Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ï¿½What will you give me if I hand him over to you?ï¿½ They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

When it was evening, Jesus took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating he said, ï¿½Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.ï¿½ And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another; ï¿½Surely not I, Lord?ï¿½ He answered, ï¿½The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born. ï¿½Judas who betrayed him, said, ï¿½Surely not I, Rabbi?ï¿½ He replied, ï¿½You have said so.ï¿½

Comment

(As Lent comes to a close, leading up to focusing on the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, this Thursday we focus on the scripture for the Last Supper. This article struck a chord with me.)

WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME?

I am not like Judas. I would not do what Judas did. However bad I may be at times, I am never that bad.ï¿½ From the days of our childhood we learned that Judas was so bad and what he did was so evil, that no one could be like him.

But that is not how the Bible sees him. When Jesus warned the apostles at the Last Supper that one of them would betray him, each of the twelve was afraid that he could be the one; one after another, they asked, ï¿½Surely not I, Lord?ï¿½

In telling the story, the gospels are letting us know that what Judas did, anyone of us could have done. Not only that; they are also letting us know that what Judas did, we also do, in small ways at least, and sometimes in bigger ways.

It seemed a good bargain at the time
ï¿½What will you give me?ï¿½ They said, ï¿½Thirty pieces of silver.ï¿½ Judas thought it was a good bargain at the time. When we cheat or defraud another person, or the government or an insurance company, we are handing over people for pieces of silver; we are also handing over our integrity, self respect and peace of mind; at the deepest level we are handing over Jesus. It seems a good bargain at the time.

When we set out to gossip about the faults of another and meet our gossiping friends, it is as if we are saying to them, ï¿½What will you give me, if I hand over this personï¿½s good name to you?ï¿½ What they give us is a sense of superiority over the one we criticise, and the satisfaction of impressing our friends.

We can get many things for handing Jesus over: security, comfort, popularity, privilege, power, a good standard of living, sexual satisfaction.

Sometimes we join with the wider community in handing Jesus over. Our neighbourhood hears of plans for a home for street kids in their area, or for a residence for homeless people. We are entitled to insist that such projects be properly planned and administered. But when we come together out of fear and block these projects with all our might, we are handing over the street kids and the homeless for our own security and wellbeing. As part of the wider and more blessed community in the neighbourhood we continue to spend and consume more than we need, while a billion people live in poverty. We hand Jesus over for our life of comfort with all its modern amenities. It seems a good bargain for the time being.

Jesus left Judas free

Judas hurt Jesus deeply. Judas was his close friend; he dipped his hand in the same dish with him as they ate. Our deliberate wrong doings, our sins, are never impersonal; they are always a betrayal of Jesus who loves us. Like Judas we often deny to ourselves as well as to others that we are doing anything wrong: ï¿½Surely, not I?ï¿½ Jesus did everything he could to reach Judas at the Last Supper. He shared his food and his friendship; he gave him a solemn warning about the awful deed he had planned. But he respected his dignity, he did not name and shame him, and in the end he left him free. Jesus shows us the same love and respect.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
hear our prayers as we call on you.
Forgive us as we confess our sins to you.
In your merciful love make good the harm we have done
and give us your pardon and peace.
You are Lord for ever and ever.

Source: Don Boscoï¿½s Madonna Magazine, Mumbai India

www.donboscosmadonna.org/madonna2007/mar_07/main.HTM

SCRIPTURE:

Matt21: 8-13

Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee."

COMMENT

Why did the Jews wave palm branches when Jesus approached Jerusalem?

We have to look back at what Judas Maccabeus did for the Jewish nation in 165BC.

When Judas Maccabeus in 165 B.C won back Jerusalem he cleansed the Temple and this led to the creation of the Jewish feast ï¿½ Hanukkah.

(to read about profaning the Temple: read 2Mac. 6: 1-6)

(to read about cleansing the Temple: read 2Mac. 10:5-7)

So when Judas purified the Temple, the Jews celebrated it with palm branches re-commemorating the Feast of Tabernacles. Palm branches were a key part in the Feast of Tabernacles, a feast which celebrated the dedication of the Temple. When Solomon dedicates the Temple he does it on the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Kings 8).

What better day to cleanse the Temple than on the Feast of Tabernacles. What better festival to celebrate a righteous Jewish leader coming to purge the Temple from the Gentiles than the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Jews greet Jesus with palm branches because they think He will be the new Judas Maccabeus. What Judas did in the cleansing of the Temple was so significant for the Jews he was regarded as a national hero for restoring the national Jewish identity. Some of the most popular names in Jesus day were Judas, John and Simon (the brothers of Judas). Judas and his followers protected the Torah in the midst of pagan oppression and pagan influence.

The Jews think Jesus is going to cleanse the Temple from the Romans and throw the Romans out of Jerusalem, create a new national identity for the Jews and liberate them from pagan oppression.

Do you ever wonder why on Palm Sunday all the crowds were greeting Jesus with jubilation and joy, saying ï¿½Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!ï¿½ and then in a few days they are shouting ï¿½crucify Himï¿½.

The Jews were upset that Jesus didnï¿½t do a Judas Maccabeus by throwing out the Romans but worse than that they expect Him to cleanse the Temple from the Romans but instead He cleanses the Temple from the priests. Jesus purges the Temple from the Jews, from the Jewish corruption, the Jewish establishment and the priesthood.

They were expecting Jesus to say the Romans are the problem but He said in effect youï¿½re the problem. That is why they turned on Jesus.

This is another example of Jesus evoking the stories of Israel to explain His own story.

Source: The Gospel of Saint Matthew Bible Study

Dr Tim Gray

Professor of Scripture

St Augustine Institute

Scripture ï¿½

Luke 23-13-25

Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him; neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him;
I will therefore chastise him and release him." But they all cried out together, "Away with this man, and release to us Barab'bas" -- a man who had been thrown into prison foor an insurrection started in the city, and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus; but they shouted out, "Crucify, crucify him!"

A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise him and release him." But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.

Comment

How could the Jews? How could the crowd have preferred Barabbas over Jesus?

To begin, letï¿½s consider who was Barabbas?

