22 January 2024 - wrong division

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,

"He is possessed by Beelzebul," and

"By the prince of demons he drives out demons."

The scribes were looking to undermine the increasing popularity of Jesus. The trouble was that everything that he was doing seemed good and praiseworthy. In place of evil to malign or sin to criticize they instead chose to impugn his motives. We see such ad hominem attacks constantly in the the public square but to level such an attack at Jesus was something else again. Ostensibly the scribes saw themselves as working for good, but they were at best divided, ultimately, if unconsciously, serving the devil by opposing Jesus.

"How can Satan drive out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself,

that house will not be able to stand.

Jesus was the only one who was in no way divided against himself. Together with the Father and the Spirit he was always and only doing one thing. He was fully committed to goodness and love and held nothing back apart from that for selfish gains or prideful indulgence. Because of that the devil could find no foothold in him. On the other hand, the devil had no way to be some unified toward the end of evil as Jesus was toward the end of good. The devil was forced to pray on and corrupt legitimate goods to accomplish his plans. This meant that the posture which Jesus embraced was more real, more rooted in the reality of things, and therefore ultimately stronger.

And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,

he cannot stand;

that is the end of him.

Satan would never act against his own self-interest and willingly bring about good works as the scribes suggested. They fell under the criticism of Isaiah, who said "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" (see Isaiah 5:20). Jesus reinforced this idea when he said that, "A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit" (See Matthew 7:18). Although Satan was forced to pray on the good he could not actually produce it. Although even his appearance might be misleading, he would still be known by his rotten fruit. 

But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property

unless he first ties up the strong man.

Then he can plunder his house.  

Jesus, because of his singlehearted obedience to the Father and adherence to the good, had a strength that was greater than anything in the world could match. He didn't fight on the same terms of worldly strength, but rather revealed that love was a power that all of the strength in the world could not match. By the power of love, perfectly expressed by dying on the cross for us, he bound the devil once and for all and rescued mankind who had until then been his captives.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit

will never have forgiveness,

but is guilty of an everlasting sin.

If we persist in maligning the good and remaining divided within ourselves we risk committing the everlasting sin of which Jesus spoke. It was everlasting, not because mercy was ever impossible, but because the condition of mind required to commit it became increasingly hard to turn from, making repentance less and less likely. So let us instead be like Jesus, and be straightforward about calling evil as evil and good as good. Let us strive more and more about the one thing Jesus was about: love, expressed toward both God and neighbor.

Jars Of Clay - Two Hands

Hillsong - The Power Of Your Love

21 January 2024 - gone fishing

Today's Readings

(Audio)

This is the time of fulfillment.

Beforehand was the time when the promises of the covenant were given. The Lord had promised to Abraham that he would multiply his seed so that, through him, all nations would be blessed. He promised that a royal heir would sit on the throne of David forever. Earlier still he had promised to put enmity between mankind of the serpent, and that the serpent's head would finally be crushed. Now was the time when the fulfillment of these promises would begin. Jesus was explicit about some of what was being fulfilled in his brief sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

...

And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (see Luke 4:18-19,21).

Many of the promises of God pertained to the promised land of Israel. And although a few tribes remained on the land itself, the majority had been scattered. Those that remained did not enjoy self-rule but were under the thumb of one foreign empire after another until the Roman occupation in the time of Jesus. The fulfillment of which Jesus spoke would also reveal the true meaning of the promised land. It would begin in the hearts of believers who had experienced the power of the resurrection of Jesus in their own lives and are therefore Paul could write that whoever is in Christ "is a new creation" (see Second Corinthians 5:17). The terrain of the new promised land was therefore to be found in the hearts of the faithful. But the world itself would one day share in this promised transformation. We read that even now it is experiencing "labor pains", longing for that day (see Romans 8:22).

Jesus said to them,

"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

But the promised land would still be lacking if those who had been exiled remained scattered throughout the world. Therefore Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (see Luke 19:10). He would bring about the unification of all peoples in himself. Their memories of being delivered from Egypt would be replaced by a new and more perfect exodus in which the people would say: "‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers" (see Jeremiah 16:15). To accomplish this, the Lord had promised, "Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them" (see Jeremiah 16:16), a promised now fulfilled in the calling of Peter and the others to become fishers of men. As Jesus would later teach, "the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind" (see Matthew 13:47).

In order to respond to the inbreaking of the Kingdom into history, into time and space, Jesus called those who heard him to repent and to believe. Basically, this meant that in order to receive the fulfillment of the promises it would first be necessary to believe in that fulfillment, to have a mind made new, restored and reoriented by the person of Jesus himself, and to live in accord with that reality. A small glimpse of what it would mean to live in accord with that reality is given to us by Paul who demonstrates that one consequence of it is that we don't entirely lose ourselves in anything, however good it might be, in this world, but that we remember that we are citizens of heaven (see Philippians 3:20)

those using the world as not using it fully.

