READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Proverbs 4:10-23
Galatians 5:16-24
St. Luke 17:11-19
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2 John)
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying:
“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned
back, praising God with a loud voice”
And also the words from our Introit:
“Behold, O God our
shield, and look upon the face of Thine Anointed”.
Anointed. In Hebrew, the
Old Testament language, “Messiah”. In Greek, the New Testament language,
“Christ”. Far from being Jesus’s last name, Christ is one of His titles and it
means “chosen”; Chosen of God.
We praise God for His Messiah, His Chosen, His Anointed Who has come to give victory to Israel’s people. In today’s Gospel, it is victory over the weakness of the body, getting sick and catching diseases at the drop of a hat. This, Jesus does immediately and mediately. First in healing the Samaritan, showing He is God, and then suffering, dying, and rising again to secure health for him for all eternity.
Our Introit has spoken to us of God’s Anointed and how we want God to look at His Face rather than our own, but who is He? Who is the Messiah and why did the Jews not recognize Jesus as Messiah?
Above all, the Messiah will be a human being, says modern Jews. Not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.
It has been said that in every generation, a person is born with the potential to be the Messiah. If the time is right for the messianic age within that person's lifetime, then that person will be the Messiah. But if that person dies before he completes the mission of the Messiah, then that person is not the Messiah.
Just in case you were all wondering what kind of Messiah they are waiting for. And if you caught it, they are not waiting. For even if he is the messiah, but dies, then there is no messiah. Worse, if he is born at the wrong time, no messiah. If he breathes wrong, eats wrong, or even claims to be the messiah, there is no messiah. Always in the future, never the past, and absolutely never in the present. In other words, never coming.
Immediately, sinful man cuts off any and all forms of the Messiah. Why? Because we are of two minds. We want fulfillment of prophecy, but we want it done our way, that is, to suit our private tastes. Today’s Scientites do the same thing. When observing the world around them, they first rule out any possibility that something supernatural is acting and then say they have proven God doesn’t exist.
If you deny, outright, that the supernatural exists, then you cut off all that understanding, you lose knowledge. You throw it away even before any of that evidence has a chance. Similar is the Jewish messiah, or any other religious messiah for that matter. If you set the standard bar so high, that your description of the Messiah contradicts itself, then there will never be a Messiah that you will like.
This was Caiphas’s problem at Jesus’s Maundy Thursday show trial. As Jesus said, all of His works proved Him to be Who He claimed to be, Gods Chosen, but because He didn’t say the right things for Caiaphas, God’s chosen high priest, he condemns Him.
In fact, there are only two types of messiahs in the unbelieving world: god and human.
The god messiahs couldn’t care less about the work they have to do. They may help here and there, but they are so capricious and sporadic that they may as well stay away, for all the good they don’t do and they have no skin in the game. The human messiahs are weak and die before they accomplish anything meaningful and usually leave behind a small cult that commits atrocious acts, in their name. The opposite of what we were hoping for.
Repent. This is the endless cycle of your unbelief. In regards to the Messiah, the top two offensive things that cannot possibly be, if there is a Messiah, are 1) that He must “rest in the tomb” and 2) that He must be rejected by you, not just Jews. We cherry pick the verses in the Bible and say, when we talk of the Messiah, it is only victory on the Last Day.
It is true that God speaks of His Messiah in terms of victory and it seems to be only earthly victory, such that we expect a king or military genius to accomplish. But, that would only be true if we ignore the verses which directly mention the Messiah.
Some of those report that He must be rejected. Where does Jesus prophesy this about Himself? The first place is one we all know in Isaiah 53, “He was despised; He was rejected of men.” But that is not the only place. In Psalm 118:22 He is to be rejected by His own people: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
With this guilt-ridden accusation, of course the Jews would reject this Messiah. Who wants to be the generation that rejects God’s Chosen?? The godly Pharisee, Gamaliel in Acts 5, says it best: “So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these [Christians] and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (5:38-39)
Numbered with sinners and tax collectors and lepers and those with unwashed hands, Jesus is crucified between two thieves. He touched the unclean and the dead, which is haram. Nothing could redeem Him from those transgressions of God’s Law, unless He is the Righteousness of God, manifested apart from the Law. Which He is.
