Transformed from Glory to Glory

II Corinthians 3

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Paul bears witness not only to their love but also to their good works, since by their behavior they can demonstrate to everybody the high worth of their teacher. What letters would have done to gain respect for the apostle, the Corinthians achieve by their life and behavior. The virtues of disciples commend the teacher more than any letter.

– St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians, 6.1

By the “ministration of death” [St Paul] means the law. … he did not say, “which causes death” but the “ministration of death”; for it ministers unto, but was not the parent of, death; for that which causes death is sin; … For the [law] more distinctly revealed the evil, and punished it.

– St John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians

We are being transformed from glory to glory … we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. … St Paul draws a contrast between the glory of the Old Covenant and the greater glory of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant Law, which was given in glory, is described as the letter that kills, a ministration of death, engraven in stone, a glory that faded. The New Covenant is the ministration of the spirit that gives life, a ministration of righteousness, written on the fleshy tablets of our hearts, a glory that is eternal. The fading glory of the Old Covenant is illustrated by the story of Moses at Mt Sinai.

Exodus 34:29 It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35 the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.

St Paul comments on the transfiguration of Moses in II Corinthians 3:

But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. … For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

Therefore having such a hope, we …. are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

We are being transformed from glory to glory … Moses was transfigured by God’s presence at Mt Sinai. He became a visibly changed person! So startling was the glory that shone from Moses’ face that the people were afraid. But the glory that shone from Moses’ face was temporary, impermanent and fading. … In the New Covenant, with an unveiled face we. all of us, behold the glory of the Lord, the glory that does not fade, the glory of life and righteousness. We behold His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14; 14:9). We behold His glory in worship, in the Mass, where Jesus is specially present to us in Word and Sacrament (Matthew 18:20). We contemplate and partake of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament where we behold Him in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:31,34). And we are being continuously transformed into that same image, transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are being transformed from glory to glory … How can we not be transfigured by being in God’s presence? How can we fail to be transformed by partaking of Him, the glory of the only begotten of the Father? We should be transformed in a way that is made visible, showing forth the glory of God imparted to us and at work in us. There is no transforming power more effectual than the Holy Spirit. who brought forth the creation of the world (Genesis 1), made of us new creations in Holy Baptism, and who is transforming us from glory to greater glory.

JSH+

Zion, the joy of the whole earth

Psalm 48

GREAT is the LORD, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill. ….
The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth ….
We wait for thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. …
Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
Walk about Sion, and go round about her; and tell the towers thereof.
Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell them that come after.
For this God is our God for ever and ever: he shall be our guide unto death.

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised … the hill of Sion is a fair place and the joy of the whole earth. … In Hebrews 12 we read of the Church, especially in worship: 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. ... In worship we come to Zion, the joy of the whole earth.

The heavenly Mt. Zion… the joy of the whole earth. That joy is experienced - for me at least - every Sunday on that small part of the earth known as St John’s in Chelsea, Alabama. The joy of God’s presence, the joy of worship, the joy of forgiveness, the joy of our union and communion with Jesus Christ, the joy of our salvation, the joy of God’s lovingkindness, the joy of our assembling together … it is a joy quite remarkable. In a time of trial and testing we have entered into joy of the Lord.

None of us saw these trials coming or knew precisely the right course to take. It was, however, a summons to faithfulness. For the Church it is a time of unveiling, of those trials which reveal who we really are and what life is really in us. We are to be a prophetic people who do not merely react to the season of testing we are in, but live as those already experiencing the season of restoration that is at work in the faithful through Jesus Christ our Lord. Faithfulness and resilient joy in the saving power of the Gospel is our testimony in the midst of trial. St John’s has responded with faithfulness, courage and grace. I rejoice in the Lord that He has planted us in a tradition strong enough to be a bulwark in times of trial. Mark well Ziion’s bulwarks, set your affections on them … God’s saving presence to us in Jesus Christ our Lord; God’s innumerable promises to us; God’s watchful providence over us; God’s covenant with us … for this God is our God for ever and ever.

Our worship in Zion engages us as human beings, in both body and soul. Our spiritual formation takes place in worship in what say and do, through our inward disposition and through our outward demeanor. In heavenly worship God awakens in us the truth of our life and the joy of our salvation, so that we learn them “by heart,” that is, with one's whole being: with the body in what we say and do, with the memory which fixes and holds these truths, with our understanding which more and more fully comprehends them, with our will which puts these truths into practice. Heavenly worship is entirely oriented toward the fullness life and joy in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Indeed, GREAT is the LORD, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill. …. The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth!

JSH+

Preaching Christ and Him crucified!

I Corinthians 2

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. …Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Prompted by the Lord's command, Paul stayed with the Corinthians for eighteen months and taught the Word of God among them. It is because of this that he treats them with great confidence and loving affection, sometimes warning and sometimes censuring them, and sometimes treating them fondly as if they were his own children.

*Ambrosiaster (c. 366-384), Commentary on Paul's Epistles, Proem

*Ambrosiaster, the name given to the author of a commentary on all the Epistles of St. Paul, with the exception of that to the Hebrews.

Proclaiming to you the testimony of God. … For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. St Paul founded the church at Corinth on his second missionary journey (50-52 AD). At Corinth St Paul stayed with Priscilla and Aquila (fellow tent-makers) and went to a local synagogue, bearing witness that Jesus was the Christ. (A leader of another synagogue, Crispis, along with all his household, believed in the Lord.) During his 18-month missionary sojourn in Corinth, many believed and were baptized. (See Acts 18:1-11.) When St Paul was on his third missionary journey (55-57 AD) in Ephesus, he received a letter from Chloe’s household in Corinth that the church at Corinth was being torn apart by party divisions: “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”

St Paul lovingly admonishes the Corinthians that the way that leads to true wisdom is the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God’s grace is at work in the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no substitute for this Gospel … It is wisdom that is not of this world; it is the wisdom and power of God unto salvation.

