Spy Wednesday — The Jewish leaders had spies circulating around the Temple whose job it was to find out more about Jesus’s whereabouts after He finished preaching and to find someone who could betray Him. As we know, Judas offered his services for 30 pieces of silver. These days, Wednesday of Holy Week is the day when Catholic bishops, with parish priests in attendance, celebrate a special Chrism Mass during which the oil to be used in Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination and the Sacrament of the Sick and Dying is blessed for the coming year.

Looking ahead to Maundy Thursday: Some churches will be holding a special service with a particular ritual at the end. If you have never attended a Tenebrae service, please read this first.

————————————————————————

Two materialistic men — Judas and Barabbas — featured in the story of Christ’s death. Barabbas was born into a religious family of social standing but was seduced by crime and activism. His reputation was enough for the mob on Good Friday to clamour for his release.  If he were alive today, we would know him as a community organiser and a proponent of liberation theology.

Judas was in love with money. It was he who during Jesus’s three-year ministry was in charge of the money bag for Him and the Apostles. It was he who objected when Mary, Martha and Lazarus’s sister, anointed Jesus’s feet with expensive spikenard (John 12:1-8). Emphases mine:

¹Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³ Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Let this be a warning to us about people using the poor as a special personal crusade when they are really out to enrich themselves. Often, these people, who may be working for activist agencies or in the public sector, do very well financially whilst doing nothing for the poor.

So, when Judas — an opportunist — saw the chance to make a few months’ salary on the side with 30 pieces of silver from a guaranteed source, he took it. He loved money more than he loved Jesus.

The imprecatory Psalm 109 indirectly prophesied Judas’s betrayal in the New Testament, as King David in the Old Testament prayed for the total vanquishing of his greatest enemy — perhaps Doeg the Edomite or perhaps Ahithophel, who joined in Absalom’s (David’s son’s) revolt against him. Others believe it was Saul.  In any event, Psalm 109 is known as the Iscariot Psalm. This is because Peter cited it in Acts 1:16-20 when he spoke retrospectively of Judas:

¹⁶“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” ¹⁸(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. ¹⁹And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

    “‘May his camp become desolate,
   and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

      and

    “‘Let another take his office.’

The first citation about the camp is from Psalm 69 (verse 25) and the second from Psalm 109:8.

Jesus, being all divine and all human, knew that one of His own would betray Him (John 6:70-71) and called Judas a ‘devil’:

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

 ⁷¹He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

In John 13, after Jesus washes the Apostles’ feet before the Last Supper, Jesus cites Psalm 41:9, which also concerns David lamenting the actions of his enemies. That Psalm is about Ahithophel. Absalom had turned against his father David. Ahithophel joined Absalom in this rebellion. Psalm 41:9 reads:

Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
   who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Note Jesus’s words in John 13:16-20 after the foot washing:

¹⁶Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. ¹⁸ I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ ¹⁹ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. ²⁰Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

Returning to Psalm 109, the character of Judas has horrified and disgusted Bible scholars since the Crucifixion. In ‘The Treasury of David: Psalm 109′, the great confessional Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon reviewed theologians’ quotes from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Spurgeon first explains why Peter said what he did in Acts:

So used were the Jews to look upon these verses as the doom of traitors, of cruel and deceitful mind, that Peter saw at once in the speedy death of Judas a fulfilment of this sentence, and a reason for the appointment of a successor who should take his place of oversight. A bad man does not make an office bad: another may use with benefit that which he perverted to ill uses.

Then Spurgeon draws from his ‘Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings’:

In this psalm David is supposed to refer to Doeg the Edomite, or to Ahithophel. It is the most imprecatory of the psalms, and may well be termed the Iscariot Psalm. What David here refers to his mortal enemy, finds its accomplishment in the betrayer of the Son of David … — Paton J. Gloag, in “A Commentary on the Acts,” 1870.

We may consider Judas, at the same time, as the virtual head of the Jewish nation in their daring attempt to dethrone the Son of God. The doom pronounced, and the reasons for it, apply to the Jews as a nation, as well as to the leader of the band who took Jesus.—Andrew A. Bonar.

Nor does David imprecate these punishments so much on his own enemies and Judas the betrayer of Christ; but that similar punishments await all who fight against the kingdom of Christ.—Mollerus [Heinrich Müller].

