Jesus – Living in the State of Grace

The Apostle Thomas (the Twin)

Baptist Preacher Ed Young, who broadcasts a weekly Gospel program called the Winning Walk, recently was talking about the Apostle Thomas. He commented that nowhere in the Bible do we find mention of Apostle Thomas’s twin.

“We are his twin,” he said.

Doubting Thomas? We doubt, don’t we?

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI in his weekly audience spoke about Thomas. It later became a book, as he highlighted each of the Apostles.

We find Thomas in the Bible:

Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 – where Thomas is listed after Matthew as one of the Disciples. We see him listed after Philip in Acts 1:13.

John 11:16 where Jesus is about to go and raise Lazarus from the dead. The threats to His life are real, and Thomas indicates he is ready to die with Him, demonstrating a closeness to Jesus, and a lesson for us to never move that far away.

Thomas has truly taken up his cross and followed Him (Matthew 16:24-26).

At the last supper, we see Thomas asking a question (John 14:5) that many biblical scholars believe he should have known the answer to. Jesus is telling His disciples He is going away, and they know the way (John 14:4). It allows Jesus to tell us, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).”

But Thomas asked. He wasn’t afraid. We should ask in prayer as well whenever something ever confuses us.

After the resurrection, in John 20:24, we see Thomas being told by the other disciples that they saw the Lord alive. Thomas was not present. In the next verse (v.25), Thomas indicates that “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

It is where the popular phrase “Doubting Thomas” comes from.

“My Lord and My God”

(John 20:25-29) – (26)Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (27)Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”(28) Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (29)Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I often confess “My Lord and My God,” when thinking about Jesus.

Finally, we see Thomas listed second after Peter, when a group of the disciples were going fishing (John 21:2), and Jesus appears to them for the 3rd time.

St John Eude’s Treatise

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I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of his body. He belongs to you as the head belongs to the body. All that is his is yours: breath, heart, body, soul and all his faculties. All of these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving him you may give him praise, love and glory. You belong to him as a member belongs to the head. This is why he earnestly desires you to serve and glorify the Father by using all your faculties as if they were his. He belongs to you, but more than that, he longs to be in you, living and ruling in you, as the head lives and rules in the body. He desires that whatever is in him may live and rule in you: his breath in your breath, his heart in your heart, all the faculties of his soul in the faculties of your soul, so that these words may be fulfilled in you: Glorify God and bear him in your body, that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in you.

You belong to the Son of God, but more than that, you ought to be in him as the members are in the head. All that is in you must be incorporated into him. You must receive life from him and be ruled by him. There will be no true life for you except in him, for he is the one source of true life. Apart from him you will find only death and destruction. Let him be the only source of your movements, of the actions and the strength of your life. He must be both the source and the purpose of your life, so that you may fulfill these words: None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. While we live, we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die, we die as his servants. Both in life and death we are the Lord’s. That is why Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Finally, you are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must, then, have one breath with him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart. And he must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all. These great gifts in the follower of Christ originate from baptism. They are increased and strengthened through confirmation and by making good use of other graces that are given by God. Through the Holy Eucharist they are brought to perfection.

Mary’s Christmas Dream

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I had a dream, Joseph. I don’t understand it, not really, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. I think that’s what it was all about. The people had been preparing for it about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They’d gone shopping many times and bought elaborate gifts. It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren’t for Jesus. They wrapped them in beautiful paper and tied them with lovely bows and stacked them under a tree. Yes, a tree, Joseph, right in their house. They’d decorated the tree also. The branches were full of glowing balls and sparkling ornaments. There was a figure on the top of the tree. It looked like an angel might look. Oh, it was beautiful. Everyone was laughing and happy. They were all excited about the gifts. They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son. I don’t think they even knew Him. They never mentioned His name. Doesn’t it seem odd for people to go to all that trouble to celebrate someone’s birthday if they don’t know Him? I had the strangest feeling that if our Son had gone to this celebration He would have been intruding. Everything was so beautiful, Joseph, and everyone was so happy, but it made me want to cry. How sad for Jesus – not to be wanted at His own birthday party. I’m glad it was only a dream. How terrible if it had been real.

