Day 92: The Man of Heaven (645-650)

• It’s Day 92!!

• HOW INCREDIBLE IS THIS??

• Yesterday we talked about THE RESURRECTION IS AN HISTORICAL AND TRANSCENDENT EVENT

• The empty tomb points to the REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION

• Above everything else, the APPEARANCE OF THE GLORIOUS AND RISEN CHRIST 

• To the Apostles

• To Mary Magdalene and the Holy Women

• To Peter and the Twelve

• To the over 500 People at once

• To St Paul on the road to Damascus

• All of these point to the REALITY that Jesus Christ TRULY IS RISEN BODY AND SOUL

• THE WHOLE THING!!

• ALL OF HIM IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!!

• Today we are taking the next couple of steps

• What is THE CONDITION OF CHRIST’S RISEN HUMANITY?

• Is Jesus simply resuscitated?

• We have three examples in Scripture where Jesus raised someone from the dead

• Jairus’s daughter, the 12 year old girl 

• The son of the widow of Nain

• Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary

• In those cases, they were just brought back to NORMAL HUMAN EXISTENCE

• When Jesus was Resurrected, He had a DIFFERENT QUALITY

• A DIFFERENT CHARACTER

• A DIFFERENT CONDITION

• Of His Risen Humanity

• It was VERY DISTINCT from “merely” being resuscitated like those others who were brought back to life

• The next point is THE RESURRECTION AS TRANSCENDENT EVENT

• THIS IS REALLY REALLY REMARKABLE!!

• Paragraph 647 says, “But no one was an eyewitness to Christ’s Resurrection and no evangelist describes it.”

• None of the Gospels tell what happens when Jesus went from DEATH TO LIFE

• They DID see His Resurrected Body

• They DID see the empty tomb

• IT IS SO AMAZING!!

• Paragraph 647 continues, “...still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history. This is why the risen Christ does not reveal himself to the world, but to his disciples.”

• IT IS REMARKABLE!!

• Have you ever thought about that?

• Jesus could have walked up to Pontius Pilate and said, “Hey! I’m alive!!”

• Why did He not do this?

• It’s one of the mysteries of FAITH

• THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION IS SOMETHING THAT TRANSCENDS AND SURPASSES HISTORY!!

• We will also talk about THE RESURRECTION-A WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY

• WHICH IS SO GOOD!!

• You know this, right?

• WHEN ONE PERSON OF THE TRINITY ACTS, THEY ALL ACT!!

• WHEN ONE PERSON OF THE TRINITY IS PRESENT, THEY ARE ALL PRESENT!!

• SO OF COURSE IT MAKES SENSE!!

• Yes, Jesus would rise from the dead by virtue of HIS OWN POWER

• BUT ALSO…

• THE FATHER’S POWER raised up Christ His Son

• The Spirit of God dwelling in us is the Spirit that RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD

• SO THE RESURRECTION IS THE WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY

• Which is good to know 😉

• Let’s enter into a moment of prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much for bringing us to this moment. Thank you for bringing us to this day, Day 92. We thank you for your grace. Thank you for the Spirit that you have given to us, this same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, that dwells in us now. We ask that you help us to be cooperative, to be attentive, to be receptive to your Holy Spirit so that in all things we can do your will, Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• THERE WE GO!!

• THIS IS REMARKABLE!!

• THE CONDITION OF CHRIST’S RISEN HUMANITY

• Paragraph 645 says, “By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with his disciples. He invites them in this way to recognize that he is not a ghost and above all to verify the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified, for it still bears the traces of his passion. Yet at the same time this authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body…”

• We don’t have any sign that Jesus bore wounds other than the nail marks in His feet, hands, and side

• We know that His body was lacerated by the scourging

• He was beaten and broken

• AND YET…

• He holds on to the wounds in His hands, feet, and side to demonstrate this is the SAME BODY that was tortured and crucified

• AT THE SAME TIME…

• IT IS FULLY RESTORED!!

• IT IS FULLY HEALED!!

• IT IS EXALTED!!

• THE NEW PROPERTIES OF A GLORIFIED BODY!!

• Paragraph 645 continues, “...not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills…”

• Remember The Upper Room?

• The doors are LOCKED

• Jesus appears in a LOCKED ROOM

• Jesus can appear WHERE AND WHEN HE WILLS

• Jesus walks on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples and at one point He DISAPPEARS FROM THEIR SIGHT AND QUICKLY APPEARS IN JERUSALEM

• Jesus has these NEW PROPERTIES of His GLORIFIED AND GLORIOUS BODY

• Paragraph 645 continues, “For this reason too the risen Jesus enjoys the sovereign freedom of appearing as he wishes: in the guise of a gardener or in other forms familiar to his disciples, precisely to awaken their faith.”

• IT IS REALLY REMARKABLE!!