This Scripture (Ps 109:6-20.) also greatly helped it to fasten the more upon me, where Christ prays against Judas, that God would disappoint him in all his selfish thoughts, which moved him to sell his master: pray read it soberly. — John Bunyan

St. Jerome says that Judas’s prayer was turned into sin, by reason of his want of hope when he prayed: and thus it was that in despair he hanged himself.—Robert Bellarmine.

When we consider of whom this Psalm is used there will be no difficulty about it. No language could be more awful than that of Ps 109:6-19. It embraces almost every misery we can think of. But could any man be in a more wretched condition than Judas was? Could any words be too severe to express the depth of his misery—of him, who, for three whole years, had been the constant attendant of the Saviour of mankind; who had witnessed his miracles, and had shared his miraculous powers; who had enjoyed all the warnings, all the reproofs of his love, and then had betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver? Can we conceive a condition more miserable than that of Judas? And this Psalm is a prophecy of the punishment that should overtake him for his sin. S. Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, quotes part of this psalm, and applies it to Judas: he applies it as a prophecy of the punishment he should suffer on the betrayal of the Son of God. It is probable that in this psalm, when it uses the word children, it does not mean those who are his offspring by natural descent, but those who resemble him, and who partake with him in his wickedness. This is a common meaning of the word sons, or children, in Holy Scripture. As where our blessed Lord tells the Jews, Ye are of your father the devil, he could not mean that the Jews were the natural descendants of the devil, but that they were his children because they did his works. Again, when they are called Abraham’s children, it means those who do the works of Abraham. So in this psalm, where it is foretold that fearful punishment should happen to Judas for the betrayal of his Lord, and should be extended to his children, it means his associates, his companions, and imitators in wickedness.—F.H. Dunwell, in “A Tract on the Commination Service,” 1853.

The Revd P G Mathew, pastor of Grace Valley Christian Center in Davis, California, discussed Judas in ‘The Failure of Materialism’, taking as his text Matthew 24:1-10. (Mr Mathew earned his theological degrees at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia).)

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

 ¹ When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. ²And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over toPilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself

 ³Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, ⁴saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” ⁵And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. ⁶But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

First, what is a materialist in a theological context? Mathew tells us:

A materialist is one who believes that the universe is all there is. Such a person believes, therefore, that there is no God, no heaven, no hell, no angels, no devil, no demons and no moral absolutes. A materialist is only concerned with a life of maximum pleasure and the means to achieve it. What is the materialist’s motto? “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, like beasts, we will die.” A materialist may even affirm some faith in God in theory but in practice a materialist lives as if there is no God.

Many who affirm Christian creeds live as materialists. We see a number of such materialists in the Bible.

I’ll have more on modern-day materialists later this month, by the way. They abound in our churches.

For now, back to Judas:

Judas was a materialist, and, sadly, he was not changed in any way by his close association with Jesus. After three years he remained a materialist. During the time he walked with Christ as an apostle, Judas never stopped looking for power, position, and, above all, lots of money. He exhibited the nature of an antichrist, a son of perdition. Jesus even referred to this in his high priestly prayer (John 17:12, KJV), and in John 6:70-71 Jesus called him a devil. Why? Judas was an unbeliever.

Now I am sure Judas was excited when Jesus chose him to be treasurer of the group. Why? He knew he could then steal from the monies deposited with him. We read about this in John 12. He became extremely annoyed when Mary anointed Jesus with expensive perfume to show her love for him. Judas wanted Mary to give him the cash so he could pilfer it and enrich himself. Judas himself did not love Jesus ...

Matthew 16:21 tells us, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

At Jesus’ announcement the hopes of Judas were dashed. Who needs a suffering Messiah, a Messiah who was only destined be killed? So Judas betrayed Jesus to his enemies for thirty shekels of silver. Judas would do anything to make a buck.

