Scripture Notes: Light and Darkness (Wisdom 18)

The Book of Wisdom reflects deeply on light and darkness as it revisits events in salvation history, particularly the plagues upon the Egyptians and God’s guidance of His people out of slavery. Pharaoh had already revealed his stubborn heart through eight plagues; He would not let the Israelites leave Egypt to sacrifice to God in the desert. He balked every time. Then came the ninth plague, which was probably worse than the others, for a deep darkness descended upon Egypt. No one could see anyone else. They could hear voices, but the darkness was so thick they could feel it in their very bones. They could not move. They were trapped in blackness and terrified.

But the Israelites had light where they were, for God gave it to them. The same God Who brought deep darkness upon Egypt bathed His people in light as a sign of the covenant He had made with their patriarchs. 

The ninth plague still did not make Pharaoh release the Israelites, so the horrors of the tenth plague descended. The Egyptian first-born died, human and animal alike, and God’s people fled Egypt on the first Passover, after their first-born had been passed over by the angel of death because of the symbolic sign of the blood of a lamb.  

God guided His people out of Egypt with “a flaming pillar of fire,” the shekinah, the glory cloud, a light in the darkness of the unknown trek into the wilderness. He also gave them the light of the Law, of His will for His people’s holiness. He provided them with the opportunity to enter into intimacy with Him, foreshadowing the infinitely increased intimacy that would arrive when the ultimate Light of the World, Jesus Christ, the true Lamb, came into the darkness to enlighten us for all eternity.

Scripture Notes: The Leaven of the Pharisees (Luke 12)

Jesus never hesitated to call people out, to get to the very heart of what was holding them back spiritually, to identify their sins and faults and failings. He always did it out of love, of course, but often it was what we call “tough love.” If we’re going to repent of our sins and change our ways, then we have to recognize our sins, and we aren’t always very good at doing that. What’s more, our sins can and do affect other people, causing scandal and leading those around us astray, so sometimes Jesus had to issue stern warnings, especially about the sins of religious leaders.

This is exactly what Jesus was doing in Luke 12. He was surrounded by crowds, so many people that they were actually stepping on each other, trying to get close enough to hear Jesus or even touch Him and be healed. Yet the Pharisees were especially sharp in their opposition and their challenges to Jesus, and they were not acting out of a genuine concern for others but out of their own pride. And Jesus knew it.

This is why He spoke up, saying, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The Pharisees were strong religious leaders among the Jews. People listened to them, for they seemed to have their spiritual acts together. They followed the right rituals and insisted on obedience to God’s law. They tried to set themselves apart from the crowd through their purity and devotion. But Jesus knew their hearts. Inside, these Pharisees were proud. Their actions served to boost their egos. They looked great on the outside, but inside they were a spiritual mess.  

This is why the Pharisees resisted Jesus. He called them to true devotion, to leave behind the show they were putting on and really embrace God and His will for their lives. He challenged their pride, showing them that they weren’t really as great as they thought they were, pushing them to recognize their sins and faults, to repent and to change their ways. And they hated it! They didn’t think there was anything wrong with them. In fact, they thought they were just right with God. Jesus was quick to tell them otherwise. After all, He would know.

We, too, have to be very careful about hypocrisy. Just as the Pharisees could spread their faulty ideas to others, we can catch the hypocrisy of the world around us, a world that so often focuses on empty show. We can end up looking really good on the outside but being a mess inside. We can be hypocrites, just like the Pharisees, and we can infect others with our own sins. So let us pray to our Lord and ask Him to help us clean up our spiritual mess so that our insides match our outsides and our whole being is immersed in Him.

Scripture Notes: Return and Renewal (Ezekiel 36)

Ezekiel was a prophet of the Babylonian exile. As a member of the priesthood, he was carried away to Babylon about 597 BC, and it was there that his prophetic mission began. When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple and the rest of Jerusalem in 586, carrying off many more people into exile at the same time, the situation appeared hopeless. The Promised Land was far away. The proper worship of God seemed like a thing of the past. And, perhaps worst of all, the people were coming to realize that it was all their fault. They had broken their covenant with God by disobeying Him and worshiping idols.