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

St Paul desires to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. That is, St Paul preached Christ despite the ignominy and reproach of the cross, which the proud and wise of this world regard as foolishness. St Paul comprehends in this Gospel of Jesus Christ God’s wisdom unto salvation. This does not mean that St Paul preached nothing else with regard to Christ except the cross. In this epistle to Corinth alone St Paul addressed the divisions and conflicts, the abuse of freedom, moral failures, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, the disorder in liturgical worship, the misuse of spiritual gifts and the necessity of rightly understanding the meaning and importance of the resurrection. All of St Paul’s preaching flows from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

The church at Corinth may have been a mess, but it was still the Church of Jesus Christ, notwithstanding its many sins and shortcomings. St Paul did not give up on the work of God’s grace there … “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II Cor 11:2). Now that should be an encouragement to clergy and laity alike!

JSH+

I will give you an heart of flesh

Ezekiel 36:22-28

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel, a descendant of Aaron, was himself a priest as well as a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. The name, Ezekiel, means “God strengthens” or “May God strengthen.” In 597 BC Ezekiel was one of about 8,000 Judahites taken as exiles to Babylon. Ezekiel’s mission to the exiles in Babylon was to prepare for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC and 70 years of exile from the Jerusalem.

Psalm 137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

Ezekiel reminds the exiles that their sufferings are not a result of Jehovah’s lack of fidelity to His covenant … Their exile from the Promised Land and their suffering are a consequence of their sins, both individual and corporate, their refusal to repent of their sins and their failure to keep faith with their covenant with the God of Israel.

Ezekiel 1-32 addresses the destruction of Judah and the surrounding nations … Ezekiel 33-48 speaks of a new exodus, a new conquest of the land and the rebuilding of the Temple. In Ezekiel 36:22ff promises to restore Israel “for mine holy name’s sake … I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen.”

God promises …

• to sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean

• from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you

• a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you

• I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh

• I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers

• ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

This anticipates the coming Messianic age and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1ff). God’s spirit/breath that gives life (Genesis 2:7 to Adam; John 20:22 to His Body, the Church) will create a new people and fill them with new life. They shall be made new creations by water and the Spirit and be given a heart of flesh. And “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water” … “this he spoke of the Spirit” (John 7:37f). This life-giving water will nourish in God’s people the graces of a faithful people … walking in God’s statutes, keeping of God’s judgments.

JSH+

O Lord, you have searched me and known me

PSALM 139
1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue,
but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before,
and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 even there shall thy hand lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day:
the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins:
thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvellous are thy works;
and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret,
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
when I awake, I am still with thee.

Psalm 139 is one of my favorite Psalms. The Psalms in general, and Psalm 139 in particular, are meant to be pondered, to be read with some deliberation. In Psalm 139 considerable care is taken to slow the pace of our reading … this is often done by making multifaceted statements on the same subject so that our thoughts are not permitted to move on too quickly.

Psalm 139 might have simply stated, “O Lord, you know me so thoroughly!” (God’s knowledge of us is indeed thoroughgoing - and frightening!) Here, however, the Psalmist writes. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me,” … Let me count the ways.

- You have searched me
- You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
- You understand my thought from afar.
- You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
- You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
- Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

The Psalmist wants to arrest our attention and fix our thoughts on the conviction that God knows us intimately — when we sit down. lie down and rise up, in our paths and ways, in our thoughts and words. … “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

This wonderful and high knowledge is echoed the BCP’s introductory invocation of the Mass, the Collect for Purity:

ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

In this Collect the same idea is expressed three times … to God our hearts are open, our desires known, no secrets are hid.

In Psalm 139 God’s knowledge of us is so complete that that there is no place we can go to escape His omnipresent Spirit.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.

God knows our very substance, having formed our inward parts, formed us in our mother's womb. His eyes saw our unformed substance and in “Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me,when as yet there was not one of them.” … “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”

The Psalmist, ever conscious of God having searched and known him, takes his refuge in God’s saving knowledge of him. He would have God try his heart that God would help him see and remove anything unwholesome. And he prays that God would ever lead him in the way of everlasting life. Here again we hear the echoes of Psalm 139 in the Collect for Purity:

ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

JSH+

Elijah, the waters of the Jordan and ascending into heaven

II Kings 2:1 And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be still.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
7 Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” 10 He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elijah, the waters of the Jordan and ascending into heaven … In II Kings 2 we are told that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal, to Bethel, Jericho and then to the Jordan. Three times Elijah entreats Elisha to leave him, three times Elisha refuses to leave. When they traveled down to Bethel and then Jericho they were met at each stop by the “sons of the prophets” … likely the two communities of prophets rescued from Jezebel by the prophet Obadiah (I Kings 18:4,13). When Elijah and Elisha came to the Jordan River, Elijah took his mantle, struck the waters of the Jordan which divided and Elijah and Elisha passed through the waters of the Jordan on dry ground.

Elijah, the waters of the Jordan and ascending into heaven … The parting of the Jordan River and passing through the waters on dry ground is reminiscent of two other similar events in the life of Israel:

• Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea … Israel was baptized in the Red Sea (I Cor 10) on her journey to the Promised Land

• Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River on her entrance into Canaan, a reenactment of the baptism in the Red Sea … those who crossed the Jordan were the descendants of the generation of Israel who perished in the forty years wandering in the wilderness … They were led by Joshua (Yeshuah or Jesus) through the waters of the Jordan (a baptism) before entering Canaan

Elijah passes through the waters of the Jordan before being taken up into heaven. This is a type of Holy Baptism in which the newly baptized is raised up to newness of life (Romans 6), raised up to heaven where our lives are hid with Christ in God (Colossians 2 and 3). As the Church Fathers have written:

Origen … We must observe again that Elijah, when he was about to be carried into heaven by a whirlwind, … having taken his mantle … struck the waters with it … So he was made more fit to be taken up to heaven, having been baptized in the Jordan. For has not Paul actually called Baptism the miraculous crossing of the water? (Co Jo VI 46)

** Origen sees in the Jordan River a figure of Jesus Himself. To plunge into the Jordan is to immerse oneself in Christ … Jesus is the river “which rejoices the city of God. … This is why those who wash themselves in Him are delivered from the shame of Egypt and become capable of being raised to heaven …”

St Cyril of Jerusalem … Elijah is taken up, but not without water. He begins by crossing the Jordan, and it is after this that the chariot carries him to heaven. (Mystagogic Cat. XXXIII 33A)
Gregory of Nyssa … described Baptism as “what carries us to heaven.”