We know that he was a murderer and they chose him over the author of life. We are told he was a rebel and they chose him over one who was obedient, obedient even unto death ï¿½ death on the cross. He was a thief, one who came to steal and they chose him over one who came only to give ï¿½ giving his life on the cross so that you might have life in its fullness.

So Barabbas was a rebel. That should remind us of who was the first rebel and what was the first rebellion. Barabbas was guilty of insurrection. What was the first insurrection? It was of course the insurrection of Lucifer over God. Lucifer was the first rebel when he said I will not serve. Barabbas was a murderer. Who was the first murderer? In John 8:44, Jesus said it was the devil himself. Barabbas was a thief. Jesus speaks of the thief in John 10:10. So we can see Barabbas is a picture of the devil himself.

What about the name of Barabbas? The Aramaic name of Barabbas is made up of two parts ï¿½ bar (Son) and abbas (Father) ï¿½ or son of the father.

We know Jesus is the true Son of the Father. Jesus came in the name of the Son of the Father given to Him by God the Father Himself. Barabbas came in the name son of the father given to him by himself. What does this remind us of? John 5:43 says I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

If Barabbas serves as a picture of the devil, who do the Jews serve as a picture of in this passage? The bad news is they are in fact a picture of us. For it is easy for us to look at this scene of Jesus in His agony and say ï¿½How could they? How could the crowd choose Barabbas over Him?ï¿½ But isnï¿½t that exactly what we do whenever we choose to sin?

Like the Jews we are choosing the devil over Jesus! Barabbas over Jesus

The murderer over the author of life.

The liar over the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The one who has only come to steal over the one who has come to give us life in its fullness.

When we look at the torture exhausted bloody swollen face of Jesus under the crown of thorns with the gaze still loving and patient and see with indignation fury and horror of the Jews choosing Barabbas over Him, we should see ourselves each time we choose to sin. And every time we are faced with the temptation of occasion to sin we should call to mind the same picture and ask ourselves how can we do what the Jews did? How can we reject Jesus and choose Barabbas?

In fact, the Jews have in many ways much more of an excuse than we do because although they knew how terrible how Barabbas was they did not really know how good Jesus was. They did not know that He was our Creator, our God, Him to whom we owe absolutely everything. Yet we do know all of this and we still choose Barabbas over Him every time we choose to sin. Like the Jews, each time we sin ï¿½to Pilates ï¿½What shall I do with Jesus?ï¿½ we shout back ï¿½Crucify Him!ï¿½ And this is quite literally true because it is our sin that lies behind the pain and crucifixion of Jesus. It is our sin that made it necessary and each time we sin we add to the pain that Jesus suffered.

The Good Friday Reproaches

I led you out of Egypt from slavery to freedom but you led your Saviour to the cross.

For forty years I led you safely through the desert, I fed you with manna from heaven and brought you to a land of plenty, but you led your Saviour to the cross.

What more could I have done for you. I planted you as my fairest vine but you yielded only bitterness.

When I was thirsty you gave me vinegar to drink and you pierced your Saviour with a lance.

For your sake, I scourged your captors and their first born but you brought your scourges down on me.

I led you from slavery to freedom and drowned your captors in the sea, but you handed me over to your high priest.

I opened the sea before you, but you opened my side with a spear.

I led you on your way on a pillar of cloud but you led me to Pilates court.

I gave you a royal sceptre but you gave me a crown of thorns.

I raised you to the height of majesty but you have raised me high on a cross.

My people what have I done to you, how have I offended you, answer me.

Source: www.SalvationIsFromTheJews.com by Roy Schoeman ï¿½ a Jew who experienced an unexpected and instantaneous conversion to Christianity.

Scripture ï¿½

Matt 16:18-21

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Comment

In Caesarea Philippi in the north, Jesus gives the keys of the Kingdom to Peter before He announces He is about to die and head south to Jerusalem.

Why did Jesus die? Many people could give you a good answer, but what would they answer if you asked them ï¿½Why did Jesus live?ï¿½ They may say He lived in order to die. He did, but not only to die.

When He was born, Herod sent the soldiers out to kill Jesus as a baby. So if Jesus came simply to die, it would be mission accomplished at ï¿½age oneï¿½. Well, you may say He had to be an adult before He died. He gave His first homily in Luke 4 and it went down so well that they wanted to throw Him off the cliff. So He could have died right then. But you may say He was in Nazareth and He has to die in Jerusalem. Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem and in John 8 weï¿½re told they picked up stones ready to stone Him in the Temple and miraculously He escapes through the crowd. Jesus avoids death repeatedly, over and over again.

Why does Jesus get in a row boat at night to go to the other side of the lake? Why does He cut though grain fields in the middle of the day? Why not take the main road? Jesus is trying to be inconspicuous. He is always telling people ï¿½Donï¿½t tell people I am the Christï¿½. He didnï¿½t want anyone to know He is the King. If Jesus says He is the King, then Herod or Pilate would send soldiers to arrest Him because if you claim to be king in the midst of the kingdom of Herod or the reign of Caesar you die! In fact the charge on the cross when Jesus was executed was ï¿½the King of the Jewsï¿½.

So Jesus avoids being noticed and captured and He doesnï¿½t want people to know that He claims to be King because He is not ready to die yet.

Why does Jesus put off death over and over again if He came simply to die? It is because Jesus came to establish his Kingdom. He gave the Kingdom Law ï¿½ the Sermon on the Mount. He has to take the Twelve to reform the Kingdom of Israel around Himself.

Once Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom to Peter, now He talks for the first time about dying. Now He heads for Jerusalem where He will be killed. This is the turning point of the whole story of Jesus. Everything up to this point Jesus was teaching, preparing the Twelve, building up and establishing His Kingdom. Once Peter makes His profession of faith in Jesus and is given the keys, Jesus is ready to die.

ï¿½On you Peter (Cephas - Rock) I will build my Church and I am going to gives you the keys of the Kingdomï¿½. The keys of the Kingdom and the Church are synonymous. In other words, kingdom and Church are one and the same mystery according to Matt 16. In Jesus day, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom over and over again. Why? If He said Church, the Jews wouldnï¿½t understand what that meant, because for the Jews the people of God are the Kingdom of God. So that is the language Jesus uses for Church ï¿½ the Kingdom of God.

