Black Tuesday!

Food for soul: He emptied himself! (II)

John 12:1-11

Six days before Passover (that is, today), Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.

Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, “Why wasn’t this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.

Jesus said, “Let her alone. She’s anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don’t always have me.”

Word got out among the Jews that he was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at Jesus but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. So the high priests plotted to kill Lazarus because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him.

Food for thought!

Six days before Passover! Mary brought her perfume, very expensive. Judas calculated it to cost 300 silver pieces. Now, to get an idea of this, remember that Jesus was valued at 30 silver pieces. This perfume was 10x more expensive than Jesus, that is according to Judas. That is why this man saw it as sheer waste.

This story is a carry on of yesterday, which as you remember, was about giving and getting: "Jesus Christ’s state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself." Jesus emptied himself, that is, he gave all he had and was. The donkey owner gave it all for good, never to get it back. Today, a woman called Mary gave away for good her very expensive perfume to Jesus. Just as the donkey man, Mary gave her perfume for Jesus' sake. FOR JESUs' SAKE. 

There are things we do for Jesus' sake; things we give away for the sake of Jesus. Please, do consider what you can and will give away this week for the sake of Jesus; something you would rather not give away if it was not for Jesus and because of Jesus. Our example is Jesus himself, who emptied himself completely; he broke his bottle of life for us. He too, poured every drop out for our sake. I wonder if we have ever broken the alabaster box of our life and spent our treasures for the sake of Jesus? That's what Jesus does throughout this holy week.

Food for soul: He emptied himself!

Philippians 2:6-11 

Jesus Christ’s state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Food for thought!

In today's readings, every word is important; every word is carefully chosen to show two things: giving and getting. We are told that though Jesus was in Form God, he voluntarily laid aside His divine prerogatives; he emptied himself, he voluntarily gave away, he did not cling to his divinity, his richness, but gave it away, so that we may get enriched by his riches. He gave so that we may get, he humbled himself so that we may be exalted, he died that we may live.

So, today we begin a week of giving and getting; it is a week of and about emptying oneself for others, like Jesus will do throught the holy week: "Jesus Christ’s state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself." Jesus gave so that we may get. And as Charles H. Burr said, “Getters generally don’t get happiness; givers get it. You simply give to others a bit of yourself——a thoughtful act, a helpful idea, a word of appreciation, a lift over a rough spot, a sense of understanding, a timely suggestion. You take something out of your mind, garnished in kindness out of your heart and put it into the other fellow’s mind and heart.” 

In the gospel to be read just before the procession begins, we have another act of giving. Some one, unnamed, gave away his dear donkey for Jesus to use. Had this man refused to give it away, we would not have the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and may be holy week itself. Think of some ways you can use your mind, your energy, and your time. Are you using the hours of the day in the best and most creative ways? Is there something constructive that you would like to do that could add to the good of the world? Remember, “little things can mean a lot.” Plant one seed and it can yield many fruits. This is how nature operates, and we are a part of nature. Look around you from the perspective of finding opportunities to express your talents and abilities and assets. Find some way in which you may give, and then do it with a loving heart.

No matter how unknown a person is, he or she can still play a crucial role in the unfolding of God's plan. The Lord needs each one of us as he needed the unnamed owner of the donkey in the gospel reading. A donkey was a very big thing in those days. The donkey was the equivalent of a car, a truck and a tractor all in one. It was a car because people used it to move around and do their shopping; a truck because it was used to carry load; and a tractor because it was used in cultivating the land. Add to this is the fact that the donkey had never been ridden, that means it was brand new and had a very high market value. You can see that giving up the donkey just because the Lord needed it was a very big sacrifice. It was a generous and heroic act of faith.

Did you know that each of us has got a donkey of some kind? You and I each has something in our lives, which, if given could, like the donkey, move Jesus and his story further down the road; we all have something, which if given to others can make a difference in their lives. This is what Jesus did; this is what holy week is all about. Jesus made this week holy for us; you too can make it holy for someone. You remember Mat 25:35-36?

I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me. '

Food for soul: One should die for many!

