Embedded Files
It’s Day 86!!
GOLLY!!
Yesterday we talked about the role of the Jews when it came to Jesus’ condemnation and Crucifixion
The Church is EMPHATIC in saying that WE DO NOT LAY THE GUILT OF OUR LORD’S DEATH AT THE FEET OF THE JEWS
WE DO NOT PLACE BLAME!!
WE TAKE THE BLAME!!
ALL SINNERS WERE THE AUTHORS OF CHRIST’S PASSION
THAT INCLUDES OURSELVES!!
Yesterday we also had that convicting word of St Francis of Assisi, “Nor did demons crucify him; it is you who have crucified him and crucify him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.”
Now here’s the next move
CHRIST’S REDEMPTIVE DEATH IN GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION
So what happens?
Christ died for our sins
We say this a lot
BUT…
What is going on here?
Paragraph 599 says, “Jesus’ violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God’s plan…”
It is part of the mystery of God’s plan that Christ would suffer death
That He would undergo His Passion and rise from the dead
At the same time, that does not mean that those who are involved were pawns or that they didn’t have free will
Every person on this planet continues to have free will even if the Lord has knowledge
Even if God is OMNISCIENT
God, in the midst of his omniscience, He still retains and protects free will
He continues to allow us to have free will
There is this mystery of grace and free will
There is also this mystery of sin and free will
We have talked about MYSTERY before
We can understand and grasp A PART OF IT
That this WORKS
That this is REALITY
This is God’s Will
This is God’s Knowledge
This is even a degree of PREDESTINATION
AT THE SAME TIME WE REMAIN FREE!!
How does that work?
IT IS AN INCREDIBLE MYSTERY!!
AND YET…
Paragraph 600 says, “For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.”
Those who were involved in that moment
Moving on…
HE DIED FOR OUR SINS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES
There was a Scriptural prophecy that pointed to the fact that the Messiah WOULD SUFFER
We have the Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah Ch 53 talks about THE SUFFERING SERVANT (Want to take a stroll down memory lane? Go read Day 216: The Suffering Servant in The Bible in a Year Study Guide for a refresher!! www.thebibleinayearstudyguide.com/day-216 😃)
Jesus is the FULFILLMENT OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT
IN FACT…
Remember after His Resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, He is giving that great Bible Study to the two disciples who walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus
He showed them WHY IT WAS NECESSARY that the Messiah SHOULD SUFFER ALL THESE THINGS
IT IS REMARKABLE!!
Today’s reading is DENSE
FOR OUR SAKE GOD MADE HIM TO BE SIN
What does that mean?
It does not mean that Jesus Himself sinned
Paragraph 603 says, “Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned.”
Jesus wasn’t actually rejected by His Father
There is a line in a famous Christian hymn, “The Father turned His face away.”
The Father NEVER turned His face away from Jesus Christ
The Son lived and continues to live in ETERNAL GAZE OF LOVE with the Father
AT THE SAME TIME…
Paragraph 603 says, “But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”
Jesus had SUCH SOLIDARITY WITH SINNERS that He experienced what we experience when we are away from the Lord
He experienced what it felt to be rejected
BUT HE WAS NEVER REJECTED!!
Does that make sense?
He experienced what it was like to be cut off from the Father although He WAS NEVER CUT OFF FROM THE FATHER
His solidarity with us was SO REAL AND SO GREAT that His experience and His humanity was that He could say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
HE WAS NEVER AWAY FROM THE FATHER!!
HE WAS NEVER DISCONNECTED!!
Just like in so many ways…
So often…
(Squirrel!! 😉)
We have analogies here, right?
We can experience this DISTANCE from the Father
We can experience the SILENCE of prayer
We can experience DRYNESS in prayer
THAT DOES NOT MEAN GOD IS ABSENT!!
HIS SILENCE DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE IS ABSENT!!
BUT…
We experience that
Jesus experienced what it FELT like to have lost the Father
BUT…
HE NEVER LOST THE FATHER!!
THE FATHER NEVER LOST JESUS!!
GOD TAKES THE INITIATIVE OF UNIVERSAL REDEEMING LOVE
Paragraph 604 says, “By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part…”
THIS IS A MISSION OF LOVE!!
THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS FOR US BECAUSE HE LOVES US!!
CHRIST’S REDEMPTIVE DEATH IN GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION
Here is God’s PREDESTINATION and WILL working with OUR FREE WILL
Here is God’s GRACE working with OUR BROKENNESS
AND YET…
GRACE IS STILL OPERATIVE!!
OUR FREE WILL IS STILL OPERATIVE!!
Jesus Christ took upon Himself the GUILT of us all in such a way that He had this SOLIDARITY WITH SINNERS
He identified Himself with sinners although HE HIMSELF NEVER SINNED in order to RECONCILE US TO GOD
THAT IS GOD’S INITIATIVE!!
THAT IS GOD’S PREROGATIVE!!
WE DID NOT DESERVE IT!!
We did not do anything to merit it
And we could NEVER do anything to merit it
BUT…
GOD HIMSELF TAKES THE INITIATIVE!!
WHICH IS JUST AN INCREDIBLE NOTE!!
The last line of Paragraph 605 is one of Fr. Mike’s FAVORITES
We are going to get to that after we pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, you have loved us. You gave yourself up for us in your Son, Jesus Christ. You send us your Holy Spirit. Help us to say YES to you. Lord God, we know that our sins have created a gap between us and you. We know that your love bridges that gap. We know that there was a point in time, in the fullness of time, when you sent your own Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to save us. Extend that grace. Extend that salvation once again to us today. Help us to confidently call upon you, to call upon the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, to call upon your Holy Spirit, that we may have new life and freedom in you. This day and every day we make this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen”
Ok there we are!!
SO POWERFUL!!
INCREDIBLE!!
The Church is maintaining a lot of clarity in the midst of mystery
Paragraph 599 says, “Jesus’ violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but it is part of the mystery of God’s plan.”
AT THE SAME TIME…
Paragraph 599 continues, “The Biblical language does not mean that those who handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario written in advance by God.”
What that means is that God did not overwhelm someone’s free will
Paragraph 600 says, “To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy.”
We can speak of God’s DIVINE FOREKNOWLEDGE
BUT…
He doesn’t actually know things AHEAD OF TIME so it’s not really FOREKNOWLEDGE
Because to God being OUTSIDE OF TIME and yet PRESENT TO ALL TIME it is ALL KNOWLEDGE
For US it is foreknowledge
For GOD it is just knowledge
All moments of time are present to God in their immediacy
If this hurts your brain, it’s ok 😉
Paragraph 600 continues, “When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of ‘predestination,’ he includes in it each person’s free response to his grace…”
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!
This is why we have this MYSTERY
The PARADOX of grace and free will
God knows ALL THINGS
AND YET…
We still get to be FREE in the midst of our lives
It can give your brain a cramp
BUT…
It is worth reflecting on this
It is worth asserting all these things that are NOT CONTRADICTIONS
They may SEEM to be contradictions
BUT THEY ARE NOT CONTRADICTIONS!!
THEY ARE MERELY PARADOXES!!
Paragraph 600 continues, “For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.”
ALL THINGS THAT HAPPEN ARE GOD’S WILL
SOME of them fall into GOD’S PERFECT WILL
This is what He actually, directly, immediately, perfectly wants to happen
Many things that happen fall into that category
And many things that happen fall under the PERMISSIVE WILL of God
THINGS HE ALLOWS TO HAPPEN KNOWING HE CAN BRING ABOUT A GREATER GOOD
We talked about how Joseph was sold into slavery
That was not God’s PERFECT WILL
BUT…
It was God’s PERMISSIVE WILL
Yes, he preserved the freedom of Joseph’s brothers knowing that He could bring about a GREATER GOOD
The Crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is an example of this
Here is the WORST THING that ever happened in the history of EVERYTHING
God made Himself humble
The moment He made Himself humble enough, weak enough, and vulnerable enough, WE KILLED HIM
THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED!!