But God never gives up on His people, even when He chastises them. So He told Ezekiel to speak a message of hope. God would show His holiness. He would vindicate His Name. The people did not deserve God’s mercy, but He would give it anyway. When the time was right, God would gather His people and bring them back to their own land. He would “sprinkle clean water” upon them, purifying them from their sins and from their idols. He would give them a new heart and a new spirit, His own Spirit, which would help them keep His laws and adhere to His will. He would renew the covenant, assuring them “you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” 

The people must have been relieved to hear God’s message through Ezekiel. God had not abandoned them. He still loved them and cared for them. He was still guiding their destiny, shaping them, correcting them, even when they had to learn the hard way.  

Scripture Notes: The Rebellious Vineyard (Isaiah 5)

Through the prophet Isaiah, God sings to His covenant people Israel. He tells them how He planted a vineyard on a fertile hill. It was the best possible place for vines to grow and produce rich, delicious fruit. He did everything He could to make this vineyard perfect, digging it out, clearing away the stones, planting the choicest vines, building a watchtower, and hewing out a wine vat. Then He awaited the fruit. But what did He get? Wild grapes. Sour grapes that were no good for eating or wine-making.

The vineyard, of course, is Israel. God planted them in the Promised Land, clearing away obstacles that would threaten or distract them. He gave them His Law so they could flourish. He provided the Tabernacle and then the Temple where He could dwell with them in a special way. He even swore an oath to them, creating a covenant that made them His own people, His family. But what did Israel do? They broke that covenant. They sinned. They refused to follow God’s Law. They worshiped idols. They bore wild grapes.

God continues through Isaiah, “And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?” The correct answer, of course, is “nothing.” God did everything possible for His people. The problem lies with them and their misuse of God’s gift of free will. They have chosen to sin.

And now they must face the consequences of that choice. God says that He will break down the wall of His vineyard and leave it to be trampled and destroyed. He will allow the people to experience the covenant curses that they have brought upon themselves by their rebellion. But God will never completely abandon His vineyard. He chastises His people, punishing them and correcting them, but He remains perfectly faithful. The rebellious vineyard, when it has learned to obey, will flourish and, by God’s grace, produce good fruit in the end.

Scripture Notes: The Small Things (1 Kings 19)

Elijah is exhausted. On the run from Queen Jezebel after killing her 450 pet prophets of Baal, the prophet of God simply wants to throw in the towel. Enough is enough, he tells God, just kill me now. But that is decidedly not God’s plan for Elijah. Far from it. Instead, God sends an angel with food and drink and instructions. Elijah must go to Mount Horeb, the very place where Moses had entered the shekinah, the glory cloud, and received the Law from God.

Elijah gets up, eats and drinks, and obeys, traveling forty days and forty nights to Horeb. When he gets there, he tucks himself into a cave and waits. He is still rather pouty, for when God asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” the prophet complains that he is the only one left who is worshiping God in all of the northern kingdom of Israel. Everyone wants to kill him. It is a very big deal, and he feels like a very small man.

God tells Elijah to go stand on the mountain before the Lord. Elijah obeys. A great wind whips through, breaking rocks in its wake. Then an earthquake shakes the place where the prophet stands. Then a fire roars by. But God is not in any of these major catastrophic events. Elijah is still standing somehow, and soon he hears a small sound, a tiny voice. He hides his face in his cloak, for God is present in that small voice.

God asks again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Once again, the prophet whines that he is the only one left loyal to God and that everyone wants to kill him. At that point, God reveals that it is not so. There are, He says, seven thousand people in Israel who do not worship Baal. Elijah is not alone. And he still has tasks to do. They may seem like small things, simply anointing the right people, but they will make a huge difference in the history of Israel and the world. And as small as he is, there will be other small people who love and worship God, and together, they will be great because God is great, even when He speaks in that small voice.

Scripture Notes: You Duped Me! (Jeremiah 20)

“You duped me, Lord,” Jeremiah cries out in frustration. The life of a prophet is not at all what he expected it to be. No one wants to listen to the message God gives through Jeremiah. In fact, most people despise the prophet for daring to speak God’s words, words they do not want to hear, words that warn them of dreadful things to come unless they repent and turn back to God.