For the world in its present form is passing away.

We too are meant to be a part of the fulfillment of the Kingdom, and to find our own fulfillment therein. Whether or not we are professional evangelists we are all called to become lures that draw others into the Kingdom by our words and by how we live our lives. We can do this only when we aren't so lost in the good but temporary things of the world that we forget about what matters most. To that end we must repent, and begin to live lives directed by minds renewed in Christ, and to live as footholds of the inbreaking Kingdom in our world.

Newsboys - Fishers Of Men

Passion featuring Kristian Stanfill - Heart Abandoned

20 January 2024 - too crowded?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Again the crowd gathered,

making it impossible for them even to eat.

It was as though something like a circus, a party, or a mob, had sprung up around Jesus. Those who saw only the chaos had a hard time understanding what it was all about. It was easier to see how such a crowd was disruptive and dangerous. The reason for it could not be understood apart from Jesus himself. And so, from that remove, people were inclined to say, "He is out of his mind" or to go further still and say, "He is possessed by Beelzebul".

When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him,

for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

The people were suggesting that Jesus was out of his mind so relatives of Jesus, who felt that he was their responsibility, stepped in to try to take matters into their own hands. Jesus, it seemed to them, was not managing his popularity well. Of course it wasn't as though Jesus was actively courting popularity on this scale. He was in fact discouraging those whom he cured to even speak about it. But it was nevertheless not possible that the breaking in of the Kingdom of God and the beginning of the restoration of a fallen world would not be met with some fanfare and enthusiasm. It wasn't the goal. But it was a side effect that Jesus knew he would need to accept as he went about his mission. Being misunderstood and even opposed was just one logical eventuality of this fact.

We remember the places where Jesus tells that we must be willing to put our relationship with him even above that of our own family (see Matthew 10:37) We find reassurance in the fact that Jesus practices what he preaches. There is a lot the happens in the wake of the Kingdom of God that can lead to an obscuring of the person of Jesus and the misunderstanding of his message. Crowds are an inevitable but often problematic phenomenon. Nevertheless, we need to remain near Jesus no matter what others think about it. It is often the case that the followers of Jesus will share in his lot, share in the misunderstandings that he faced, and even the willful misrepresentation and insults that were often hurled at him. A temptation we will face is like that to which his relatives succumbed. We may attempt to try to take over the PR campaign to make it more presentable in the eyes of the world, to take off the hard edges, and hide the unpresentable parts. But there is no way to conform the Kingdom to the world without losing what makes it essentially unique, important, and powerful.

The world would prefer a Kingdom where it never needed to interact with those on the peripheries, the sick and the possessed, or with sinners and tax collectors. But the Kingdom seeks out such people in order that they might be transformed and healed. There is no way to tame the atmosphere of such a Kingdom when that is what is meant to happen inside. It is inevitable that some chaos and a lot of celebration will surround it. So we should make our peace with that and trust that Jesus knows what he is about. If we are maligned for it along with him that is a cause for rejoicing, not reevaluation.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (see Matthew 5:11)

DC Talk - Jesus Freak

19 January 2024 - living letters

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted

and they came to him.

Just as Moses went up a mountain to receive the law from God Jesus went up a mountain to set apart those whom he would use to convey the new law written, not on stone tablets, but on the heart. The disciples were thus intended to become living witnesses to the new law of grace. This reminds us of something Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (see Second Corinthians 3:2-3).

Jesus appointed Twelve, just as Solomon governors over all of Israel (see First Kings 4:7) signifying that they were in some way to become rulers in the Kingdom which Jesus would establish. Jesus himself told them, "you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (see Matthew 19:28). This was something more than the general call to follow Jesus that was open to all. They were Apostles, his authorized representatives, about whom he could say, "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (see Luke 10:16). There are a variety of reasons why we know that this structure was not intended only for the early church but would also persist in the successors of the Apostles, our bishops. Perhaps the most significant indication of this was the way that the disciples knew they must appoint someone to take the office of Judas, who had by then killed himself.

For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

‘Let his encampment become desolate,

and may no one dwell in it.’

And:

‘May another take his office (see Acts 1:20).

There was more to becoming an Apostle than simply being chosen. In order to be effective they would need to prioritize relationship with Jesus himself. He appointed them "that they might be with him" first and foremost, and only then be sent forth. It was from Jesus himself that they would learn to preach. From him they would receive a measure of his own authority over demons which they would understand how to use because they had witnessed him do so first. They were to go and do what they had first seen their master do. At the end of Mark we read that this is precisely what they continued to do after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs (see Mark 16:20).