Source: The Gospel of Saint Matthew Bible Study

Dr Tim Gray

Professor of Scripture

St Augustine Institute

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross

First station ï¿½ Jesus is Condemned to Death

Scripture ï¿½

Mark 15:13-15

And they cried out again, "Crucify him." And Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him." So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barab'bas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

MEDITATION

Beaten and weary, You are brought before a judge whose power is given to him only by You.

The crowd is asked to choose and, even as You desire otherwise -- yearning for the love of Your people -- You know they will choose the creature over their Creator. "Barabbas" rings out and, with sad heart, You prepare for the grueling way of Calvary that started before Your birth. Innocent, you are condemned to death, betrayed by those who claim to love You and those who claim to be upholding Your truth even as they pass judgment.

The crowd clamors for Your blood, not realizing that it is only through Your blood that they will live.

It is a great irony.

We think that by ridding ourselves of You, we will be free.

And You give us what we wish -- freedom -- using even our evil to raise us up to You, if we will only see and accept.

How different is the choice for man or God. In choosing man we choose death. In choosing You, you use our death to lift us to life in You.

Pilate washes his hands of guilt, and, in doing so, washes his hands of you. Evading the truth of his guilt means rejecting you.

We cannot be Yours if we do not admit what we are, sinners in need of mercy.

Source: Meditations on the Stations of the Cross

http://www.feastofsaints.com/viacrucis.htm

FIFTH STATION ï¿½ Simon Helps Jesus Carry his Cross

Scripture

Luke 23:26

They seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

Meditation

Via Crucis (the ï¿½Wayï¿½ or ï¿½Stationsï¿½ of the Cross) is a series of meditations reflecting on the journey of Jesus Christ to his Crucifixion at Calvary. Many artists and writers have produced works of art or written thoughts on Via Crucis and, for what it's worth, a contemporary piece, written from the perspective of a journalist present on that Good Friday, is published below.

I thought that was me there.

Jesus was wobbling, and a group of soldiers came towards us and pointed to a man, two away from me.

His name is Simon, a commuter returning to Cyrene, and he was enlisted to help Jesus carry the cross.

I'm not sure how I would have felt if they had asked me.

I don't feel as if I want to carry the cross. It looks too painful and I am, to be honest, scared.

Yet, I want to help Jesus, because this is such a sad incident, and, in a way I feel as if I am every bit as guilty as this dead man walking.

What's more, if I share the pain with Jesus, I will get to know him better.

And not just because my editor would be delighted at scooping this ï¿½final interviewï¿½, but I would learn so much from the experience.

Only by sharing in Jesus' pain can we share in his wonder.

Source: Larne Parish - Ireland

TENTH STATION - Jesus is Stripped of His Garments and Offered Gall and Vinegar to Drink

Scripture ï¿½

Matthew 27:34

they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it

Meditation

He did not want a sedative, which would have dulled his consciousness during the agony.
He wanted to be fully aware as he suffered on the Cross, accomplishing the mission he had received from the Father.
That was not what the soldiers in charge of the execution were used to. Since they had to nail the condemned man to the Cross, they tried to dull his senses and his consciousness.
But with Christ this could not be. Jesus knows that his death on the Cross must be a sacrifice of expiation.
This is why he wants to remain alert to the very end.
Without consciousness, he could not, in complete freedom, accept the full measure of suffering.
Behold, he must mount the Cross, in order to offer the sacrifice of the New Covenant.
He is the Priest. By means of his own blood, he must enter the eternal dwelling-places, having accomplished the worldï¿½s redemption (cf. Heb 9:12).

Conscience and freedom: these are the essential elements of fully human action.
The world has so many ways of weakening the will and of darkening conscience.
They must be carefully defended from all violence.
Even the legitimate attempt to control pain must always be done with respect for human dignity.
If life and death are to retain their true value, the depths of Christï¿½s sacrifice must be understood, and we must unite ourselves to that sacrifice if we are to hold firm.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus,
who, with supreme dedication,
accepted death on the Cross for our salvation,
grant to us and to all the worldï¿½s people
a share in your sacrifice on the Cross,
so that what we are and what we do
may always be a free and conscious sharing
in your work of salvation.
To you, O Jesus, Priest and Victim,
be honour and glory for ever.

R. Amen.

Source: Meditations and Prayers by Pope John Paul II ï¿½ Good Friday 2000 at the Colosseum

ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the Cross

Scripture ï¿½

Matthew 27:37-42

And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, ï¿½This is Jesus the King of the Jewsï¿½. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, ï¿½You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the Crossï¿½. So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, ï¿½He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the Cross and we will believe in himï¿½.

MEDITATION

Jesus is nailed to the Cross. The shroud of Turin gives us an idea of the unbelievable cruelty of this procedure. Jesus does not drink the numbing gall offered to him: he deliberately takes upon himself all the pain of the Crucifixion. His whole body is racked; the words of the Psalm have come to pass: ï¿½But I am a worm and no man, scorned by men, rejected by the peopleï¿½ (Ps 22:7). ï¿½As one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised... surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrowsï¿½ (Is 53:3f.).

Let us halt before this image of pain, before the suffering Son of God. Let us look upon him at times of presumptuousness and pleasure, in order to learn to respect limits and to see the superficiality of all merely material goods. Let us look upon him at times of trial and tribulation, and realize that it is then that we are closest to God. Let us try to see his face in the people we might look down upon.

As we stand before the condemned Lord, who did not use his power to come down from the Cross, but endured its suffering to the end, another thought comes to mind. Ignatius of Antioch, a prisoner in chains for his faith in the Lord, praised the Christians of Smyrna for their invincible faith: he says that they were, so to speak, nailed with flesh and blood to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1). Let us nail ourselves to him, resisting the temptation to stand apart, or to join others in mocking him.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, you let yourself be nailed to the Cross, accepting the terrible cruelty of this suffering, the destruction of your body and your dignity. You allowed yourself to be nailed fast; you did not try to escape or to lessen your suffering. May we never flee from what we are called to do. Help us to remain faithful to you. Help us to unmask the false freedom which would distance us from you. Help us to accept your ï¿½bindingï¿½ freedom, and, ï¿½boundï¿½ fast to you, to discover true freedom.

Source: WAY OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM

GOOD FRIDAY 2005

MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS BY CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER (Pope Benedict XVI)

SCRIPTURE ï¿½

Act 15:5-12

But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses ."