But they do not want to repent. They do not want to abandon their idols and sins. They do not want to turn back to God. They have become entrenched in their own ideas and desires, in their passions and conflicts. They have long been hedging their bets with other “gods,” hoping that if God will not listen to them, someone else might give them what they long for, worldly wealth, worldly honor, worldly power.

So Jeremiah’s prophetic efforts are met with ridicule and even violence. He finds himself locked up in the guardhouse, threatened and mistreated. He even ends up down a cistern, sunk into the muck at the bottom. So his cries to God are perfectly understandable.

Yet Jeremiah also knows that God has supported him throughout his prophetic journey. Every time God has given the prophet words to speak, He has also given him strength to speak and to bear the consequences, however unpleasant those may be. Deep down, Jeremiah loves and trusts God immensely, and this is one of the reasons he feels like he can express his frustration, complaints, and even anger in prayer. God listens and responds.

In the end, Jeremiah breaks out into praise. He is still frustrated, still upset, still completely miffed that his prophetic efforts have produced so little fruit and so much scorn. Yet even in his grumbles, he knows God loves him and loves His sinful people. Otherwise, He would not be sending a prophet at all.

Scripture Notes: Worry (Matthew 6)

“And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to the span of his life?” Jesus challenges every one of us with this question, especially those of us who are prone to letting our worries run away with us. Just before He speaks these words Jesus tells us not to be anxious about our lives, about what we should eat or drink or wear. There is simply more to life than these things. God knows that we need them, and He provides them. If He does this for the birds and the flowers, He will certainly do this for us. We are more important than birds and flowers, for we are God’s children.

But do we really believe this? We might claim to. We certainly want to. But do we live like we do? Do we actively fight against our worries? Do we place them in God’s hands, trusting that He really will care for us, just as He promised? The honest answer for most of us is “no,” for in our fallen nature, worry often overwhelms us, and our faith and trust slip.

There are many things in life that we cannot change, many things we do not understand. But God is in control over every single one of them. What He wills and allows is always for our good in some way. So what have we to worry about? As Jesus asks, can being anxious add even a minute to our lives? In other words, will it do any good? No.

So what should we do then? Jesus tells us, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Put God first. Focus on Him. Believe in Him; trust Him; love Him. Be right with Him. Cast our cares upon Him in trusting prayer, knowing that He cares for us more than we can imagine (1 Peter 5:7). And truly believe that He works all things for good for those of us who love Him (Romans 8:28).

Scripture Notes: A Day of Silence

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus have wrapped the broken body of Jesus in linen cloths and placed it gently and reverently, with great love, in the tomb as the women watched. They could do no more, for the Sabbath was approaching. Now they and Jesus’ other disciples wait. They mourn. They have little hope, if any, at this point, for they do not understand Jesus’ proclamations that He would rise from the dead.

There is one exception. As the Blessed Virgin Mary grieves, she hopes. She knows her Son will rise, but she feels His absence. She mourns His suffering, even though she fully consented to His sacrifice. But she waits in faith and love, for she knows the story is not over.

On this Holy Saturday, we wait with the disciples and with our Lady, and we imitate Mary’s faith, hope, and love, preparing our hearts to receive the risen Jesus anew tomorrow on Easter Sunday.

Scripture Notes: A Challenge (Acts 13)

Paul and Barnabas are on the job. The church at Antioch has sent them out to spread the Gospel far and wide, but these Christians do not act on their own. They are guided by the Holy Spirit to set apart Paul and Barnabas for His work. Paul and Barnabas humbly obey.  Off to Cyprus they go!

The first thing Paul and Barnabas meet is a challenge, in the form of one Elymas Bar-Jesus, a magician who has the ear of the local leader, Sergius Paulus. Elymas Bar-Jesus is far from the “son” of Jesus, and far from being His follower, for he tries to turn Sergius away from Paul and Barnabas. He does not want Sergius to learn the truth, for that would deprive him of his favor and of the control he wants to have over other people through whatever “signs” or tricks he can conjure up.

