I'm angry today. I'm angry at myself, my dogs, God, my family and anything and anyone else. This is one of those I can't do anything days. One of those days when getting out of bed, dressed and into the living room seems an insurmountable struggle. I mean come on how many people actually need their son to get them to the couch? I feel I have let down a wonderful friend, my wife, my sons and my Lord. I can't stand the frustration and want to hurt something.
It use to be that when I got angry I could go out and do something about it, you know throw some students around a little, beat on the heavy bag, spar with a superior fighter, break some boards or blocks, now all I can do is sit around and wait to get the muscle control back enough to punch myself in the side of the face. I can't read, I can't follow a movie, I can't follow a television show. I can't even remember my sign ins for most things.
I don't like what I am becoming and my faith is starting to falter. Lord give me the strength to remain sane, to accept your will even when I don't understand it and most of all to remember that it is Who You are that is important not what I am.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Words of our Risen Lord
Mat 28:8 And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.
Mat 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him.
Mat 28:10 Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee. There they shall see me.
“All Hail, Fear not!” (Peace) As far as we know these are the first words spoken by our Risen Lord. We can assume that there was praise of the Father and Prayer but as recorded this is what we are told he said. Well actually what he said was the Greek word χαίρω which we are told means “be full of cheer, be calmly happy”. In a few translations such as the Good News Bible this is translated “Peace”. The English Standard Version translates it “Greetings!” No matter how it is translated it is clear that His intention was to put the women at ease. Did they wonder if their senses were deceiving them? I probably would have. Did they think they were seeing the dead? Again I might have.
We have differing accounts of the morning that Jesus resurrected. It is my opinion that each gives the same story from a different perspective but what I wish to emphasize is this one word; “Peace.” It is a word that is used in Scripture often and there are variances of it in both Greek and Hebrew. But what exactly is it that Jesus wanted to communicate?
Strongs Dictionary of the Bible indicates that this is a word that was used mostly to set people at ease. I would imagine that today it would be similar to saying something like “Friends Relax.” Why would this be our Lords first words? The Risen Lord had just taken the keys of hell and death away from the adversary. The Risen Lord through His suffering and death had forever removed the veil between man and his creator. (This was signified quite well by the rending of the veil in the Temple.) This was a conquering hero, this was a figure that had just experienced mans curse (death) to redeem man and to return him to fellowship with the Father.
Nobody really knows what the Marys’ and the Apostles’ first thoughts were but we know many of them were afraid. Certainly the women were afraid according to the Scriptures quoted above. Jesus our ever loving savior knows the grief and the pain that these disciples of His just experienced. He knows how many hairs were on their heads {Thanks to a friend of mine for reminding me of this} so it is reasonable to assume he knows the depth of the grief and the guilt that his followers, those who loved Him, had been experiencing the previous three days. Jesus had experienced grief, separation, torture, and death. One can understand why He would want to set at ease those who were suffering after all that was the whole purpose of the incarnation; to relieve our suffering (by taking it Himself) thus reuniting us with the Father.
It is hard for many in this world to attain peace. There are many reasons for this, the demands of everyday living is probably most at fault. It eats away at us demanding our time, our attention, our resources; it demands well nothing less than “us”. How do I get Tommy to orchestra practice? How do I get Christopher to the Rec Center where his team is waiting on “The Wall”? What will we do about Karen’s Insulin when she loses her insurance? How do I tell mom that I need yet one more surgery? How do I make Social Security pay the $300.00 in bills that it is short of? What about the soldiers and civilians losing their lives in the Middle East? How do we feed the hundreds of children that will starve to death today? Does my elderly neighbor need me to mow her lawn again? How will I ever make time for that Apologetics paper? The list goes on and on and on seemingly endlessly. How can one have peace? It is clear that Jesus is telling the women and the disciples and us to have peace. I would say that since these were the first words of our Risen Lord that this peace must be pretty important. So how do we have peace?
[more to come my friends I do have that paper to finish]
Mat 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet and adored him.
Mat 28:10 Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee. There they shall see me.
“All Hail, Fear not!” (Peace) As far as we know these are the first words spoken by our Risen Lord. We can assume that there was praise of the Father and Prayer but as recorded this is what we are told he said. Well actually what he said was the Greek word χαίρω which we are told means “be full of cheer, be calmly happy”. In a few translations such as the Good News Bible this is translated “Peace”. The English Standard Version translates it “Greetings!” No matter how it is translated it is clear that His intention was to put the women at ease. Did they wonder if their senses were deceiving them? I probably would have. Did they think they were seeing the dead? Again I might have.
We have differing accounts of the morning that Jesus resurrected. It is my opinion that each gives the same story from a different perspective but what I wish to emphasize is this one word; “Peace.” It is a word that is used in Scripture often and there are variances of it in both Greek and Hebrew. But what exactly is it that Jesus wanted to communicate?
Strongs Dictionary of the Bible indicates that this is a word that was used mostly to set people at ease. I would imagine that today it would be similar to saying something like “Friends Relax.” Why would this be our Lords first words? The Risen Lord had just taken the keys of hell and death away from the adversary. The Risen Lord through His suffering and death had forever removed the veil between man and his creator. (This was signified quite well by the rending of the veil in the Temple.) This was a conquering hero, this was a figure that had just experienced mans curse (death) to redeem man and to return him to fellowship with the Father.
Nobody really knows what the Marys’ and the Apostles’ first thoughts were but we know many of them were afraid. Certainly the women were afraid according to the Scriptures quoted above. Jesus our ever loving savior knows the grief and the pain that these disciples of His just experienced. He knows how many hairs were on their heads {Thanks to a friend of mine for reminding me of this} so it is reasonable to assume he knows the depth of the grief and the guilt that his followers, those who loved Him, had been experiencing the previous three days. Jesus had experienced grief, separation, torture, and death. One can understand why He would want to set at ease those who were suffering after all that was the whole purpose of the incarnation; to relieve our suffering (by taking it Himself) thus reuniting us with the Father.
It is hard for many in this world to attain peace. There are many reasons for this, the demands of everyday living is probably most at fault. It eats away at us demanding our time, our attention, our resources; it demands well nothing less than “us”. How do I get Tommy to orchestra practice? How do I get Christopher to the Rec Center where his team is waiting on “The Wall”? What will we do about Karen’s Insulin when she loses her insurance? How do I tell mom that I need yet one more surgery? How do I make Social Security pay the $300.00 in bills that it is short of? What about the soldiers and civilians losing their lives in the Middle East? How do we feed the hundreds of children that will starve to death today? Does my elderly neighbor need me to mow her lawn again? How will I ever make time for that Apologetics paper? The list goes on and on and on seemingly endlessly. How can one have peace? It is clear that Jesus is telling the women and the disciples and us to have peace. I would say that since these were the first words of our Risen Lord that this peace must be pretty important. So how do we have peace?
[more to come my friends I do have that paper to finish]
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