Author unknown

Saint Therese

Original Date: December 9, 2006
Revised: December 14, 2011
Re-published: June 26, 2022
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St Therese

I originally wrote this for a Theology class I was taking at Seton Hall in 2006. Reviewing all my filed documents a few weeks back, I realized this is way too beautiful to keep it a secret from you.

Scripture tells us a thousand years is like a day to God. I believe His will for all of us was scripted long ago.

Allow me to tell you a beautiful story that goes back at least one hundred and thirty years.

Our mentally retarded son Robert is thirty-five years old. On the day he was sent, Jesus informed a certain Saint that Robert’s progress would be very slow, his accomplishments may never show. Jesus’ Father would select a very special Mommy, a very special Daddy and was planning to build for him a very special school. It would be Catholic and it would be called “The Seton Foundation for Learning.” Jesus was smiling. He and His Father had so many plans including so many people. They must love sitting together making perfect plans like these.

In eighteen hundred and seventy three, a baby was born in France. Her name was Therese. At fifteen she entered the convent and would die just nine years later. Her mission on earth had been accomplished at twenty-four. Or so we thought. Hardly anyone knew she was ordered by her superiors to write a book about her love of Jesus. But God did. It is now amusing to think her other sisters in the convent worried she would leave no legacy.

So God chose Saint Therese to be His Project Manager. “You make it sound like she gave You a choice,” Jesus lovingly stated to His Father. Therese knew how to pray over the details.

Ninety-three years ago in Manhattan, a baby boy was born. His name was Patrick. Jesus would have him grow up and become an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. “Follow Me,” is all He had to say.

Yet, Bishop Ahern never imagined that Jesus would choose him to shepherd the Seton Foundation for Learning at age sixty-six.

At age seventy-nine Bishop Ahern would write “Maurice and Therese – A Story of a Love” when many are retired, dead, frail and tired. It was to be Bishop’s second legacy past the age of sixty-five.

Forty-seven years ago two young priests would join a then Fr Ahern and purchase a house right on the beach on Long Beach Island. It would cost fifteen thousand dollars. One of the men would go on to become NY’s beloved Terrence Cardinal Cooke, who is himself a candidate for canonization. It would be a house where two of Jesus’ Apostles vacationed. The deal was simple. Whoever lived the longest got the house free and clear. Bishop Ahern became that person.

Twenty-eight years ago, a Staten Island family was walking along the beach in Ocean City, MD. They encountered another family with a developmentally disabled daughter much like their own. They hailed from Scranton, PA. Jesus had just selected a new Apostle by the name of John O’Connor and he blessed a Catholic special education school there. Therese’s enthusiasm was making Jesus happy. They knew what was about to happen.

Robert became the seventh student in what was God’s “very special school.” It had no money, two classes and it was one years old. It would be modeled after the Scranton school and blessed by NY’s newly named Archbishop John O’Connor.

Jesus loves the mentally retarded because he loves truth. Their places in heaven are already reserved as they do not know how to sin. We have Robert getting up from the dinner table telling his Mother his brother cooks the ham better. Yes . . . Jesus and Therese smile along with us.

Bishop always tells me God needed a fundraiser, so He blessed us with Robert.

Today, Seton educates one hundred and twenty kids, ages three to twenty-one and has three campuses. One of the seven petitions from the “Our Father,” the prayer Jesus taught us is “give us our daily bread.” Miracles happen daily.

Six years ago, Jesus asked Therese to create a fourth Seton school. “The Therese Program for Children with Autism.” Autism is at epidemic proportions. Much like my son Robert entering a school twenty years ago with seven kids and no money, this program had eight kids and no money.

Everyone fretted how they would pull it off, much like they did twenty-five years ago.