John 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him, but some of them went to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. ‘Here is this man working all these signs’ they said ‘and what action are we taking? If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy the Holy Place and our nation.’ One of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said, ‘You do not seem to have grasped the situation at all; you fail to see that it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’ He did not speak in his own person, it was as high priest that he made this prophecy that Jesus was to die for the nation – and not for the nation only, but to gather together in unity the scattered children of God. From that day they were determined to kill him. So Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but left the district for a town called Ephraim, in the country bordering on the desert, and stayed there with his disciples. The Jewish Passover drew near, and many of the country people who had gone up to Jerusalem to purify themselves looked out for Jesus, saying to one another as they stood about in the Temple, ‘What do you think? Will he come to the festival or not?’

Food for thought!

Did you ever wonder why Jesus was killed by his own people? Well, it was in order for the religious authorities of the time (Pharisees and Sadducees) to hold on to their political and social power, their prestige. It was out of fear. What they feared was that Jesus might gain a following far greater than they enjoyed and raise a disturbance against the civil government. If Jesus were to be the cause of civil disorder, the civil government in Rome would intervene and dismiss the religious authorities from their positions of authority. Fear is the great human curse, that destroys more lives, makes more people unhappy and unsuccessful; fear-thoughts are malignant forces within us poisoning the very sources of life, destroying lives, like it did with Jesus. 

It never even occurred to them to ask whether Jesus was right or wrong. Their only question was: "What effect will this have on our ease and comfort and authority?" They judged Jesus, not in the light of principle but in the light of their own career. Sometimes we are that mean; we set our own interests before the other's interests; we look at and judge others in light of our own interests; as long as our interests are served, we don't mind at all about what the other person goes through. Things have not changed much!

So the Sadducees insisted that Jesus must be eliminated or the Romans would come and take their authority away. Then Caiaphas, the High Priest, made his two-edged statement: "You do not seem to have grasped the situation at all; you fail to see that it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed." What did Caiaphas mean by these words?

Caiaphas meant that it was better that Jesus should die than that there should be trouble with the many; it is good for one to suffer and save the many. It was true that Jesus must die to save the nation. That was true--but not in the way that Caiaphas meant. It was true in a far greater and more wonderful way. God can speak through the most unlikely people; sometimes he sends his message through a man without the man being aware; he can use even the words of bad men, like on this occasion. Be it as it may, Jesus was to die for many people throughout the world. To him be glory and praise and majesty, for ever and ever. Amen.

Food for soul: Back to the beginning!

John 10:31-42

The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy: you are only a man and you claim to be God.’ Jesus answered:

‘Is it not written in your Law: I said, you are gods? So the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed, and scripture cannot be rejected. Yet you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because he says, “I am the son of God.” If I am not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me; but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will know for sure that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’

They wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded them. He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptising. Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him. 

Food for thought! Back to the beginning!

In this text, there is a small detail that is worth noting about Jesus: "He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptising." 

Why did Jesus do this? Well, for Jesus the time was running out; he knew his hour was approaching but was not yet. He would not recklessly court danger and throw his life away; nor would he in cowardice avoid danger to preserve his life. Jesus desired quietness before the final struggle. He always armed himself to meet men by first meeting God. That is why he retired to the other side of Jordan. He was not running away: he was preparing himself for the final contest.

The place to which Jesus went is most significant. He went to the place where John had been baptizing, the place where he himself had been baptized. It was there that the voice of God had come to him and assured him that he had taken the right decision and was on the right way. That place was significant because that is where it all began; that is where Jesus started his ministry.

There is everything to be said about returning every now and then to the place where we had the supreme experience of our life. When Jacob was up against it, when things had gone wrong and badly wrong, he went back to Bethel (Gen.35:1-5). When he needed God, he went back to the place where he had first found God. Jesus, before the end, went back to the place where the beginning had happened. It would often do our souls good to make a visit to the place where we first found God, or where we first fell in love, or where we first met, or where we first loved. In other words, never loose touch with your beginning; it is your source of inspiration. When your life falls apart, remember to go to your beginning, and start your life all over again.

