" ... true peace, profound peace, comes from the experience of God's mercy".

Pope Francis on Divine Mercy Sunday

By David Came (Apr 7, 2013)

In the first Divine Mercy Sunday message of his pontificate, on April 7 in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis gave a powerful teaching on God's mercy based on the Gospel of the day, John 20:19-31. He spoke of how "true peace ... comes from the experience of God's mercy," of Jesus Christ revealing Himself to us as "Mercy Incarnate," and of our call to boldly "proclaim Christ the Risen Lord" by "trusting in the mercy of the Lord forever."

Pope Francis also emphasized how Blessed John Paul II established Divine Mercy Sunday as a universal feast day and then died on its vigil.

"Today," Pope Francis said, "is Divine Mercy Sunday, by the will of Blessed John Paul II, who closed his eyes to the world on the vigil of this [feast day]."

He delivered his message in the Square before an estimated crowd of 50,000 people after praying the Regina Caeli, according to the online news service AsiaNews.

Of the Risen Lord's Easter gift of peace to His disciples and its connection with Divine Mercy, Pope Francis said:

I renew to everyone the Easter greetings with the words of the Risen Jesus: "Peace be with you!" It is not a greeting, or even a simple wish: it is a gift, indeed, the precious gift that Christ gives to his disciples after passing through death and the underworld. He gives peace, as he had promised, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you." This peace is the fruit of the victory of God over evil, it is the fruit of forgiveness. And so it is: true peace, profound peace, comes from the experience of God's mercy.

Notice here how Pope Francis teaches us that this Easter gift of peace, which "comes from the experience of God's mercy," is "the fruit of the victory of God over evil" and "the fruit of forgiveness." Thus, our Holy Father shows us the great power of Divine Mercy that is revealed in the Paschal mystery, as God has victory over evil and offers us forgiveness for our sins.

In describing Jesus Christ as "Mercy Incarnate," Pope Francis stresses our need to believe in Him and His love and mercy for us even though — unlike the Apostle Thomas in the day's Gospel — we have not had the opportunity to see the Risen Lord and examine His wounds:

The second time, eight days later, Thomas was also there. And Jesus said to him, invited him to look at the wounds, to touch them, and Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord, my God." Jesus said: "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." And who were those who believed without seeing? The other disciples, the men and women of Jerusalem who, despite not having met the risen Jesus, believed the testimony of the Apostles and the women. This is a very important word on faith, we can call it the beatitude of faith. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. At all times
and in all places blessed are those who, through the Word of God proclaimed in the Church and witnessed by Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnate love of God, Mercy Incarnate. And that goes for all of us.

Here, Pope Francis is saying that the key to our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is our faith and trust in Him, as we are called to live by faith and not by sight. Through the eyes of faith, we are invited to a personal encounter with Him as Mercy Incarnate. In this light, it makes perfect sense Jesus told St. Faustina that we are asked to personally sign the Divine Mercy image with the words, "Jesus, I trust in You" (Diary of St. Faustina, 47).

Finally, Pope Francis connects the dots. It's almost as if he has the Divine Mercy image in view as he encourages us to boldly witness to our faith in the Risen Lord by "trusting in the mercy of the Lord":

... the Spirit of the Risen Christ casts out fear from the hearts of the apostles and pushes them out of the Upper Room, to bring the Gospel. We also must have more courage to witness to faith in the Risen Christ! Let us not be afraid to be Christian and live as Christians! We must have the courage to go out and proclaim Christ the Risen Lord, for he is our peace. "Trusting in the mercy of the Lord forever, because he is waiting for us, he loves us."

So, be encouraged by Pope Francis to boldly proclaim and live your faith in the Risen Christ. As you do, join me in praying, "Jesus, I trust in You!" And give thanks to the Merciful Savior for Pope Francis, who is our new Mercy Pope.

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Taken from: http://thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=5327

Jesus Christ as the "New Moses"

 

Synopsis of Pope's Book

"Jesus of Nazareth"

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April 15, 2007  ....

ROME, APRIL 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the synopsis of Benedict XVI's book "Jesus of Nazareth," released by the Italian publisher Rizzoli, which has handled worldwide sale of the rights to the work.