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now therefore why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will."

And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

COMMENT

The early church dispensed Christians with certain ceremonial laws (the yoke) that were a part of the Torah ï¿½ the Law of Moses.

Whatï¿½s the yoke?

Some people might say it is the Law of Moses but you canï¿½t say it is the Law of Moses without distinction, because Peter is not saying ï¿½Look, we have not been able to resist the temptation of murder or to lie or to commit adultery or to covet and now we are finally free of all of those commandmentsï¿½.

Hardly! We are not allowed to lie or to steal or to murder or to commit adultery.

So what laws then does Peter speak of when he says this ï¿½yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bearï¿½.

You may recall in Deuteronomy and all of the additional ceremonies laws that God imposed upon the Israel after the Golden Calf incident because of their idolatry. A sort of penitential discipline that was to last until their hearts were cleansed by faith.

In addition to the Ten Commandments, the simple Law that had been given at Sinai before the Golden Calf, there are all these additional penitential ceremonies added to Israel. These constituted a sort of ceremonial yoke that really isolated and quarantined Israel from the nations because their holiness was much weaker than the sinfulness of the gentiles.

Now that is no longer true. It can be dispensed with.

The coming of the Holy Spirit changed all that.

In the Old Testament if I were to touch a leper, a corpse or a menstruating woman I was unclean.

In the New Testament Jesus comes along and a leper touches him. He is not defiled and the leper was cleansed.

Jesus touches a corpse, He is not defiled and the corpse is raised to life.

Jesus is touched by a menstruating woman, He isnï¿½t defiled and her blood flow stops.

The New Covenant has come with Christ and now the power of holiness greatly exceeds the power of sinfulness.

So all of the walls of isolation and quarantine are torn down.

So Peter is saying in effect ï¿½Listen to me. These laws are no longer needed because the Holy Spirit has cleansed our hearts by faith and the Gentiles as well. God has lifted this yoke from us which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear ï¿½ï¿½

and all of the assembly kept silence.

Source: Scott Hahn

Our Fathers Plan Bible Study

SCRIPTURE

1 John 3:1

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

COMMENT

I am not talking about the false certitude of salvation that some claim to possess but I am talking about having a basis for salvation. Hope is the assurance that we possess.

When God conferred the dignity of fatherhood on me, he gave me five of the most wonderful kids in the universe.

When He gave those five kids to me, he gave me an additional gift I didnï¿½t know at the time and that is the gift of assurance of true salvation.

I became certain of one thing I canï¿½t possibly love my kids more than God loves his.

And it does me so much good to think about that.

I canï¿½t love my kids more than God loves his and I canï¿½t begin to describe how much I love my kids.

Sometimes though I still have doubts.

Sometimes I still need assurance then I approach the Lord in prayer and say ï¿½But how do I know I am your kid?ï¿½

I know abstractly that you love your kids more than I love mine but how do I know I am one of themï¿½.

The Holy Spirit turns that question around and says ï¿½Well how do your kids know that they are your kids?ï¿½

I reply, thatï¿½s easy.

First of all they live in my house.

Second, they are called by my name, they are called Hahnï¿½s.

Third, they sit at my table.

Fourth, they are my flesh and blood

Fifth, my bride (wife Kimberley) is their mother

Sixth, we are always celebrating together (birthdays, anniversaries and vacations); and

Seventh, I discipline them and I donï¿½t discipline the neighbours kids.

Well the Holy Spirit takes those seven points and says ï¿½Scott, look into my Word and what do you find?ï¿½

You live in my house (Eph 2, Heb 3). The Church that Jesus established, the one worldwide church is Godï¿½s household.

You are called by my name Scott, at Baptism ï¿½ You were called by the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I call you a child and you call God Abba

Third, you sit at my table ï¿½ the Lord was sitting at the table when he instituted the Eucharist. The Mass is when we gather as Godï¿½s family and we sit at His table.

You share my flesh and blood the Lord says to me, because thatï¿½s Holy Communion.

My bride is your mother. The Church is the Bride of Christ, but it is Mater Ecclesiae, Mother Church

We are always celebrating together, especially Advent/Christmas, Lent/Easter, feast days, and

Seventh: The Lord disciplines us, not only through our sufferings but especially through the sacrament of Reconciliation.

I donï¿½t give my kids more solid grounds for assurance than God has given His.

God has given us even greater grounds for assurance that we are His beloved children than any parent has ever given his children.

Source: Scott Hahn

Journey Home - jh36

SCRIPTURE

Luke 12:49

I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.

COMMENT

Fire gives forth not only light but also heat.

After being empowered to ï¿½make disciples of all nationsï¿½, by being baptised ï¿½with the Holy Spirit and with fireï¿½ (Luke 3:16), Spirit filled persons should be supernaturally enlightened so as to enlighten others, but also fired with zeal for their own spiritual growth, striving to ï¿½excel in the spiritual gifts [charisms] that build up the Church (1 Cor 14:12).

So important is this charismatic imperative that Paul adds a caveat: ï¿½Do not extinguish the Spirits fireï¿½ (1 Thess 5:19).

Being blessed with the infilling of the Spirit should make us a blessing to others.

As fire tends to spread, so also does the Spiritï¿½s love-inflaming presence in ï¿½those who are his very ownï¿½ (Titus 2:14)

The Spirit-fire is sanctifying for those who received it, but for it to spread it must also be refuelled or kindled.

Source: Keep The Faith But Not To Yourself

Rev John Hampsch

Scripture:

1Peter 4:13-14

But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Comment: Triumph of the Cross

The cross is today the universal image of Christian belief. Countless generations of artists have turned it into a thing of beauty to be carried in procession or worn as jewellery. To the eyes of the first Christians, it had no beauty. It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome's authorityï¿½including the heretic sect which refused sacrifice to Roman gods. Although believers spoke of the cross as the instrument of salvation, it seldom appeared in Christian art unless disguised as an anchor or the Chi-Rho until after Constantine's edict of toleration.

Quote:

"How splendid the cross of Christ! It brings life, not death; light, not darkness; Paradise, not its loss. It is the wood on which the Lord, like a great warrior, was wounded in hands and feet and side, but healed thereby our wounds. A tree has destroyed us, a tree now brought us life" (Theodore of Studios ï¿½Constantinople 800AD)

Source: AmericanCatholic.org.