But not only Jesus went back to the source, the people too went: "Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him."

Time and again, we also get discouraged; we too loose faith and begin to doubt; we too loose the initial fire of our love to the Lord and to each other. Many couples have lost the initial fire of love and passion they used to enjoy. In other words, we too need to go back to Jordan where it all started, where we started our journey, where we got the initial inspiration, initial love and passion. And if and when we do so, will be like the people in the gospel reading, they became believers in Jesus. They adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus again; they too were re-energized in their commitment.

Do you think you need to go to your Jordan again? Where's your Jordan? Where did you start? May be you need to revisit the place. May be. When things get tough, we do well to go back to our Jordan and press the Reset button.

Food for soul: He lived and will live for ever!

John 8:51-59

Jesus said to the Jews: ‘I tell you most solemnly, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ The Jews said, ‘Now we know for certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death.” Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?’ Jesus answered: ‘If I were to seek my own glory that would be no glory at all; my glory is conferred by the Father, by the one of whom you say, “He is our God” although you do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say: I do not know him, I should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves. But I do know him, and I faithfully keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.’ The Jews then said, ‘You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I Am.’

At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.

Food for thought! He lives for ever and ever!

Jesus is making revelation after revelation, each more tremendous than the one preceding it. Here he makes it known that if anyone keeps his words, he will never know death. It is not physical life nor physical death of which Jesus is thinking. He means that, for the man who fully accepts him, physical death has lost its finality; he has entered into a relationship with God which neither time nor eternity can destroy. Jesus is saying that a person who follows him goes, not from life to death, but from life to life; physical death is only the introduction to the nearer presence of God.

When we were in the womb of our mother, we were limited in space and movement. Then we came out to a more expansive life with more freedom. Jesus is saying that those who accept him die, they go into even a more expansive life. Jesus is saying that there is more to life than meets the eyes.

Then Jesus makes these revelations which are the very foundation of his life.

(i) He has unique knowledge of God. Jesus knows God as no one else ever has known him or ever will. Nor will he lower that claim, for to do so would be a lie. The only way to full knowledge of the heart and mind of God is through Jesus Christ. With our own minds we can reach fragments of knowledge about God; but only in Jesus Christ is the fullness of truth, for only in him do we see what God is like.

(ii) He has unique obedience to God. To look at Jesus is to be able to say; "This is how God wishes me to live." To look at his life is to say: "This is serving God." In Jesus alone we see what God wants us to know and what God wants us to be. 

(iii) He is God. This is what he means by these words: "Before Abraham was born, I AM." Here Jesus was making a revelation that He is timeless, that He is God. We must note carefully that Jesus did not say: "Before Abraham was born, I was," but, "Before Abraham was born, I am." Here is the revelation that Jesus is timeless. There never was a time when he came into being; there never will be a time when he is not in being.

What did he mean? Obviously he did not mean that he, the man Jesus, had always existed. We know that the man Jesus was born into this world at Bethlehem; there is more than that here. Think of it this way. There is only one person in the universe who is timeless; and that one person is God. What Jesus is saying here is nothing less than that the life in him is the life of God; he is saying, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews put it more simply, that he is the same yesterday, today and forever. In Jesus we see, not simply a man who came and lived and died; we see the timeless God, who was before time and who will be after time, who always is. In Jesus the immortal God showed himself to mortal men. To him be glory and honour and praise. Amen

Food for Soul! 28

John 8:31-42

31 Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples, you will learn the truth and the truth will make you free." 33 Surprised, they said, "But we're descendants of Abraham. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, 'The truth will free you'?" 34 Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead- end life and is, in fact, a slave. 35 A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. 37 I know you are Abraham's descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn't yet penetrated your thick skulls. 38 I'm talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father, and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father." 39 They were indignant. "Our father is Abraham!" Jesus said, "If you were Abraham's children, you would have been doing the things Abraham did. 40 And yet here you are trying to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth he got straight from God! Abraham never did that sort of thing. 41 You persist in repeating the works of your father." They said, "We're not bastards. We have a legitimate father: the one and only God." 42 "If God was your father," said Jesus, "you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn't come on my own. He sent me.

