Sections The Daily B.R.E.A.D. Mar 29, 2010 - Monday Meditation (Extravagant Love!)
| Mar 29, 2010 - Monday Meditation (Extravagant Love!) |
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| Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D. | |||
| Written by Bobot Apit | |||
| Sunday, 28 March 2010 05:32 | |||
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T he Lord Jesus showed us the extravagance of his love in giving the best he had by pouring out his own blood for our sake and by anointing us with his Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Do you allow the love of Christ to rule in all your thoughts and intentions, and in all your words and deeds?
Monday of Holy Week Isaiah 42:1-7 Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14 J ohn 12:1-11 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany , where Laz'arus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. (2) There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Laz'arus was one of those at table with him. (3) Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. (4) But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, (5) "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" (6) This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box he used to take what was put into it. (7) Jesus said, "Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. (8) The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." (9) When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Laz'arus, whom he had raised from the dead. (10) So the chief priests planned to put Laz'arus also to death, (11) because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (12) The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem .
Meditation by Don Schwager Do you know the love that knows no bounds? As Jesus dines with his beloved friends, Mary does something which only love can do. She took the most precious thing she had and spent it all on Jesus. Her love was not calculated but extravagant. Mary's action was motivated by one thing, and one thing only, nam ely , her love for Jesus and her gratitude for God’s mercy. She did something, however, a Jewish woman would never do in public. She loosed her hair and anointed Jesus with her tears. It was customary for a woman on her wedding day to bound her hair. For a married woman to loosen her hair in public was a sign of grave immodesty. Mary was oblivious to all around her, except for Jesus. She took no thought for what others would think, but what would please her Lord. In humility she stooped to anoint Jesus' feet and to dry them with her hair. How do you anoint the Lord’s feet and show him your love and gratitude? The gospel records that the whole house was filled with the perfume of the ointment. What Mary had done brought sweetness not only in the physical sense, but the spiritual sense as well. Her lov ely deed shows the extravagance of love – a love that we cannot outmatch. The Lord Jesus showed us the extravagance of his love in giving the best he had by pouring out his own blood for our sake and by anointing us with his Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Do you allow the love of Christ to rule in all your thoughts and intentions, and in all your words and deeds? Why was Judas critical of Mary’s lov ely deed? Judas viewed her act as extravagant wastefulness because of greed. A person views things according to what it inside the heart and soul. Judas was an embittered man and had a warped sense of what was precious and valuable, especially to God. Jesus had put Judas in charge of their common purse, no doubt because he was gifted in financial matters. The greatest temptation we can face will often come in the area of our greatest strength or gifting. Judas used money entrusted to him for wrong and hurtful purposes. He allowed greed and personal gain to corrupt his heart and to warp his view of things. He was critical towards Mary because he imputed unworthy motives. Do you examine your heart correctly when you impute wrong or unworthy motives towards others? "Give us, Lord, a liv ely faith, a firm hope, a fervent charity, a love of you. Take from us all lukewarmness in meditation, dullness in prayer. Give us fervor and delight in thinking of you and your grace, your tender compassion towards me. The things we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labor for: through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Prayer of Sir Thomas More, 16th century)
Supplementary Reading Forgiving Ourselves
T he apostle Peter was one of three disciples who walked with Jesus closer than the other nine. He was the most enthusiastic and the one man who was willing to step into territories where others would not dare. He was the first to step out of the boat and walk on water. He wanted to protect Jesus at times when Jesus rebuked him for having a demon influence him. He cut off the ear of the guard who wanted to arrest Jesus in the garden. As Peter matured, the Holy Spirit harnessed his many extreme emotions. The greatest trial for Peter was when he denied the Lord just before Jesus was crucified. Three times he denied knowing Jesus. Jesus predicted that the cock would crow after the third time just to reinforce the prophecy to Peter. Peter was crushed when he realized he had failed His Lord so badly. The Lord forgave Peter for his denial. However, gaining forgiveness from Jesus was not the most difficult part for Peter. The hard part was forgiving himself. As we mature in the faith, we begin moving in victory after victory with our Lord. Then out of nowhere, an event happens that reveals our true sin nature, and we are confronted face to face with this reality. We cannot believe that we are capable of such sin. There is no good thing in us save the grace of Jesus Christ and His blood that cleanses us. When God looks at us, He looks at the blood of Christ that has covered our sin. He does not look at our sin once we confess it. When we have difficulty forgiving ourselves, this is pride at its deepest level. We are making an assumption that we should never have sinned and that we are too mature to sin. This is a trap from the enemy of our souls. People who cannot forgive do not recognize from what they have been forgiven. That includes us. ---OS Hillman For meditation of the previous days/months , please click any of the following links: http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/ http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html http://butuanglobalforum.org/cgi-bin/dboard/YaBB.pl?num=1229339492/220 EL SHADDAI Radio Program : http://www.eradioportal.com/index.php?p=2&aid=1&sid=50&tid=1
GOD BLESS US ALL!
O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi! PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.
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PETER'S DENIALS
Peter denies all knowledge of Our Lord. Our own denials.
As the trial of Jesus proceeds before the Sanhedrin, the saddest event in the life of Peter takes place. The one who had left everything to follow Our Lord, who had seen so many miracles worked and had received so many tokens of affection, now denies him utterly. He feels himself cornered and even swears he does not know Jesus.
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; and seeing Peter warming himself she looked at him, and sai4 ‘You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘I neither know nor understand what you mean. ‘And he went out into the gateway. And the maid saw him, and began again to say to the bystanders, ‘This man is one of them.’ But again he denied it. And after a little while again the bystanders said to Peter, ‘Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean. ‘But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know this man of whom you speak’ (Mark 14:66-71).
He denies that he knows his Lord, thereby denying the deepest meaning of his life, which is to be an Apostle and witness of the life of Christ and to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of the living God. His honour, his vocation to be an Apostle, all the hopes that had been placed in him by God, his past and his future, all came tumbling down. How could he possibly have said, I know not this man?
A miracle worked by Jesus a few years before had had for him a deep and special significance. On seeing the miraculous draught of fishes (the first of them), Peter had understood everything; he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord'. For he was astonished... (cf Luke 5:8-9). It seems that in a flash everything had become clear for him: the holiness of Christ and his own condition as a sinful man. Black stood in clear contrast with white, darkness with light, dirt with cleanness, sin with sanctity. In that moment, whilst his lips were saying that because of his sins he felt unworthy to be close to Our Lord, his eyes, however, and his whole attitude were asking that he might never ever depart from Him. That was such a happy day. That was when everything really began for him: And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; hence forth you will be catching men. ‘And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him (Luke 5:10-11). Peter’s life from that moment on would have a most marvellous purpose, that of loving Christ and being a fisher of men. Everything else would serve as a means and an instrument to that end. Yet now, out of weakness and having allowed himself to be overcome by fear and human respect, everything had collapsed.
Sin, infidelity to a greater or lesser degree, always involves a denial of Christ and of that which is most noble within us, a denial of the highest ideals that Christ has sown inside us. Sin is the great downfall of man. This is why we need to struggle with determination, counting on grace, so that we avoid all grave sins, whether of malice, weakness or culpable ignorance, and then all deliberate venial sin.
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