Another of the Messianic prophesies is to die, or rest in the tomb. Hopefully you know right away how this prophesy would offend anyone of any movement. There is no victory in death. Your followers need you alive to accomplish their goals. However, since Jesus is the Lord of Life, He can die and yet remain alive. He can suffer and yet sustain the universe. He can walk among the dead, remaining clean, because what He touches comes back to life.
Oh yes, it was the will of the Lord to crush Him (Isa 53:10), to kill and to make alive (Deut 32:39), but why should this be offensive? Aren’t you a part of the “Jesus is everywhere” crowd? It is not so hard to comprehend that the Lord walks among the dead and in hell. As the Psalmist states, “where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” (139:7-8).
There must also be a rest in the tomb, not for Christ’s sake, but yours. So that, just as “God rested on the seventh day from all his works” (Heb 4:4), so too does “there remain a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Heb 4:8-10)
This is the offense. That before I can believe, before I can accept, before I can choose, God dies. And He dies to bring me to life. And He brings me to life, not to choose, but to witness His great work of salvation where He dies instead of me and I rise with Him to eternal life, that eternal Sabbath at His side.
This is the offense. That my own reason and strength rejects God with all its sinful might, not choosing the things of the Spirit of God, but my sin (1 Cor 2:14). But God did not wait for my consent. He chose to be rejected and condemned. Thus it is part of the eternal plan that I reject Him, see my sin, in order to see my Savior.
And in His work, He brings me to Him, where I find rest and mercy shown to my unmerciful self, and He will say to The Rejected, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God”. (Hos 2:23) He speaks salvation to me first.
The Messiah comes to be chosen of God. He comes to work and reap the fruit of His work. He does not come to hire us as workers and wait for us to get it right. He gets it right first, then invites us in. He finishes the job, then grants us rewards. He does all the work and, as God’s Chosen, finds His work validated and approved. Your work is not approved. Jesus’s is.
This is the true offense of God’s Messiah. That He comes to do His own work, quite separate from yours. He comes, in the flesh, to do work for fleshy people in fleshy ways. You can disagree or argue with Him about how He did it, but it doesn’t change the fact that His work is Spirit-filled, Body-filled, and how He wants it done.
If you have a problem with how He came to fulfill His own prophesy, you can take it up with Jesus in His Body and Blood. If you have questions as to how He is able to do such great things through earthly means, then you can approach His Throne in prayer. If you cannot comprehend His work in this world, then you can find His Church, live out His life there, and discover it for yourself.
For in a confusing, yet joyful and holy twist to spite sin, death, and the power of the devil, Jesus doesn’t just become the Messiah, He is the Messiah for always, but unites us to Himself so that we are also Chosen of God, in Him. He promises in St. Matthew 25, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (v.40)
In Jesus, the True Messiah is found. One that is neither god nor man, but both, 100% each, all the time. He is the perfect Messiah. Better than all the burden we put on Him and all the misinterpreted prophesy we swallow, Jesus takes both realms and joins them in Himself, beyond our wildest imagination.
So that when He trots around the region of Mediterranea, doing Godly work, He can offer it as proof of His chosenness, as Nicodemus says, “no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (Jn 3:2), especially coming back from the dead.
In taking on humanity completely, Jesus also gives God a face. Therefore, from our Introit, to ask God to look upon the face of His Anointed, is to ask God to crucify the Son of God, Jesus Christ. To blot out our sins that they might not count against us. To reconcile us to the eternal grace we were made to receive.
To gain us entrance into the courts and tabernacles of God, finding that in Christ, we are numbered with the righteous, the holy, the innocent. That even now in the portico of His heavenly Bride, which we gather in today, we find the feast already begun, the wrath already abated, and our seat already paid for.
For Jesus is God’s anointed, Who took on our sin. He was taken outside of the city to be crucified, as was commanded (Lev 4:3, 12) and placed upon the wood of the cross. His Blood sprinkled upon us and our children, better than the blood of Abel, better than a billion military victories, better than a return to earthly power.