Food for thought! If you make my word your home...!

In today's gospel, Jesus reminds us that what makes us special is not the family we come from; it is not the job or title we hold; it is not church we go to; it is the word he tells us. Jesus says, "If you make my word your home you will indeed be my disciples, you will learn the truth and the truth will make you free." Three things that we become: his disciples, learn the truth, be free. This is exactly the opposite of what the Jews expected to hear. 

The Jews thought that because they have Abraham for a fore father they were special; that because they were bodily descendants of Abraham, they were special in the eyes of God. Jesus is saying that in, other words, that holiness is not hereditary; it is not inborn; it is not automatic. It is personal. This is why St. Paul reminds us, "work out your own salvation. Do it with fear and trembling." Don't take salvation for granted. Don't think that because you belong to a family or a church or a tribe you are special because of that. Instead, belonging to a great name or great family or great church should always inspire us to ever new effort. 

We cannot afford to live on a history and a tradition and a spiritual capital of the past generations; neither can we live on the achievements of our past times. So, never say, "In the past I used to be active in faith, I used to attend Mass, I used to ...!" Don't be too confident of your past achievements. That is what the Jews in the gospel were trying to do by saying "Our father is Abraham!" God will judge us not according to our ancestors nor according to our past merits, but according to how we embraced the word of God and day after day lived it in our daily life.

Food for Soul! 27

John 8:21-30

Then Jesus said, "I'm leaving and you are going to look for me, but you're missing God in this and are headed for a dead end. There is no way you can come with me." The Jews said, "So, is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by 'You can't come with me'?" Jesus said, "You're tied down to the mundane; I'm in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I'm living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You're at a dead end. If you won't believe I am who I say I am, you're at the dead end of sins. You're missing God in your lives." They said to him, "Just who are you anyway?" Jesus said, "What I've said from the start. I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you, but if you don't accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is who you are questioning-- not me but the One who sent me."

They still didn't get it, didn't realize that he was referring to the Father. So Jesus tried again. "When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am-- that I'm not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me. The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn't abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him." When he put it in these terms, many people decided to believe.

Food for thought! In death you will know!

Jesus begins by telling his opponents that he is going away; and that, after he is gone, they will realize what they have missed, and will search for him and not find him. This is the true prophetic note. It reminds us of three things: 

(i) There are certain opportunities which come and which do not return. To every man is given the opportunity to accept Christ as Saviour and Lord; but that opportunity can be refused and lost. 

(ii) Implicit in this argument is the truth that life and time are limited. It is within an allotted span that we must make our decision for Christ. The time we have to make that decision is limited, and none of us knows when his or her limit will expire. There is therefore every reason for making it now. 

(iii) Just because there is opportunity in life there is also judgment. The greater the opportunity, the more clearly it beckons, the oftener it comes, the greater the judgment if it be refused or missed. 

This passage brings us face to face with the glory of our opportunity, and the limitation of time in which to seize it. When Jesus spoke about going away, he was speaking about his return to his Father and to his glory. That was precisely where his opponents could not follow him, because by their continuous disobedience and their refusal to accept him, they had shut themselves off from God. 

We may pretent not to understand Jesus in life, but we shall all see and know him in death. This means two things: 

i) It is when Christ is lifted up that we really will know who he is; it is on Good Friday that we come to know Jesus and what he came to do and be; it is in death that we know for sure who were are. Death is the ultimate revealer of Jesus and of us all. Death reveals us; death makes us known; death says it all about us. This literally happened when Jesus died: Mark 15:39 we read: "And when the centurion who stood facing Jesus saw Him die, he said, Really, this Man was God’s Son!" In death, this man saw Jesus as he really is, Son of God.

If Jesus had lived on and taught and healed he might have attracted many people, but it is his death which speaks straight to the hearts of men. Jesus speaks most by his death than by his life; he speaks more from the cross than from all his life; Jesus' death was the greatest sermon he ever made. The same with us, our death will reveal who we have been in life. Until then, we do well not to judge one another but to pray for each other.

ii) In our death we really will see who Jesus is; when we will die, we shall see Jesus in his true colours. (Rev 1:7) "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall gaze upon Him and beat their breasts and mourn and lament over Him." Don't wait to die to know Jesus; seek to know him in life.