Paul and Barnabas don’t hesitate for a moment. They recognize this guy for who he is, and Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronts him. “You son of the devil,” he declares (probably in a strong, ringing voice), “you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” He knows full well that Elymas will not stop, for he is warped in his very soul, bent and crooked, and he wants to make others look just like him.

So Paul delivers God’s chastisement upon the magician, and at once Elymas becomes blind. His false power, whatever there was of it, is gone. He must rely on others to guide him physically. If he had done so spiritually, he would not now be in this state.

Sergius is properly impressed, and he puts his faith in Jesus, believing the message delivered by Paul and Barnabas. What happens to Elymas?  Does he come to faith and regain his sight?  Or does he remain stubborn in heart and dark in eyes?  We simply don’t know.  But he definitely lost his challenge against Paul and Barnabas.

Scripture Notes: Vocations (Sirach 38-39)

Sirach was a life-long seeker of wisdom. He studied. He taught. He traveled. He meditated. He threw his whole self into the role that God had given to him, focused always on giving back to God and outward to other people. But Sirach also recognized that not everyone has the same vocation. God has given different talents and skills to different people, and everyone is valuable. Everyone must work together to make the community flourish.

In chapters 38 and 39, Sirach reflects on these various vocations. The scribe, he says, the seeker of wisdom, must have the leisure to pursue the life of the mind. But others are not so inclined. The farmers and craftsmen, the smiths and potters, they may not be devoted to learning, but they practice their crafts with great attention and devotion, striving to produce the best possible products. They carry on the ancient handiwork of God, and “keep stable the fabric of the world” (Sir 38:34). Without them, society could not function.

And without the skilled workers, scribes/scholars could not practice their own God-given vocation. Seekers of wisdom, says Sirach, study God’s revelation. They discover wisdom in the writings of the past and present. They delve deeply into proverbs and parables, teasing out the hidden mysteries of difficult dilemmas. But they do not do this only for themselves. Part of learning is teaching. Wisdom is meant to be shared. And even more, learning and wisdom must lead to prayer and repentance and worship. They must lead to an ever-closer relationship with God. This is the highest joy of a scribe, finding and loving the Source of all wisdom.

Scripture Notes: Moses’ Sin (Numbers 20)

Moses was frustrated. The people were clamoring for water again, whining and complaining that they would rather have died than experience all this misery in the wilderness. They had already forgotten all the times God had given them exactly what they needed exactly when they needed it. Food. Water. Protection. God had provided it all. And they still didn’t trust Him.

This time, God told Moses and Aaron to gather the people and tell the rock to yield water for them. By doing so, they were to, once again, reveal God’s care and His glory. But Moses did not obey God. Instead, he gave the people a tongue lashing. “Hear now, you rebels,” he proclaimed, “shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then he struck the rock twice with Aaron’s staff. Water flowed out, but so did God’s wrath on Moses and Aaron.

Why? First, Moses and Aaron didn’t follow God’s instructions. They were supposed to merely tell the rock to give water. Instead, Moses struck the rock. He had done this before, so he probably thought it appropriate. But it was not. When God says to do things a certain way, that is how they must be done.

But even more, Moses’ words show that something has gone amiss in his heart. He asked the people, “shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” God has slid into the background. Moses and Aaron were taking center stage. Moses was suggesting that they were the ones performing the miracle. But of course, they were not, and to even suggest it was a long way from revealing God’s care and glory.

This sin was enough for God to tell Moses and Aaron that they would not be entering the Promised Land. They would die in the wilderness.

Scripture Notes: The Fleeing Prophet (Jonah 1)

It was a call out of the blue. God told Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh, the great city of the Assyrians. Now Jonah was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Assyrians were the Israelites’ greatest enemies, a scary threat to their security and even their lives. This was the very last call Jonah ever wanted to receive.

So Jonah got up and fled, going in the exact opposite direction. He hurried to Joppa and caught a ship to Tarshish, which was likely far on the other side of the Mediterranean, even perhaps in Spain. Jonah wanted to get as far away from his mission as he possibly could. It did not work.

In his panic, Jonah forgot something important. No one can flee from God. God is everywhere. He sees and knows everything. There is no escape. And God made that very clear. He threw a storm at the ship Jonah was taking to Tarshish. While the sailors panicked and prayed to whichever “gods” they happened to worship, Jonah went down into the ship’s hold and fell asleep, completely oblivious to the danger.

