THE WORD IN LENT -38

In distress for the Lord

Fifth week in Lent: Friday, 27th Mar, 2015

Jer 20: 10-13; Jn 10: 31-42

Jeremiah seems a perfect foreshadow of Jesus, but in one case! He was in distress too for the sake of the will of the One who called him; he was cornered for nothing and taken to task for his dedication to the Lord and the task handed to him by the Lord. But differing from Jeremiah, Jesus does not wish to see the vengeance that the Lord would take on those who did not heed the call, those who were persecuting him for wrong reasons, those who refused to see such an obvious point made by Jesus' words and deeds. Jesus wishes that they turn to him, believe in him, in his words and in his works and realise that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Both Jeremiah and Jesus, give us an example of persons in distress for the Lord: Blessed are those who hunger for justice and peace, for they shall be filled; Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for their's is the kingdom of God. How prepared and ready are we to be in distress for the Lord! 

THE WORD IN LENT -37

Understanding the Covenant

Fifth week in Lent: Thursday, 26th Mar, 2015

Gen 17:3-9;Jn 8: 51-59

Though they claimed to be people of the covenant, they do not grasp the real meaning of the covenant that the Lord had made with them. They considered it to be only a material blessing, giving them prosperity and posterity. Jesus tries to drive home to their minds the holistic difference that the Lord makes in our lives, in and through the covenant: the covenant actually makes us like God - eternal and all spiritual. Whoever keeps my word will never see death, declares Jesus. In Jesus we have a much deeper reality to observe and accept: that God wants to share with the God's very nature -the nature of eternity, the aspect of timelessness, the quality that our earthly life is just a part of the entire existence we possess, in the mind of God earlier and in union with God later. If we accept this perspective, we would understand the folly of an exaggerated insistence and dependence on material prosperity. Are we ready to understand the true meaning of the covenant we have with God or are we picking up stones against it?