Heb 12:14

"Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord."

Food for Thought

John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then be bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do not sin any more.’

Food for thought! Don't throw stones at others; we are all sinners!

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday which initiates us into Holy Week. Today's story is a fitting preparation for Holy Week and Easter when we see Jesus making the ultimate sacrifice to grant us clemency, we who are already sentenced to death by our sins. As we prepare for Holy Week, let us take this day to learn some lessons.

First and foremost, like this woman we all deserve death, “for the wages of sin is death”. (Romans 6:23). Thanks to Jesus who came and comes to overturn our death sentence, to set us free. He sets us free with his words of absolution: “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and sin no more” (John 8:11). The story shows how Jesus stands up for sinners before the law. In so doing, he draws upon himself the hostility of the hard-line religious people, who will eventually arrest him and orchastrate his death. We have this story before us today so that we can see ourselves in this sinner woman, whom Jesus saves from sure death at the risk of attracting death to himself.

Secondly, according to justice and law, this woman deserved death. This gospel is about justice and mercy. In justice this woman deserved death. But also in justice this woman had to be accused with some man, for no woman can commit adultery alone. But where was the man? Why was he not accused together with the woman? What kind of justice is this that condemns one and frees the other?

The accusers had mercy on the man but condemned the woman. Jesus had mercy on the woman and on the man and on the men; he had and has mercy on all of us. The accusers of the woman caught her red handed, and Jesus caught accusers of the woman red handed too. We are all sinners, those we accuse and those who accuse us: those you accuse and those who accuse you. This is the point Jesus was making when he said: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." At this, they all began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

The older ones left first. Why? Well, they had been around longest, and had sinned longest. Thanks to Jesus, these men had to look at themselves for the first time through the eyes of Jesus; they saw themselves as Jesus saw them. Yes, if and when we see ourselves as Jesus sees us, we see the truth in each one of us. Yes, if and when we see others as Jesus sees them, we see the truth in them, we see that they indeed don't deserve death but salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, to him be glory and praise and honour, both now and for ever. Amen.

Food for Soul! 26

John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33-45

Mary and Martha sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’ On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said: 'I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

  

Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said: ‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me, but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’ Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.

Food for thought! Learning to cooperate with God!

As you know by now, Jesus raised three dead people from the dead. One had just died (Luke 8:40-56); the second, was being carried to be buried; the third is Lazarus in today's gospel reading; he had been in the tomb four days (Jn 11:1-44).

What is noteworthy about all of them, is the moment they were brought back to life: one had just died; another was on the way to the cemetery; the last was in the cemetery already for four days. It means that, for Jesus, time means nothing. He will rise those who died long ago, those who died recently, and those who will have died. He will rise us all who believe that he will.

In the time of Jesus, people believed that the soul of a dead person somehow remains with the body for three days. After three days the soul departs finally from the body never to return, and that is when corruption sets in. When Martha objects to the opening of the tomb and says, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days” (John 11:39), she is expressing the common view that this is now a hopeless situation. Hopeless it was from the human point of view.

Jesus' delay in coming made the situation become even more impossible and hopeless. G.K. Chesterton once said, “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all.” This miracle is a challenge to never give up hope even in the hopeless situations in which we sometimes do find ourselves as individuals, as families, as organizations, as church or even as world. It is never too late for God to revive and revitalise us. But first we must learn to cooperate with God.

Did you notice that to effect the miracle, Jesus issued three commands, which were all obeyed to the letter. That is how the miracle happened and happens. First, Jesus said, "Take the stone away." The gospel says, "So they took away the stone" (verses 39-41). Did the people understand why they should do this heavy work of rolling away the tombstone to expose a stinking corpse? You bet they didn’t. But it was their faith in Jesus expressing itself not through intellectual agreement with Jesus but through practical agreement with him, through obedience. Why didn’t Jesus command the stone to roll away all by itself, without bothering the people? We don’t quite know. All we know is that divine power seems always to be activated by human cooperation and stifled by non-cooperation. As C.S. Lewis said, "God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures." God will not do by a miracle what we can do by obedience.