Judas had second thoughts once he fully realised what the the Jewish leaders — the Sanhedrin — were going to do. The Sanhedrin wanted to move quickly in charging Jesus with blasphemy then achieving a death sentence by appealing to Pilate, as only the Romans could issue this type of sentence.  So, Judas became filled with remorse and a tortured mind. However:

if you read the Greek text you find that Judas’ actions were not true repentance. He was merely emotionally disturbed. The Greek word used for Judas’ behavior is metamelomai , which means remorse, not metanoeo , which means repentance. Remorse is pain of mind, not change of mind. Remorse is due to fear of punishment or loss of a blessing, as it was in the case of Esau (Heb. 12:17). Judas “repented,” but it was just remorse and not true repentance …

The remorse of Judas is what we call attrition, not contrition. Attrition involves self-reproach, depression, the smiting of conscience, a feeling of guilt, loneliness, a fear of punishment, self-pity, and so on. But contrition involves three components. The first is our mind. We must know that sin is wrong and we must change. The second is our emotions. We must have godly sorrow and a profound hatred for sin. The third is our will. We must decide to turn from sin and turn to God in faith. True repentance, in other words, is a whole-souled activity. The person who repents will truly forsake his wicked ways and turn to the Lord with his mind, soul, and will …

The repentance of Judas was not like the repentance of Peter, who also had failed and denied the Lord. Peter had godly sorrow and wept bitterly. Jesus had prayed for Peter, and then sought him out to restore him. But although both Peter and Judas failed, only Peter truly repented and was restored. And we must note here also that Judas confessed only to the high priest. He never confessed to Jesus and asked for his forgiveness. Had he done so, I assure you, Jesus would have forgiven all his sin. Jesus never drives out any person who comes to him in faith.

Judas ended up a lonely man, alone with his moral and spiritual emptiness. It drove him mad and the only way he could alleviate the void was through suicide. He went from bad to desperate to worse, ending up with the death of his soul, the second death.

Mathew concludes:

Judas, the materialist who wanted to gain all, lost all. He was a loser. He lost his money, his ministry, and his life. He lost the fellowship of Jesus and his apostles. He did not inherit eternal life. He went to his own place of torment. And finally, he lost his new-found fellowship with the Sanhedrin also. When he confessed, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood,” he was declaring that Jesus was absolutely innocent. In effect, Judas was preaching to the Sanhedrin by that statement, and they could have even then repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. But they did not. They had no use for Jesus and no use for Judas … Remember how he left the upper room to betray Jesus? In John 13:30 we read that it was night. For three years Judas walked with Jesus, who was the light of the world, but Judas had been walking in darkness, not in light. So now he went out into the darkness to betray Jesus. It was a lonely journey. Later that night in the garden of Gethsemane he betrayed the light of the world by a kiss. He had aligned himself with Christ’s enemies, but now those enemies told him, “If you sinned, it is your responsibility. You take care of it.”

Let Judas’s last moments serve as a warning to those who crave money, influence and acclaim at the expense of goodness, truth and eternal life. Mathew describes what happened:

… he went and hanged himself. The rope broke, and his large corpulent body fell headlong, burst open and his intestines spilled out, as we are told in Acts 1:18. From the height of constant fellowship with Jesus, Judas fell into the nadir of wretchedness. As his final act of unbelief he violated the sixth commandment and committed suicide. Thus, Judas demonstrated his utter rejection of the gospel he had heard Jesus Christ preach and that he himself had preached.

Incidentally, Mathew tells us that the name ‘Judas’ is from ‘Judah’ and means ‘praise’. How ironic and how sad that someone with such a beautiful name could end up in total disgrace.

There’s nothing wrong with working hard, getting promoted and accumulating money. However, when we start to love money and ambition more than we love the Lord, we have a problem. We become materialistic. And if we attend a church where the Cross and Resurrection — the ultimate signs of Christ’s selfless love for miserable sinners — are not preached, we are likely to become shaky in our spiritual direction and obedience.

Sometimes we become trapped in our own mistrust of Christ which then turns into too much introspection — without yielding repentance.

There are a lot of broken souls and broken hearts in the world. Some are hostile, some are sad, some are cynical and some are worldly. Today’s Church may do little to nothing in relieving the pain. It’s up to each of us to take that step, to approach Christ humbly and with contrition to ask His forgiveness and then to turn our hearts towards Him in repentance.

We won’t always have this chance. One day, it will be too late. Let’s make sure it won’t be so for us.

The beginning of Holy Week

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, the bittersweet day when Jesus is greeted with enthusiastic cries of ‘Hosanna!’ as He enters Jerusalem riding on a humble donkey, indicating that He came in peace, not in combat against the Romans.

However, before that, he performed His last earthly miracle, that of raising His good friend Lazarus — brother of Martha and Mary — from the dead.

For this reason, the Saturday before Palm Sunday is known in some Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions as Lazarus Saturday.

Palm Sunday has a very joyous yet troubling dynamic about it as Good Friday looms ever nearer.