Elijah passes through the waters of the Jordan and is carried up to heaven. The story of Elijah, passing through the waters and ascending to heaven does not end here. … The spirit and power of Elijah, the waters of the Jordan and the opening of heaven are also at work in the NT. When John the Baptist came baptizing at the same location of the Jordan River (Luke 1:13-17; John 1:19-28; Matthew 3:13), he came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17 and Matthew 11). After he baptized Jesus in the waters of the Jordan, Jesus came up out of the waters and “lo the heavens were opened unto Him” (Matthew 3). And as it was with Jesus so also it is with us — in Him, through the waters of Holy Baptism, the heavens are opened unto us!

JSH+

Pentecost

O SING unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things.
Psalm 98.1

Christ, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Acts 2.33

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Galatians 4.6

We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
Are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3.18

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

THE COLLECT.

GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by the sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Acts 2. 1.

WHEN the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Pentecost OT background: Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks

Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, is one of three feasts - feast of Unleavened Bread, feast of Booths - which required all adult males to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to present themselves before the Lord. These three feasts were part of seven annual feasts which celebrated God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt and God’s blessing of His covenant people in the Promised Land.

• Exodus 23:14 “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

• Numbers 28:26 ‘Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

• Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year, then, all your males shall appear before the LORD, your God, in the place which he will choose: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, and at the feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; 17 but each with his own gift, in proportion to the blessing which the LORD, your God, has given to you.

The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost was the offering of the first of the wheat harvest. The feast starts 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. On that fiftieth day Israel was to present the grain offerings to the Lord.

To put this in a NT context … Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of FIrstfruits. His Ascension to the right hand of God took place 40 days later. On the 50th day after the Resurrection Jesus sent the promised Comforter, the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. On Pentecost the “firstfruits" of the Church were gathered in through the work of the Holy Spirit.

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A House for My Name

II Samuel 18 Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19 And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And this is the custom of man, O Lord God. 20 Again what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God! 21 For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know. 22 For this reason You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? 24 For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God. 25 Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken, 26 that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You. 27 For You, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You. 28 Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant. 29 Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord God, have spoken; and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

I and II Samuel were originally one book. These were combined with I and II Kings - also originally one book - in the Septuagint which divided the books into I-IV Kingdoms, later changed to I-IV Kings in the Vulgate. I Samuel continues the story of the judges, Samuel being the last judge. (Samuel also anointed the first two kings, Saul and David.) Of I and II Samuel one commentator wrote: the author pictures “Samuel as the man of prayer; Saul as the king who played the fool; and David as the man after God’s heart.”

II Samuel follows immediately upon the death of Saul with David becoming King of Judah (chapter 2) and then over all Israel (chapter 5). II Samuel may be divided into three parts: chapters 1-10 David’s early success; 11-12 David’s grievous sins; 13-24 David’s struggles and sorrows.

II Samuel 7’s central theme is the building of a “house”: for God and for David. (“House” is mentioned 15 times in chapter 7.) At the beginning of chapter 7, David, at rest from his enemies and living in his house of cedar in Jerusalem, wants to build a house for God. God comes to Nathan in a dream telling him that the Lord will make a house for David, but David’s son, not David, will build a “house for My Name.” The house or dynasty the Lord will make for David will endure forever. God’s unfailing promise of an eternal kingdom for David’s descendant St Peter applies to Jesus in his sermon on Pentecost:

Acts 2:29 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

As with the promises made to Abraham and Abraham’s seed, so God’s promises to David and to David’s Son, Jesus Christ, made thousands of years ago, are fixed, certain and unfailing … despite the shortcomings and failures of men, the plots and schemes of Satan, the scourges of men and nature. All of God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us” (II Cor 1:20). In Jesus Christ we are made partakers of God’s promises, of forgiveness and redemption, of eternal life. We rightly ask:“Who am I, O Lord God …? … For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness … .

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Questions, Questions, Questions!

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Questions, questions, questions! We have many questions about our faith and hope, especially in times of sufferings,trial, crisis, epidemics … and persecutions. Foundations of our faith shaken, confidence wavering,we struggle to understand: “I do believe, help [me in] my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). St Paul asks a number of questions in Romans 8, questions, no doubt, which have been raised amidst sufferings and persecutions. Questions asked, questions to be answered … answered with confident hope in God’s love for us through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Question: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

In Jesus Christ, God is for us … In Holy Baptism we are baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection ... we are made partakers of Jesus’ victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Question: He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

In Genesis 22 God spared Abraham’s son, Isaac, but provided Himself, the lamb for sacrifice. God, Who for our sake, did not spare his own Son the suffering of His passion and death. This same Jesus, by whom all things were made, has been appointed heir of all things (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2). Jesus suffered and died to make us co-heirs with Him … “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

Question: Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? Who is the one who condemns?

Transforming St Paul’s answers to these questions (verses 33-34) into questions highlights his confident and triumphant response:

• Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?

• Shall God who justifies us bring a charge against His elect?

• Who is the one who condemns?

• Shall Jesus Christ who died for our sins condemn us?

• Shall Jesus Christ who ever lives to make intercession for us at the right hand of God condemn us? (See also Hebrews 7:25)

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Question: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

St Paul is persuaded that neither

• Death

• Life

• Angels

• Things present

• Things to come

• Powers

• Height

• Depth

• Any other created thing

will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is no condition of our existence, nothing in all creation, which shall, or can, separate us from God’s saving love in Jesus Christ.