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The Pope's Path to Jesus
A personal meditation, not an exercise of the magisterium
This book is the first part of a work, the writing of which, as its author states, was preceded by a "long gestation" (Page xi). It reflects Joseph Ratzinger's personal search for the "face of the Lord" and is not intended to be a document forming part of the magisterium (Page xxiii).
"Everyone is free, then, to contradict me," the Pontiff stresses in the foreword (Page xxiv). The main purpose of the work is "to help foster [in the reader] the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ (Page xxiv). In an expected second volume the Pope hopes "also to be able to include the chapter on the [infancy] narratives" concerning the birth of Jesus and to consider the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection.
It is primarily, therefore, a pastoral book. But it is also the work of a rigorous theologian, who justifies his assertions based on exhaustive knowledge of sacred texts and critical literature. He underlines the indispen¬sability of a historical-critical method for serious exegesis, but also highlights its limits: "Admittedly, to believe that, as man, he [Jesus] truly was God exceeds the scope of the historical method" (Page xxiii).
And yet, "Without anchoring in God, the person of Jesus remains shadowy, unreal, and unexplainable" (Schnackenburg, "Freundschaft mit Jesus," Page 322). In confirming this conclusion of a notable Roman Catholic representative of historical-critical exegesis, the Pope states that his book "sees Jesus in light of his communion with the Father" (Page xiv).
In addition, based on "reading the individual texts of the Bible in the context of the whole" -- a reading that "does not contradict historical-critical interpretation, but carries it forward in an organic way toward becoming theology in the proper sense" (Page xix) -- the author presents "the Jesus of the Gospels as the real, 'historical' Jesus," underlining "that this figure is much more logical and, historically speaking, much more intelligible than the reconstructions we have been presented with in the last decades" (Page xxii).
For Benedict XVI, one finds in the Scriptures the compelling elements to be able to assert that the historical personage, Jesus Christ, is also the Son of God who came to Earth to save humanity. In page after page, he examines these one by one, guiding and challenging the reader -- the believer but also the nonbeliever -- by way of an enthralling intellectual adventure.
Grounding his core premise on the fact of the intimate unity between the Old and the New Testament, and drawing on the Christological hermeneutics that see in Jesus Christ the key to the entire Bible, Benedict XVI presents the Jesus of the Gospels as the "new Moses" who fulfills Israel's ancient expectations (Page 1). This new Moses must lead the people of God to true and definitive freedom. He does so in a sequence of actions that, however, always allow God's plan to be anticipated in its entirety.
The Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan is "an acceptance of death for the sins of humanity, and the voice that calls out, 'This is my beloved Son,' over the baptismal waters is an anticipatory reference to the Resurrection" (Page 18). Jesus' immersion in the waters of the River Jordan is a symbol of his death and of his descent into hell -- a reality present, however, throughout his life.
To save humanity "He must recapitulate the whole of history from its beginnings" (Page 26), he must conquer the principal temptations that, in various forms, threaten men in all ages and, transforming them into obedience, reopen the road toward God (Chapter 2), toward the true Promised Land, which is the "Kingdom of God" (Page 44). This term, which can be interpreted in its Christological, mystical or even ecclesiastical dimension, ultimately means "the divine lordship, God's dominion over the world and over history, [which] transcends the moment, indeed transcends and reaches beyond the whole of history. And yet it is at the same time something belonging absolutely to the present" (Page 57). Indeed, through Jesus' presence and activity "God has here and now entered actively into history in a wholly new way." In Jesus "God ... draws near to us ... rules in a divine way, without worldly power, rules through the love that reaches 'to the end'" (Pages 60-61; John 13:1).
The theme of the "Kingdom of God" (Chapter 3), which pervades the whole of Jesus' preaching, is developed in further depth in the reflection on the "Sermon on the Mount" (Chapter 4). In the Sermon Jesus clearly appears as the "new Moses" who brings the new Torah or, rather, returns to Moses' Torah and, activating the intrinsic rhythms of its structure, fulfills it (Page 65).
The Sermon on the Mount, in which the beatitudes are the cardinal points of the law and, at one and the same time, a self-portrait of Jesus, demonstrates that this law is not just the result of a "face-to-face" talk with God but embodies the plenitude that comes from the intimate union of Jesus with the Father (Page 66). Jesus is the Son of God, the Word of God in person. "Jesus understands himself as the Torah" (Page 110). "This is the point that demands a decision [...] and consequently this is the point that leads to the Cross and the Resurrection" (Page 63).
The exodus toward the true "Promised Land," toward true freedom, requires the sequel of Christ. The believer has to enter the same communion of the Son with the Father. Only in this way can Man "fulfill" himself, because his innermost nature is oriented toward the relationship with God. This means that a fundamental element of his life is talking to God and listening to God. Because of this, Benedict XVI dedicates an entire chapter to prayer, explaining the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus himself taught us (Chapter 5).
Man's profound contact with God the Father through Jesus in the Holy Spirit gathers them together in the "we and us" of a new family that, via the choice of the Twelve Disciples, recalls the origins of Israel (the twelve Patriarchs) and, at the same time, opens the vision toward the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-14) -- the ultimate destination of the whole story -- of the new Exodus under the guidance of the "new Moses."
With Jesus, the Twelve Disciples "have to pass from outward to inward communion with Jesus," so as then to be able to testify to his oneness with the Father and "become Jesus' envoys -- 'apostles,' no less -- who bring his message to the world" (Page 172). Albeit in its extremely variegated composition, the new family of Jesus, the Church of all ages, finds in him its unifying core and the will to live the universal character of his teaching (Chapter 6).
To make his message easier to understand and indeed to incorporate that message into daily living, Jesus uses the form of the parable. He comports the substance of what he intends to communicate -- ultimately he is always talking about his mystery -- attuned to the listener's comprehension using the bridge of imagery grounded in realities very familiar and accessible to that listener. Alongside this human aspect, however, there is an exquisitely theological explanation of the parables' sense, which Joseph Ratzinger highlights in an analysis of rare depth. He then comments more specifically on three parables, via which he illustrates the endless resources of Jesus' message and its perennial actuality (Chapter 7).
The next chapter also centers round the images used by Jesus to explain his mystery: They are the great images of John's Gospel. Before analyzing them, the Pope presents a very interesting summary of the various results of scientific research into who the apostle John was. With this, as also in his explanation of the images, he opens up new horizons for the reader that reveal Jesus with ever-increasing clarity as the "Word of God" (Page 317), who became man for our salvation as the "Son of God" (Page 304), coming to redirect humanity toward unity with the Father -- the reality personified by Moses (Chapter 8).
This vision is further expanded in the last two chapters. "The account of the Transfiguration of Jesus [...] interprets Peter's confession and takes it deeper, while at the same time connecting it with the mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection" (Pages 287-288). Both events -- the transfiguration and the confession -- are decisive moments for the earthly Jesus as they are for his disciples.
The true mission of the Messiah of God and the destiny of those who want to follow him are now definitively established. Both events become comprehensible to their full extent only if based on an organic view of the Old and New Testament. Jesus, the living Son of God, is the Messiah awaited by Israel who, through the scandal of the Cross, leads humanity into the "Kingdom of God" (Page 317) and to ultimate freedom (Chapter 9).
The Pope's book ends with an in-depth analysis of the titles that, according to the Gospels, Jesus used for himself (Chapter 10). Once again it becomes evident that only through reading the Scriptures as a united whole is one able to reveal the meaning of the three terms "Son of Man," "Son," and "I Am." This latter term is the mysterious name with which God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush. This name now allows it to be seen that Jesus is that same God. In all three titles "Jesus at once conceals and reveals the mystery of his person. [...] All three of these terms demonstrate how deeply rooted he is in the Word of God, Israel's Bible, the Old Testament. And yet all these terms receive their full meaning only in him -- it is as if they had been waiting for him" (Page 354).
Together with the man of faith, who seeks to explain the divine mystery above all to himself; together with the extremely refined theologian, who ranges effortlessly from the results of modern doctrinal analyses to those of their ancient precursors, the book also reveals the pastor, who truly succeeds in his attempt "to help foster [in the reader] the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ (Page xxiv), almost irresistibly drawing him into his own personal friendship with the Lord.
In this perspective the Pontiff is not afraid to denounce a world that, by excluding God and clinging only to visible and tangible realities, risks destroying itself in a self-centered quest for purely material well-being -- becoming deaf to the real call to the human being to become, through the Son, a son of God, and thereby to reach true freedom in the "Promised Land" of the "Kingdom of God."

