Scripture Notes: Death and Life (Romans 6)

St. Paul doesn’t mince words in his Letter to the Romans. In chapter 6, verse 23, he says right out, “For the wages of sin is death.” There is no getting around it. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned. They did the one thing God told them not to do, and they received the very punishment that God imposed for that disobedience: death. No, they did not drop dead immediately, but they did die physically. Even worse, though, they experienced spiritual death, separation from God.

For years upon years, centuries upon centuries, millennia upon millennia, the gates of Heaven were closed to human beings. Sin broke the relationship with God. Sin closed those gates. Sin separated us from our Father Who loves us.

But because our Father loves us, He spent years upon years, centuries upon centuries, millennia upon millennia preparing for the solution to the problem of sin and death. And that solution was something no one could have imagined. Love Himself, Life Himself, Truth Himself, the Word of God Himself, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God became incarnate. He came to take sin and death upon Himself and open the gates of Heaven.

That’s why St. Paul can add that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s grace pours out upon us, forgiving our sins and canceling their punishment. Jesus gives us life. We still die physically (and who would want to live forever in this fallen world?), but we no longer have to die spiritually. We no longer have to be separated from God. We can enter into eternal life through Christ, for when we are baptized and in a state of grace, God’s very divine life indwells in our souls, drawing us up to eternal life in Heaven.

Scripture Notes: A Mustard Seed Beginning (Matthew 13)

Jesus likes to use the image of a mustard seed. It is so very tiny, so seemingly insignificant, but when properly planted and cared for, it can lead to massive, momentous results.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells us that “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Who would ever think a mustard seed could come to anything at all? It’s only one to two millimeters, just a little round thing that could be easily lost and overlooked. But when someone takes the time and effort to plant it and water it, it grows to enormous proportions. Such is the kingdom of heaven. It started small with Jesus’ twelve apostles, his mother and a few other women, and a collection of relatively few disciples in a backwater region of the Roman Empire. Who would have thought the little movement would come to anything?  Who but God?

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed in each of us, too. Sometimes our faith feels very tiny, or we think we aren’t really doing much for God. We feel insignificant, unimportant, weak, and small. But if God has planted the seed of the kingdom in us, then it will grow, as long as we care for it.  

The mustard seed is a suitable symbol for what we can do for others as well. Sometimes our smallest actions mean the most and have the greatest results. A simple smile and a kind word can make another person’s day. A little act of service, a show of care even in the most minor things can affect another person forever.

Therefore, we should not neglect the mustard seeds in our lives. God will make them grow in His time and according to His will.

Scripture Notes: Faith Like a Mustard Seed (Matthew 17)

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John descend from the Mount of Transfiguration, they come upon a rather chaotic scene.  A desperate father has brought his seizure-plagued son to Jesus for healing. But since Jesus is up on the mountain, His disciples try to heal the boy themselves. They fail. Miserably.

Jesus seems to sigh when He hears this. “O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” Jesus is not out of patience with His disciples, but He is letting them know, quite clearly, that they haven’t been listening. They haven’t developed their faith in Him. They haven’t learned their lesson. They haven’t gone deep enough.

The father also doubts. He has faith enough to bring his son to Jesus, but he isn’t completely sure. In Mark’s account, the father asks Jesus to heal the boy “if You are able to do anything.” Jesus responds with “All things can be done for the one who believes,” to which the father replies with a sincere prayer, straight from his heart: “I believe; help my unbelief!” His faith probably receives a divine boost right at that very moment.

After Jesus heals the boy, rebuking the demon possessing him and driving it away, the disciples ask why they couldn’t do it.  The problem, Jesus tells, is unbelief.  Then He says something rather shocking: “if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

Is Jesus exaggerating? No. He has already revealed how faith can and does work miracles according to God’s will. The problem is with us. Our faith is so small. It isn’t even the size of a mustard seed. Even if we were to tell the mountain to move, deep down, we probably wouldn’t believe that it would or even could. We would doubt, and that doubt would block a miracle. God is the one who performs the miracles in us in His way and at His time, of course, but we must not block the channel of His grace with our unbelief.

So what do we do to increase our faith? We ask our Lord to help us. We ask Him to infuse the gift of faith into us. And we open our hearts to receive it through prayer, the sacraments, Scripture reading, study, and fellowship with other Christians. We tear down the mountains of unbelief and allow rivers of faith and grace to flow. Then we can expect miracles.

Scripture Notes: In the Presence of the Wicked (Psalm 39)

The psalmist, likely David, is faced with a dilemma in Psalm 39. He is in the presence of the wicked, apparently of the wicked who have no intention to repent of their evil ways or even to listen to truth and goodness. David seems to know that no matter what he says, it will make no difference, and he is angry and distressed. He knows he is close to saying things he should not, things that are sinful.  

So the psalmist decides firmly that he will keep his mouth shut. Speaking will do no good and might even lead him to sin, so he will “bridle” his mouth. Yet the more he stands there “dumb and silent,” trying to hold his peace, the more upset he becomes. He feels like his heart is on fire.  Finally, he breaks out into speech.

But David doesn’t talk to the wicked. Instead, he prays, asking God for perspective. He wants to understand the reality of life and of human beings, how fleeting everything is from God’s perspective. This might be rather depressing in itself, but the psalmist uses it only as a reality check before turning his attention to something much more important.

If everything human fades away, what is there to wait for? Inspired by God, David has an answer. “My hope is in Thee,” he tells God. He asks God to deliver him from his transgressions, admitting that he is far from perfect. He knows that God has rebuked him many times and that this punishment is difficult to cope with yet remedial, meant for correction. As he reflects, the psalmist implies that God will punish the wicked in His own way and at His own time.

The psalm ends with a plea for God to hear David’s prayers and respond to his tears of repentance and of distress at the evil of the wicked.  David knows he is just passing through this world, and while he isn’t sure what comes after, he longs for gladness and for the joy of forgiveness, and he will continue to wait for and hope in God no matter what he faces in the presence of the wicked.

Scripture Notes: Who Do You Say That I Am? (Matthew 16)

As Jesus and His disciples enter the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks them a critical question. He actually works up to it a bit, just to get them thinking. He begins with “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” To this question, He receives a variety of replies: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, another prophet.

Then Jesus gets to the heart of the matter: “But who do you say that I am?” This question is not just directed toward the disciples on the road with Jesus that day. It is meant just as much for us. Jesus speaks this question to each of us, and it is up to us to examine our hearts and minds and come up with an honest answer.

But we can’t get it right on our own. When St. Peter responds with “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus tells Him that “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in Heaven.” God reveals to us Who He is. He tells us through the Scriptures, through the sacraments, through the Church, through our prayers. He whispers into our hearts. But we have to be open and listen.

So who do you say that Jesus is?