It was then that Therese had Jesus remind Bishop Ahern in prayer that the beachfront house would easily sell for a million dollars. Now they needed daily operational expenses.

Therese checked God’s plan for the day of April 17, 2006. “Bring Robert’s Daddy back, Bishop Ahern needs his fundraiser, money needs to be raised for Therese’s School on Staten Island,” You may be aware I had been estranged from the Catholic Church for five years. I was away from Seton. It was time for me to come home.

A book had been sitting on my shelf for six years. The day after Easter I picked it up and read it. It was Bishop Ahern’s book on Therese. That book has led me back to into the Catholic faith in ways I never thought imaginable. Within days, I was receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation – for the first time in more than thirty-five years. I didn’t know it at the time, but the church I visited was one of the first American churches named after Therese more than eighty years ago. Builders had chiseled in Teresa.

Amazing things have happened: a bountiful prayer life, this wonderful gathering each week, daily mass, communion, confession, forgiveness, visits to Jesus for silent adoration where His radiance glows onto you and me once again raising money for Bishop and Therese’s new school.

My studies at Seton Hall have helped me understand something I never realized before. Over nineteen years, Seton has raised more than two million dollars, doing it ten dollars at a time. A brief talk is given after communion at all parishes once a year. More than ten thousand parishioners have bought a raffle ticket, all because we are truly one in Christ at that time. Jesus makes it so easy.

One Saturday morning in late September five years ago, I attended Mass at a neighboring parish. It was the parish where Bishop Ahern had been a pastor years ago. Therese sits in an alcove. Like a bolt of lighting, the inspiration to write what I am delivering today flew into my heart.

A week later, on Therese’s feast day, I learned another story behind my new parish. Within walking distance is the old hospital (Seaview) where the cure for Tuberculosis was found, the very same disease she died from.

Jesus told Therese a disabled son would come into my life and do some really special things. Jesus never lets us down. Never!

It was quite a plan.

The Seven Petitions of the The Lord’s Prayer

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The prayer Jesus taught us is approximately 55 words.

How do we pray the Our Father? Do we pray it rote? A Cardinal once said that we were taught in Catechism to memorize, not understand.

Can we say that it is poorly prayed, yet it is the most beautiful and profound?

So should we say it or pray it (by understanding it)?

It has seven petitions. Seven signifies perfection – seven perfect petitions. Jesus taught us. We imitate Him. He is Perfect. He invites us into communion with Him when He allows us to use the word “Our.”

1st – Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name (ccc 2858);

2nd – Your kingdom come (ccc 2859)

3rd – Your will be done on earth as it is heaven (ccc 2860).

4th – Give us this day our daily bread (ccc 2861).

5th – and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (ccc2862);

6th – and lead us not into temptation (ccc 2863)

7th – but deliver us from evil (ccc 2864).

(I replaced the word Thy with Your).

In the first three petitions, notice the word Your (God), not mine or me. We are sending glory and praise to Him, “Our” Almighty Father.

The last four petitions are about us. We get to ask for four things. Is this all we need in life?

Business manuals always state you always start out by complimenting.

A person I admire greatly once joked that when his children wake him up on a Saturday morning and start telling him how much they love him, it automatically guarantees a trip to the local toy store later in the day.

What can we expect? We know that God always returns at least double.

The Lord’s Prayer is found in two of the four Gospels. A briefer version, (Luke 11:1-4) has only 5 petitions (missing: Your will be done, and deliver us from evil). (Matthew 6:9-13) has all seven. Matthew’s version is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Beatitudes, Matthew 5:7-9).

Sts. Augustine, Teresa and Francis wrote books on the Our Father.

St Teresa believes that the prayer could be a single sentence. “Give us, Father, whatever is good for us?” As Peter said in (John 21:17), “Lord, You know everything.”

Let us begin to break “The Lord’s Prayer” down further.