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Taken from: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/synopsis-of-pope-s-book

Jesus: The Master Teacher

By Wayne Jackson

Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, conceded that Jesus of Nazareth was “a teacher” from God, as documented by the “signs” which he did (John 3:2). A wealthy young ruler approached the Lord asking, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). Even Jesus’ enemies addressed him as “Teacher” (Matthew 22:16, 24), though their use of the expression was not always genuine. The Lord is addressed as “Teacher” twenty-nine times in the Gospels. The noun (teacher) and verb (teach) combined are used of Jesus some ninety times.
Christ’s teaching was informative, logical, buttressed by Old Testament evidence, well-illustrated, documented by divine power, original, and uniquely authoritative (Matthew 7:28). When officers once were sent to arrest him, they returned to their superiors empty-handed, exclaiming: “Never man so spoke” (John 7:46). The Lord’s various methods of teaching beg for careful study.

Sermons

Formal sermons were rare in the Savior’s repertoire of teaching tools. There is, of course, the renowned Sermon on the Mount, in which Christ set forth principles for discipleship, dealing with such issues as:

• the blessedness (bliss, happiness) of holy living (Matthew 5:1-12);
• godly influence (vv. 13-16);
• the nature of the Mosaic law (vv. 17-20);
• moral issues (vv. 21-48);
• proper demeanor in worship (6:1-18);
• the dangers of materialism (vv. 19-24);
• the stress-free life (vv. 25-34);
• proper attitudes toward others and God (7:1-12);
• the consequences of wrongdoing (vv. 13-29).

The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25), delivered shortly before his death, dealt with:

• the impending destruction of Jerusalem (24:1-34);
• the second coming of Christ and the judgment (vv. 35-51);
• some parables and instruction concerning preparedness (25:1-46).

Conversations

Jesus was more of a conversationalist than an orator. He walked with people and talked with them. He sat and spoke of soul matters. He was interested in individuals, recognizing the value of each soul. G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945) was a noted British writer. One of his superb volumes was The Great Physician – The Method of Jesus with Individuals. In this book Morgan discussed the methodology of Jesus’ teaching to forty different persons—from John the Baptist to “doubting” Thomas.
The Lord’s nighttime conversation with Nicodemus allowed the teacher to introduce this Jewish ruler, a member of the Sanhedrin (cf. John 7:50), to the kingdom of God and the conditions of the born-anew process by which one enters that regime (John 3:3-5). And rich dividends it paid. The ruler defended the Lord before his peers (John 7:46-52) and assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the preparation of Christ’s body for burial (John 19:38-42). Faith—from the bud to the flower!
Consider the Lord’s conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (John 4:1-42). All alone at the well (his disciples gone into a nearby village to purchase food), Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman who had come for water. Christ overcame two cultural barriers—one gender, the other racial—by speaking in public to a non-Jewish female (vv. 9, 27). He led her gently into a conversation, intriguing her with the promise of some sort of water that could quench one’s thirst eternally. He established his prophetic authority by revealing details of her past that no ordinary person could possibly have known. The lady hastily returned to her village and spread the news of this remarkable man. An envoy came out to see Christ; they invited the Lord to their village. He stayed with them two days, and many believed in him. The impact of this event cannot be fully seen until one considers Philip’s evangelistic success after the establishment of the church (Acts 8:2ff). It all started with a seemingly casual conversation.