Find out more about the Palm Sunday story and its traditions in these posts:

The greatest reality story of all time begins on Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday and the Jesus watchers

Palm Sunday: Why palms?

Palm Sunday: Why a donkey?

If this is the first time you have received palms (you can make yours look like the one in the photo)

For those commemorating Holy Week, I wish you one full of prayer, Scripture and insight.

I’ll feature more as we move onward to the sorrow of the Crucifixion and to the desolation of Holy Saturday, when all seemed lost to Jesus’s disciples.

Lenten Prayers: against carnality

The past few weeks, this blog has covered subjects connected with carnality — the lust for power and control over others’ minds and flesh.

It is easy to subvert Scripture in an attempt to justify these sins and ignore others which condemn them.

Therefore, let us pray that:

- We consider the whole of Scripture to guide our thoughts and conduct.

- We avoid one-upmanship in lording our supposed superiority over others.

- We refrain from taking difficulties outside the home out on our families.

- We consider our children as true gifts of God waiting to be instructed in the Christian faith and prepared for a godly life.

- We learn to not feel threatened by our children’s or our spouse’s gifts that we do not have: the ability to articulate, create or analyse. Help us to affirm them, not berate them.

- We turn from satisfying our lust for flesh to inner — not outer — holiness.

- We turn from our base desires, tempering our urge for control over others’ lives and bodies.

- We avoid the temptation of assuming we can see into others’ souls and pass judgment — help us to remember that only You, Lord, can do that.

- You help us to love and honour our spouses as Christ loves and honours His Church.

- You help us to constructively and adequately prepare our children for life outside the home, nurturing their talents and turning their thoughts from sin.

- We recognise that all believers have true freedom in Christ Jesus.

- We employ Your grace profitably to make our homes and lives worthy of You, Lord.

- We may always remember to be Your humble servants.

Lord Jesus, our only Mediator and Advocate, we ask for Your divine help in better using God’s grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to sustain us in this life in anticipation of the next. May we be true witnesses and ambassadors of faith, love and freedom, following the example You so graciously showed us when You walked among us. Amen.

Laetare Sunday is Mothering Sunday

March 18, 2012 is Laetare Sunday and in some countries — the UK, for instance — it is Mother’s Day, which derives from the church tradition of Mothering Sunday.

The traditional Introit for Laetare Sunday includes the words

“Laetare Jerusalem” (“O be joyful, Jerusalem”)

Therefore, this particular Sunday in Lent is a time to rejoice and focus on the glory of the Risen Christ in hope and joy. Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans following ancient Lenten traditions can feel free to enjoy a special treat.

Laetare Sunday, sometimes called Rose Sunday, is also the day of the Golden Rose and one of two days when a celebrant at Mass wears a rose-coloured vestment, the other being Gaudete Sunday in Advent. (Photo of the chasuble is courtesy of Luzar Vestments in the UK.)

The Golden Rose associated with Laetare Sunday is a Roman Catholic tradition dating back to the Middle Ages (emphases mine):

The shining golden flower shows forth Christ’s majesty, appropriate because prophets called him “the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys.”^[1] Its fragrance, according to Pope Leo XIII “shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be widely diffused by His faithful followers” (Acta, vol. VI, 104), and the thorns and red tint refer to His Passion. See Isaiah 63:2: “Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress?”

Many papal diplomas and papal sermons when conferring it have explained the rose’s mystical significance. Innocent III said: “As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its colour, odour and taste, love, joy and satiety respectively.” and compared the rose to the flower referred to in Isaiah 11:1: “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.”

Originally, the Golden Rose was comprised of a single flower. As centuries passed, they became more elaborate, with multiple blossoms. (The one pictured at right [courtesy of Wikipedia] was crafted in 1330.)

Also, for:

almost every year for more than 1,000 years, popes have blessed a rose made by skilled goldsmiths … Until the late 15th century, the Golden Rose had a red tinge to its petals.  Precious gems sometimes replaced the red hue.  In the late 1400s, Pope Sixtus IV commissioned a Golden Rose which was a set of roses formed like a Jesse Tree.  Later popes have commissioned Golden Rose arrangements in different styles, e.g. a bouquet.  The popes gave these Golden Roses to members of royal families and various dignitaries as well as to special churches and sanctuaries. However, it is given only in exceptional circumstances and not every year. Therefore, the Pope retains a Golden Rose year after year until he finally distributes it.  It is more common now for a pope to give one to a church instead of a person.  Pope Benedict XVI has given away 11 Golden Roses.