Supposed we phrased it? Tim Rash, in a piece I found on the Internet, uses: 1) God’s Glory; 2) Union with God; 3) Perfect Love; 4) Needs of Soul and Body; 5) Forgiveness of Sin; 6) Protection in Temptation; 7) Freedom from all Harm.

What if we extracted just one word? 1) Name (God); 2) Kingdom; 3) Will; 4) Bread; 5) Forgive; 6) Temptation; 7) Evil.

I found this – what could be a personal prayer based on “The Lord’s Prayer”.

– You are our Father, You live in heaven, we talk to You, Father You are good.

– We believe Your word, Father, we Your children, give us bread today.

– Others have done wrong to us and we are sorry for them, Father, today.

– We have done wrong, we are sorry, teach us Father not to sin again.

– Stop us from doing wrong, Father, save us all from the evil one.

– You are our Father, You live in Heaven, we talk to You, Father You are good.

Some you have may know that I am ever so slowly pursuing a Master’s Degree in Theology at Seton Hall’s Immaculate Conception Seminary. We once spent a six hour Saturday class reversing the petitions of the “The Lord’s Prayer.”

So let us see how it looks:

1st – but deliver us from evil

2nd – and lead us not into temptation

3rd – and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

4th – Give us this day our daily bread

5th – Your will be done on earth as it is heaven

6th – Your kingdom come

7th – Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name

Notice how “Give us this day our daily bread” remains in the middle in both sets of petitions. Both remain as the fourth petition. Pope John Paul II placed the Eucharist as the “Source and Summit” of Catholic life.

Some pretty interesting debates ensued. Can it be said that too many Catholics are “Cradle Catholics,” having been borne into the Catholic religion, but never really grasped, studied, or appreciated it? Or how about those who have fallen away? Or those who are full of pride, or who have fallen into sin, and don’t think they need any guidance?

By the way, I was all of the above.

So, wouldn’t it make sense for me to start with “deliver me from evil?” Then, “lead me not into temptation?” Third, “forgive me.” Fourth, “nourish me, with Your Bread.”

Hopefully, by now, I am close to getting back into God’s graces, if I am not there already. So, the fifth, sixth and seventh make sense now, “Your Will, Your Kingdom, Your Name.

Interesting possibilities. For the record, I argued that if Jesus wanted it any other way, He would have taught it that way. But, classmates said, He was Jesus, and we are not. He could pray it the way He prayed it. Our journey begins with the end.

I believe personal prayer is conversations with God. You can tailor and make any conversation into a prayer with our Lord.

Now, let us look at The Lord’s Prayer from another view.

Many of you are aware of St Teresa of Avila (mentioned above), a Spanish Carmelite nun in the seventeenth century. She was a mystic. She is one of the 33 Doctors of the Church and the first Woman. Her feast day is October 15th. She founded the order that St Therese (another Doctor) later joined. St Teresa and St John of the Cross worked closely together. Her books have sold in the hundreds of millions. They are Spiritual Classics.

One of more famous books was entitled, “Interior Castles.” Simply put, St Teresa saw the Soul as a Castle, with many rooms or (Mansions) (see John 14:2) (in My Father’s House, there are many dwelling places). As you grew closer to God, you moved into a room closer to Him.

St Teresa’s successes came when she was fifty-one years old. The successes she had from that point on were breath taking. Up until then, she was always half in, half out with God. I guess you might say she too was battling Secularism like we do.

The book described her journey. She made it all the way through. Most make it to the third mansion, and rarely past the fourth.

Several people (including my class) reverse The Lord’s Prayer and its seven petitions and place them alongside the seven Mansions for study and contemplation.

Teresa’s first Mansion was the Human Soul. The seventh petition is, “deliver us from evil.”

Upon my conversion, when I was just a Spiritual infant, my Soul, the Human Soul, was constantly under attack. It is so intense that most fall back into the devil’s clutches.

My Confessor likes to remind me that the Evil One was (is) pretty angry at having lost me. He thought I was a card carrying member. So you could imagine his shock.

