The Power Of JESUS

"JESUS entered Jericho and was passing through it.  A man named Zaccheus lived there.  He was a tax collector and a wealthy man.  He wanted to see what JESUS was like, but he was a short man and could not see him because of the crowd.  So, he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree.  From there he would be able to see JESUS, who was going to pass that way.  When JESUS came to the place, HE looked up and said to him, 'Zaccheus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house today.  So, Zaccheus climbed down and received HIM joyfully.

All the people who saw it began to grumble, and said, 'HE has gone as a guest to the house of a sinner.'  But Zaccheus spoke to JESUS, 'Half of what I own, LORD, I will give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.'  Looking at him JESUS said, 'Salvation has come to this house today, for he is also a true son of Abraham.  The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.'" - Luke 19:1-10  

(Everyone in Jericho was pointing a finger at Zaccheus: how could a man involved in dirty deals, [like he was] be converted?  What punishment would GOD send to him?  Instead of punishing him, GOD comes to his home.

JESUS shows that HE is guided by the Spirit when HE spots Zaccheus among so many people, and when HE understands at that very moment, that on that day HE has come to Jericho above all, to save a rich man.

Zaccheus knows that he is the object of envy and hatred.  He is not all bad: although his hands are dirty, he has not lost the sense of what is good, and he admires the prophet JESUS secretly.  GOD is able to save him because of his good desires.  The favor JESUS does to him compels him to manifest the human and good qualities hidden in him.

It is said that he received JESUS joyfully: a joy that shows the transformation that has taken place in him.  After that, he will have no trouble in rectifying his evil deeds.  The he will share and reestablish justice.

The people are indignant, and in that they imitate the Pharisees; they believe that JESUS should share their prejudice and even their resentment.  JESUS is not a demagogue; the crowd's lack of understanding does not matter to HIM any more than that of the Pharisees.  Once again, JESUS shows HIS power, HE destroys evil by saving the sinner.)   

On-Site

The Blind Man Of Jericho

"When JESUS drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging.  As he heard the crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening and they told him that JESUS of Nazareth was going by.  Then he cried out, 'JESUS, Son of David, have mercy on me!  The people in front of him scolded him.  'Be quiet!' they said, but he cried out all the more, 'JESUS, Son of David, have mercy on me!'

JESUS stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him; and when he came near, JESUS asked him, 'What do you want ME to do for you?'  And the man said, 'LORD, that I may see!'  JESUS said, 'Receive your sight, your faith has saved you.'  At once the blind man was able to see and he followed JESUS, giving praise to GOD.  And all the people who were there also praised GOD." - Luke 18:35-43 

(GOD is the one who moves us to ask something of HIM.  The blind man understands that if he lets this opportunity go by, there will not be another chance, which is why he shouts all the more while the rest try to silence him.

Son of David! was a way of designating the Messiah.)

On-Site

True Happiness

"O YAHWEH, my inheritance and my cup,

my chosen portion--hold secure my lot.

I keep YAHWEH always before me;

for with HIM at my right hand,

I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults; my soul rejoices;

my body, too, will rest assured.

For YOU will not abandon

my soul to the grave,

nor will YOU suffer YOUR holy one

to see decay in the land of the dead.

YOU will show me the path of life,

in YOUR presence, the fullness of joy,

at YOUR right hand, happiness forever."

- Psalm 16:5. 8. 9-10. 11

(So much lip-service is paid to the one GOD and so much activity to the gods we make for ourselves.  Only thoughtful experience can show how hollow these are.  The offerings we make pay no return but a frenzy to offer more.  But perhaps this experience is necessary for many of us.  It may not lead to the high mysticism of the psalmist.  If we learn to turn away and look for a while towards the more lasting good, we may find it more satisfying after all.  Appetite may grow from what it feeds on.  There is even a presentiment in this psalm, that such a union with GOD, will prove stronger than death, and in CHRIST it did.  The risen LORD, so closely united with HIS FATHER, descended to the place of death and came out freely, ascending with HIS spoils.  Nor can death resist HIS Body, which is the Church.  HE promised that the gates of death would not withstand it.  Death, 'the last enemy,' is destroyed.  The resurrection of our bodies is guaranteed by the resurrection of CHRIST.)

On-Site 

Pray And Never Lose Heart

"JESUS told them a parable to show them that they should pray continually and not lose heart.  HE said, 'In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared GOD nor people.  In the same town was a widow who kept coming to him, saying:  'Defend my rights against my opponent.  For a time he refused, but finally he thought:  'Even though I neither fear GOD nor care about people, this widow bothers me so much I will see that she gets justice; then she will stop coming and wearing me out.' 

