Scripture Notes: Troubled (John 14)

On the night before He goes to the cross, Jesus tells His apostles many things, not the least of which is “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). Jesus knows that the men in front of Him will be shaken to their very core by what is about to happen, so He reassures them with strong words, vigorous words, words packed with meaning that can support a lifetime of reflection.

Hearts. In the Bible, the heart is the deepest part of a person, the seat of the will and the emotions and sometimes even the reason or intellect. So who we are is “located” in our hearts. And our hearts are often troubled. The Greek verb here is tarassō, and it refers to an inner turmoil, to be disturbed or stirred up or confused. At its more basic level of meaning, it refers to being shaken. So this kind of trouble is a certain agitation, a movement. Our hearts may feel like they are being rattled or rocked or churned, like our stomachs when they are sick. Our thoughts may dash about, unable to settle, jumping from one thing to another in our worries and fears. 

But Jesus tells us, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” He does not want to see us like this. The verb is actually an imperative, a command. Do not do this. Do not give in to this internal shaking. Put a stop to it. But how? “Believe in God” the Father, and “believe also in Me.” Faith is the answer. This faith is a deep and solid trust in God. It latches on to His promises and understands that He wants only the very best for us (and will give us that very best when we cooperate with Him). 

Notice, too, how Jesus tells us to believe in Him. This is a subtle yet strong assertion of His divinity. He is one with the Father. We must put our faith in Him even as we do in the Father. And when we do this, honestly, fully, without waffling, we will find that our hearts settle down, that they are less riled and shaken. It takes time. We will have setbacks, but trusting faith worked out in love by God’s grace will settle our troubled hearts. 

Scripture Notes: Do Not Love the World (1 John 2)

In his first letter, St. John warns us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15). We all know how easy it is to put the things of the world before God, to give them our first and foremost attention and slide God back into a secondary position. Some of these things are even good, for God created the world, and it is good. But we must not allow creatures to take the place of the Creator. 

John goes on to remind us, though, that we live in a fallen world. The sin of our first parents shifted things and threw them out of alignment and out of harmony with the Creator. So the world has become a temptation, often a snare, something negative that can draw us away from God. John tells us, in fact, that this fallen world offers us “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). 

We have all experienced the lust of the flesh. This includes sexual desires but also other sensory temptations, seeing and hearing things we should not, speaking things we should not, eating and drinking too much. When we give in to these temptations, we put our senses and their demands before God. We allow our bodies and their lusts to take control.

The lust of the eyes also involves desires, this time disproportionate desires for the things of the world. These might include money or possessions, honor or fame, even certain kinds of knowledge (especially knowledge of things that are harmful to us or lead us down wrong paths). Again, when we give into these desires, we put them ahead of God. We make them the guiding principles of our lives when God must always have that privilege.

Finally, the pride of life...how prone human beings are to pride! We want to promote ourselves, stand out from the crowd, be the best. There is nothing wrong with growing in virtue or doing something well and being pleased with that. But we often tend to think more highly of ourselves than we truly deserve. We often lack humility. This is not to say that we should be down on ourselves, for that is actually a false humility. But we need to be realistic and recognize that we are not the center of the universe and that, in fact, everything we have and are comes from God.

So as we approach Lent, perhaps we might keep in mind John’s warning, “Do not love the world or the things in the world,” and be especially mindful of how we give in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 

Scripture Notes: Rejoice! (Luke 1)

The first word the angel Gabriel says to Mary at the Annunciation is, in Greek, chaire. It was a standard form of greeting, which is why it is usually translated as “hail,” as we say so often in the Hail Mary. But at its heart, the word means something so much more. It is an imperative verb, a command, that tells Mary, “Rejoice!” 

So Gabriel invites Mary to rejoice. Why? She is full of grace, kecharitomene, perfectly graced. What is more, she is invited to become the mother of the One Whom Israel has been awaiting for centuries, the Messiah, the new Davidic King, the fulfillment of all God’s promises to His people. This is reason for joy indeed.

But we all have reasons to rejoice. Sometimes it is hard to see them, especially when troubles and anxieties threaten to swarm us under. Yet God offers us the same invitation/command that Gabriel spoke to Mary: chaire. Rejoice! So our job is to discover the reasons for joy in our lives and then obey God and rejoice.