How often does a mature business take for granted their customers and largely ignore emerging trends. Soon, they find themselves losing business.

As I spoke about earlier, not all Catholics are practicing or good. This is one of the prospect lists satan uses.

Yet, God always finds wonderful ways to find us and slap us upside the head. There is dancing in heaven when one of His wandering sheep comes marching home. I like to tell people that Jesus didn’t slap me, he took at a baseball bat and announced, “McDermott, I have had enough. Follow me.” Thank God I said, “Yes, Sir,” ever so meekly and humbly.

Success here at the beginning starts to push the devil further away from you.

The second Mansion is War. The sixth petition is “lead us not in temptation.”

God seeing how good you have done moves you into the second mansion. Just like a business that lost a customer, indignation pops up and all sorts of anger appears instead of humility acknowledging their fault and trying to figure out what they could have done better. Oh, how satan is upset with you. Let me count the ways. Evil declares War. He’ll be offering all sorts of temptations here and reminding you of your past. You just stay strong and remind him that you have moved and you no longer live there (your past).

The third mansion is Fear (respect) of God. The fifth petition is “forgive us our sins, as we forgive others.”

We are then “promoted” into the third Mansion. I call it a promotion because you have made great progress. God is on your mind constantly. You are starting to converse with Him. You tend not to sin too often, or at all. You get offended at others offending him. It is called love. You begin to understand how Secularism doesn’t work and how it never will. Your humility is so great, that nothing offends you. You recognize all your faults and work hard at correcting them.

The fourth Mansion is Sweetness in Prayer / Divine Consolations / Prayer of Quiet. The fourth petition is “Give us this day our daily bread.”

I heard it once said that God likes to take your “natural” and apply His “Super” making your experience “Super-Natural.” This is where the only phrase you can use is Huh, where did that come from? People who are here smile, and simply say, of course. Thank you Lord Jesus! You hear God in meditation, you receive rewards, and you feel so good and special.

Time and space do not allow me to reflect any further for this particular reflection. Hopefully, on another day, we can complete the final three and delve further in the petitions by attaching Scripture passages to them.

Finally, I was returning home from a recent vacation in Pennsylvania. I prayed the entire four-hour trip home and was thinking about this reflection the entire day. Upon entering the toll booth, the collector said to me that he had a message for me. He said, “thank you for doing God’s work.” I smiled.

Litany of Praise

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Praise You, Jesus (repeat):