Scripture

John 19:17-18

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Gol'gotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

Comment - The Meaning of the Cross

He will bring good out of it for those who trust in Him. This is the meaning of the cross.

The cross is the symbol of the worst thing ever done and the best thing that ever happened.

It is Christï¿½s victory over death and our promise of eternal salvation.

Because He suffered for us willingly in His life, He has a right to share our sufferings now.

Only the believer can appreciate this.

It will leave others puzzled and confused about what the cross means.

But for the believer the cross stands still and the world turns all around it.

Excerpt from The Cross at Ground Zero
by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.FR.

John 19:30

When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Commentary

It all started with a Sunday morning service at the local Evangelical church which my wife and I attended during our last year at seminary. The preacher had just finished an exciting sermon on the meaning of Christï¿½s sacrifice on Calvary. But something he said stuck with me. In the middle of the message, he raised a simple question: "In John 19:30, what did Jesus mean when he cried, 'It is finished'? What does the 'itï¿½ refer to?" Instantly the standard Evangelical answer came to my mind: Jesusï¿½ words signify the completion of our redemption at that moment.

My mind began racing ahead in search of a solution. It only came after graduation, in my first year as a pastor while studying Scripture in preparing a series of sermons on what we Presbyterians called "the Lordï¿½s Supper."

THE FIRST stage of my discovery process came in studying the Old Testament background to Jesusï¿½ Last Supper. The occasion was the Jewish feast of Passover.

The Passover meal was divided into four parts. First, the preliminary course consisted of a festival blessing (kiddush) spoken over the first cup of wine, followed by the serving of a dish of herbs. The second course included a recital of the Passover narrative and the "Little Hallel" (Psalm 113), followed by the drinking of the second cup of wine. The third course was the main meal, consisting of lamb and unleavened bread, after which was drunk the third cup of wine, known as the "cup of blessing." The Passover climaxed with the singing of the "Great Hallel" (Psalms 114-118) and the drinking of the fourth cup of wine.

New Testament scholars see this pattern reflected in the Gospel narratives of the Last Supper. In particular, the cup blessed and distributed by Jesus is identified as the third cup in the Passover Haggadah. This is apparent from the singing of the "Great Hallel" which immediately follows: "And when they had sung a hymn. . . ." (Mark 14:26).

At this point a significant problem arises. Instead of proceeding immediately to the climax of the Passover, the drinking of the fourth cup, we read: "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (Mark 14:26). While it may be difficult for Gentile Christians unfamiliar with the Haggadah to perceive the serious disorder this sequence represents, it is not lost to Jewish readers and students of the seder. For them, Jesus skipping the fourth cup could be compared to a priest omitting the words of consecration at Mass. The fundamental purpose or goal of the liturgy seemingly was missed.

Not only is the omission conspicuous, it appears to be underscored by the words of Jesus in the preceding verse: "Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God" (Mark 14:25). It is almost as though Jesus meant not to drink what he was expected to drink.

For one thing, I noticed that my King, Priest, and paschal victim, in his "hour of glory" while suffering on the cross, made a profound gesture: "After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst.'"

More things fall into place upon reading what followed his expression of thirst: "A bowl of sour wine stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth" (19:29). Only John noticed that hyssop was used, the branch prescribed in the Passover law for sprinkling the blood of the lamb (Ex.12:22).

This verse reveals something significant. Jesus had left unfinished the Passover liturgy in the upper room by not drinking the fourth cup. He stated his intention not to drink wine again until he came into the glory of his Kingdom. As we have seen, he refused some on one occasion, right before being nailed to the cross (Mark 15:23). Then, at the very end, Jesus was offered "sour wine" (John 19:30; Matt.27:48; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36). But only John tells us how he responded: "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished'; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (19:30).

AT LAST I had an answer to my question. It was the Passover that was now finished.

**************

The above text was sourced from a four page article I found on the net called The Hunt for the Fourth Cup By Scott Hahn

I picked the above paragraphs from different parts of the article only to make it as brief as possible and still make sense.

John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world

Commentary

Old crazy John, eating locustsï¿½.

The first time that he sees our Blessed Lord as an adult, he goes up to him and he doesnï¿½t say ï¿½hey, thereï¿½s my cousin Jesus, or hey King of Kings, or hey Lion of Judah, no instead he goes up to him and he says ï¿½Behold the Lamb of Godï¿½.

Now that is a powerful Jewish phrase. ï¿½The Lamb of Godï¿½.

Why, because back in the story of Moses and the Passover story. After the 9 plagues went by and the tenth plague was the death of the first born and in order for the Angel of Death to passover them, the Jews had to do three things.

The first thing they had to do was kill the Lamb.

The second thing they had to do was spread the blood and the third thing they had to do was eat the lamb.

If they did all three of those things then the Angel of Death would pass them over.

Now throughout the Old Testament a lamb has been used to cover the sin of a family so if Mr & Mrs Jones had sins they would take a lamb, take it up to the priest and the priest would sacrifice the lamb for the sins of that family. Now to cover the sins of the whole world we needed a Lamb of God. You see, a lamb of man would cover the sins of just a family but the Lamb of God covered the sins of everyone. And again, the lamb had to be slain, the blood had to be spread and then finally we eat the Lamb.

And it culminates in our celebration of the holy Eucharist at Mass.

This is just one tiny tidbit from the Old Testament of so many things that are foreshadowed in the Old Testament and then fulfilled in the New.

**********

The above commentary is taken from a CD I was listening to of a Jew who came to the conclusion that Jesus IS the Messiah but to better know his roots (his Jewish faith) he studied with a Rabbi at a synagogue to get the whole ï¿½yentlï¿½ experience prior to joining his first Christian Church ï¿½ the Pentecostal Church on his journey of faith.

SCRIPTURE

Romans 5:12-14

Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned - sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

COMMENT

In the above verse Paul calls Adam a type of Christ ï¿½ a foreshadowing of Christ ï¿½a dim image that Christ would later perfect and fulfil.

This is an example of typology.

A simple definition for typology is where the stories in the Old Testament and New Testament match.