The second command Jesus gives is directed to the dead man: "Lazarus, here! Come out!" and the dead man came out (verses 43-44). We do not know the details of what transpired in the tomb. All we know is that Jesus’ word of command is followed by immediate obedience. Lazarus gropes his way out of the dark tomb even with his hands and feet tied up in bandages, and his face all wrapped up. Even a man rotting away in the tomb can still do something to help himself; even in the midst of your problems you can and should cooperate with God.

The third command again is addressed to the people, "Unbind him, let him go free" (verse 44). Even though Lazarus could stumble himself out of the tomb, there was no way he could unbind himself. He needs someone to do that for him. 

Many of us today have fallen victim to despair and hopelessness and death of sin. Many people are already in the tomb of hopelessness and decay, in the bondage of sinful habits and attitudes. Nothing short of a miracle can bring us back to life in Christ. Jesus is ready for the miracle, but he needs and requires our cooperation. He himself said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Are we ready to cooperate with him for the miracle. Are we ready to roll away the stone that stands between us and the light of Christ’s face? Are we ready to take the first step to come out of the place of death? Are we ready to unbind (i.e. forgive) one another and let each one go free? 

With Jesus, we can rise up from where we fell, regardless of when. If and when we fall into sin, into hopelessness, into helplessness, into confusion, into despair, He can bring us back to normality, regardless of when we fell. It means that never lose hope in Jesus, with Jesus never write yourself or anybody off. You are never too dead of anything to rise up again. There's no sin, no state he cannot rescue us from. To him be praise and honour and glory, both now and for ever. Amen.

Food for Soul! 25

Jn 7:40-53

Those in the crowd who heard listened to Jesus were saying, "This has to be the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Messiah!" But others were saying, "The Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he? 42 Don't the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David's line and from Bethlehem, David's village?" 43 So there was a split in the crowd over him. 44 Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 That's when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, "Why didn't you bring him with you?" 46 The police answered, "Have you heard the way he talks? We've never heard anyone speak like this man." 47 The Pharisees said, "Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? 48 You don't see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees? 49 It's only this crowd, ignorant of God's Law, that is taken in by him-- and damned."

50 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up. 51 "Does our Law decide about a man's guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?" 52 But they cut him off. "Are you also campaigning for Jesus? 53 Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee."

Food for thought!

Something consistent happens throughout this gospel: the people who heard Jesus talk always end, some impressed others depressed; some end liking him even more, others hating him even more. After hearing Jesus, some people thought that he was the Christ, others not; and there followed a wrangle about whether or not any Christ could ever come from Bethlehem. 

Here is tragedy. A great religious experience has ended as a theological wrangle; a great sermon has done more harm than good. It is not uncommon even among us, to like the preaching and hate the preacher; to like the message and hate the messanger. Things have not changed much.

That is what above all we must avoid. Jesus is not someone about whom to argue; he is someone to know and love and enjoy. If we have one view of him and someone else has another, it does not matter so long as both of us find him Saviour and accept him as Lord. Even if we explain our religious experience in different ways as we do, that should never divide us, for it is the experience that is important, and not our explanation of it. 

This is what the Policemen were saying, "Have you heard the way he talks? We've never heard anyone speak like this man." They had gone out to arrest Jesus and had come back arrested by Jesus' message, because never in their lives had they heard anyone speak as he did. Really to listen to Jesus is an unparalleled experience for any man. 

This is what Nicodemus was saying, "Does our Law decide about a man's guilt without first listening to him?" He was telling the people who should have known better, the high priests and Pharisees. Sometimes, even today, those in the churches and communities that should know better are the worst christians. Their argument was "Nobody who is spiritually and academically of any account has believed in Jesus. Only ignorant fools accept him." It is indeed a terrible thing when a man thinks himself either too clever or too good to need Jesus Christ--and it happens still.