Better because in this Blood of the Anointed of God we have redemption, grace, and forgiveness, as He said, “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:28)
We praise God for His Messiah, His Chosen, His Anointed Who has come to give victory to Israel’s people. In today’s Gospel, it is victory over the weakness of the body, getting sick and catching diseases at the drop of a hat. This, Jesus does immediately and mediately. First in healing the Samaritan, showing He is God, and then suffering, dying, and rising again to secure health for him for all eternity.
Our Introit has spoken to us of God’s Anointed and how we want God to look at His Face rather than our own, but who is He? Who is the Messiah and why did the Jews not recognize Jesus as Messiah?
Above all, the Messiah will be a human being, says modern Jews. Not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being.
It has been said that in every generation, a person is born with the potential to be the Messiah. If the time is right for the messianic age within that person's lifetime, then that person will be the Messiah. But if that person dies before he completes the mission of the Messiah, then that person is not the Messiah.
Just in case you were all wondering what kind of Messiah they are waiting for. And if you caught it, they are not waiting. For even if he is the messiah, but dies, then there is no messiah. Worse, if he is born at the wrong time, no messiah. If he breathes wrong, eats wrong, or even claims to be the messiah, there is no messiah. Always in the future, never the past, and absolutely never in the present. In other words, never coming.
Immediately, sinful man cuts off any and all forms of the Messiah. Why? Because we are of two minds. We want fulfillment of prophecy, but we want it done our way, that is, to suit our private tastes. Today’s Scientites do the same thing. When observing the world around them, they first rule out any possibility that something supernatural is acting and then say they have proven God doesn’t exist.
If you deny, outright, that the supernatural exists, then you cut off all that understanding, you lose knowledge. You throw it away even before any of that evidence has a chance. Similar is the Jewish messiah, or any other religious messiah for that matter. If you set the standard bar so high, that your description of the Messiah contradicts itself, then there will never be a Messiah that you will like.
This was Caiphas’s problem at Jesus’s Maundy Thursday show trial. As Jesus said, all of His works proved Him to be Who He claimed to be, Gods Chosen, but because He didn’t say the right things for Caiaphas, God’s chosen high priest, he condemns Him.
In fact, there are only two types of messiahs in the unbelieving world: god and human.
The god messiahs couldn’t care less about the work they have to do. They may help here and there, but they are so capricious and sporadic that they may as well stay away, for all the good they don’t do and they have no skin in the game. The human messiahs are weak and die before they accomplish anything meaningful and usually leave behind a small cult that commits atrocious acts, in their name. The opposite of what we were hoping for.
Repent. This is the endless cycle of your unbelief. In regards to the Messiah, the top two offensive things that cannot possibly be, if there is a Messiah, are 1) that He must “rest in the tomb” and 2) that He must be rejected by you, not just Jews. We cherry pick the verses in the Bible and say, when we talk of the Messiah, it is only victory on the Last Day.
It is true that God speaks of His Messiah in terms of victory and it seems to be only earthly victory, such that we expect a king or military genius to accomplish. But, that would only be true if we ignore the verses which directly mention the Messiah.
Some of those report that He must be rejected. Where does Jesus prophesy this about Himself? The first place is one we all know in Isaiah 53, “He was despised; He was rejected of men.” But that is not the only place. In Psalm 118:22 He is to be rejected by His own people: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
With this guilt-ridden accusation, of course the Jews would reject this Messiah. Who wants to be the generation that rejects God’s Chosen?? The godly Pharisee, Gamaliel in Acts 5, says it best: “So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these [Christians] and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (5:38-39)
Numbered with sinners and tax collectors and lepers and those with unwashed hands, Jesus is crucified between two thieves. He touched the unclean and the dead, which is haram. Nothing could redeem Him from those transgressions of God’s Law, unless He is the Righteousness of God, manifested apart from the Law. Which He is.