Though we are not Apostles (and most likely no bishops will ever come across this blog) we still share in some measure the call to proclaim the good news. We are not exorcists, but we have still been given a measure of the authority of Jesus, the power to live the new life of the Spirit rather than succumbing to the sinful inclinations of the old self. But to fulfill this call and put this authority to good use we too must begin with the basics, just as the Twelve did. We must "be with him", with Jesus himself. 

By spending time with Jesus he will gradually and increasingly give us a heart like that of David, who bore hardships in humility rather than lashing out and trying to solve them through misguided human effort or violence. It may for a time be difficult to leave Saul alive and to live under his volatile reign. But if we persist in fidelity to the Lord he himself will bring about our eventual victory.

May the LORD reward you generously for what you have done this day.

And now, I know that you shall surely be king

and that sovereignty over Israel shall come into your possession.

Newsboys - The Mission

18 January 2024 - just a touch

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.

It was as though Jesus was purposefully elusive of crowds that had only a superficial understanding of his identity. The scribes and Pharisees saw him only through a critical lens and most others saw him only as a dispenser of miracles. Jesus no doubt wanted to strengthen his disciples against both misrepresentations of who he was, and to show them how to avoid the intoxication of popularity by his example. It also demonstrated that Jesus, in addition to divine power, had the need for rest, peace, and silence. But it was a need he was not often permitted to satisfy.

A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.

Hearing what he was doing,

a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,

from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,

and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.

The whole world seemed to have followed Jesus and his disciples, thwarting his attempts at solitude. But although this wasn't Plan A, there was something better about a crowd that actively sought out Jesus than one composed of mere spectators. They still didn't really understand or care to understand the person of Jesus. But it does seem that their faith in the power of Jesus only increased from earlier in the Gospel.

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases

were pressing upon him to touch him.

These were people like the lady with the issue of blood that lasted for twelve years who sensed that even to touch Jesus would be enough to allow her to receive his healing power. When she did so, Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me" (see Luke 8:43-48). The idea that the very touch of Jesus had healing power was an idea that people only entertained because they had seen him in action. The fact that he withdrew only increased their longing for his touch. So too for us. Sometimes Jesus seems to withdraw, but it is only in order to increase our desire for that which he alone can give us.

He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd

The boat prepared by the disciples can be seen as a metaphor for the Church. The point was not to prevent the people from coming to Jesus and touching him. The point was to make him available to as many as possible without him being crushed. Similarly, the modern descendants of the disciples prevent all of the pitfalls that would arise in a situation with no mediation between Jesus and the crowds. The Church, like the boat, helps the message of Jesus to remain identifiable even alongside imposters that, like the unclean spirits, cry out "You are the Son of God", but only in order to sow confusion.

Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his ten thousands.

Envy was a primary factor in the downfall of, not only Saul, but Satan himself (see Wisdom 2:24). The Pharisees and scribes suffered from this sin, as did the demons that were hostile to Jesus at every turn. But does the sin of envy affect us? Is there some good that we would take from another, even if it caused them harm? Are there blessings which others have received that we can't bring ourselves to celebrate? Perhaps we are envious of those who seem to have received more or greater blessings than ourselves. We don't like to think of ourselves as envious. There really isn't an upside or a positive spin that we can easily apply. And yet, in some measure, we all tend to succumb because pride insists that we somehow deserve at least as much as anyone else. The right way to respond to temptations of envy is by thanksgiving and praise. This is what Jonathan tried to lead Saul to realize.

Let not your majesty sin against his servant David,

for he has committed no offense against you,

but has helped you very much by his deeds.

When he took his life in his hands and slew the Philistine,

and the LORD brought about a great victory

for all Israel through him,

you were glad to see it.

May the Lord help us to recognize all of the ways in which we have not been thankful for his gifts, and which we have begrudged his giving of those gifts to others. Just as it was for the crowds that pressed upon him so to for us is his healing touch enough to bring healing to our hearts.

Sonicflood - In The Secret

17 January 2024 - to save life rather than destroy it

Today's Readings

(Audio)

There was a man there who had a withered hand.

They watched Jesus closely

to see if he would cure him on the sabbath

so that they might accuse him.

They were already on the watch for an excuse to condemn Jesus. Although it was the sabbath they were beginning a plot to destroy life, that of Jesus specifically, rather than save it. When Jesus did what they suspected he would do and cured the man they only went further down the path which they had intended from the beginning, as "[t]he Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death".

Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."

He stretched it out and his hand was restored.