The ship’s captain, however, would not let Jonah sleep. He woke him up and urged him to pray as the sailors cast lots to find out who was responsible for their imminent destruction. The lot, of course, fell to Jonah. Jonah knew full well that God was making a point directed solely toward him, so he told the sailors to throw him overboard and save themselves.

At this point, Jonah found himself getting gulped up by a very large fish and exploring the inside of said fish for three days and three nights before it spit him up on the shore. God certainly works in strange ways! But Jonah got the message loud and clear. Do not run away from God. Period. It will not work. Ever. So the fleeing prophet picked himself up, presumably cleaned himself off, and started to Nineveh, which he should have done in the first place.

Scripture Notes: Simeon (Luke 2)

Put yourself in Simeon’s place for a few minutes. You have been waiting a long time for the Messiah to come, but you know He will arrive before God calls you out of this life. The Holy Spirit has implanted that conviction in your heart. So you wait, and you watch. You are not sure what to expect exactly, but you believe that you will know it when you see it.

Then one day the Holy Spirit urges you to go to the Temple. You listen and obey, seating yourself in the outer courtyard and watching the many people who pass by on errands of their own, some for worship, others for profit. Then you see Him, and you know. At that very moment. You know.

He is so tiny. Only six weeks old. And He is sleeping in His mother’s arms as His parents walk through the courtyard on the way to make their sacrifice. Yet this is the One. Every part of your being says so, and the confirmation comes when you take the Baby into your arms and He wakes up and looks into your eyes.

The Holy Spirit opens your mouth, and you speak words of prophecy, declaring that this little One is the salvation of the world, the light of revelation for the Gentiles, the glory of Israel. You rejoice in the very depths of your being as you say this. Yet there is a darker side, too. The Child you are holding, you continue, “is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against.” Not everyone will come to Him. Not everyone will follow Him. Some will rise up against Him, and His mother’s soul will be pierced by a sword. Yet He will bring truth. He will reveal what has been hidden all these centuries. He is the Savior.

As you hand the Baby back to His mother, you are content. You can indeed depart in peace when God calls you, for your own eyes have seen His Messiah, His promise, and you are confident in God’s perfect plan.

Scripture Notes – A Bad Mistake (Leviticus 10)

Nadab and Abihu, sons of Moses’ brother Aaron, have just been consecrated as priests along with their father (the high priest) and brothers. They are set aside for God’s work, to be holy, to enter into God’s presence, to obey God’s will, and to teach the people of Israel about God and His plan for them. God, through Moses, has given the priests detailed instructions for proper worship and sacrifice. He has told them exactly what He wants from them now that He is dwelling among His people in the Tabernacle.

So what do Nadab and Abihu do first thing? They decide to innovate. They take unholy fire with incense before God. They disregard God’s instructions and do their own thing. Apparently, they think that they know better than God, that their ways are better than what He has laid out for them.  And this badly mistaken attitude gets Nadab and Abihu killed. Instead of God’s fire consuming the incense, it consumes them. They die instantly before God.     

We might shudder at this a bit, thinking God is being harsh. But what He is really doing is showing the extreme gravity of disobedience. Nadab and Abihu’s bad mistake was much more than a mistake. It was a deliberate sin, an act of free will that chose to disregard what God had specifically commanded. Nadab and Abihu deserved punishment, and their father and brothers had to learn a hard lesson from it.

We must remember, too, that God does not give us commands and regulations simply because He is arbitrary. What He commands us to do or not do is for our own good. It is closely intertwined with our nature, who we are as human beings. God created us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. So when He gives us an order, it is because we truly need it to be in a right relationship with Him and to fulfill the purpose He has for us. Therefore, we must obey and follow God’s ways rather than our own.

Scripture Notes: A Lenten Psalm (Psalm 22)

As we enter into Lent this coming week, we may wish to select a passage from Scripture to hold before our eyes throughout this penitential season, to reflect on, to sink deep into. We should allow God to speak to us through His Word, opening our hearts to listen to Him and responding with prayer and love. One good possibility for Lenten meditation may be Psalm 22, the very psalm that Jesus begins to recite as He hangs on the cross.