The University of Notre Dame (Indiana) awards their Laetare Medal on this day to a dignitary seen to espouse Catholic virtues. These medals are the American equivalent to the papal Golden Rose.

Before churches began using the Lectionary, the Gospel reading for Laetare Sunday was the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Therefore, this Sunday was also known as ‘the Sunday of the Five Loaves’.

The traditional Epistle read on this day was from Galatians 4 and included this verse (Gal. 4:26):

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Hence the ancient tradition called Mothering Sunday, when people made the journey to their ‘mother’ church — often a cathedral but sometimes a large parish church — for worship. Afterward, some congregations ‘clipped’ the church, which involved worshippers gathering outside, forming a ring around the church and holding hands to embrace it.

The notion of the church as spiritual mother began to extend to earthly mothers. Children presented their mothers with a small posy of flowers after worship. Servants were given the opportunity for a day off work to visit their mothers — and their mother church. By means of a gift, they made Simnel cakes which they ate on the day with their mothers. Sometimes, the cakes were saved for a celebration lunch at Easter. As such, Simnel cake is a traditional Laetare Sunday / Easter Sunday treat. It is a fruit cake covered in and filled with marzipan. The marzipan balls on the cake represent Christ’s 11 faithful apostles.  ‘Simnel’ appears to derive from simila — ‘fine’ — referring to the flour used.

There is much more to be written about Laetare Sunday and the mothering traditions, so be sure to tune in again next year.

In the meantime, may I wish all ladies honoured on this day a happy Mothering Sunday!  I hope that your families have a delightful celebration planned for you!

Lenten Prayers: Christians in Muslim areas

A few weeks ago, I posted an agnostic’s warning about Muslim persecution of Christians around the world.

Posterous‘s blogger, E J Swensson, posted a summary of such incidents which took place around the world in January 2012.

Mr Swensson took as his source Raymond Ibrahim’s January 2012 report for Algemeiner.com of Christian victims at the hands of Muslims. It is a long and alarming summary of persecution which is occurring around the world, including some European countries.

Please remember our brother in Christ Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, whose death might be imminent.

Let us also pray for other Christian brothers and sisters living in Muslim areas, especially during Lent.

Of his monthly series, Raymond Ibrahim writes:

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching epidemic proportions, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of Muslim persecution of Christians that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1. Intrinsically, to document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.

2. Instrumentally, to show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (tribute); overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed “dhimmis” (second-class citizens); and simple violence and murder. Oftentimes it is a combination thereof.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.

Please take a few minutes to read his report in full. Below are excerpts:

Kenya: Muslim apostates seeking refuge in Kenya are being tracked and attacked by Muslims from their countries of origin: An Ethiopian who, upon converting to Christianity, was shot by his father, kidnapped and almost killed, is now receiving threatening text messages. Likewise, a Ugandan convert to Christianity is in hiding, his movements severely restricted since “the Muslims are looking to kill me. I need protection and help.”

Kuwait: A royal prince who openly declared that he has converted to Christianity, confirmed the reality that he now might be targeted for killing as an apostate.

Norway: While out for a walk, two Iranian converts to Christianity were stabbed with knives by masked men shouting “infidels!” One of the men stabbed had converted in Iran, was threatened there, and immigrated to Norway, thinking he could escape persecution there.

Somalia: A female convert to Christianity was paraded before a cheering crowd and publicly flogged as punishment for embracing a “foreign religion.” Imprisoned since November, “the public whipping was meant to mark her release.” She received 40 lashes as hundreds of Muslim spectators jeered. An eyewitness said: “I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away.” Likewise, “Somali Islamists arrested a Muslim father after two of his children converted to Christianity” and fled. He is accused of “failing to raise his sons as good Muslims, because “good Muslims cannot convert to Christianity.”

Zanzibar: After being robbed, a Muslim convert to Christianity called police to his house; they discovered a Bible during their inspection. The course of inquiry immediately changed from searching for the thieves to asking why he “was practicing a forbidden faith.” He was imprisoned for eight months without trial, and, since being released, has been rejected by his family and is now homeless and diseased.

Zanzibar: Muslims destroyed two churches: one was torched, while the other demolished—all to yells of “Allahu Akbar.”