Food for Soul! 24

John 7:1-2,10,25-30

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him. As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from. Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:

‘Yes, you know me and you know where I came from. Yet I have not come of myself: no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him,
but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.’ They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.

Food for thoughtful: Without drawing attention to himself!

This sentence is very important.  Jesus kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself because his time had not yet come. And the Jews too were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn't yet God's time.

All this means that there is God's time and our time. And Jesus knew it. He knew how and when to wait for God's time to come. In this particular instance Jesus' opportunity had not come. Literally this means that the best time for Jesus to act, the moment when circumstances were most suitable, the psychological moment was not yet; the moment which would give him the chance for which he was waiting had not yet arrived. For that reason, Jesus kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself because his time had not yet come. And the Jews too were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn't yet God's time.

From this passage we learn one thing that, we too must learn to wait on God's time because God's time is the best time. Anything done out of its time is disastrous. Many of us don't know how and when to wait, and that is why we crush and get crushed. We don't want to stay in God's waiting room. The enemy fills us with the lies that we must take action . . . take matters into our own hands. The enemy whispers, “God’s Word can’t be relied upon, He can’t be trusted . . . you have to do something! You’ve waited long enough! God isn’t going to show up!” But God’s strong, still, small voice replies, “Wait on Me . . . I will save you . . . I will deliver you . . . I hold your life (every detail) in the palms of My hands.”

You see, there’s a BIG difference between “being still” and “doing nothing.” When God appears to have escorted you into His “waiting room,” you can be certain that He doesn’t want you “doing nothing” . . . He wants you “being still.” We must remember in our most desperate moments in life that it is God who has often led us to the very place we cry out from . . . the “waiting place” . . . the place where we face impossibilities. And God has led us to this place to teach us a much needed lesson in our walk of faith—we cannot deliver ourselves from a crisis that God himself has orchestrated. Too often, it is by His design that we are in the “waiting place” . . . in the midst of an overwhelming situation. Whatever you’re going through, God is in it. He has allowed the circumstances that have brought you to this “waiting place."

While you’re waiting, God wants you praying, drawing nearer to Him, and resting in the peace that He provides in the midst of a raging storm.

Food for Soul! 23

John 5:17-30

Jesus said: My Father is still working even now, and so I am working. 18For this cause the Jews had an even greater desire to put Jesus to death, because not only did he not keep the Sabbath but he said God was his Father, so making himself equal with God. 19So Jesus made answer and said, Truly I say to you, The Son is not able to do anything himself; he is able to do only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does the Son does it in the same way. 20For the Father has love for the Son and lets him see everything which he does: and he will let him see greater works than these so that you may be full of wonder. 21In the same way, as the Father gives life to the dead, even so the Son gives life to those to whom he is pleased to give it. 22The Father is not the judge of men, but he has given all decisions into the hands of the Son; 23So that all men may give honour to the Son even as they give honour to the Father. He who gives no honour to the Son gives no honour to the Father who sent him. 24Truly I say to you, The man whose ears are open to my word and who has faith in him who sent me, has eternal life; he will not be judged, but has come from death into life. 25Truly I say to you, The time is coming, it has even now come, when the voice of the Son of God will come to the ears of the dead, and those hearing it will have life. 26For even as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to be judge because he is the Son of man. 28Do not be surprised at this: for the time is coming when his voice will come to all who are in the place of the dead, 29And they will come out; those who have done good, into the new life; and those who have done evil, to be judged. 30Of myself I am unable to do anything: as the voice comes to me so I give a decision: and my decision is right because I have no desire to do what is pleasing to myself, but only what is pleasing to him who sent me.

Food for soul! My Father is still working even now!

Jesus said these words in reply to the Jews' charge that he was making himself equal to God. He lays down three things about his relationship with God.

(i) He lays down his identity with God. The salient truth about Jesus is that in him we see God. If we wish to see how God feels to men, to women, to children, to the young, to the old, if we wish to see how God reacts to sin, if we wish to see how God regards the human situation, we must look at Jesus. The mind of Jesus is the mind of God; the words of Jesus are the words of God; the actions of Jesus are the actions of God. Jesus is God in human flesh; He is Emmanuel, God with us.