• Paragraph 646 says, “Christ’s Resurrection was not a return to earthly life.”

• We have the other three times Jesus resuscitated someone

• They were RESUSCITATED

• They went back to NORMAL ORDINARY HUMAN EXISTENCE

• THEY WOULD DIE AGAIN

• THEY WOULD GET SICK AGAIN

• The Risen and Glorious Body of Jesus WILL NEVER DIE

• The Risen and Glorious Body of Jesus WILL NEVER GET SICK 

• Paragraph 646 continues, “At Jesus’ Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is ‘the man of heaven.’”

• In His Risen Body, Jesus passes from the STATE OF DEATH to ANOTHER LIFE BEYOND TIME AND SPACE

• WHICH IS REALLY INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraphs 648-650 are THE RESURRECTION-A WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY

• Paragraph 648 says, “In it the three divine persons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics. The Father’s power ‘raised up’ Christ his Son and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son’s humanity, including his body, into the Trinity.”

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Did you catch that sentence the first time?

• THE FATHER’S POWER RAISED UP CHRIST HIS SON AND BY DOING SO PERFECTLY INTRODUCED HIS SON’S HUMANITY INCLUDING HIS BODY INTO THE TRINITY!!

• What God has done in this MYSTERIOUS REMARKABLE UNSPEAKABLE WAY

• We have NO IDEA what this means

• We have NO IDEA how in the world this is the case

• BUT…

• THE FATHER PERFECTLY INTRODUCED HIS SON’S HUMANITY INCLUDING HIS BODY INTO THE LIFE OF THE TRINITY!!

• Think about this…

• MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)

• Christ empties Himself and takes the form of a slave

• Christ empties Himself and takes on human nature

• But then He doesn’t abandon it in His Resurrection

• He does not discard humanity when He is done with it

• Instead He takes humanity to Himself

• He unites His own human nature to divine nature

• THIS IS WORTH REFLECTING ON!!

• We will talk more about this as the year continues

• BUT…

• IT IS REMARKABLE!!

• We talked about the Devil’s rebellion

• Why would the Evil One rebel against God, who just loves His creatures?

• He’s going to create human beings at some point and love them in a unique way

• WELL…

• It COULD be the case that God had revealed to the Evil One that He would do this

• He would NOT just become one of us

• He would FOREVER UNITE our human nature to His divine nature

• That act of LOVE…

• That act of GOODNESS…

• That act of DIVINE CONDESCENSION…

• God coming down to our level and then taking our level UP TO HIS was maybe too much for the Evil One

• TOO MUCH LOVE…

• TOO MUCH GOODNESS…

• TOO MUCH CONDESCENSION…

• Read that sentence again…(I’m not going to type it again 😜)

• (Oh ok who am I kidding? 😉)

• THE FATHER’S POWER RAISED UP CHRIST HIS SON AND BY DOING SO PERFECTLY INTRODUCED HIS SON’S HUMANITY INCLUDING HIS BODY INTO THE TRINITY!!

• WHICH IS JUST REMARKABLE!!

• Paragraph 649 says, “As for the Son, he effects his own Resurrection by virtue of his divine power.”

• The Father raised up Christ

• BUT…

• Jesus has the power to LAY DOWN HIS LIFE

• Jesus has the power to TAKE IT UP AGAIN

• It’s not like the Father raised up Jesus because Jesus wasn’t able to do this on His own

• It’s that Jesus DID NOT DO IT ON HIS OWN

• JESUS IS UNITED WITH HIS FATHER!!

• THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY IS UNITED WITH THE FIRST PERSON OF THE TRINITY WHO IS UNITED WITH THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY!!

• THE HOLY SPIRIT!!

• THE RESURRECTION-A WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY

• WHICH IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 650 says, “The Fathers contemplate the Resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of Christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these were separated from each other by death…”

• We talked about this for the last few days

• Even after Jesus had died and His body and soul were separated Jesus RETAINED POSSESSION of His body and soul so at the Resurrection He REUNITED HIS BODY AND SOUL

• THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT!!

• It highlights the reality that He truly died and in His Resurrection He is TRULY ALIVE

• HE LIVES NOW AND ETERNALLY FOREVER UNITING HIS ASSUMED HUMANITY INTO DIVINITY

• WHICH IS JUST BONKERS!!

• IT IS WORTH PRAYING ABOUT!!

• God in Heaven has united human nature, including a body, to His divine nature in some mysterious, miraculous way

• “God, thank you so much! You did not merely condescend to be one of us, but you assumed our human nature into your glorious divine nature.”

• AMAZING!!

• Tomorrow we will talk more about the Resurrection

• THE MEANING AND SAVING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION

• Yes Jesus did this and it’s part of how He endures now forever

• What does this mean for us?

• How does this transform our lives?

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!