To illustrate the definition - the Old Testament contains the ï¿½shadowï¿½ and the New Testament contains the ï¿½real thingï¿½.

The Old Testament is the ï¿½negativeï¿½ whereas the New Testament is the ï¿½full colour photoï¿½.

Typology is found throughout the Bible. From the first century to today, typology has been used to better understand Godï¿½s Word.

Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) aptly put it ï¿½the New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.ï¿½

The Two Adams

Unfortunately, by far the best explanation I have ever heard of understanding about what Jesus did in the New Testament by looking at what the first Adam failed to do is a little long (2 pages). So I have decided not to include it. Should anyone want a copy emailed to them just let me know.

Below are two other interesting examples of typology, as it relates to Genesis.

The Two Trees

Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.

Eating of the fruit wounded them, it killed them spiritually speaking. It wounded the human race with the poison of sin

The second tree was the Tree of Calvary, upon which Christ hung on the Cross.

And the fruit of that tree, the Tree of Calvary, the Holy Eucharist, is the antidote to the poison that was introduced into the world through Adam and Eve.

The word "Eucharist" comes from the Greek noun εὐχαριστία (transliterated, "eucharistia"), meaning thanksgiving. (Definition from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist)

The Two Eveï¿½s

Adam did not act alone, for Eve cooperated substantially in the Fall of man.

In one garden, the Tree of Life brought about death and in another garden the Tree of Death brought about Life.

Eve, the first mother of the living was at the foot of the first Tree and Mary, the New Eve, is at the foot of the second Tree

The Apostle John goes out of his way to inform us that the Cross and the Tomb were in a garden.

For the first Christians, Mary was also seen as the Second or New Eve, the woman who undoes by her obedience the sin that Eve brought by her disobedience.

The first Eve listened to a fallen angel and succumbed to temptation bringing sin into the world.

Mary listened to an unfallen angel and thus brought about, through Jesus, our redemption.

Christ was conceived in Maryï¿½s womb, and therefore is ï¿½bone of (her) bones and flesh of (her) flesh.ï¿½ We read in Genesis 2:23 Adam exclaim, ï¿½This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my fleshï¿½.

Source: Typology observations from Steven Ray and Patrick Madrid

Transcribed from a radio show titled ï¿½Typology of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesusï¿½

Additional observations from Scott Hahn

Note from Gary: The typological observation in regard to the title New Eve above is not to be confused with the title the Bride of Christ which refers to Us, the Church.

Typology is found throughout the Bible and helps us better understand Godï¿½s Word.

Typology can be said to be where the stories in the Old Testament and New Testament match.

As Saint Augustine said: the New Testament concealed in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.

In Romans 5:14 Paul specifically calls Adam a type of Christ ï¿½ a foreshadowing of Christ ï¿½a dim image that Christ would later perfect and fulfil.

If we are going to understand what Jesus did in the New Testament, we have to go back and look at what the first Adam failed to do.

And so, when we go back to Genesis Chapter 2, God created man and put him in the garden. Verse 15 says The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. Now that word ï¿½keepï¿½ is a very interesting word. In Hebrew it is ï¿½shamarï¿½ and it literally means to guard, to protect, to preserve. And so you have to ask yourself at that point, guard it against what? We donï¿½t know at that point. Verse 16 and 17 goes on to say: the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." ï¿½That is what we call the ordeal in the early story ï¿½ keep and guard this garden but donï¿½t eat from that one tree or the penalty will be death. Then God creates Eve and He takes Eve from Adams rib, creates and fashions Eve and brings Eve to Adam and the two become one flesh. It is implied that Adam will have to teach Eve that we have to guard the garden and she may say ï¿½Guard it against what?ï¿½ He would reply ï¿½Iï¿½m not sure at this point, but if we eat of that one tree we are going to dieï¿½. And that is the issue, obedience and death.

In Genesis Chapter 3, the serpent comes into the garden. Now that word serpent is not a cute little garden snake, the word serpent is the word ï¿½nahashï¿½ in Hebrew and it is also translated to the great Leviathan, a sea monster, a large venomous creature. The serpent says immediately to the woman "Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" Now thatï¿½s a question right away, not: Does God exist, but can you trust Him? The woman gives an explanation what to eat and the serpent replies "You will not dieï¿½. Now the question is ï¿½Where is Adam here?ï¿½ Adam has a responsibility to guard and protect the garden and his bride, but he is very silent. Why was Adam silent in the garden and why did he let Eve to answer on his behalf? It is likely that he was scared, very scared! In the Hebrew the sentence is incomplete when then serpent says ï¿½Did God say? and there is a veiled threat in the snakes question that is ï¿½if you donï¿½t eat of that fruit you are gonna die because you are gonna mess with me. God says you will die if you eat it, I am implying here that you are gonna mess with me if you donï¿½t eat itï¿½ Adam is stuck in the middle. He has several choices. One, does he entrust himself to the Father, as Peter told us to do in his letter and say Father I need help what should I do?, Or does he roll up his sleeves and say to the enemy ï¿½you are not getting my bride, you are not getting this garden and I am willing to even suffer and die for what God has told me to do. But he is silent. Naturally it is pride that causes the fall of Adam and Eve, but it looks here like Adam is afraid to suffer and they end up falling.

What is interesting after this, is the curse. In Genesis 3:15 God says ï¿½I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." The Early Church Fathers tell us this is the proto-evangelium, the first announcement of good news and the answer to the problem of original sin is going to involve a deep bruising and it will be in the heel. Christ is the head we are the body. In verse 16, God says ï¿½I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.ï¿½ What is He saying to Eve? God is saying I am going to help you see how to love. Here is the penalty, you are going to give yourself to your husband, you are going to love your husband, the result will be pain. You are going to have pain, in childbirth, but it results in fruit, the birth of a child. And God says to Adam, you are going to work the fields, youï¿½re going to sweat, there are going to be thorns and thistles, but whatï¿½s going to come out of the field, fruit - bread. Jesus has assumed the curse of Adam upon Himself, the curse of sweat, the curse of blood and thorns. What God is teaching them at this point is that ï¿½Youï¿½re afraid to suffer and trust Me when I told you something to do, I am going to help you learn what real love is all aboutï¿½.