“My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” the psalm begins, and the psalmist continues to pour out his heart and express his pain. Yet at the same time, he trusts in God. He looks to the past, knowing that God has never failed His people. He casts himself upon God even when everything is at its worst. He knows that God is his help and will not actually abandon him no matter what his situation looks like. And he believes with all his heart that God will deliver him and the people.

God “has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;” the psalmist declares, “and He has not hid His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him.” Indeed, God remains with us, hearing us and loving us. But we must remain with God, listening to Him and loving Him. Perhaps this should be our Lenten vow.

Scripture Notes: Joseph the Dreamer (Genesis 37)

The Patriarchs were so very human. There is always a temptation to put these great men on a pedestal, and indeed they were great, but they were also messy. They had a fallen human nature just like us. And they made wrong decisions. And they sinned. And they had to deal with the consequences of their choices and repent of their sins and reach out for God’s mercy, just like we do. They are models of intimacy with God, yes, but sometimes they are also examples of what not to do.

In Genesis 37, the adolescent Joseph has two prophetic dreams. In the first one, he is out in the field with his brothers, binding sheaves, and he sees his own sheaf stand up tall while his brothers’ sheaves bow down to it. In the second one, he sees the sun and the moon and eleven stars all bowing down to him. These are pretty spectacular dreams even though Joseph really has no idea what they actually mean.

Just having them, though, makes Joseph quite proud of himself, and he runs off to tell his brothers all about them. The young man apparently thinks that his brothers will be pleased to hear the news, and if so, he is deceiving himself badly. On the other hand, perhaps Joseph simply wants to get in a dig at his older brothers, kind of an adolescent “Ha, ha, guys! See what I dreamed!” He is already his father’s favorite son, and his brothers are already jealous, so needless to say, Joseph’s dreams do nothing to endear him to them.  

In fact, the brothers get so angry and envious that they decide to get rid of this kid once and for all. Reuben stops them from killing Joseph outright, suggesting they just throw him in a pit in the wilderness (and meaning to come back for him later). But when Reuben steps away for a while, Judah comes up with the plan to sell Joseph to a nearby caravan. So off goes Joseph to Egypt!  

God has a hand in all of this, of course, and later Joseph recognizes God’s plan for him and realizes what his dreams really mean. He has to grow up quickly, and he is still far from perfect. But he does end up saving his entire family (and much of the world along with) from famine through his wisdom and courage. 

Scripture Notes: Driven by Fear, Part 3 (Genesis 26)

Abraham may have learned from the consequences of his double lie, the two times when he tried to pass off Sarah as his sister rather than his wife. But their son, Isaac, ends up doing the exactly the same thing. The lie passes down to the next generation (yet another consequence that Abraham did not foresee).

Isaac and Rebekah are living in Gerar, under the rule of the king Abimelech. Now Abimelech had proven himself to be a pretty good guy the first time around with Abraham. But Isaac experiences the same kind of fear his father did, the danger of a beautiful wife and the risk of getting killed if someone else wants Rebekah for himself. So Isaac lies and says Rebekah is his sister.

Poor Abimelech! He looks out the window one day and sees Isaac and Rebekah doing something that is decidedly not brotherly or sisterly. At that point the king knows his guests are definitely a married couple. He must experience a bit of deja vu as he asks Isaac why he lied and listens to his response of fear. Once again Abimelech is rather hurt. This could have brought down a great sin and a great guilt and a great calamity upon his people.

But just as before, the king does not get angry. Instead, he warns his people not to touch Isaac and Rebekah, and the couple is able to prosper in the land. This prosperity does not, of course, come from Isaac’s lie but rather from God’s protection and Abimelech’s mercy and patience.

Scripture Notes: Driven by Fear, Part 2 (Genesis 20)

Abraham does not learn the first time. He has already claimed that Sarah is his sister when they sojourned in Egypt during the famine. Now, not horribly long afterward, he tries the same trick again. This time they are in Gerar in Canaan, a placed ruled by the king Abimelech. And once again, Abraham is frightened that Sarah’s beauty will get him killed. So he tells Sarah to say she is his sister.