Conflicts

Christ was not a rabble-rouser. He was not, like far too many today, always spoiling for a fight. He was the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Nonetheless, the nature of his mission and message was such that it was bound to ignite controversy—and certainly it did. Great truths come to light in these engagements between God’s Son and those who adopted the position of adversaries.
A demoniac was brought to Jesus; the poor man was both mute and blind (Matthew 12:22ff). Christ cast out the evil spirit. The crowds were amazed and audibly wondered whether this might be “the son of David” (an expression for the Messiah). The Pharisees promptly charged him with operating by the power of Satan. Knowing their thoughts (a power only deity could possess), Jesus brilliantly refuted their allegation. With devastating deductive logic, proceeding from a well-known general truth to a specific point, Christ argued:

• Every kingdom divided against itself will come to ruin.
• Demons are servants of Satan.
• If, therefore, Christ (by Satan’s power) is casting out demons, then “the prince of demons” (v. 24) is undermining his own diabolic efforts! Not even he is that obtuse! By default, therefore, the Lord’s power over demons was shown to be divine—not satanic.

The eighth chapter of John is “hot” with conflict. The Lord had identified himself as “the light of the world” (v. 12), which implied those who refused his teaching were in darkness. The Jewish leaders disputed him. He informed them if they did not believe in him they would die in their sins (v. 24); he foretold they would kill him (v. 28). But he would maintain his integrity, “always” doing “the things pleasing” to his Father (v. 29). Christ’s attention was then directed toward those who had “believed” him, but with a superficial faith (vv. 31ff; especially v. 44). The interaction became intense. The careful student may note how often the debate went back and forth, “Jesus said . . . . They answered . . . .” (vv. 31, 33, etc.). The Jews claimed to be Abraham’s offspring; Christ denied they were “seed” in the loftiest sense of the expression. They slurred him, suggesting he was “born of fornication” (v. 41); he challenged them to “convict” him of sin (v. 46), but they could not. The debate concluded with the Lord’s magnificent claim that he existed eternally before Abraham was born—a claim of absolute deity (v. 58). They attempted to stone him but could not, because “his hour” had not arrived.

Pearls in Parables

During the early portion of his ministry Christ taught in open prose. As animosity against him intensified, he changed his method, employing the use of parables. Parables served a twofold function. They were delightful stories that, when explained, revealed important truths. Without explanation, however, the lessons remained obscure. Thus instruction could be conveyed to his disciples, yet concealed from his enemies.
The Savior’s parabolic instruction alone would have immortalized him as a teacher. For example:

• He issued a dozen parables regarding the coming kingdom, i.e., the church established on Pentecost (Acts 2)—for example its nature, growth, influence, diversity, blessings, etc. (Matthew 13).
• He demonstrated the preciousness of those lost, as evaluated by God (Luke 15).
• Christ emphasized the compassion of Heaven and the divine desire to bestow forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35).
• The Lord stressed the power of persistent prayer (Luke 18:1-8).
• Jesus taught the value of conscientious stewardship respecting one’s possessions, over against the curse of materialism (Luke 12:16-21).
• He urged the wise to be prepared for a day of accountability (Matthew 25:1-13).

These message-bearing stories have embalmed valuable truths across twenty centuries, blessing the lives of countless souls.

Conclusion

The benevolent influence of Jesus’ teaching is beyond reasonable dispute. Even the skeptical philosopher Ernest Renan (1823-92), who opposed Christian tradition on almost all points, stated: “Jesus will ever be the creator of the pure spirit of religion; the Sermon on the Mount will never be surpassed” (1991, 221).
As his critics, both ancient and modern, fade into the obscurity they so justly deserve, the Son of God, who adorned this earth with his presence two thousand years ago, will continue to exert his influence through a vast conglomerate of students around the globe, who will bless humanity because of the teacher at whose feet they have received instruction.

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Taken from: https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1497-jesus-the-master-teacher

Jesus Christ Truly Rose From The Dead

March 17, 2013

The Historicity of the Resurrection of Christ

By Mark Musser

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ (33 A.D.) is the most attested historical fact of the ancient world. In addition to the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it is also widely attested by Greco-Roman and Jewish writers. Closely related, history also confirms that the tomb of Jesus Christ on that first Easter morning was indeed empty. Every vested party knew where Jesus was buried after he died. Yet on Easter, the tomb was found empty, and nobody has ever been recovered.

In fact, the gospel of Matthew showcases that there was a still a heated debate going on between certain Jewish leaders and the Christians in the apostolic church over whether or not the disciples had stolen the body (Matthew 28:1-15). As such, both sides knew full well that the tomb was empty. More surprising, both sides also knew of the presence of Roman guards.

With a plethora of similar historical details connected to the empty tomb, Greco-Roman historian Michael Grant concedes, "The historian cannot justifiably deny the empty tomb ... if we apply the same sort of criteria that we would apply to any other ancient sources, then the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was indeed found empty."

Once the reality of the empty tomb sinks in, this stubborn fact substantially narrows down the historical possibilities of what transpired on Easter morning. Outside the resurrection itself of Jesus Christ, only a handful of other historical scenarios have been propagated in its place -- all of which can be routinely dismissed through a quick process of elimination.

One of the most popular answers to explain the empty tomb over the centuries is that the disciples stole Jesus's body during the night. The biggest problem with this supposition is it cannot explain the later behavior of the disciples, who became stalwart apostolic pillars in the church founded upon the preaching of the resurrection of Christ. The apostles lived very difficult lives. Many of them were martyred. If they had stolen the body of Christ, they would have known that Jesus was not raised from the dead. They thus would not have spent the rest of their lives sacrificing themselves for a lie.

