The Word God Spells

Luke 6: 6-11
Col 1:24–2:3 / Ps 62:6-7,9

Is it lawful on the sabbath, to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?
(Luke 6:9)

Heal me, Lord Jesus of my doubt,
Give me the grace to understand
That until I learn to stretch out,
My faith is like a withered hand.

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all relate the same incidents about Jesus debating with the Pharisees on the Sabbath while walking through a field of grain, and then Jesus healing a man with a withered hand. Luke only differed with the other two by saying the healing happened “on another sabbath”. But all of the Gospel writers, including John’s Gospel, depict the narrow-minded view of the Jews regarding the Sabbath practice, and Jesus’ efforts (at the risk of His own life) to enlighten them about the true intent of God in creating the Sabbath. Jesus showed the pharisees that all their legalism in observing the Sabbath restricted even the most basic of human activities, like getting a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath. He asked them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?” He declared that in fact the Sabbath was the best day in which good should be done, and we read about the many times He healed and expelled evil spirits on this holy day.

Reflection

The pharisees, for all their obsession with the law had confused legality with morality. Jesus had consistently shown them that they were wrong. Ignoring those in need of medical help for the sake of “keeping the sabbath holy” is morally wrong. What may seem legal is not necessarily moral, and vice versa. Abortion may be legal in some countries like the United States, but our Church teaches us that it can never be morally right. Meeting for worship may be illegal in countries like China or Saudi Arabia, but they will always be considered morally good in any Christian country. In fact, in many cases, legality and morality are even at odds. Many judges and lawyers uphold the law for the wrong reasons, while many heroes and martyrs, like Ninoy Aquino, Evelio Javier, and John the Baptist gave up their lives for the sake of justice.

Jesus performed many of His healings on the Sabbath to show the Jews and future generations of Christians that the Sabbath is made more holy by liberating those who are in bondage with sickness or evil spirits on the Sabbath. In the process, He also freed His followers from the bondage of Old Covenant customs and rituals, which the Pharisees and Jewish leaders had crafted to burden the people.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Sabbath, and still is our Sabbath, because it is only in Jesus that we find true rest. Whenever we fail to “keep holy the Sabbath day” (going to Sunday mass) for some ‘legal’ reason, we are missing not only the essence of this ‘law’, but our Lord Jesus Himself. And perhaps that may be the reason why we are still in bondage.

Your laws, Lord, are good, wholesome, and a delight to obey. I will always strive to learn them, understand them, and obey them as I believe the psalmist who said, ‘How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the Lord.’ (Ps. 119:1) Amen.

John 16:23-28
Acts 18:23-28 / Ps 47

Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you.”
John, 16-23

The most precious thing in life to claim
From the Father is Jesus His Son,
But to become worthy of His Name
We must see His face in everyone.

Jesus said, ‘On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.’

Reflection

These holy words from our Saviour come as a Promise and a great assurance whenever we feel anxious about our needs. During this time, Jesus was preparing His chosen disciples for His inevitable captivity, suffering and death. In a few hours they would be leaving for the garden of Gethsemane, where His fate awaited Him. But His message to them was, even if He was leaving them, the power of His Name would still remain with them, so that anything they asked the Father in His Name would be granted them. In fact they discovered later that they could perform healing and other wonders just by the mere mention of Jesus’ Name.

This century has perhaps seen the greatest blasphemy that man can ever be guilty of. The Da Vinci Code book and movie production have not only taken the name of our Lord in vain, but has even desecrated His memory. While the followers of Jesus Christ revere His Name and recognize the great power that may be derived from it, those who do not take their faith seriously especially the amoral regard it as just another word in their vocabulary. This is a chilling testament to the depths of immorality that this modern world has plunged itself into. Satan, the Great Liar that he is, has propagated the false information that what was once considered venerable is now in the modern sense banal and irrelevant. What was considered sacred may now be desecrated, if man wants to give free rein to his creativity in the name of modernization. But this is only true for those who belong to the world and are not concerned about the Other World beyond this temporal one. We who are not in fellowship with this world but belong to God are the ones who worship the Name of our Lord because “it is by His Name that we are saved.” It is by His Name that we have found true joy and contentment, and peace that this modern world, with all its high-tech gizmos can never provide.

Lord Jesus, we are reminded in today’s Gospel that as long as we abide in Your Name, whatever we ask the Father will be granted. You came into this world to be our Model. And You left this world with the certainty that Your Name will live on forever long after You have gone. We are the inheritors of Your Holy Name, our beloved Saviour, and in your Name we will continue to work out the Will of the Father for the transformation of His creation. It is not for this world that we live, dear God, but for the hope of spending eternity in Your kingdom. Amen.

Matthew 26: 14-25
Is 50:4-9/Ps 69/Mt 26:14-25

…but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.
(Mt.26:24)

May we not hide, or justify
The sins that we consider small;
Remind us, Lord, what we deny
May lead us to a greater fall.

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain one, and say to him, `The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he sat at table with the twelve disciples; and as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Is it I, Master?” He said to him, “You have said so.” (Mt. 26: 14-25)

In all aspects, Judas Iscariot was different from the other apostles. His origin, as indicated in his name Iscariot, set him apart from the other Apostles, who were all Galileans. This may have influenced the crooked path he chose to take, for lack of sympathy from the other apostles.

The great treachery and fall of Judas was the final outcome of a gradual failing in lesser things, like his love of money, false compassion for the poor, and stealing from the contributions. Little by little, Satan’s evil spirit corrupted his soul.

Reflection

The sight that greeted me as I was about to enter our compound seemed surreal, like the set of a disaster scene in a movie. Our iron gate was twisted, one part yanked out of its hinges under the weight of the huge firetree that had collapsed without warning, barely missing the guardhouse. Fortunately it had fallen at a time when no car or pedestrian was coming in or going out of the gate. I got out of my car to examine the cause of the tree’s collapse. Termites! The core of the base and roots had rotted, for the termites had eaten away most of the tree’s once strong foundation. The massive tree that once stood like a formidable sentinel beside our compound gate was doomed to fall, because its insides had rotted to the core.

Judas must have had some virtues that qualified him to become a member of Jesus’ tight circle. But despite being in the Lord’s company, he was never able to dissociate himself from worldly pursuits and eventually, like deadly termites, devious designs wormed in and corrupted his soul.

Great betrayals can begin from small indiscretions. If Satan cannot seduce us with major sins, he will attack and weaken our foundation with numerous little ‘venial sins’ such as ‘white lies’ and sins of omission that will eat away our core values. When a strong turbulence in our life finally comes along, we may, like Judas, fall crashing down in the sin of despair.

Let me not hide, or justify, or try to deny the sins that may be small, but may lead to bigger offenses later on. Remind me always, Lord that even the smallest sin I commit is a betrayal, and must never be entertained at all. Amen.