God preserved our freedom in this
He accomplished His plan of salvation in this mysterious way with grace and free will
With His knowledge and our freedom
Hold all these things together
HE DIED FOR OUR SINS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES
Even Scripture had been prophesying this in a mysterious way
Particularly in The Book of the Prophet Isaiah and the Suffering Servant
After His Resurrection, Jesus gives the incredible Bible Study to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and later to the Apostles where He opened their hearts and minds to understand this as well
FOR OUR SAKE GOD MADE HIM TO BE SIN
There are a couple different ways of reading this
Jesus chose a SOLIDARITY with human nature so fully that He aligned Himself with us
He took upon Himself ALL OF OUR SIN
He made Himself to be sin who did not know sin
JESUS NEVER ONCE SINNED!!
As God who was sinless, blameless, He had such affinity, a love for us, that He had the solidarity with us in His human nature
EVEN THOUGH HE NEVER SINNED!!
Jesus took upon our sins
Another interpretation is that Jesus was made to be a sin offering
He offered Himself up FOR US
In the Old Testament there are many different offerings or sacrifices
One of them is the sacrifice of atonement, the sin offering
Jesus becomes that sin offering
Even though HE did not need atoning
Even though HE did not need forgiving
BECAUSE HE WAS SINLESS!!
Jesus became the SIN OFFERING FOR US
Why did He do this?
Paragraph 603 says, “Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God ‘did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,’ so that we might be ‘reconciled to God by the death of his Son.’”
Paragraph 604 says, “By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part.”
GOD JUST LOVES US!!
Paragraph 604 continues, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
IT IS GOD’S INITIATIVE!!
GOD LOVES YOU!!
Our brains are cramped today
Today is a little bit longer than normal
BUT…
Just to be able to REST in this
GOD LOVES YOU!!
GOD GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR YOU!!
THIS IS LOVE!!
NOT THAT WE LOVE GOD
BUT…
HE LOVES US AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR US!!
Paragraph 605 says, “[Jesus] affirms that he came ‘to give his life as a ransom for many…’”
The term MANY is not restrictive
So why didn’t it say, “to give his life as a ransom for all”?
Paragraph 605 continues, “This last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us.”
THIS IS SO CRITICAL!!
Paragraph 605 continues, “The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: ‘There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.”
That favorite line is from The Council of Quiercy in 853 AD
THOSE WORDS SHOULD BE EMBEDDED DEEPLY INTO OUR HEARTS!!
When we are talking with anybody
When we are talking with EVERYBODY
When we are looking in the mirror
THIS IS TRUE!!
It’s one of the reasons Fr. Mike has included prayers for the Jewish People
Fr. Mike has included prayers for those who do not yet know Christ
Why?
BECAUSE THERE IS NOT, NEVER HAS BEEN, AND NEVER WILL BE A SINGLE HUMAN BEING FOR WHOM CHRIST DID NOT SUFFER!!
Fr. Mike wants EVERY HUMAN BEING ON THIS PLANET to know that
He wants them to KNOW GOD’S GREAT LOVE FOR THEM
He wants them to have a RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
To say that we are praying for other people is not meant to be CONDESCENSION OR AN INSULT
It means THERE IS SO MUCH MORE
GOD HAS SO MUCH GRACE…
GOD HAS SO MUCH LIFE…
GOD HAS SO MUCH LOVE…
GOD HAS SO MUCH JOY…
THAT HE WANTS FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD!!
INCLUDING OTHER PEOPLES!!
INCLUDING PEOPLE OF OTHER FAITHS!!
INCLUDING OUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS!!
INCLUDING OURSELVES!!
Because there is so much in our hearts that is tempted to disqualify ourselves
We think we mess it up too much
We think we are too far gone
The Church is saying, “FALSE! THAT IS NOT TRUE!”
CHRIST DIED FOR ALL MEN WITHOUT EXCEPTION!!
THERE IS NOT, NEVER HAS BEEN, AND NEVER WILL BE A SINGLE HUMAN BEING FOR WHOM CHRIST DID NOT SUFFER!!
THAT INCLUDES YOU!!
THAT INCLUDES ME!!
So let’s pray for each other
Let’s pray that we not only can believe that with our minds
BUT…
That we can take that DEEP INTO OUR HEARTS
AND LIVE THIS TRUTH TODAY AND EVERY DAY!!
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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