Others have tried to implausibly advocate that the women who first visited the tomb Easter morning went to the wrong one. The very fact that the gospels admit that women were the first ones to visit the empty tomb gives historical authenticity to the entire account. In such a male-dominated world, no one in his right mind would ever want to acknowledge that women were the first to notice the tomb was empty -- especially when a new religion was essentially founded upon such an embarrassing fact.

Some have tried to suggest that Jesus's death was staged, or that it was a hoax. This is impossible for the simple reason that no one could have survived the cross. Jesus was beaten to a pulp and whipped out of his mind before he was crucified. Once he was nailed to the cross, his fate was sealed.

Others have tried to say that the resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples were hallucinations. Hallucinations, however, are individual occurrences by definition. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul wrote that whole groups of people, along with hundreds of eyewitnesses, saw the resurrected Lord. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul tells his followers in Corinth that more than 500 witnesses saw the resurrected Christ at one time, most of whom were still alive at the time of Paul's writing (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

Still others have tried to venture the idea the resurrection accounts were based on fictitious folklore. However, such legends typically require 200-300 years in order to be established -- which is precisely what did happen with all of the fanciful apocryphal gospels that have helped spur the modern interest in The Da Vinci Code. In great contrast, the apostles were preaching the resurrection of Christ from the very outset, and even some of the most radical skeptical scholars of the German Protestant Enlightenment, like Ferdinand Christian Bauer (1792-1860), admitted that Galatians, Romans, and the Corinthian epistles were penned by the apostle Paul -- who emphasized the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Bauer believed that much of the New Testament was written much later by pseudo-authors.

However, one of the most eminent ancient church historians of all time, English scholar J.B. Lightfoot (1829-1889), established very early dates for two important church fathers -- Clement and Ignatius -- both of whom quoted or alluded to most of the New Testament around the turn of the 1^st century. Sir William Ramsay (1851-1939) then established the surprising accuracy of the book of Acts, stating that Luke was one of the greatest historians of the ancient world. In 1976, John A.T. Robinson (1919-1983) demolished the entire edifice of Protestant Germany's skepticism by writing a book called Redating the New Testament. Robinson placed the entire New Testament back to the 1^st century because it everywhere presumes that the Jerusalem Temple was still standing. Since the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 A.D., the New Testament must have been written before that time.

This leaves modern man faced with the startling conclusion that Jesus Christ may have indeed been raised from the dead. A little more than a century ago, Dr. W.H. Griffith Thomas wrote an outstanding book entitled Christianity is Christ, where he strongly concluded that the resurrection of Jesus was one of the best-attested facts of the ancient world. Much later in the 20^th century, Josh McDowell compiled a vast array of Christian evidences that demand a verdict, and Lee Strobel has an excellent Case for Christ. In fact, Strobel persuasively contends that the very historical existence of Christianity cannot be explained apart from the historicity of the resurrection of Christ.

Just because the resurrection of Christ cannot be placed in an experimental scientific test tube does not mean that it is an irrational fairy tale. In 1 Corinthians 15, one of the longest chapters in the New Testament, the apostle Paul strings together a series of arguments for the resurrection of the dead -- everything from the authority of the Old Testament to historical eyewitness accounts to his own apostolic authority and personal life -- and even for the sake of morality itself. Paul even points out that nature itself teaches the resurrection of the dead every year a farmer plants his garden anew (1 Corinthians 15:36).

It was Jewish German scholar Karl Lowith (1897-1973) who acutely observed, "The Christian hope is almost rational, for it rests on faith in an accomplished fact." However, because the apostolic writers depicted the historical events of the gospels as a decisive once-for-all cosmic salvation event, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ invariably offends, contradicts, and upsets "the normal historical consciousness of both ancient and modern times." The Christian faith offended the classical mind because it rendered a onetime historical event with ultimate significance. The Christian faith offends the modern mind because it exempts its own specific history of salvation from the generalized history of multicultural godlessness. Such unforgiveable offences are why the resurrection of Christ will often continue to be ignored and attacked in spite of its historicity.

Mark Musser is a missionary/pastor and a contributing writer for the Cornwall Alliance, a coalition of clergy, theologians, religious leaders, scientists, academics, and policy experts committed to bringing a balanced biblical view of stewardship to the critical issues of environment and development. Mark is also the author of two books, Nazi Oaks: The Green Sacrifice of the Judeo-Christian Worldview in the Holocaust, which has been recently expanded, updated, and republished, and Wrath or Rest: Saints in the Hands of an Angry God, a commentary focusing on the warning passages in the book of Hebrews.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/03/the_historicity_of_the_resurrection_of_christ.html#ixzz2O1tKjEu0


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Taken from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/03/the_historicity_of_the_resurrection_of_christ.html

‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'



BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 8 February 2012

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Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I would like to reflect with you on the prayer of Jesus when death was imminent, pausing to think about everything St Mark and St Matthew tell us. The two Evangelists record the prayer of the dying Jesus not only in Greek, in which their accounts are written but, because of the importance of these words, also in a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic. In this way they have passed down not only the content but also the sound that this prayer had on Jesus’ lips: let us really listen to Jesus’ words as they were. At the same time, the Evangelists describe to us the attitude of those present at the crucifixion who did not understand — or did not want to understand — this prayer. St Mark wrote, as we have heard: “when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”. (15:33-34). In the structure of the account, the prayer, Jesus’ cry, is raised at the end of the three hours of darkness that shrouded all the earth from midday until three o’clock in the afternoon. These three hours of darkness are in turn the continuation of a previous span of time, also of three hours, that began with the crucifixion of Jesus. The Evangelist Mark, in fact, tells us that “it was the third hour, when they crucified him” (15:25). All the times given in the narrative, Jesus’ six hours on the Cross are divided into two parts of equal length. The mockery of various groups which displays their scepticism and confirms their disbelief fits into the first three hours, from nine o’clock in the morning until midday. St Mark writes: “Those who passed by derided him” (15:29); “So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes” (15:31); “those who were crucified with him also reviled him” (15:32). In the following three hours, from midday until “the ninth hour” [three o’clock in the afternoon], the Evangelist spoke only of the darkness that had come down over the entire earth; only darkness fills the whole scene without any references to people’s movements or words. While Jesus is drawing ever closer to death, there is nothing but darkness that covers “the whole land”. The cosmos also takes part in this event: the darkness envelops people and things, but even at this moment of darkness God is present, he does not abandon them. In the biblical tradition darkness has an ambivalent meaning: it is a sign of the presence and action of evil, but also of a mysterious presence and action of God who can triumph over every shadow. In the Book of Exodus, for example, we read “The Lord said to Moses: “Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud” (19:9); and, further: “the people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was” (20:21). And in his discourses in Deuteronomy, Moses recounts: “And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom” (4:11); you “heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire” (5,23). In the scene of the crucifixion of Jesus the darkness engulfs the earth and the Son of God immerses himself in the shadows of death in order to bring life, with his act of love. Returning to St Mark’s narrative, in the face of the insults of various categories of people, in the face of the pall of darkness that shrouds everything, at the moment when he faces death, Jesus, with the cry of his prayer, shows that with the burden of suffering and death in which there seems to be abandonment, the absence of God, Jesus is utterly certain of the closeness of the Father who approves this supreme act of love, the total gift of himself, although the voice from on high is not heard, as it was on other occasions. In reading the Gospels we realize that in other important passages on his earthly existence Jesus had also seen the explanatory voice of God associated with the signs of the Father’s presence and approval of his journey of love. Thus in the event that follows the Baptism in the Jordan, at the opening of the heavens, the words of the Father had been heard: “Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11). Then in the Transfiguration, the sign of the cloud was accompanied with these words: “this is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Mk 9:7). Instead, at the approach of the death of the Crucified One, silence falls, no voice is heard but the Father’s loving gaze is fixed on his Son’s gift of love. However, what is the meaning of Jesus’ prayer, of the cry he addresses to the Father: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”: doubt about his mission, about the Father’s presence? Might there not be in this prayer the knowledge that he had been forsaken? The words that Jesus addresses to the Father are the beginning of Psalm 22[21], in which the Psalmist expresses to God his being torn between feeling forsaken and the certain knowledge of God’s presence in his People’s midst. He, the Psalmist, prays: “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (vv. 3-4). The Psalmist speaks of this “cry” in order to express the full suffering of his prayer to God, seemingly absent: in the moment of anguish his prayer becomes a cry. This also happens in our relationship with the Lord: when we face the most difficult and painful situations, when it seems that God does not hear, we must not be afraid to entrust the whole weight of our overburdened hearts to him, we must not fear to cry out to him in our suffering, we must be convinced that God is close, even if he seems silent. Repeating from the Cross the first words of Psalm 22[21] “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” — “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46); uttering the words of the Psalm, Jesus prays at the moment of his ultimate rejection by men, at the moment of abandonment; yet he prays, with the Psalm, in the awareness of God’s presence, even in that hour when he is feeling the human drama of death. However a question arises within us: how is it possible that such a powerful God does not intervene to save his Son from this terrible trial? It is important to understand that Jesus’ prayer is not the cry of one who meets death with despair, nor is it the cry of one who knows he has been forsaken. At this moment Jesus makes his own the whole of Psalm 22[21], the Psalm of the suffering People of Israel. In this way he takes upon himself not only the sin of his people, but also that of all men and women who are suffering from the oppression of evil and, at the same time, he places all this before God’s own heart, in the certainty that his cry will be heard in the Resurrection: “The cry of extreme anguish is at the same time the certainty of an answer from God, the certainty of salvation — not only for Jesus himself, but for ‘many’” (Jesus of Nazareth, II, pp. 213-214 Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2011). In this prayer of Jesus are contained his extreme trust and his abandonment into God’s hands, even when God seems absent, even when he seems to be silent, complying with a plan incomprehensible to us. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read: “in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (n. 603). His is a suffering in communion with us and for us, which derives from love and already bears within it redemption, the victory of love. The bystanders at the foot of the Cross of Jesus fail to understand, thinking that his cry is a supplication addressed to Elijah. In the scene they seek to assuage his thirst in order to prolong his life and to find out whether Elijah will truly come to his aid, but with a loud cry Jesus’ earthly life comes to an end, as well as their wish. At the supreme moment, Jesus gives vent to his heart’s grief, but at the same time makes clear the meaning of the Father’s presence and his consent to the Father’s plan of salvation of humanity. We too have to face ever anew the “today” of suffering of God’s silence — we express it so often in our prayers — but we also find ourselves facing the “today” of the Resurrection, of the response of God who took upon himself our sufferings, to carry them together with us and to give us the firm hope that they will be overcome (cf. Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi, nn. 35-40). Dear friends, let us lay our daily crosses before God in our prayers, in the certainty that he is present and hears us. Jesus’ cry reminds us that in prayer we must surmount the barriers of our “ego” and our problems and open ourselves to the needs and suffering of others. May the prayer of Jesus dying on the Cross teach us to pray lovingly for our many brothers and sisters who are oppressed by the weight of daily life, who are living through difficult moments, who are in pain, who have no word of comfort; let us place all this before God’s heart, so that they too may feel the love of God who never abandons us. Many thanks.
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APPEAL In the past few weeks a wave of cold weather and freezing temperatures has hit some parts of Europe, giving rise to great hardship and immense damage, as we know. I would like to express my closeness to the peoples affected by this intense bad weather, while I ask for prayers for the victims and their families. At the same time, I encourage solidarity, so that those affected by these tragic events may be given generous help. * * * I greet all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including groups from England, Ireland, Norway and the United States of America. I extend a special welcome to the many students who are here, and I pray that your studies may serve to deepen your knowledge and love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Whatever darkness you experience in your lives, may you always remain firm in faith, hope and love.
May God bless all of you!

