You Are Possessed!

“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?”

John 8:52-53a

When Jesus taught that if one were to keep His Word, they would not see death. The Jews listening found that absurd to the point that they said Jesus was possessed! They could not wrap their heads around the fact that someone could live forever and never die. But, can we blame them? To someone without faith, it does sound pretty crazy. We learn by experience that people die, no matter how healthy one is, they eventually succumb to death. So in one sense we can see where the Jews were coming from. They were right, Abraham died and the prophets died — they got that part right, but the part they got wrong was that they are not simply dead and gone, they are fully alive in God.

Jesus came so that death will never overcome us. Our earthy lives will come to an end, but the eternal life with which we have been endowed never ends. We live forever in Christ. When our earthly lives are over, we will join the saints in the hallways of heaven, God willing, and on the final day, we will we made perfect in our glorified bodies.

So, to answer the Jew’s question, although rhetorical on their part, Jesus is indeed greater than Abraham! He was with the Father from the very beginning. Jesus is the Son of God. He is not possessed in the way the Jews thought in their doubt and confusion, but He is possessed in that He is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Where are we in our journey of faith? Do we believe that if we keep His words, we will never die? Do we embrace the life God has gifted unto us? Are we possessed by His love?

Blessing in Disguise

“In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.”

Numbers 21:6

After God had led the Israelites out of Egypt, freeing them from slavery, they complained because of the lack of choice in food and drink. Perhaps they just didn’t want to be wandering around and they thought maybe if the Lord had come to rescue them shouldn’t things be easier? And so, they complained and questioned God’s motive and intentions, asking God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” Instead of being grateful the God for sending Moses and Aaron to liberate them from their slavish life in Egypt, they resented Him. They even wished they were back in Egypt! This may sound absurd to us. Why would someone who was once a slave, now freed, want to go back into slavery? It doesn’t make sense, but we’d be surprised how often we might even do this ourselves.

When we come face to face with a bad habit or habitual sin and after much prayer received the grace to work towards being free from it, and when the temptation or trigger comes and we fall for it, bringing ourselves back into that negative cycle of sin. Have you ever experienced that? The Israelites did not want to work for their freedom, and they’d rather be slaves and enjoy some sort of comfort — food, drink, seeming stability — than to live in the freedom as the people of God. And so, what does God do? The Lord sent serpents that bit the people causing them to die. At face value it seems as if God was punishing them out of spite, but that’s not really the case. What were the Israelites really complaining about? That God was not taking care of them. So, to show them what life would really be like without God’s care and providence, He withheld His care. Without God’s protection, snakes attacked the people and they died. Without God there can be no life, only death. Sometimes we may not see the blessings that are there because of our own pride or self-preoccupations. When we think God isn’t there, He really is there, but He may be silent, but His protecting hand is always upon us, otherwise we won’t be here.

When the Israelites repented, God offered them a remedy: mounting a serpent on a pole and raising it up (the modern symbol for medicine!) so that all who looked upon it will be saved. And in the fullness of time, God sent His only Son to be mounted on the wood of the Cross and He was raised up, and we who look upon the Cross with our crucified Lord is saved. God doesn’t promise us an easy life, perhaps what the Israelites were hoping for, but He does promise us eternal life, so much so that He became man, assuming our human nature, so that we might be saved and one day may enjoy the glory of heaven. How blessed are we?

Neither Do I Condemn You

First published April 8, 2019 by Philip Cheung.

In the Gospel we are presented with the incident where a woman was caught in the very act of adultery, and the Pharisees have seized the woman and is about to carry out the consequence that such an act warranted: stoning. In an attempt to test Jesus, they asked Him what they should should do for the Law of Moses said to stone her. Jesus' initial response was silence.

I love this silence. Oftentimes it is the silence that speaks the loudest. Think about it. What could the Pharisees have been thinking: "why isn't He saying anything...?" Then Jesus bends down and begins to write something with his finger on the ground. Scripture doesn't tell us what He writes. The people couldn't deal with the silence so they asked the question again and Jesus said, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." What a statement. The people began to gradually disappear one after another. Soon, it was just Jesus and the woman. Jesus asked the woman where the people were and if anyone threw a stone at her in condemnation of her. She said "No one, sir." Then Jesus said these words of love and invitation to her: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore."

In loving her, Jesus does not condemn her but affirms her belovedness. In challenging her, Jesus invites the woman to a new way of life. Every encounter with God is similar: we are always reminded of and affirmed in our belovedness - the Father says to us: "You are my beloved son/daughter" - and we are also challenged to be better, to live radically, to embrace the Truth, and to share this with others. When we feel shameful and guilty and embarrassed by our sinfulness and mistakes, God does not look at us in condemnation. Rather, he lowers Himself to us, meeting us where we are, telling us that He loves us, and then raises us up with Him. Today, God is saying the very same thing to you: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore."

Let us ask the Father for the grace of trust in God's love for us and the courage to live an authentic life of freedom.