Another of the Messianic prophesies is to die, or rest in the tomb. Hopefully you know right away how this prophesy would offend anyone of any movement. There is no victory in death. Your followers need you alive to accomplish their goals. However, since Jesus is the Lord of Life, He can die and yet remain alive. He can suffer and yet sustain the universe. He can walk among the dead, remaining clean, because what He touches comes back to life.
Oh yes, it was the will of the Lord to crush Him (Isa 53:10), to kill and to make alive (Deut 32:39), but why should this be offensive? Aren’t you a part of the “Jesus is everywhere” crowd? It is not so hard to comprehend that the Lord walks among the dead and in hell. As the Psalmist states, “where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” (139:7-8).
There must also be a rest in the tomb, not for Christ’s sake, but yours. So that, just as “God rested on the seventh day from all his works” (Heb 4:4), so too does “there remain a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Heb 4:8-10)
This is the offense. That before I can believe, before I can accept, before I can choose, God dies. And He dies to bring me to life. And He brings me to life, not to choose, but to witness His great work of salvation where He dies instead of me and I rise with Him to eternal life, that eternal Sabbath at His side.
This is the offense. That my own reason and strength rejects God with all its sinful might, not choosing the things of the Spirit of God, but my sin (1 Cor 2:14). But God did not wait for my consent. He chose to be rejected and condemned. Thus it is part of the eternal plan that I reject Him, see my sin, in order to see my Savior.
And in His work, He brings me to Him, where I find rest and mercy shown to my unmerciful self, and He will say to The Rejected, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God”. (Hos 2:23) He speaks salvation to me first.
The Messiah comes to be chosen of God. He comes to work and reap the fruit of His work. He does not come to hire us as workers and wait for us to get it right. He gets it right first, then invites us in. He finishes the job, then grants us rewards. He does all the work and, as God’s Chosen, finds His work validated and approved. Your work is not approved. Jesus’s is.
This is the true offense of God’s Messiah. That He comes to do His own work, quite separate from yours. He comes, in the flesh, to do work for fleshy people in fleshy ways. You can disagree or argue with Him about how He did it, but it doesn’t change the fact that His work is Spirit-filled, Body-filled, and how He wants it done.
If you have a problem with how He came to fulfill His own prophesy, you can take it up with Jesus in His Body and Blood. If you have questions as to how He is able to do such great things through earthly means, then you can approach His Throne in prayer. If you cannot comprehend His work in this world, then you can find His Church, live out His life there, and discover it for yourself.
For in a confusing, yet joyful and holy twist to spite sin, death, and the power of the devil, Jesus doesn’t just become the Messiah, He is the Messiah for always, but unites us to Himself so that we are also Chosen of God, in Him. He promises in St. Matthew 25, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (v.40)
In Jesus, the True Messiah is found. One that is neither god nor man, but both, 100% each, all the time. He is the perfect Messiah. Better than all the burden we put on Him and all the misinterpreted prophesy we swallow, Jesus takes both realms and joins them in Himself, beyond our wildest imagination.
So that when He trots around the region of Mediterranea, doing Godly work, He can offer it as proof of His chosenness, as Nicodemus says, “no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (Jn 3:2), especially coming back from the dead.
In taking on humanity completely, Jesus also gives God a face. Therefore, from our Introit, to ask God to look upon the face of His Anointed, is to ask God to crucify the Son of God, Jesus Christ. To blot out our sins that they might not count against us. To reconcile us to the eternal grace we were made to receive.
To gain us entrance into the courts and tabernacles of God, finding that in Christ, we are numbered with the righteous, the holy, the innocent. That even now in the portico of His heavenly Bride, which we gather in today, we find the feast already begun, the wrath already abated, and our seat already paid for.
For Jesus is God’s anointed, Who took on our sin. He was taken outside of the city to be crucified, as was commanded (Lev 4:3, 12) and placed upon the wood of the cross. His Blood sprinkled upon us and our children, better than the blood of Abel, better than a billion military victories, better than a return to earthly power.
Better because in this Blood of the Anointed of God we have redemption, grace, and forgiveness, as He said, “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:28)
No comments:
Post a Comment