"Spiritual souls are not separated by torments, but carnal souls are sometimes separated by idle gossip. The cruel sword cannot separate the former, but carnal affections remove the latter. Nothing hard breaks down spiritual men, but even flattering words corrupt the carnal." Caesarius of Arles [470-542], Sermons 82.2

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Today, Ascension Day

From Caroline Divine John Cosin's sermon the Ascension (edited)

Acts 1:9-11 … And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel.Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.

Jesus’ Ascension was no withdrawing of himself out of the way, no vanishing out of their sight to some other place here below, as He had sometimes done before; but a … visible, and real elevation of his body into heaven. He was taken up on high. So much we have in the first verse of the text; that He was taken up on high. … How high was it? So high, as it is added here, till a cloud came and took him out of their sight. … The angels say that He was taken up into heaven; twice here repeated, that there might be no doubt … . But after all these, St. Paul takes the true altitude for us, when he says that He ascended far above all the heavens, that is, to the highest of them all, there sitting at the right hand of God. And now He is at His full height.

St. Paul in his fourth chapter to the Ephesians … keeps a just correspondence between Christ's ascending and He descending; his going up here to heaven, and his coming down … to the earth; his highest and his lowest. That lowest was … the lowest condition there of any others, none beneath Him. This highest was … to the highest of heaven, to the highest throne, the highest state there of any others, none above him. And this latter made amends for the former; his humility was the merit of his glory, and his glory was the reward of his humility.

He ascended out of the grave, at Easter, from the gates of death, wherein He was shut; from the jaws of death, whereunto He was taken; … from the … belly of the whale, into which He was swallowed; out of all these He ascended then, when He rose from the dead. But all these brought Him no higher than to the ascension of Jonah from the bottom of the dungeon to the uppermost face of the earth. Now He comes to the ascension of Elijah; from earth to heaven, froth the lowest parts of the earth to the highest place in heaven, from His De profundis [out of the depths] then, to his In excelsis [on high] now, from being laid under a stone, to sit at the right hand of God.

For his own ascent into his glory, [Jesus ascended] as the Son of Man,--for as the Son of God in that nature, He ascended not, That was always in glory before, -so makes it much for our hopes of ascending there after him. … His going below first, descending to the lowest condition of men, and then in that condition going up, ascending to the highest state of heaven, and carrying our nature there with Him … For if the Son of Man be gone up, we have all hope that the sons of men may [also go] up after Him.

He that sat in a throne in heaven himself, was content to leave it; content to do a great deal more, to take upon him the form of a servant, the form of a malefactor, the form of humility; and in that form is brought to the throne again; in that form exalted far above all principalities and powers.

And now it is a good sight to behold Christ thus ascending to the heavens; a better sight to see Him as an eagle in the clouds than as a worm in the dust, for so they used him. But thus God exalted him. The Apostles looked on and saw it, that they might testify the truth of it.

A cloud came and took Him out of their sight … parts Christ's bodily presence from us; that, as St. Paul said, if Christ was once known by mankind after the flesh, now from henceforth we shall know Him no more. The cloud has removed Him from us. This cloud has taken his bodily and fleshly manner of being here, from among us all. It is his spiritual presence that we must hold to now, and that is as real a presence as any His body or his flesh ever was, or ever can be.

And there is an advantage [for us here]. For by his corporal presence He could have been resident but in one place at a time; as if he had been with St. James at Jerusalem, He had not been at the same time with St. John at Ephesus, or with St. Peter at Babylon, or with St. Thomas at the Indies--but by His spiritual presence, which was to succeed the corporal, wheresoever they were, He could be, and was, present with them all, and all at a time, with all and every one by himself. For by his Spirit he can be everywhere, truly and really everywhere, where it pleases Him; and so with us.

The corporal therefore was removed that the spiritual might take place, the visible taken away that the invisible might follow; and neither they, nor we, in sight and sense as before, but in spirit and truth henceforth to cleave unto Him. For which purpose we have still a Pentecost to come after an ascension.

This will make us say, when we can see him no longer for. the cloud, as we said here the other day in the Psalm of ascension, 'Good Lord, set up Thyself above the heavens, and Thy glory above all the earth.' Let Him be where He is, we shall lose nothing by it.

When the Apostle tells us that Christ was received up into glory, he tells us there in the same period that He was seen of Angels. … So here we have men and Angels brought together to wait upon Christ's ascension.
When God first brought his Son into the world, according to St Luke, it was then said, Let the Angels of God come down and worship him; and so they did. And when God here carries his Son out of the world, they come down to worship Him again; for as He is the Son of man, He is Lord both of men and Angels.
But Christ is gone up and the Angels stay still below, to teach the disciples before they go up after Him.

First, they stood by them; and it was no little honor to the Apostles … and to the religion which they preached to us, that they had these blessed spirits, the Angels, to assist them. When that religion was once preached to the world, the Angels appeared no more, their work and their errand was done.

They stood by them in white apparel; which was a symbol not only of their own purity, and integrity of their nature, but of their joy and triumph likewise, that was made both by them and by all their fellow-Angels in heaven for the coming up of Christ, the Son of God and man, there.

Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven?’ Peter and Andrew, James and John, and all; they were all Galileans, and had seen Christ's first there. Here they saw Him last. It was called Galilee of the Gentiles, for it was set in the confines of them, though it was itself in Judea. And now Christ was gone up, they were to go down and preach Christ to them both; to Jews, and Gentiles, and all.