And JESUS explained, 'Listen to what the evil judge says.  Will GOD not do justice for HIS chosen ones who cry to HIM day and night even if HE delays in answering them?  I tell you; HE will speedily do them justice.  Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will HE find faith on earth?" - Luke 18:1-8  

(If there is a just GOD, why does HE not do justice?  JESUS answers:  Do you desire and ask for the justice of GOD with enough faith?  HE will undoubtedly do justice, but you will have to wait.

A judge who neither feared GOD nor people:  many people upon seeing what is unjust and absurd in life, view GOD this way.  If we pray with perseverance, we will gradually discover that things are not as absurd as they seem, and we will come to recognize the face of the GOD who loves us in what happens.

 

Who cry to HIM day and night.  JESUS, who so insists on our responsibility to the world, is the one who also urges us to call on GOD Day and night.  Why are people so readily divided [or why do we divide them] into prayers and doers?

 

Will HE find faith on earth?  JESUS confirms an opinion already found among the Jews of HIS days.  In the last days before Judgment, the power of evil will be so great that in many love will grow cold.

 

In fact, with the first coming of JESUS, the Old Testament ended in seeming failure; few had believed in HIM and, later, most were influenced by the confusion, the false saviors and the violence which precipitated the fall of the nation forty years after the death of JESUS.)

On-Site

"Where The Body Is, There Too Will The Vultures Gather."

"As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be on the day the Son of Man comes.  In those days people ate and drank and got married; but on the day Noah entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all.  So, it was in the days of Lot: people ate and drank, and bought and sold, and planted and built; but on the day Lot left Sodom, GOD made fire and sulfur rain down from heaven, which destroyed them all.  So will it be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

On that day, if you are on the rooftop, don't go down into the house to get your belongings; and if you happen to be in the fields, do not turn back.  Remember Lot's wife!  Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever gives his life will be born again.

I tell you, though two men are sharing the same bed, it might happen that one will be taken, and the other left; though two women are grinding meal together, one might be taken and the other left.

Then they asked JESUS, 'Where will this take place, LORD?  And HE answered, 'Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.'" - Luke 17:26-37  

(Then come the words of JESUS concerning the end of Jerusalem and HIS second coming [Mark 13:14].  We should not speak about the end of the world in every time of anxiety.  JESUS gives us two comparisons: the lightning which is seen everywhere and the vultures which gather without fail wherever there is a corpse.  In the same way, everyone, without fail, will be aware of CHRIST's return.

Yet HIS return will catch off guard those who are not expecting it [just as in the days of Noah].  Judgment will separate the elect from the condemned--nothing separated them in daily life--from two people working side by side, one will be taken, the other left behind.

In Matthew 24:17 the reference to someone outside his house is connected with the end of Jerusalem, and here it means it will be necessary to escape quickly.  In the present text this has another meaning: when the end of the world comes it will be too late to worry about saving one's life or possessions.

Where will this take place? foolish question as in Luke 17:20, because the LORD will not come to take HIS people to a geographic location.  On that day, the good will be taken into the presence of GOD as infallibly as vultures gather around a corpse.)

On-Site

The Coming Of The Kingdom Of GOD

"The Pharisees asked JESUS when the kingdom of GOD was to come.  HE answered, 'The kingdom of GOD is not like something you can observe, and say of it, 'Look, here it is!' or 'See, there it is!' for the kingdom of GOD is within you.'

And JESUS said to HIS disciples, 'The time is at hand, when you will long to see one of the glorious days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.  Then people will tell you, 'Look there!  Look here!'  Do not go with them, do not follow them.  As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man; but first HE must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.'" - Luke 17:20-25 

(When will the kingdom of GOD come?  It does not come as a revolution or the change of the seasons each year: it is at work in people who have received the Good News.  Those who believe already enjoy the kingdom.

Then come the words of JESUS concerning the end of Jerusalem and HIS second coming [Mark 13:14].  We should not speak about the end of the world in every time of anxiety.  JESUS gives us two comparisons: the lightning which is seen everywhere and the vultures [verse 37] which gather without fail wherever there is a corpse.  In the same way, everyone, without fail, will be aware of CHRIST's return.)

On-Site  

The Ten Lepers

"On the way to Jerusalem, JESUS was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee, and as HE entered a village, ten lepers came to meet HIM.  Keeping their distance, they called to HIM, 'JESUS, Master, have pity on us!'  Then JESUS said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.'  Now, as they went their way, they found they were cured. One of them, as soon as he saw he was cleansed, turned back praising GOD in a loud voice, and throwing himself on his face before JESUS, he gave HIM thanks.  This man was a Samaritan.