Now if you go to the New Testament, you will see the opposite of this in Jesus. We asked the question earlier, why did Jesus come? People say, He came to die for my sins, but He came to more than just die. Because if He came to just die, He would have done it right away and got it over with. But Jesus came to do a few other things. He was silent on death. He ran away from death at every turn before Matthew 16, but then in Matthew 16 He gives the keys to Peter and establishes the kingdom. Then immediately after establishing the kingdom, what does He bring up. In Matthew 16:21 it says ï¿½From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.ï¿½ Now you remember back in Genesis, what did the enemy say to Adam ï¿½you surely shall not dieï¿½. And that is the issue, you are not gonna die. There is an easier way Adam, there is an easier way to get on in life separate from God. Right away when Jesus said to the disciples ï¿½I am going to suffer, I am going to dieï¿½, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying ï¿½God forbid it Lord, this shall not happen to youï¿½. And Jesus realising whatï¿½s happening here, that he is entering his ordeal as the last Adam and about to enter the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus says to Peter ï¿½Get behind me satan, you are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on Gods interests but mansï¿½. And so Jesus then enters His ordeal when he goes to His garden and there is an uncanny parallel between the Garden of Gethsemane and the first garden of Adam where Jesus enters the garden, and you know the story in Matthew 26 where Jesus underwent tremendous agony in the garden to the point of death. Whatï¿½s interesting about the story is that in Matthew 26:36-38 it says ï¿½Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsem'ane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go yonder and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zeb'edee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." The same wording that we see in the Old Testament ï¿½keep watch, keep the gardenï¿½ Jesus said keep watch with me and then He does what Adam failed to do. He entrusts himself to the Father which is not what Adam did. Adam was filled with pride and he was silent. Then in Matthew 26:39-42 it says: And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done." ï¿½And that is the difference in the last Adam and the first Adam, Jesus totally entrusted Himself to the Father in doing what the Father asked Him to do. He poured Himself out in complete love, complete offering and He sets the example for us that we can trust the Father even if it there is suffering involved, even if there is pain involved in the redemption of man. We know that Jesus rose from the dead and so we look at His life and we say I may suffer with Him now but I will be glorified with Him later.ï¿½

The second Adam, Jesus, went into the Garden, was sinless and was also tested. Jesus went to the tree and laid down His life for His bride, the Church.

The Cross becomes the Tree of Life as the Early Church Fathers called it.

In the deep sleep of Adam, from his side came forth Eve.

The second Adam, Jesus, went to the tree and in the deep sleep of death came forth blood and water which represented the waters of Baptism and the blood of the Eucharist as the Early Church Fathers understood it. The blood and water was the sacramental material from which the New Eve, the Church, is formed.

The Two Trees

Adam and Eve were not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden

Eating of the fruit wounded them, it killed them spiritually speaking. It wounded the human race with the poison of sin

The second tree was the Tree of Calvary, upon which Christ hung on the Cross.

And the fruit of that tree, the Tree of Calvary, the Holy Eucharist, is the antidote to the poison that was introduced into the world through Adam and Eve.

In one garden, the Tree of Life brought about death and in another garden the Tree of Death brought about Life.

Eve, the first mother of the living was at the foot of the first Tree and Mary, the second Eve, is at the foot of the second Tree

The Apostle John goes out of his way to inform us that the Cross and the Tomb were in a garden.

For the first Christians, Mary was also seen as the second (or New) Eve, the woman who undoes by her obedience the sin that Eve brought by her disobedience.

The first Eve listened to a fallen angel and succumbed to temptation bringing sin into the world.

Mary listened to an unfallen angel and thus brought about, through Jesus, our redemption.

What really blew my mind in the midst of all of this was realising that in this Garden of Gethsemane, guess who the bride was? You and I. You and I are standing there and Jesus is rolling up His sleeves and saying ï¿½OK I am going to offer myself for youï¿½ and now that weï¿½re redeemed He joins us with himself and says walk as I walk, love as I love. We can use your suffering for the redemption of the world also.

Scripture supporting ï¿½joining our suffering with Jesusï¿½

Collossians 1:24 -

2 Cor 12:9 ï¿½ thorn in the flesh

2 Cor 4:8-11,14

2 Corinthians 1:5 ï¿½ We share in Christs suffering

*****

Jesus goes into the garden. Jesus goes to the tree and undoes what Adam did and does what Adam failed to do.

Adam failed to lay down his life for Eve. Jesus says ï¿½Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his beloved.ï¿½

Why would Adam fear death at that stage if he hadnï¿½t sinned, for God said ï¿½Eat of the tree and you will dieï¿½

Jesus also hadnï¿½t sinned and sweated blood and felt ï¿½deathï¿½ in the garden.

The devil was defeated by Jesus as the devil has the power of death.

Jesus did what Adam failed to do as scripture says ï¿½Perfect love casts out fearï¿½

Mother Teresa said once ï¿½It is not possible to LOVE GOD except at ones own expenseï¿½

Source: (primarily) Jeff Cavins plus Scott Hahn, Steven Ray and Patrick Madrid

SCRIPTURE

Genesis 3:9-13

But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."

COMMENT

Why did Adam do it?

The sin that Adam commits is a sin of pride and disobedience.

Why would an upright and unfallen man succumb to pride and disobey a command when he seemed to have everything.

He was the man who had everything!

It was interesting to me in analysing the problem to notice in Judaism there is really no doctrine of original sin, there is really no claim being made to have found the answer the question ï¿½Why did he sin?ï¿½

They could not grasp the stories ultimate meaning anywhere in the Old Testament. It is revealed only in the life and death of the resurrected Jesus.

It is almost as though we couldnï¿½t understand the question of the Old Covenant and the fall of Adam until the New Covenant came and Jesus as the New Adam did what Adam should have done and undid what Adam did. So Jesus not only cured the illness, He diagnosed it.

Before that it was undiagnosed, a mystery illness.

Adam is in bliss, living in paradise and when he finds Eve he is in a state of marital ecstasy. What more could Adam want?

In a certain sense Adam couldnï¿½t want anything more than that. But the problem is God did!

God created man in a natural paradise but He didnï¿½t create us for it.

He created us for supernatural blessedness with God.

We have the advantage of hindsight, that even though this was earthly paradise, it was penultimate. It was second to last.