Where it is not amiss to take notice of the word, that Galilee signifies 'a revolution.' And these Galileans … made that word good; they made such a revolution in the world as was never made before. For at their preaching of Christ, they made darkness light, and turned the world round. …

The Angels ask the Apostles here, why they stood looking still into heaven? … Yet since the clouds would let them see him no longer, it was time to take them from having recourse to this corporal presence any more; and to bid them look now after his Spirit. … This is sure, that Christ is gone and taken up into heaven, both from their sight and ours, from whence He will not return in any bodily manner again, till He comes at last to take an account of the world … And then both they, and we, and all the world, shall see him; see him coming down in the clouds again, as here He went up; 'This same Jesus, Whom you have seen taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.’

Let the end of all be, that as Christ is gone up to heaven before us, so we may prepare to go up there after him; for His going up was not altogether for Himself; He [has] gone as our forerunner … to lay open the way before us, saith the prophet; to prepare a place for us. … He that can set his heart upon His ascension here, shall not fail to be with him in person hereafter. [The pledge and earnest of our being with him being the sacrament of his Body and Blood … he in us and we with him.] This blessed estate, the end of our desires here and of our fruition there, He pledged to bring us all; to him, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one eternal Deity, be all honor and glory now and for evermore. Amen.

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Seeking the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Today’s Gospel reading follows, fittingly, yesterday’s reading from Deuteronomy 8. In Deuteronomy 8 Moses exhorts Israel to remember … all the way which the Lord God has led you in the wilderness for forty years … that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. … He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. … Your clothing did not wear out … nor your foot swell these forty years.

So also we find in St Matthew 6 … “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

The immediate context for St Matthew 6:24f contrasts two treasures, two eye conditions and two masters:

Two Treasures:

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Two Eye Conditions:

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Two Masters:

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

We are to treasure God and His heavenly kingdom in our hearts, to set our eyes on God, the light of the world, who illuminates (gives understanding to) our lives, and to serve God with love and devotion as our true master. In seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, we are storing up heavenly treasure, walking in the light and serving God. We are not to worry, then, about what to eat, what to drink and what to wear. God provided for Israel in the wilderness, feeds the birds of the air, clothes the grass of the field with lilies. Man does not live by bread alone and our body’s needs are more than what we wear … our heavenly Father knows we need all these to live. As our loving and generous Father, God will provide all that is “requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul.”

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Remember and Do Not Forget

Deuteronomy 8:1 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy - deutero, second … nomos, law - is the second giving of the Law by Moses on the eve of Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land after forty years in the wilderness. Moses exhorts Israel to remember, and admonishes them not to forget.

Remember …

• all the way which the Lord God has led you in the wilderness for forty years

• that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

God tested Israel that Israel might know what was in their hearts. Isn’t this what happens to all of us in the time of trial and testing? Our character shows itself when tested whether what we profess is what we truly live out. Trials humble us and teach us to look to God, to depend upon Him in want and in plenty, to trust Him to make provision for us, both physically and spiritually. In times when we are tested we discover how much we need God.

He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

• Your clothing did not wear out

• your foot swell these forty years

In Eden Adam and Eve were tested by the gift of food whether they would keep God’s commandment with regard to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil.

Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

Hebrews 12:6f “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; … When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

Do not forget …

• the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today;

• when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them

• when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies,

• then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth

Revelation 3:14f “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

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Benediction, the Truly Blessed

Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. 19 And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction

20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
22 But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. 24 Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.
25 Grace be with you all.

Benediction … Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. … Benediction comes from the Latin, bene (well) and dicere (to speak).The Benediction in the liturgy comes at the end of the Mass and is given by the bishop, whenever present, or by the priest. The Benediction is not just a “well speaking” or pious wish on the part of the bishop or priest, it is an actual conferring of God’s blessing upon His people through his ministers.

The prototype for the Benediction is found in Numbers 6:

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ 27 So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

Israel was formed into a congregation by Jehovah, who not only bestowed His blessings upon them but placed the communication of these blessings in the hands of His priests, Aaron and his sons. “Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel.” This substance of God’s blessing, the communication of which God enjoined on the priests, was to be manifested in His people with all the power of a blessing from God. “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I … will bless them!”When God’s priests blessed God’s people … the people were truly blessed!

When I first became an Anglican priest, I was shopping in the frozen food section of a local grocery store when out of the corner of my eye I saw a women making a beeline in my direction.She came up to me, knelt down, and asked me to bless her. I was a little startled, but then remembering I was wearing my clerical collar, I blessed her using the benediction from Numbers 6. This woman did not know me but she knew the office … and she sought God’s blessing through His priest.Imagine that!This woman understood what many will never quite grasp: “So [the priests] shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I … will bless them!”

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Many priests are reluctant to comment of this verse for fear of coming across as self-serving. So why should we obey and submit to the leaders in the Church? Because bishops, priests and deacons keep watch over the souls in their cure. The cure of souls (Lat. cura animarum) is exercised through instruction, by sermons, teachings, exhortations and admonitions, and sanctification, through the sacraments, of the faithful. Bishops, priests and deacons will give an account of their office to God. Bishops, priests and deacons do not serve themselves; they serve God and God’s people.In Malachi 2 God’s priests are called to special service before God:

The law of truth was in his mouth,
And injustice was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
And turned many away from iniquity.
“For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

And St Paul writes in I Thessalonians 5: 12 But we request of you, brethren, that you respect those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

“Let them [keep watch over your souls] with joy and not with grief.”Grief was often Moses’ experience when leading Israel. Israel’s obstinacy, contentiousness and complaining brought Moses to grief. From this week’s OT reading:

Numbers 11:10 Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ 14 I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. 15 So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”

If I have found favor in your sight please kill me now!? Wow! I must confess that I have never felt that overwhelmed as a priest, nor have I been foolish enough to suggest this to God as an option. For I am, and remain, convinced of better things concerning God’s people.

JSH+

Do Not Neglect to Show Hospitality

Hebrews 13:1 Let love of the brethren continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. 4 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” 6 so that we confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?”