1. You are my life, my love.

2. You are the Name above all Names. (Ephesians 1:21) (Philippians 2:9)

3. You are Emmanuel, God with us.

4. You are the King of Kings.

5. You are the King of Creation. (John 1:10)

6. You are the King of the Universe.

7. You are the Lord of Lords.

8. You are the Almighty.

9. You are the Christ. (Mark 8:29)

10. You are Christ, the King.

11. You are the Lamb of God. (John 1:29)

12. You are the Lion of Judah.

13. You are the Bright Morning Star.

14. You are our Champion and Shield.

15. You are our Strength and our Song.

16. You are the Way for our Life.

17. You are the only Truth. (John 1:14, 17)

18. You are the Real Life.

19. You are the Wonderful Counselor.

20. You are the Prince of Peace.

21. You are the Light of the World. (John 1:4, 9)

22. You are the Living Word. (Hebrews 4:12) (John 1:14)

23. You are the Redeemer.

24. You are the Messiah. (John 4:25) (Mark 8:29)

25. You are the Anointed One. (John 4:25)

26. You are the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 12:6)

27. You are the Good Shepherd.

28. You are the Sheepgate.

29. You are the Lord of Hosts.

30. You are the Rock of all Ages.

31. You are our Hiding Place.

32. You are the Savior of the World.

33. You are the Strong Tower.

34. You are the Mountain Refuge.

35. You are the Bread of Life.

36. You are the Font of all Holiness.

37. You are the Living Water. (John 4:10)

38. You are the True Vine.

39. You are my Spouse, my Maker.

40. You are our Fortress.

41. You are the Deliverer

42. You are our Victory.

43. You are our Salvation.

44. You are our Righteousness.

45. You are our Wisdom.

46. You are our Sanctification.

47. You are our Justification.

48. You are the Door.

49. You are the Great I AM. (John 4:26)

50. You are the Great High Priest

51. You are the Cornerstone.

52. You are the Sure Foundation.

53. You are our Joy.

54. You are our Portion and Cup.

55. You are our Healing and Wholeness.

56. You are our Covenant.

57. You are the Promise of the Father.

58. You are the Everlasting One.

59. You are the Most High God. (Psalm 92:2)

60. You are the Lamb that was Slain. (Revelation 5:12)

61. You are the Just Judge.

62. You are the Balm of Gilead.

63. You are the Mighty Warrior.

64. You are our Defense.

65. You are the Bridegroom.

66. You are our Patience.

67. You are the Solid Reality.

68. You are our Provider.

69. You are the Resurrection and the Life.

70. You are the Alpha and Omega.

71. You are the Beginning and the End.

72. You are all that I need.

73. You are all that I want.

74. You are Worthy of all Praise!

Psalm 34:2-4 – I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be always in my mouth. My soul will glory in the LORD; let the poor hear and be glad. Magnify the LORD with me; and let us exalt his name together.

Matthew 21:16 – Jesus said to them, “Yes; and have you never read the text, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise’?”

James 5:13 – Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise.

Psalms 150:1-6 – Hallelujah! Praise God in His holy sanctuary; give praise in the mighty dome of heaven. Give praise for His mighty deeds, praise him for His great majesty. Give praise with blasts upon the horn, praise Him with harp and lyre. Give praise with tambourines and dance, praise Him with strings and pipes. Give praise with crashing cymbals, praise Him with sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath give praise to the LORD! Hallelujah!

Psalms 92:2 – It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praise to your name, Most High,

Psalms 35:28 – Then my tongue shall recount Your justice, declare Your praise, all the day long.

Psalms 51:16-17 – Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God, and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice. Lord, you will open my lips; and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

1 Peter 2:9-10 – But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were “no people” but now you are God’s people; you “had not received mercy” but now you have received mercy.

Matthew 18:3 – and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Psalms 107:22 – Let them offer a sacrifice in thanks, recount his works with shouts of joy.

Hebrew 13:15 – Through Him [then] let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His Name.

Psalms 116:17 – I will offer a sacrifice of praise and call on the Name of the LORD.

Revelation 5:11-14 – I looked again and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.”

Revelation 7:11-12 – All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Revelation 19:5 – A voice coming from the throne said: “Praise our God, all you His servants, [and] you who revere Him, small and great.”

Passages

Prologue (John 1:1-18)

Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)

Annunciation (Luke 1:29-37)

Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1-11)

Visitation (Luke 1:39-45)

Love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

At the Name of Jesus (Philippians 2:4-11)

Jesus’ Prayer to His Father (John 17:11-19)

Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:2)

Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)

Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9) (Mark 9:2-10) (Luke 9:28-36)

Singular Passages

Mark 5:9

1 Peter 3:2

Colossians 1:16

Hebrews 11:1

Mark 1:15

Mark 5:36

Romans 12:1-2

Romans 5:5

John 2:5

John 3:16

Luke 24:32

1 Corinthians 1:3

Psalms

Psalm 1:1-4

Psalm 51:12

Jesus Had a Unique Ability to See the Father’s Providential Activities

John 5:19

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

Commentary

The footnote in the ESV Study Bible states that “only what He sees the Father doing may imply that Jesus had a unique ability to see the Father’s providential activities in the events of everyday life, activities that are ordinarily invisible to human beings.”

Who Was He? Was this Mark the Evangelist?