Egypt: Before a bishop was going to inaugurate the incomplete Abu Makka church and celebrate the Epiphany mass, a large number of Salafis and Muslim Brotherhood members entered the building, asserting that the church had no license and so no one should pray in it. One Muslim remarked that the building would be suitable for a mosque and a hospital.

Egypt: In the latest round of collective punishment, a mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Christians in a village because of a rumor that a Coptic man had intimate photos of a Muslim woman on his phone (denied by the man). Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Three were injured, while “terrorized” women and children who lost their homes stood in the streets with no place to go. As usual, it took the army an hour to drive 2 kilometers to the village and none of the perpetrators were arrested.

Indonesia: A sticker on the back of the car of a member of the beleaguered Yasmin church saying “We need a friendly Islam, not an angry Islam,” distributed by the family of the late Muslim president, prompted another Islamic attack on the church: scores of Muslims “terrorized the congregation and attacked several church members.” Since 2008, the congregation has been forced to hold Sunday services on the sidewalk outside the church and then later in the home of parishioners. Not satisfied, hundreds of Muslims later searched and found the private home where members were congregating and holding service and prevented them from worshiping there as well: “It crosses the line now. The protesters now come to the residential area, which is not a public place.” A new report notes that anti-Christian attacks have nearly doubled in the last year.

Nigeria: Soon after jihadis issued an ultimatum giving Christians three days to evacuate the region or die, armed Muslims stormed a church and “opened fire on worshippers as their eyes were closed in prayer,” killing six, including the pastor’s wife. Then, as friends and relatives gathered to mourn the deaths of those slain, “Allahu Akbar” screaming Muslims appeared and opened fire again, killing another 20 Christians. Several other churches were bombed, and seven more killed.

Denmark: In Muslim majority Odense, an Iranian Christian family had two cars consecutively vandalized—windows smashed, seats cut up, and set ablaze—because the cars had crucifixes hanging in them; the family has since relocated to an undisclosed location. Likewise, “Church Ministry” will change its name to “Ministry of Philosophy of Life” to accommodate Muslims.

Sudan: Authorities threatened to arrest church leaders if they engage in “evangelistic activities” and fail to comply with an order for churches to provide names and identifications: “The order was aimed at oppressing Christians amid growing hostilities toward Christianity… Sudanese law prohibits missionaries from evangelizing, and converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by imprisonment or death in Sudan, though previously such laws were not strictly enforced.” Accordingly, days and weeks later, two evangelists were arrested on spurious charges and beat by police.

Turkey: A Christian asylum seeker who fled from Iran because of his faith “was brutally assaulted by his Turkish employer with hot water and his body was severely burned,” due to “the extreme religious views” of his Muslim employer, who “told him he had no rights and that he would not pay him any money,” after the Christian asked for his agreed wages. He “is just one example of hundreds of Iranian Christian asylum seekers who are living in such situations in Turkey.”

Switzerland: A Muslim man hacked his daughter to death for dating a Christian: were they dating in a Muslim-dominated country, the Christian, as so often happens, would have likely received similar treatment.

Syria: The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians were killed since the anti-government unrest began; “children were being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim, including some who are “cut into pieces and thrown in a river.” These latest reports are reminiscent of the anti-Christian attacks that have become commonplace in Iraq for a decade.

Tajikistan: A young man dressed as Father Frost—the Russian equivalent of Father Christmas—was stabbed to death while visiting relatives and bringing gifts. The Muslim mob beating and stabbing him screamed “you infidel!” leading police to cite “religious hatred” as motivation.

And Rick Warren wants to team up with these people?

Let us pray for God’s mercy on our fellow Christians and their families. May He deliver them from these situations and give them the fortitude to endure their unimaginable trials in the meantime.

Lent 2012 begins on February 22 — Ash Wednesday

Another year and another time to intensively reflect on Christ as we prepare to commemorate His passion, death and — on Easter Day — resurrection from the dead.

On the last Sunday before Lent — Quinquagesima Sunday – the Revd Gregory Jackson of Ichabod gave the following sermon in his weekly video service.  He took for his texts Joel 2:12-19 and Matthew 6:16-21. It provides perfect reflections for and about this 40-day period leading up to the greatest feast in the Church calendar. (How many thought that was Christmas?)