7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13 closes the epistle with several exhortations and admonitions:

• Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers

• Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them

• Remember those who are ill-treated

• Hold marriage and the marriage bed in honor

• Maintain a character free from the love of money

• Remember those who led you … imitate their faith

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers … for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. The allusion here is to the hospitality shown by Abraham to the three strangers who, unknown to Abraham, were God’s angels/messengers - one of them a theophany of the Second Person of the Trinity.

Genesis 18:1 Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. 4 Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; 5 and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.” 7 Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. 8 He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.

Two of these angels then travel to Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot — unlike the men of Sodom — shows hospitality and generosity of heart by taking them into his home.

Genesis19:1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Do not neglect to show hospitality (philoxenias, in Greek) … after all the profound and well-developed theological instruction in Hebrews, these concluding exhortations come across as rather strangely disconnected miscellany. The exhortation to show hospitality seems especially peculiar to us. Certainly a friendly and generous reception of guests and strangers is a good thing, even praiseworthy. Interestingly, there is a special blessing/incentive attached to hospitality: some have entertained angels unaware. Is there then something of divine importance to hospitality? I would argue that our sense of hospitality is much too weak an idea because it does not take into account the divine sanction of hospitality as a duty, something one is responsible to do.

In the ancient Near East the obligations of hospitality carried much greater weight than they do with us. (Clement of Rome admonishes the Corinthian church to cast off inhospitality, one of many vices they must overcome - Ep, ad Corinthians 10-12.) In the parables of the wedding feast in St Matthew 22 and St Luke 14, the violation of the law of hospitality by the invited guests, who refuse to attend the King’s wedding feast for his son, so enraged the king that he destroyed them and their city. Is this an overreaction?

By way of comparison … In Homer’s Odyssey, the law of hospitality is a major theme. Hospitality, or xenia (Greek, pronounced, zen ee ah) is a reciprocal relationship between guest and host: the host must not mistreat the guest; the guest must not abuse the privilege of being hosted. Xenia is overseen by Zeus himself, and violation of the reciprocal relationship is a direct offense against Zeus. (The Trojan war was fought over a violation of xenia. When Paris abducted Helen, he violated xenia, having stayed in Menalaus’ home and then run off with his wife.) Odysseus is helped and hindered on his long odyssey home by xenia. When Odysseus is discovered in the Cyclop’s cave (where there is an abundance of food), he pleads for “a warm welcome, even a guest gift. the sort that hosts give strangers. That’s the custom. … We’re suppliants — at your mercy! Zeus of the strangers guards all guests and supplants: strangers are sacred — Zeus will defend their rights!” The Cyclops, Polyphemus, showed no fear of Zeus and, instead of being a gracious host, began consuming Odysseus’ men. Odysseus gets Polyphemus drunk, stabs him in the eye blinding him … Odysseus escapes. The elements of hospitality in the Odyssey are interesting: hospitality is a solemn and sacred duty; the host/guest relationship is reciprocal; violation of the guest/host relationship is sanctioned by the gods.

Do not neglect to show hospitality … as God has been generous with us, we are obligated to show love and generosity to others. Hospitality carries with it both divine blessings for its observance and divine sanctions for its violation (St Matthew 22; St Luke 14) Hospitality is a reciprocal relationship between host and guest. … from the Didache, chapters 11 and 12:

Let every Apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord. But he shall not remain [longer than] one day; and, if need be, another [day] also; but if he remain three [days] he is a false prophet. And when the Apostle departeth, let him take nothing except bread [enough] till he reach his lodging (night-quarters). But if he ask for money, he is a false prophet.

Let every one that comes in the name of the Lord be received, and then proving him ye shall know him; for ye shall have understanding right and left. If indeed he who comes is a wayfarer, help him as much as ye can; but he shall not remain with you longer than two or three days, unless there be necessity. If he wishes to settle among you, being a craftsman (artisan), let him work and eat (earn his living by work).

JSH+

But You Have Come to Mt Zion

Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

But you have come to Mt Zion … Consonant with the comparisons throughout the book of Hebrews, the apostle draws yet another contrast between the shadow and the reality, between the temporary and the permanent, between the Old and New Covenants, … between Mt Sinai and Mt Zion. In the Old Covenant Israel came to Mt Sinai; in the New Covenant, the people of God (the Church), have come to Mt Zion. The comparison between the two mountains highlights the differences as well as the significance of each:

Mt Sinai … Israel came (**See Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 4)

• to a mountain that can be touched

• to a blazing fire

• to darkness

• to gloom

• to a whirlwind

• to the blast of a trumpet

• to the voice of God which filled Israel with mortal dread (Ex 20:19)

Mt Zion … the New Covenant people have come

• to the city of the living God

• to the heavenly Jerusalem

• to the myriad of angels

• to the general assembly and church of the first born enrolled in heaven

• to God, the Judge of all

• to the spirits of the righteous made perfect

• to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant

• to the sprinkled blood

But you have come to Mt Zion … The present perfect tense, You have come, denotes an action that began in the past and continues to the present time. In worship and in prayer, the people of God have come and continue to come to Mt Zion, the mountain of God’s grace. Through the High Priestly work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we draw near with boldness to the Throne of Grace in heaven itself (cf Hebrews 6, 9).

But you have come to Mt Zion … expresses the apostle’s confidence, his being “convinced of better things concerning you” (Hebrews 6:9) … that a genuine work of God’s grace is at work in the people of God. Having been baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection, we draw near to Mt Zion in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22f; Romans 6), holding fast the confession of our hope in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We have come to Mt Zion, to the blood of Jesus which bestows eternal redemption (9:12), which has put away our sin (9:26), which perfects those who are sanctified (10:14), and which has made our peace with God (Colossians 1:20).

But you have come to Mt Zion … “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

Mt Zion in the Psalms:

50:2 Out of Zion hath God appeared in perfect beauty

65:1 Thou, O God, art praised in Zion

132:14-15 For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

3:4 I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.

5:7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy:
and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

20:1, 2 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion

26:8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth.

43:3,4 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy

87:1-3,5 His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. … And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.