And once again, Sarah ends up in the king’s harem, in danger of being violated. Her husband, fearing for his own life, essentially hands her over, risking her purity. The man who is supposed to protect and honor her fails a second time.

But God comes to the rescue, appearing to Abimelech in a dream and warning him that Sarah is a married woman. Abimelech is truly horrified, for in spite of Abraham’s suspicions, he would not have taken Sarah had he known she was Abraham’s wife. He says as much to God: “In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” God responds that He knows, and that is why He prevented Abimelech from sinning. He tells the king to restore Sarah to Abraham, which Abimelech does right away the next morning.

The king is, however, rather hurt, and tells Abraham so. Abraham makes his excuse of fear. But Abimelech is not buying it. He tells Abraham that he has brought a “great sin” on the kingdom, and indeed, there are consequences, for the people of Gerar have been prevented from bearing children on account of Abraham and Sarah’s lie. Abraham prays, and God heals Abimelech and his people.

Indeed, through that prayer, Abraham finds healing as well. He seems to finally realize that he does not have to lie, that God will take care of him and his wife, that He would indeed fulfill His covenant promises. Abraham does not try to deceive anyone after this. He is no longer driven by fear.

Scripture Notes: Driven by Fear (Genesis 12)

As famine spreads throughout the land of Canaan, where God had told Abram to go, Abram decides that he must leave and head for Egypt where there will be food. He is frightened, and while he obeyed God in going to Canaan, there is still a part of him that does not completely trust this Deity Who has spoken to him.  

As Abram and his company are about to enter into Egypt, he turns to his wife, Sarai, and tells her that she must say that she is his sister rather than his wife. Abram is scared that someone will take the beautiful Sarai from him and kill him in the process. So he comes up with a lie.

This might actually seem quite reasonable to us fallen human beings. We can sympathize with Abram and his fears as he enters into a new place filled with potentially hostile people that he does not know and does not trust. But he is forgetting something, and so are we. God has already promised Abram that He will make him a great nation and a great name, that He will give Abram many descendants, and that through Abram all the nations of the world will be blessed. God does not lie; He always keeps His promises. So He is definitely not going to allow Abram to be killed in a foreign land (whether or not Abram is supposed to go there to start with).

But Abram, apparently, could not or would not see that and believe it. So he comes up with his lie, and Pharaoh takes Sarai for his harem, thinking, naturally, that she is Abram’s sister. And God, in turn, dumps “great plagues” upon Pharaoh and his house. This is more of a message for Abram than for the bewildered Pharaoh, who figures out quickly enough that Sarai is Abram’s wife. God is showing Abram the suffering that comes from falsehood. Sarai has ended up in a harem, bringing down plagues upon the Egyptians, and all because Abram was too scared to tell the truth.

Pharaoh could probably have had Abram killed for such an offense, but he merely sends him away, another sign that God is protecting Abram. We might think that Abram would have learned a valuable lesson from this little incident, but actually, he does not...not yet. He continues to be driven by fear.

Scripture Notes: A Missing Boy, Part 2 (Luke 2)

In the last post, we reflected on the twelve-year-old Jesus going missing during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mary and Joseph finding Him in the Temple having a detailed theological discussion with the teachers there. But questions remain: Why does this event happen? What is the significance of it? What does God want to teach us through it?

First, the three days Jesus is missing foreshadow another three days, the three days that Jesus is in the tomb. At that point, Mary’s sorrow and grief reach unknown proportions as she mourns her Son, even knowing that He will rise again. She remembers finding Him in the Temple when He was twelve, for she has kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. He has promised that death will not hold Him, and it does not. She finds Him again, in an even greater way than ever before.

Second, this little incident of the missing Jesus shows us something about what we must do during those times that we wonder if we have lost our Lord. We must look for Him in the Temple. But where is the Temple for us? It is in the Church. It is in the Mass and the Eucharist (where Jesus is really present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity). It is in the Scriptures (the Word of God in print). It is in the writings of the saints, that great cloud of witnesses. It is in prayer, where we speak to God and listen to Him. And it is in our own hearts, where our Lord is longing to meet us.