Please take a few minutes to pop over and read the Bible readings and Dr Jackson’s sermon — followed by timeless Lutheran quotations — in full. People who are unfamiliar with Lenten practice will find it helpful and a source of reflection.

The passage from Joel contains a call to fast:

¹²Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

 ¹³And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Christ gives instructions in Matthew on how to fast — discreetly, so that others are unaware that you are doing it. We are not to make a big show:

¹⁶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 ¹⁷But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

 ¹⁸That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

 ¹⁹Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

 ²⁰But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

 ²¹For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Emphases mine in the excerpts below:

The seasons of the church year developed through tradition, but they reflect the liturgy of true Judaism. Genuine Judaism is not another religion but the foundation and first proclamation of the Christian faith. All those who worshiped before the Incarnation had a chance to see the Christ in the Scriptures, from Genesis to the Psalms. Those who hear Judaism today also hear about Christ.

This lesson contrasts the works of man with the gifts of God. The first sentence is a humorous commentary on human behavior –

Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Rare are those princely gifts which are donated in secret these days. Every clever university has categories of gifts, so someone can give in the measly category, the so-so category, and the Awesome category. Board members come from the Awesome list. It is a good way to network with others too, and to gain the respect of others.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Jesus points out that people engaged in real fasting would hide the fact from others, since it should not be done to gain the admiration of the public. Those who gain their rewards from man will not get them from the Father in heaven.

That teaches the concept of good works based on the Gospel rather than the Law. The Scriptures urge good works, but not to earn God’s favor, not to placate Him. Good works are the fruit of the Gospel; they flow from faith. Many people do good works without thinking of it, since everything done in faith glorifies God. The baby who nurses or soils his diaper is glorifying God, since he has faith through Holy Baptism.

This should not be downplayed or disdained, since this lesson wants us to focus on God’s wisdom rather than man’s vanity. There is a constant struggle to avoid worldly wisdom and instead listen to the teaching of Holy Spirit in the Word …

But what the world loves, God despises. What God loves, the world despises. The ignored, forgotten minister in Mustard Flats, Kansas, faithfully teaching the Word, is far more important than the glorious hero of the media who is introducing his flock to various toxins, a little at a time.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

…

These words of Jesus should bear down upon us each day, as Law to show us the temporary nature of material things, but as Gospel to remind us of what lasts.

Every single thing we own – owns us. If we really love one particular object, that object has a grip on us. There is nothing wrong with loving art, or clothes, or books, or any other delight God gives us. Jesus is not saying, “Give it all away, wear a long face, and be a monk.”

He is saying, “Do not pile up those things which are temporary anyway. The fact of corruption and theft is reason enough to look elsewhere.

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I had a favorite woolen shirt, which we stored in the apartment house’s storage room, a rather bizarre place full of antique furniture and boxes. When we got out our possessions, moths had eaten holes all through the wool, rendering it impossible to fix.

This metaphor is impossible to forget. Treasures in heaven do not share in three-way decay:

1. Vermin cannot destroy them.
2. Rust cannot consume them.
3. Thieves cannot steal them.

These treasures are often mentioned in the Book of Concord … Below are many of the best quotations about the efficacy of the Word, which is openly rejected by many so-called Lutherans today.

The treasures are the Promises of God – not only justification by faith, forgiveness through Christ, but also all those blessings and comforting messages through the Word.

All the assurances of God’s love are treasures. Every passage that begins with “do not be afraid” also includes those reasons why we should not fear.

The passages about the cross are treasures too, because they are the truth of God’s order, the truth our Old Adam loathes. However, the New Creation (faith sparked by the efficacy of the Gospel) blesses the cross. The ultimate expression of the cross is a believer accepting death as a blessing. Uncle Roy, who served in WWII, told his hospital staff, “I don’t want any more treatment. I will be with Jesus soon.” And he died in peace, not in fear or doubt (unlike media heroes Paul Tillich and Pope Pius XII).

The Gospel that comforts us also brings out the worst in apostates. Unbelievers seldom care. There is no more certain mark of the apostate than a loathing and persecution of the Gospel. Since that happens within the visible church, the immediate effect is especially difficult to bear. But that is why it is called “The Cross” rather than “The Bother.”

In time, we see the apostates reacting against the cross as their blessing upon the pure Word of God. What they cannot comprehend (although they say the words at times) they do not want others to have … the apostate raves when someone teaches the Gospel. And no one does the holier-than-thou routine better than the apostate.