(ii) This identity is not so much based on equality as on complete obedience. Jesus never did what he wanted to do but always what God wanted him to do. It is because his will was completely submitted to God's will that we see God in him. Jesus is to God as we must be to Jesus.

(iii) This obedience is not based on submission to power; it is based on love. The unity between Jesus and God is a unity of love. We speak of two minds having only a single thought and two hearts beating as one. In human terms that is a perfect description of the relationship between Jesus and God. There is such complete identity of mind and will and heart that Father and Son are one.

But this passage has something still more to tell us about Jesus.

(i) It tells us of his complete confidence. He is quite sure that what men were seeing then was only a beginning. On purely human grounds the one thing Jesus might reasonably expect was death. The forces of Jewish orthodoxy were gathering against him and the end was already sure. But Jesus was quite certain that the future was in the hands of God and not men, and that men could not stop what God had sent him to do. That is what we must know: God has a plan for each one of us; we do well to let him lead us where he wills, for we cannot stop God.

(ii) It tells of his complete fearlessness. That he would be misunderstood was certain. That his words would inflame the minds of his hearers and endanger his own life was beyond argument. There was no human situation in which Jesus would lower his claims or adulterate the truth. He would make his claim and speak his truth no matter what men might threaten to do. To him it was much more important to be true to God than to fear men. We need this kind of confidence and determination Jesus had because many times we follow and fear men than God; we sacrifice our God-given convictions and vocations because we fear what men will say and do to us; we respect more the people than God!!

Food for Soul! 22

John 5:1-3,5-16

There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building, called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the water to move; One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ ‘Sir,’ replied the sick man ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away. Now that day happened to be the sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.’ He replied, ‘But the man who cured me told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.

Food for thought! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Have you ever found yourself in a dilemma, whereby you feel that after much praying, what you get out of it, what the Lord tells you goes against the law or the rules? Have you ever felt empowered by Jesus to break the rules, the tradition or custom? This is the situation of the man that had been sick for 38 years. On finding him, Jesus literally asked the man, "Do you want to be well again? Then, get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk." And the gospel says that that day Jesus told the man to carry his mat was a Sabbath. Jesus consciously told this man to break the Sabbath law. Yes, Jesus sometimes tells us to break laws and rules and traditions and expectations.

Jesus began by asking the man if he wanted to be cured. It was not so foolish a question as it may sound. The man had waited for thirty-eight years and it might well have been that hope had died and left behind a passive and dull despair. In his heart of hearts the man might be well content to remain an invalid for, if he was cured, he would have to shoulder all the burden of making a living. There are invalids for whom invalidism is not unpleasant, because someone else does all the working and all the worrying. But this man's response was immediate. He wanted to be healed, though he did not see how he ever could be since he had no one to help him.

The first essential towards receiving the power of Jesus is to have intense desire for it. Jesus says: "Do you really want to be changed?" If in our inmost hearts we are well content to stay as we are, there can be no change for us. Jesus went on to tell the man to get up. It is as if he said to him: "Man, bend your will to it and you and I will do this thing together!" The power of God never dispenses with our effort. Nothing is truer than that we must realize our own helplessness; but in a very real sense it is true that miracles happen when our will and God's power cooperate to make them possible.

In effect Jesus was commanding the man to attempt the impossible. "Get up!" he said, "Carry the mat that has carried you all along." Yes, Jesus is saying to us all, "Stand up, and stop being a victim; don't be carried by anger or hate or laziness any more; start being a subject and productive and active; carry the mat that has been carrying you. It is Jesus telling you. The man might well have said with a kind of injured resentment that for thirty-eight years his bed had been carrying him and there was not much sense in telling him to carry it. But he made the effort along with Christ, and the thing was done.

Here is the road to achievement. There are so many things in this world which defeat us. When we have intensity of desire and determination to make the effort, hopeless though it may seem, the power of Christ gets its opportunity, and with him we can conquer what for long has conquered us. Yes, we can! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)