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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Taken from: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20120208_en.html

"... when we profess a Christ without the Cross… we aren't disciples of the Lord.”



CWN - March 14, 2013


Celebrating Mass with the cardinals who had elected him, Pope Francis described the essence of the Church’s mission simply: “To walk, to build, to witness.”
The new Pope celebrated the Mass Pro Ecclesia with the cardinal-electors on Thursday afternoon in the Sistine Chapel. In his brief homily, delivered in Italian, he reflected on the three aspects of the Church’s work.
“Our life is a path,” the Pope said. “When we stop walking there is something that isn’t right.”
“To build is to construct the Church,” he continued, adding that the Church is built of “living stones, stones that are anointed by the Holy Spirit.”
Regarding witness, Pope Francis said: “We can walk when we want to, we can build many things, but if we do not witness to Jesus Christ then it doesn't matter. We might become a philanthropic NGO but we wouldn't be the Church, the Bride of the Lord.”
The path of the Church always entails difficulties, the Pope said, and Church leaders should be prepared to embrace them. He explained that “when we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess a Christ without the Cross… we aren't disciples of the Lord.” The Pontiff warned the cardinals that in this case: “We are worldly. We are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.”
Pope Francis concluded the first homily of his pontificate by saying: “I wish that all of us, after these grace-filled days, might have the courage, yes, the courage to walk in the Lord's presence with the Cross of the Lord.” He asked for the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, to assist the prelates in carrying out their duties.
In the Prayers of the Faithful, the cardinals prayed for the new Pope and also for Benedict XVI, “that he may serve the Church while hidden to the world, in a life dedicated to prayer and meditation.”
Additional sources for this story

 Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

 •To Walk, to Build, to Witness, Always with the Cross of Christ (VIS)
 •Pope Francis: Mass pro Ecclesia (Vatican Radio)
 •Pope Francis: 1st homily (full text from Vatican Radio)

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Taken from: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=17321

The Toledoth in Matthew 1:1





The Toledoth in Matthew 1:1, supposedly the only one in the New Testament, seems at first to contradict the thesis of P.J. Wiseman that Toledoth are colophon endings, rather than headings. Though it does conform nicely with his argument that Toledoth refer to "ancestors" not "descendants".But the Gospel of Matthew is, like so many other Bible books, chiastically structured, with the first division coming at 1:17. In other words Matthew 1:1 chiastically connects with 1:17. And, guess what, "generations" is mentioned 4 times in 1:17.
So that is our colophon, whereas 1:1 is just a link (perhaps Wiseman's 'catch-line' theory) to 1:17.

Wiseman must not have recognised 1:17 for what it is. It may open up a whole new field.THE ‘GENERATIONS’ OF JESUS CHRIST

T

he AMAIC has written extensively about the structure of the Book of Genesis, based on the discovery of Air Commodore P. J. Wiseman, that Genesis comprises eleven clearly discernible divisions stating:

“These are the generations of …”

(Hebrew toledôt, or toledoth, “generations”). See e.g. our “Tracing the Hand of Moses in Genesis” (http://www.specialtyinterests.net/Tracing_the_hand_of_moses_in_genesis.html). These toledoth are actually the patriarchal signatures (Adam, Noah, Terah, Isaac, etc.), written at the end of each respective family history. Thus Moses was the editor only, not author, of Genesis. Though he substantially wrote the Pentateuch (the first five books).

Now Matthew Buckley of Queensland, Australia , who is well familiar with the toledoth theory, has wondered why, then, the toledoth in Matthew’s Gospel (the only apparent toledoth in the New Testament) stands right at the beginning of Matthew (1:1):

“The generations of Jesus the Messiah …”

and not at the end of a section.

That is a very good question, as we have maintained that the toledoth is an ending (a colophon), rather than a beginning (against biblical critics who insist that the toledoth is a heading, or introduction).

Thanks for the question, Matthew. Concerning the answer, we are grateful to the findings of a recent study (to be discussed at a later time) of the structure of Matthew’s Gospel, according to which the first natural division in this Gospel occurs at verse 1:17. And what do we find there? We find that key word, “generations” (Greek geneai, as Matthew’s Gospel is now in Greek). And it occurs there FOUR TIMES. This, then (verse 1:17), must be the real toledoth of this Gospel. Thus the colophon is situated exactly where it should be (according to a right understanding of the toledoth theory), at the end of a natural section. The mention of “generations” in verse 1:1, right at the beginning - that Matthew Buckley had wondered about - is therefore merely a ‘catch-line’ (a common feature in ancient tablets), serving to link the beginning of the text (1:1) to its colophon ending (1:17). See e.g. our http://genesis1.blog.com (on the “Six Days” of Genesis), where is found the exact same situation, in which the title ‘catch-line’ of Genesis 1:1 is repeated in the ‘catch-line’ of the colophon: “… the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 2:4), with which it forms a literary link.