Jesus never leaves us. We sometimes leave Him. But He is always seeking us, always loving us, always reaching out to us. All we have to do to find Him is to turn to Him in faith, hope, and love and seek Him in the Temple.

Scripture Notes: A Missing Boy (Luke 2)

Imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt when they looked around their caravan for twelve-year-old Jesus and realized He was nowhere to be found. Mary herself described the feeling as one of pain and suffering and grief (what the Greek word used here actually means). She and Joseph were distressed and anxious, wondering what had become of their Son.

Three days later, when they finally found Jesus in the Temple, the relief must have washed over them like a wave, but at the same time, they wondered why. Why did Jesus do this? Mary even asked her Son that very question. Jesus response may seem odd to us: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?”

The first thing we have to realize is that Jesus did not mean any disrespect with those words. He would be the last one, after all, to break the commandment about honoring His father and mother. His point lay elsewhere. Jesus already knew, even at age twelve and probably long before that, that He had a mission. He was on this earth to do something quite specific, and that mission was more important than anything else. He loved Mary and Joseph with a love we cannot even imagine, but His Father’s business would always come first. It had to.

So Jesus remained in the Temple, talking to the teachers, asking questions, listening, and responding. And those teachers were amazed. This foreshadows the amazement of Jesus’ audience years later during His public ministry when they exclaimed that He taught with authority. Jesus already would have taught with authority and deep insight even at twelve years old. While His human mind was still developing, His divine mind was perfect. He understood and expressed far more than many of the teachers in the Temple could or would grasp.

Yet when it was all said and done, Jesus returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and was obedient to them. The time was not right yet for Him to start His mission. And Mary “kept all these things in her heart,” pondering everything in faith, open to her Lord’s will in all things.

Scripture Notes: The Divine Physician (Mark 2)

Jesus had just called Levi (also know as Matthew) the tax collector to follow Him. At those two words, “Follow Me,” something in Levi woke up or became whole or both. He didn’t think twice. He got up, left everything behind, and followed after Jesus, becoming one of the Twelve Apostles. Levi’s whole life changed in an instant. He had been touched and healed by the Divine Physician.

Levi’s first action after his miraculous conversion to a new life was to share his joy with others. He threw a party for his friends, mostly other tax collectors and people the Jews considered sinners. He wanted them to know Jesus and to experience the same healing that had just entered his life. Jesus gladly sat with all of them, eating and conversing and touching who knows how many other hearts.

And the Jewish leaders had a fit. “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” they asked Jesus’ disciplines. But the disciples did not answer; Jesus, overhearing their indignant question, did. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick,” Jesus explained. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus knew exactly who needed Him the most: those who were suffering, those floundering in sin, those who understood deep down that there was something more for them besides their misery and their separation from God. The leaders, on the other hand, thought they were perfectly fine. They were not sick and sinful, or so they believed. They were righteous...but only in their own eyes. In reality, they were just as sick as those tax collectors and sinners. They needed Jesus just as much, but they didn’t know it and wouldn’t accept it. So they missed out on a life-changing encounter with the Divine Physician.

Scripture Notes: Overconfidence (Matthew 26)

Poor Peter. We all know how he must have felt. He honestly, truly loved Jesus, so when Jesus told the disciples that they would all fall away that very night, the night on which Jesus would be arrested, Peter was horrified. He could not imagine himself doing such a thing. “I will never fall away,” he insisted.  

Jesus knew better. He understood Peter better than Peter understood himself. He could see Peter’s weakness even though Peter could not. So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny Me three times.” It was not an accusation; Jesus was not angry. It was simply a statement of fact.

Peter refused to believe it. “Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You,” he firmly maintained. And he meant it. He really was sincere. But he was also overconfident. He did not realize what would face him that night. He did not comprehend the fear and the horror. He did not know himself well enough to properly predict how he would respond.  

But Jesus did. And Peter learned a tough lesson about himself. He did indeed deny Jesus three times that very night, just as Jesus had predicted. But Peter repented. He learned humility through his fall, and he discovered the risks of overconfidence. He also experienced Jesus’ great mercy and forgiveness, and all of this helped him as he assumed his role as leader of the infant Church.