Chytraeus was one of the great genius theologians of the Lutheran Reformation, overlooked today. He said wisely that one proof of teaching the pure Word was “opposition.” So the cross is good.

Even family tensions are part of God’s plan, because questions make people study the Word, on both sides.

“Spirit and Word, or Word and Spirit are never separated.”

- Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 271.   

“Is it the office of the Word simply to afford directions that are to be followed in order to obtain salvation? It is more than a directory and guide to Christ. It does more than ‘give directions how to live.’ It brings and communicates the grace concerning which it instructs. It has an inherent and objective efficacy, derived from its divine institution and promise, and explained by the constant presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in and with it. Romans 1:16; John 6:63; 1 Peter 1:23; Matthew 4:4; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; Romans 10:5-10; Isaiah 55:10.”

- Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 288.      Chapter Four.

“What testimony is given to the presence of the Holy Spirit in and with the Word? The words of Scripture are repeatedly cited as the words of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:16, 28:25; Hebrew 3:7; Psalm 10:15.”

- Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 288f.

“The New Testament is the inerrant record of the revelation of Jesus Christ in word and deed, and of the truths and principles proceeding, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, from that revelation. The Old Testament is in like manner an inerrant record, having the express and often repeated testimony and authority of Christ, of the preparatory and partial revelations made concerning Him before His coming. Hebrews 1:1.”

- Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, J-29 p. 3. Hebrews 1:1.

“‘The more purely the Word of God is preached in a Church, and the nearer the preaching and doctrine comes to the norm of the Holy Scripture, the purer will be the Church; the further it recedes from the rule of the Word, the more impure and corrupt will be the Church.’ (Gerhard)”

- Henry Eyster Jacobs, A Summary of the Christian Faith, Philadelphia: General Council Publication House, 1913, p. 383f.

“Nor even does the efficacy of the Word depend upon man’s faith. Faith is always necessary to the reception of the efficacy, but not to its presence. There is no lack of efficacy in the medicine which is not taken by the patient. If his symptoms grow worse, he could not tell his physician that there was no efficacy in the prescription.”

- Henry Eyster Jacobs, Elements of Religion, Philadelphia, Board of Publication, General Council 1919 p. 154. 1 Thessalonians 2:13

“So confident now should every preacher be, and not doubt, that possesses and preaches God’s Word, that he could even die for it, since it is worth life to us. Now there is no man so holy that he needs to die for the doctrine he has taught concerning himself. Therefore one concludes from this that the apostles had assurance from God that their Gospel was God’s Word. And here is is also proved that the Gospel is nothing else than the preaching of Christ.”

- Martin Luther, Commentary on Peter and Jude, ed. John N. Lenker, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1990, p. 245. 2 Peter 1:16-18.  

“Besides, it is an exceedingly effectual help against the devil, the world, and the flesh and all evil thoughts to be occupied with the Word of God, and to speak of it, and meditate upon it, so that the First Psalm declares those blessed who meditate upon the Law of God day and night. Undoubtedly, you will not start a stronger incense or other fumigation against the devil than by being engaged upon God’s commandments and words, and speaking, singing, or thinking of them. For this is indeed the true holy water and holy sign from which he flees, and by which he may be driven away.”

- The Large Catechism, Preface, #10, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, J-110 p. 570f.

To all my readers observing this short season, I pray that we keep a good Lent.

Apologetics Corner: on publicised fasting and charity

For some in the world, this is a set time of fasting and charity, often publicly announced.  It has not gone down particularly well with a number of Frenchmen.  And nor did it last year in England when London mayor Boris Johnson encouraged people to fast along with their Muslim brethren.  As if he had never heard of Lent, our time of preparation for Christ’s Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection?

What does our Lord Jesus Christ say about publicly announced fasting, alms and prayer?  Let us examine Matthew 6:1-8 (emphases mine):

¹Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

 ²Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 ³But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

 ⁴That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

 ⁵And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 ⁶But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

 ⁷But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

 ⁸Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

He also has this to say in Matthew 6:16-18:

¹⁶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 ¹⁷But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

 ¹⁸That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

I can empathise with those who are upset about the amount of publicity that Ramadan receives in the media, but let’s be happy that they don’t make such a big to-do over Lent.  We Christians don’t ask those from other faiths to wish us well in our quiet efforts during that time nor would we expect them to.  Nor would we ask that non-Christians join us in our time of penitence, prayer and fasting.