So, it looks like we may indeed be on the right track with our P. J. Wiseman-inspired toledoth theory.

GENESIS 1 AS A BOOK
The Book of Genesis is comprised of a series of family histories (Hebrew tôledôt) of the great patriarchs, from Adam to Joseph.
Genesis therefore is made up of a series of books, or diaries; the first of which covers verses 1:1-2:4 and is called The Book of the Heavens and the Earth; the title being taken from its opening line: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). The Septuagint in fact tells us that this section of Genesis was a written account, or book (Hebrew sêpher): “God made the written account of the origin of the heavens and the earth”. In other words, God was not creating the universe during those Six Days. He had already done that in the beginning, all at once. That is why Exodus 20:11 and 31:17, when referring to God’s activity during the Six Days, do not once use the Hebrew word for create (bara), but use the far more flexible in meaning, asah. (See ‘The Nature of God’s Creative Act’ above).
What God apparently was doing was writing a book for an already existing Adam and Eve. It was like a day-class with God as Teacher. The Almighty was doing what He would later do on Mount Sinai, in the presence of Moses: making a revelation and writing down on tablets what He wanted to be preserved in perpetuity, engraved in stone.

Two Approaches to Genesis 1

Regarding the meaning of the ‘Six Days’ (Gk. Hexaëmeron), debate has tended to divide commentators into two camps, namely:

1. Those who favour the view that the world was created during six real, 24-hour days. This is often referred to as the literalist approach, because the Hebrew word for ‘day’ (yom) is taken in its literal meaning of a 24-hour day;
2. Those who favour an allegorical interpretation, e.g. the ‘theistic’ evolutionists, who might argue, for instance, that the ‘Six Days’ could refer allegorically to geological periods of millions of years. Or some other such non-literal interpretation.

There is no doubt that by far the majority of the Fathers favoured the so-called literalist interpretation of the Hexaëmeron. We can name here such luminaries as Sts. Basil, Jerome, Chrysostom, Ephrem. (The Syro-Arabic, Jewish and Persian commentators also definitely favoured the view that God created the world during Six Days).
But not all the Fathers of the Church accepted this interpretation. The famous Alexandrian School, which included of course St. Clement, and the erudite Origen, preferred a more allegorical approach - which, however, needs to be distinguished from that of the ‘theistic’evolutionists. Origen ridiculed the notion of a creation that lasted during six days. And even the proponents of this approach have to concede that there are significant problems with it, for example:

• How could there be “evenings” and “mornings” on the first three days if the sun was not created until the fourth day?
• Why would Almighty God need to cease from His work because of the turning of the world on its axis?
• Etc.

Not to mention the metaphysical difficulty discussed above of how God’s creative act could have had temporal duration; directly in conflict, it seems, with the quotation from Sirach 18:1. Omnia simul, God created all things at once!
The fact that the so-called literalist approach has not been fully able to deal with all the contingencies of the Genesis text - despite the weight behind it of so many Church Fathers (amongst whom, it should be noted, there was nevertheless great variety of interpretation) - could lead us to conclude that in this case there may be need to, as Pope Leo XIII said, go “beyond” the Fathers [in Providentissimus Deus, 1893, II, C, d. Emphasis added]:
"But [the expositor of the Bible] must not on that account [i.e., of duty to “follow the footsteps” of the Fathers “with all reverence”, # c.] consider that it is forbidden, when just cause exists, to push inquiry and exposition beyond what the Fathers have done; provided he carefully observes the rule so wisely laid down by St. Augustine - not to depart from the literal and obvious sense, except only where reason makes it untenable or necessity requires [De. Gen ad Litt., viii, 7, 13]; a rule to which it is more necessary to adhere strictly in these times, when the thirst for novelty and unrestrained freedom of thought make the danger of error most real and proximate".
Turning now from the literalist to the allegorical approach, we can say that well-known from ‘creationist’ literature are the problems encountered by the ‘theistic’ evolutionists and others. As said above, the Hebrew word yom is clearly pointing to a 24-hour day, which fact Genesis 1 reinforces by adding “evenings” and “mornings”. But the evolutionist approach cannot come to grips with - account for - any of this.

The Solution

Certainly there is merit in some of the things that both sides have put forward. But, insofar as they have generally insisted that Genesis 1 is about the duration of God’s work of creation, they have all been barking up the wrong tree. The Bible and the Church’s omnia simul tells us that there was no duration because God is outside time.
As St. Augustine rightly perceived, Genesis is a revelation, by the Creator to the creature, of His works of creation already completed.
Sts. Thomas and Albert the Great thought that Augustine’s view here was the best of all interpretations of the text. Apparently, therefore, God was the direct author of Genesis 1, and it was He who “finished” (Genesis 2:1) writing the series of tablets - not “finished” the creation of the universe, as is often thought - just as later He “finished” (Exodus 31:18) the “two tablets” that He gave to Moses on Mount Sinai.
One usually finds that the proponents of the literalist interpretation of Genesis 1 are not all that literal. And the problem is their general ignorance of the Hebrew language. They get right the meaning of the Hebrew word, yom, as a 24-hour day. But, because they cannot cope with the precise meaning of the other important Hebrew words used in the text, they come up with the theory that God was creating the universe over six such days.