Then JESUS said, 'Were not all ten healed?'  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to GOD but this alien?  And JESUS said to him, 'Stand up and go your way; your faith has saved you'." - Luke 17:11-19  

 (The ten lepers were cured but only one of them was told:  "Your faith has saved you.  He was the one who responded straight from the heart.  While the others were concerned about fulfilling the legal requirements, he only thought about giving thanks to GOD right where the grace of GOD found him:  such is the faith which saves and transforms us.

 

Among the many people asking GOD for healing and favor, how many will really come to love GOD?)

On-Site

Live As Responsible Persons

"Let your words strengthen sound doctrine.  Tell the older men to be sober, serious, wise, sound in faith, love and perseverance.

The older women, in like manner, must behave as befits holy women, not given to gossiping or drinking wine, but as good counselors, able to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be judicious and chaste, to take care of their households, to be kind, and submissive to their husbands, lest our faith be attacked.

Encourage the young men, to be self-controlled.  Set them an example by your own way of doing.  Let your teaching be earnest and sincere, and your preaching, beyond reproach.  Then, your opponents will feel ashamed and will have nothing to criticize.

For the grace of GOD has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teaching us to reject an irreligious way of life, and worldly greed, and to live in this world, as responsible persons, upright and serving GOD, while we await our blessed hope--the glorious manifestation of our great GOD and Savior JESUS CHRIST.  HE gave HIMSELF for us, to redeem us from every evil, and to purify a people HE wanted to be HIS own and dedicated to what is good." - Titus 2:1-8. 11-14 

(Here, there is a reminder of the duties of the faithful according to their situation in life.  In the society of the time, far simpler than ours, all was reduced to slaves or the free, men or women, young or old.  In our age, it would be necessary to ask people to look more closely at their responsibilities in life.

There is insistence on our duty to bear fruit: the following paragraph will say that if CHRIST has sacrificed HIMSELF for us, such a sacrifice must not remain fruitless.

The grace of GOD has appeared, bringing salvation to all.  Here Paul returns to the essence of the Christian message: it is a gift of GOD and so it must produce the fruit of goodness and reconciliation and draw people away from the self-centeredness which paralyzes them.

HE gave HIMSELF for us.  As in Ephesians 5:25 and 1 Corinthians 11:25, JESUS' sacrifice is primarily to purify those who became HIS people.  In fact, it is by looking at JESUS that, little by little, we let go of what is evil and violent in us.

Teaching us to reject an irreligious way of life.  GOD brings us to purify our motives and our hearts.

- Responsible, because the practice of Christian living brings us to a more serious attitude.

- Just with others by being primarily just with GOD.

- Serving GOD: this means first of all being sincere with GOD.)

On-Site

The Ruler Of The Universe Enter HIS Chosen Dwelling Place

"The earth and its fullness belong to YAHWEH,

the world and all that dwell in it.

HE has founded it upon the ocean

and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of YAHWEH?

Who will stand in HIS holy place?

Those with clean hands and pure heart,

who desire not what is vain,

and never swear to a lie.

They will receive blessings from YAHWEH,

a reward from GOD, their savior.

Such are the people who seek HIM,

who seek the face of Jacob's GOD."

- Psalm 24:1-2. 3-4. 5-6

('Heavens could not contain you!' said Solomon, 'How much less this house that I have built! [2 Chronicles 6:18].  And yet, the King of Glory passed through the gates of a Temple, where Israel's pilgrims 'sought HIS face.'  This psalm shares the astonishment of Solomon: 'Will GOD really live with men and women on the earth?'  For us that wonder is surpassed.  We have seen the Son of GOD pass through the gate of our nature and heard HIM speak 'of the temple of HIS body [John 2:21].  And this is not all!  Mystically assumed into that body, our own selves become temples too--but we must throw open the gates of a generous heart: 'If anyone loves ME, MY FATHER will love him; and we will come to HIM' [John 14:23].  We think of this as we sing: 'Let HIM enter, the King of glory!'  'Come, LORD JESUS' [Revelation 22:20].)

On-Site

The Widow's Offering

"JESUS sat down opposite the temple treasury and watched the people dropping money into the treasury box; and many rich people put in large offerings.  But a poor widow also came and dropped in two small coins.

Then JESUS called HIS disciples and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who gave offerings.  For all of them gave from their plenty; but she gave from her poverty and put in everything she had, her very living.'" - Mark 12:41-44 

 

(The poor widow was the only one from among so many worshipers who make retribution to GOD as HE deserves.  She was the personification of those uncountable poor, who have practically nothing but somehow find a way to give part of the little they have.  The humble person is capable of sacrificing part of his paid time to study or participate in common activities in order to help his companions.  The small salary he loses is worth much more than the big salary that wealthy people are not willing to lose.  GOD calls on the poor before anybody else, because only the poor give all that they have to live on.)

On-Site