Mark 14:50-52 (TLB)

Meanwhile, all his disciples had fled. There was, however, a young man following along behind, clothed only in a linen nightshirt. When the mob tried to grab him, he escaped, though his clothes were torn off in the process, so that he ran away completely naked.

Commentary

Who was he?

An interesting tidbit here. As Jesus is arrested, after being betrayed by Judas, but before He is led before the Chief Priests, the above passage appears. Only in the Gospel of Mark.

Who is this?

Scholars believe it is Mark himself, the author of one of the three Synoptic Gospels, and it appears only in the Gospel he wrote.

We see John Mark elsewhere in the Bible:

In Acts, Chapter 12:4-11, when Peter escapes during the night, after being double-chained, and heavily guarded (of course with God’s help) he goes to the house of Mary, mother of John, whom they call Mark (Acts 12:12)(ESV).

In Acts12:25 (ESV) – And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

And in Acts 13:5 (ESV) – When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.

Further, In Acts 13:8 (ESV) – Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem,

Acts 15:37-39 (ESV) – Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,

Back on good terms with Paul he appears in Colossians 4:10.

In 2 Timothy 4:11, we see both Luke and Mark – Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

In Philemon1:24 we see Paul sending greetings from Mark, Luke, and others.

Peter calls Mark his son in 1 Peter 5:13. I read elsewhere he became Peter’s right hand, indispensable to him.

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52 (TLB)

(46) And so they reached Jericho. Later, as they left town, a great crowd was following. Now it happened that a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road as Jesus was going by. (47) When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was near, he began to shout out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (48) “Shut up!” some of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted the louder, again and again, “O Son of David, have mercy on me!” (49) When Jesus heard him, he stopped there in the road and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “You lucky fellow,” they said, “come on, he’s calling you!” (50) Bartimaeus yanked off his old coat and flung it aside, jumped up and came to Jesus. (51) “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “O Teacher,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” (52) And Jesus said to him, “All right, it’s done. Your faith has healed you.” And instantly the blind man could see and followed Jesus down the road!

Commentary

Jesus always listens. Let that be a lesson for us. Jesus says, “Tell him to come here (v49).”

He (Bartimaeus) yanked off his old coat and flung it (v50). For Bartimaeus, THIS.WAS.A.DONE.DEAL! Going to Jesus was a simple formality. His faith was so large. Beyond large. To imagine we could have his faith. He knew it would happen. He didn’t think to himself, maybe I should keep the old coat just in case. The coat was gone. Finished. no more.

Jesus asks various questions when He heals. Here, He says, “What do you want me to do for you (v51)?”

Bartimeaus responds, “I want to see (v51)!”

Jesus obliges, “All right, it’s done. Your faith has healed you (v52).”

INSTANTLY (v52).

Bartimaeus was a new man. He had a new life to begin.

Jesus, You are so beautiful.

He healed them all (Matthew 15:30)!

“Follow Me (John 1:43)!”

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

John 12:1-8 (ESV)

(1) Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. (2) So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. (3) Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (4) But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, (5) “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (6) He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. (7) Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. (8) For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Commentary

I must have read the Gospel of John thousands of times. As usual, you notice something new every time. I just started to read the English Standard Version (ESV), a gift for Father’s Day. BTW – it is excellent. They bought me the study version.

You will also find similar passages in Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9.

Matthew and Mark identify the house as Simon the Leper. In John, I always thought it was at the house of Lazarus, (Mary and Martha lived there too). It never says that. Martha serves. Lazarus reclines at table, and Mary anoints Jesus’ feet.

Matthew and Mark do not identify the woman as Mary.

Mary in John 12:3 anoints Jesus’ feet. Matthew and Mark indicate His head. Scholars believe both (head and feet) were anointed, assuming the large quantity, e.g., a pound, alabaster flask.

Footnotes highlight attending to feet is the work of servants, (see John 1:27 and John 13:5). It shows humility and devotion.

One of my favorite ladies in the Bible. Her devotion to Jesus is amazing.