99:2 The Lord is great in Zion;

99:9 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.

102:21 that they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem

134 Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

JSH+

Running with Endurance the Race Set Before Us

Hebrews 12 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Running with endurance the race set before us … If we have lived long enough, which for most of us doesn’t take very long, our faith has been put to the test … on more than a few occasions. The experience of sufferings, injustice and evil, trials, temptations and personal failures seem to contradict the promised “good news” of our faith. When our faith is shaken and our endurance waning, the writer of Hebrews’ clarion call summons us to look to the witnesses of faith, to those whose faith prevailed over every circumstance of life and death. The call to persevere must be accompanied by the sure and certain hope that our faith can prevail through the trials and vicissitudes of life. … We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses whose faith and endurance gained for them the imperishable prize of everlasting life. In the words of St Paul … they “have fought the good fight, … have finished the course, … have kept the faith; … there is laid up for [them] the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to [them] on that day … [and] also to all who have loved His appearing” (II Timothy 4:6-8).

The Greek word for witnesses in Hebrews 12 is martyroi, from which we derive the English word martyrs. A martyr or witness has several meanings in the NT era:

• a witness who testifies to the truth in a court of law

• a person or a group of people who are spectators of a competition or contest

• a person who authenticates or affirms a person’s character

• a Christian who witnesses to his faith by his suffering and death

In the Te Deum the Church Triumphant, that great cloud of witnesses, is witness both by the lives and in the deaths of the saints to God’s everlasting majesty and glory:

We praise thee, O God
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord
All the earth doth worship thee
the Father everlasting.
To thee all angels cry aloud
the heavens and all the powers therein.
To thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth
are full of the majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.

The martyroi have completed the race and bear witness to the triumph of faith. They form a “cloud” of witnesses. The use of the word cloud (nephos in Greek) here refers to a large group. In Holy Scripture the cloud also represents the presence of God: the glory cloud over the Tabernacle (Exodus 40) and the Temple (II Kings 8:10-11); the pillar of cloud which led the children in the Exodus and in the forty years in the wilderness; the cloud at the Mount of Transfiguration (St Matthew 17); Jesus’ Ascension in the cloud in Acts 1. Accordingly, the “cloud of witnesses” are those who live in continual praise in God’s presence, bearing witness to Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. There, in the midst of the trials and temptations of life, we fix our faith and hope, laying aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, running with endurance the race set before us.

JSH+

Jesus has Brought Many Sons to Glory

Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Isaac as a type of Christ

Isaac is a type of the infant Lord as son, and, in fact, Isaac was the son of Abraham as Christ is of God, victim as was the Lord. But he was not cut down like the Lord; no, Isaac only carried the wood of the sacrifice, as the Lord did his cross. He laughed mystically [Isaac’s name means, “laughter”] by way of prophesying that the Lord fills us with joy, we who have been redeemed by his blood. He did not suffer but left to the Logos, as is fitting, the first fruits of suffering. What is more, because he was not immolated, he signifies also the divinity of the Lord. For after his burial, Jesus was raised up, thus leaving suffering behind, just as Isaac had escaped the sacrifice. Clement of Alexandria, Christ the Educator 1.5.23.1-2

"Figuratively speaking, he did received him back", that is, by way of a symbol and type of the resurrection. Put to death by his father's zeal, he came back to life at the word of the one who prevented the slaughter. In him the type of the saving passion was also prefigured. Hence the Lord also said to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the prospect of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." Interpretation of Hebrews 11, Theodoret, Bishop of Cry (Cyrrhus) 393-466AD.

Typology is the study of biblical types: the study of persons or events in the Old Testament, which foreshadow or prefigure a person or an event in the New Testament. OT types not only prefigure prefigure a person or event in the NT but also explain them. … OT types find their fulfillment especially in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So we find, for example, that Jesus is the New Adam in whom the opening of Paradise of heaven has begun, in whom the true Exodus of the people of God from Satan’s tyranny is accomplished. The apostles used typology in their preaching and instruction to show that Jesus continues and fulfills the Divine revelations of the OT. St Paul writes, “Now all these things happened to them [OT Israel] as types [typikōs, Greek] and they were written for our instruction.”

How is Isaac a type of the person and work of Jesus? According to the Church Fathers:

• Isaac and Jesus were the only and beloved sons of their fathers

• Isaac and Jesus were identified as the “son of Abraham” … Genesis 21:3 and St Matthew 1:1

• Isaac and Jesus were offered as sacrifice … Genesis 22:2 and St John 1:29, 11:50

• Isaac and Jesus were offered as sacrifice on Mt Moriah (Mt Zion) … Genesis 22:2 (see also II Chronicles 3:1) and St Matthew 16:21-23

• Isaac and Jesus bore the wood on which they would be sacrificed … Genesis 22:6 and St John 19:17

• Isaac and Jesus were placed upon the wood on which the sacrifice was offered … Genesis 22:9 and St John 19:18-19

• Isaac and Jesus were “resurrected” on the third day … Genesis 22:4 and St Luke 18:22, 24:7, 44-47

On Mt Moriah, Isaac queried his father Abraham, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham responded, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering …” (Genesis 22:7-8). Abraham called the place, Jehovah-jireh - “the Lord will provide.” The future tense of “the Lord will provide” looks forward to the time when “God will provide himself a lamb,” that is, to Jesus’ sacrifice as the Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world.

All the great, heroic figures in Hebrews 11 would not be made perfect apart from us — the Church.

The faith and perseverance of those in the OT is set before us as an example for us to emulate. However, as great as these OT figures are they looked forward to the day when the blessings promised in the coming of the greater Moses, the greater Joshua, the greater High Priest would be fulfilled. They are made perfect with us — in the person and work of Jesus Christ the blessings of the New Covenant God has brought many sons to glory.