Jesus, by contrast, was always about the business of doing good and saving life. Even his enemies recognized this about him, realizing that he wouldn't be able to resist the sight of the man with the withered hand. No doubt he saw something of all humanity in this man. Adam had stretched out a wicked hand to seize that which was not rightfully his and ever since the power of humanity to achieve the end for which it was intended was withered. In some way it was a fitting punishment for the abuse of the divine gift. But that did not mean it did not grieve God's heart to leave us in such a state. Even if it was a necessary corrective for a time he always had plans to fully restore us. Jesus could not help but have sympathy for the way crippled individual.

"Come up here before us."

Then he said to the Pharisees,

"Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,

to save life rather than to destroy it?"

In performing the healing in the sight of everyone Jesus was again about the business of salvation, not only for the crippled man, but for the Pharisees and the Herodians as well. Somewhere in their hearts they realized that the man with a withered hand was worthy of compassion, because they sensed they could use precisely that to trap Jesus. But they themselves hardened their hearts in order to avoid that response in themselves, preferring instead to use the man as a means to their desired end. Jesus was calling them out, asking them to recognize how they were working evil on the sabbath, hoping that they might recognize their own hardness of heart and repent. He need not have been so public in performing the healing in the sight of all and speaking about it to them. He knew that to do so risked provoking them further, as in fact it did. But he was genuinely angry at the injustice on display, and put that anger to the good use of motivating his work of saving the man, and of courageously hoping to even convict those who opposed him and convert them.

David answered him:

"You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,

but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,

the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.

It often takes courage to fulfill the will of God in our lives. But like David we are meant to find this courage in the Lord rather than in ourselves. Then we will not shrink from the battlefield of our lives. Because our lives are indeed a battle. Paul reminds us that, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (see Ephesians 6:12).

Our spiritual warfare does not require any less courage for being spiritual. We are tempted to deprioritize it, to opt out, and attend to other seemingly more pressing obligations. But if we learn from the courageous example of David we will learn that no matter how great our opponents appear, the Lord is greater. Jesus himself will reveal the motivations of heart that are precious to him, and inspire us to manifest the courage necessary to pursue them, even using righteous anger when necessary, just as he did.

Blessed be the LORD, my rock,

who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.

Maranatha! Music - The Battle Belongs To The Lord

Paul Kyle - Born Into A Battle

16 January 2024 - all loss, no grain?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,

his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.

The disciples were on the road and in need of food because they were in service of the mission of the Kingdom. The sabbath rest was not opposed to this mission, but could rather only be fulfilled by its completion. Only Jesus could restore the right relationship of humanity with God that could allow them to enter the true promise of the sabbath. Only he could bring the peace promised by the choirs of angels at his birth which was the true meaning of sabbath rest.

At this the Pharisees said to him,

“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

The Pharisees were constrained to a superficial, hypercritical, and overly literal interpretation of the texts of Scripture. They had, apparently, no regard for context or intent. Their primary concern was to consider a particular passage in terms of all the ways it might be transgressed and then to be on the watch for every minor infraction. They seemed to view the sabbath in terms of a series of negatives without consider what those prohibitions were meant to protect. We can be like this too. It becomes especially egregious when we only turn the lens of criticism on others without looking inward.

He said to them,

“Have you never read what David did

when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?

David too was on mission. He was meant to reign as king but was being pursued by Saul, just as Jesus was meant to reign as king, but was pursued by the Pharisees. David's mission was so important that it justified him being given the bread of offering which was normally reserved to priests. The Catholic Commentary of Sacred Scripture for Mark says it succinctly, "[t]hose who share in his divinely appointed mission are doing God’s work and therefore are granted a priestly dispensation from the sabbath regulations, just as David’s men had been granted a priestly privilege regarding the holy bread"¹. We can see from this statement that in virtue of his divine mission David had a priestly role, foreshadowing Jesus himself who would be perfectly priest, prophet, and king. 

Then he said to them,

“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.

Jesus had a priestly privilege like David, but he was in fact someone greater even than David. David was permitted certain privileges for the sake of his kingdom. But Jesus was the one who perfectly understood the original intention behind the establishment of the sabbath, since he himself, with the Father, and the Spirit, established it. It was always meant to be ordered to relationship with himself. The sabbath was meant to be his gift of relationship and peace to man. Hence he and he alone could perfectly speak to what was permissible or not on the sabbath. And the sating of the hunger of disciples collaborating with him in his mission was, from that vantage point, perfectly fitting.

The Spirit rushed on David from the day he was anointed king. But there was never a time when Jesus was not filled with the Spirit. At his baptism this Spirit anointing was revealed to the world, but not begun. Therefore, since he was intended to be king from before the dawn of creation, let us give him our hearts, so that, in them too, his benevolent reign may triumph.

1. Healy, Mary. Gospel of Mark, The (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) (p. 65). Baker Book Group - A. Kindle Edition. 

MercyMe - Greater