It might have been all that Adam would have ever wanted, but God was calling Adam to something more.

Heaven is not Plan B, it was the goal from the beginning that Adam was made for.

It was more than an obediential taste test - a test of ï¿½will he or wonï¿½t heï¿½ eat the apple.

It is really a test of Faith, Hope and Love.

Source: Scott Hahn

Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University, Steubenville USA

Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love

SCRIPTURE ï¿½

Genesis 2:18

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."

COMMENT

After each act of creation, God looked at what He had made and pronounced it ï¿½goodï¿½. To crown His work, God created man on the sixth day and gave him dominion over all the earth. Only then did God look at His work and declare it ï¿½very goodï¿½.

Adam lived in a world custom made for his pleasure, a world without sin, suffering, or disease ï¿½ a world where work was always rewarding, a world that, Genesis tells us, was unstintingly good. Yet God Himself looked upon this situation and, for the first time in the Scriptures, pronounced that something was ï¿½not goodï¿½. He said ï¿½It is not good that man should be aloneï¿½ (Gen 2:18).

What a remarkable statement!

Remember, this took place before the Fall of humankind, before sin and disorder could enter creation. Adam lived in an earthly paradise as a child of God, made in Godï¿½s own image. Yet something was ï¿½not goodï¿½. Something was incomplete. The man was lonely.

Adamï¿½s world seemed complete. He had a good job, a beautiful home, dutiful pets, and plenty to keep him busy. Yet he was incomplete. Even as the ï¿½image of Godï¿½. He was only complete when the woman, Eve, joined him in life. The man and his wife become ï¿½one fleshï¿½.

For ï¿½God blessed them, and God said to them, ï¿½Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earthï¿½ ï¿½.

The image of God was made complete with the creation of the family. Only then was Eden truly paradise.

Source: Scott Hahn

Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University

Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love

SCRIPTURE ï¿½

Genesis 2:1-4

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

COMMENT

God finished his work of creation by resting on the seventh day.

Why does God rest on the seventh day?

It is not because He needs the rest but because He knows we will need it.

He becomes our Father and we become His children.

Remember our Lord said ï¿½the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbathï¿½.

God blessed and made holy the seventh day.

You have to understand Godï¿½s purpose for resting.

By sanctifying or making holy, God wants us to set the seventh day apart from the other days.

God uses the seventh day to reveal to Man his ultimate destiny. Man was made on the sixth day along with all the beasts. We work like all of the animals/beasts, but unlike the rest of the animals we have been created with the capacity that is divine. We are able to pray to God, we are able to love God as children love their father.

The sixth day is not enough for us. God knows that we are not made for work but for worship. We are not made to labour or for kingly dominion. We are not made for the earth but for heaven.

The Sabbath is the seventh day and the Hebrew word for ï¿½sevenï¿½ is sheba. Yet sheba stands for not only for a number. Sheba is also a verb, and it means to swear a covenant oath ï¿½ literally, to ï¿½seven oneselfï¿½. (see for example Abrahams covenant oath in Gen 21:27-32) The number seven is the unmistakable sign of a covenant. With the seventh day, God was making a covenant with mankind. God took Adam and Eve into His family. God made them His children.

With this shift in relationship comes a corresponding shift in language. In the first chapters of Genesis, we read of God as ï¿½Elohimï¿½, a formal name, usually translated into English as ï¿½Godï¿½. Elohim evokes the divine power in the act of creation. In the second chapter, however ï¿½ immediately in the wake of the seventh day ï¿½ God appears as ï¿½Yahweh Elohimï¿½, which is usually translated into English as ï¿½the Lord Godï¿½. ï¿½Yahwehï¿½ ï¿½which only appears after the seventh day, is a personal name, a family name.

God is not just our creator but our Father.

Source: Scott Hahn

Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University

Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love

SCRIPTURE ï¿½

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

COMMENT

You see an intimacy when you read that God decides to make one creature and only one creature in ï¿½Our image after Our likenessï¿½.

God uses that word. When you come to Genesis 1 and 2, you notice God is creating by the power of His Word ï¿½ ï¿½Let there be light, Let there be this and thatï¿½ and by the shear power of Gods Word everything comes into existence. On Day 6 though, the language changes from ï¿½Let there be this and Let there be thatï¿½ to ï¿½Let Us make man in our Image after Our likenessï¿½. Suddenly itï¿½s plural. Itï¿½s first person plural.

Theologians can debate why there is a change of language. You know there are various theories as to what that change of language means. Some people suppose that it is the plural of majesty, you know the way kings talk ï¿½We decreeï¿½. But that doesnï¿½t explain why it wasnï¿½t used before when creating the other things. Others suggest, that perhaps God is speaking to the angels, but once again nothing is mentioned of angels co-creating with God in Genesis. I donï¿½t think the Early Church Fathers were off the mark in seeing in Genesis 1:26-27, a trace, a foreshadowing of something that wouldnï¿½t become really clear until the New Testament.

And that is, when God makes man in their image, in ï¿½Our image after Our likenessï¿½, He does it in a very significant way. We read about how God makes man male and female. Now He made dogs and cats with a distinction of gender but the distinction between male and female is only mentioned explicitly when God creates man in our image after our likeness to show us that in Godï¿½s plan this distinction between male and female is not merely biological but there is something theological. There is a mystery here planted as a seed that is waiting to unfold in human history.

When we realise that God makes man in the image and likeness of God there is a relational meaning to that. Theologians and philosophers debate what it means to bear the image and likeness of God. We have a rational mind, a free will and all of that is true but for the people who were reading this book, the ancient Israelite readers, would have recognised that the very next occurrence of the phrase ï¿½image and likenessï¿½ is found in the opening verses of Genesis 5 where we discover that Adam became a father of a son named Seth in his own image and likeness. So there is a concrete relational meaning to what it means for us to bear the image and likeness of God.

God has destined us to be more than just rational creatures. He has destined us. He is calling us to enter into a family bond.

The fact that God makes man male and female suggests something more intimate.

To become all that God has made us to be, we must grow ever more perfectly in his divine image. That means we must give ourselves completely. We grow perfect in the image of God only as we ï¿½become Christï¿½, in communion with Christ and in communion with others, in communion with the Church.

Source: Scott Hahn

Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University

Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love