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance …

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Faith is the Substance of Things Hoped For

Hebrews 11:1-16

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence (or reality) of things not seen. … Hebrews 11:4-32 provides an impressive array of the faithful, naming sixteen heroes and heroines of the faith, from Abel to Samuel. These heroes of the faith persevered in the conviction “that [God] is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Keep in mind that the men and women named here are not perfect — each struggled to understand what God had called them to, and through their struggles learned to trust in God, to submit to Him in faith.

The last portion of Hebrews 10 provides an introduction to the panoply of the faithful in Hebrews 11:

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

We must not cast away our confidence in God … we must patiently endure; we must hold firm our faith in times of hardship because the eternal reward is so much greater than the struggles and suffering we must endure. The OT saints in Hebrews 11 are given as examples of those who persevered in faith in what God has promised.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen … One of my favorite stories of faith that lays hold of what is promised as something real, substantial, though not yet seen, is found in Genesis 15. The Lord comes to Abram in a vision telling Abram not to fear, that his reward shall be very great. Abram — not yet given the name Abraham - responds: “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Among the seven promises God made to Abram one promise was to make of Abram a great nation. Abram is wondering how this will happen considering he is childless and God has given him no offspring. God takes Abram outside and tells him to look toward the heavens and count the stars, if he is able … so shall your descendants be. “ Then [Abram] believed God; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Abram’s faith is counted as righteousness. How might counting the stars in the sky help Abram to trust in God’s promise of numerous descendents? How is this a profound example of what faith requires? The answer becomes clear in the verses that immediately follow God’s taking Abram outside to count the stars:

• v12 Now when the sun was going down

• v17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark

God took Abram outside to count the stars in the daylight! Imagine God taking Abram outside on a clear afternoon and asking Abram to look toward the heaven and number the stars. What stars would Abram have seen in the daytime? Abram knew the stars were there even though in the daylight he could not see them. The stars may not be visible, but Abram did not doubt their existence. And Abram believed God’s promise and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen!

In Hebrews God asks us to believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ based on what we know to be true about Him. We are to remain steadfast in all of God’s promises in Jesus Christ, knowing that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Just as Abram believed that God would give him offspring as numerous as the stars - even though Abram could not see them. No wonder God reckoned that faith to Abram as righteousness!

JSH+

If We Go On Sinning Willfully

Hebrews 10:26

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

With the greatness of the grace and saving work of Jesus Christ comes a warning to those who by the conduct of their lives trample underfoot the Son of God, regard as unclean the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and insult the Spirit of grace. This solemn warning is given to those who “go on sinning willfully.”

This is not the first time we are cautioned in Hebrews:

2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

3:16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” … What does it mean to go on sinning willfully? Certainly we know from our own experience that we sin, often, and in the daily confession our sins we acknowledge that we committed those sins willfully. Is there a difference between the sins we commit and the “sinning willfully” in Hebrews 10:26?

Those who sin “willfully" are defined in Numbers 15:30-31 as those who sin defiantly, having despised God’s word. Proverbs 2:13ff describes those who go on sinning willfully as those who leave the paths of righteousness, delight in doing evil and are devious in their ways. To go on sinning willfully is a persistent pattern of sin, one that is so deliberate and repeated that Hebrews portrays as a “trampling underfoot the Son of God,” a “profaning the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified,” and an “outraging the Spirit of grace.” For such as these there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. In Romans 6, St Paul reminds those who are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection but persist in presenting themselves as servants or slaves of sin that the wages of sin never change …. the wages of sin is death. They have willfully cut themselves off from the one High Priest and the one sacrifice by which they are sanctified.

But we are convinced of better things concerning you. We do not forsake the assembling together and the Eucharist, where we partake of the blood of the New Covenant which was shed for the remission of our sin. We regularly attend to the Sacrament of Reconciliation which entails:

1. Contrition: true sorrow for our sins; by careful examination, we know what our sins are and the extent to which we have offended God’s love and goodness.

2. Confession: we own up to our sins, simply, honestly, and completely. We make our confession to a Priest as a minister of God and Christ’s representative to you of His Holy Church.

3. Absolution: God washes away the stain of our sin from our souls and gives us strength to resist sin in the future.

4. Amendment: we commit ourselves, by God’s grace, to fight manfully against those sins we have committed, striving to be faithful to God’s holy will and resolving not to sin again.

And we hold fast our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord … If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins. I John 2:1-2.

JSH+

Jesus: The New and Living Way

From today’s MP epistle reading:

15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh …

At the Last Supper Jesus encourages His disciples, preparing them for the trying days ahead. “I go to prepare a place for you. … that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going” (John 14:1-6). A perplexed Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Where are you going? By what way? If we don’t know where you are going how can we know the way? Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:1-6). How could the disciples have conceived of so marvelous the “new and living way” which was inaugurated by Jesus?

Jesus is the new and living way … Jesus opened the way for us into God’s presence through His death, resurrection. and ascension into heaven as our forerunner (Hebrews 6:19). Jesus is the present, living way, He who ever lives to make intercession for us (7:25).

Jesus is the new and living way through the veil, that is, through His flesh … The veil is an allusion to the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26L31-33). In the Old Covenant the High Priest alone could enter the Holy of Holies but one day a year, the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:16,34). The veil symbolized that the way to God was still blocked, that sinful mankind was excluded from God’s presence.
At Jesus’ death this veil was torn from top to bottom signifying that in and through Jesus the way into God’s holy presence is now open, that we are no longer excluded. In Jesus Christ we have confidence to draw near to God in the full assurance of faith.

In light of the momentous truths of Jesus person and work as our great High Priest, Hebrews exhorts us apply these truths to our daily lives. Our faith is not just to be professed, it must be put into practice.

Therefore let us draw near to God …

• with a sincere heart, a heart with singleness of purpose

• in full assurance of faith

• with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience

• our bodies washed with pure water

** Ezekiel 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Let us …

• hold fast the confession of our hope

• consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds

• not forsaking our assembling together

JSH+