Why Did Jesus Die?

So where were all the guys on Sunday? They all bailed on me. Oh well, me and the girls had an okay time discussing "Why did Jesus Die?" Hopefully we'll have a better turn-out next week.

Last week we talked about who Jesus is. This week we're going to talk about why He died, why Mel Gibson would focus on why and how He died rather than the rest of the Gospel, and how His death is God's way of giving us the grace of salvation. We'll talk about the New Covenant that is established by His death, and how the Eucharist that the Mass offers each week is the sign and renewal of that covenant. We'll also look at suffering in our own lives and wrestle with the question of how a loving God permits suffering.

Why did Jesus die?

Humanly speaking, there are a number of reasons why the people in Israel might have wanted Jesus dead. Some people hated their occupation by the Romans, and eagerly awaited the Messiah, who would set them free from the rule of Rome, like Moses had led their ancestors out of Egypt. When Jesus came, many flocked to Him, expecting Him to be that kind of leader. Many scholars think that's why Judas Iscariot joined up with Jesus' band. But when Jesus didn't drive out the Romans, and seemed more concerned about a "spiritual" kingdom than national Israel, Judas turned on Jesus, and betrayed Him to His other enemies, the Jewish religious leaders.

To these people (The Jewish religious leaders), it looked like Jesus was a controversial wandering preacher, stirring up trouble and getting on the wrong side of the religious elite. He made such a nuisance of Himself that they finally did away with Him. The things that He taught about Himself, and about God, and about how to serve Him, would certainly give them something to charge Him with. After all, in Jewish society, for someone to claim to be the Messiah, and more, to be God Himself, was pretty serious stuff.

This is why the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him, and at His trial, they charged Him with "blasphemy" and the High Priest tears his robes as a sign of ultimate distress(Clip 1: 0:27:45-0:28:20). Blasphemy is "directly opposed to the 2nd Commandment. It consists in uttering against God--inwardly or outwardly--words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward [Him] in one's speech; in misusing God's name," according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2148).

The penalty for blaspheming God's name is written in the book of Leviticus: Death by stoning (Lev 24:16). This law was written during the time of Moses when some Israelites were worshipping a golden calf instead of recognising the true God who had miraculously led them out of Egypt.

Because of the Roman occupation, though, the Jews weren't allowed to kill Jesus themselves, and that was why they brought Him to Pilate to be crucified. Pilate decided to let them kill Jesus because he feared another revolt. The Jewish people were rather unruly as far as the pagan Romans were concerned. Pilate was trying to cool a boiling pot of unrest, and not doing too well at it. The Jewish authorities trapped Pilate into a predicament, and Pilate took the coward's way out, and instead of releasing an innocent Man, he had Him cruelly beaten and then crucified. Mel Gibson establishes a contrast between Pilate's act of washing his hands of his responsibility and Jesus purifying His hands at the Last Supper (Clip 2: 1:08:06-1:12:27).

To "wash one's hands" of responsibility for something is a popular expression in our culture that comes directly from this historical incident. Pilate "washes his hands" of Jesus' imminent crucifixion to show that, in his mind, he bears no responsibility for it (Matthew 27:24). In this symbolic act, Pilate says that he has tried to do what is right and have Jesus released, but the Temple authorities and the crowd would not allow him. Now he's done with the matter. Whatever happens is not his fault. The contrast points to the crucial difference between God washing away our sins, and our own fruitless attempts to absolve us from our responsibility. In the Mass, before the priest offers up the gifts, he washes his hands and asks that God would wash away his sins, which is taken from this practice at the Passover. It is only God who can wash away our sins. Merely denying our responsibility in the matter does not make us innocent any more than Pilate can be excused for his role in Jesus' crucifixion.

This note on sin brings us to the real reason for Christ's death, for beyond being about someone's execution, or even the execution of an innocent man, as we discussed last week, The Passion is about the Crucifixion of the God-Man. Jesus Christ was God Himself, and as such had the power to stop His death at any time--and yet, He chose not to. In fact, it was the very reason He became a man. The real reason Jesus was put to death, whatever reasons the people involved had for killing Him, was to pay the penalty for our sins and bring us healing (Clip 3: 0:00:18-0:00:28).

(Clip 4: 0:05:00-0:6:43): The Devil's question to Jesus, "Do you really believe one man can bear the full burden of sin?" establishes the whole premise of the movie--the very meaning of Jesus' suffering and death, which, as God, He had the power to avoid. Jesus would offer Himself as the spotless (i.e., sinless) Lamb of God to be sacrificed for the atonement of the sins of humanity.

Jesus' death is the consequence of our sin, because in sinning, we turn our backs on God, the Source of our life. Each one of your sins, each one of my sins, put Jesus on that cross. Mel Gibson dramatically represents this truth by being the one in the movie who hammers the nail into Jesus' hand (Clip 5: 1:36:37-1:36:42). Jesus took the consequences of our sin--death--in our place.

Some people look at that explanation and wonder how such a "loving" God could require Jesus to take upon Himself such tremendous suffering. This makes God seems like a harsh, overbearing Father who requires the suffering of His innocent Son. But this is not the case. Human beings used their free will to build a wall between themselves and God through centuries of pride, disobedience, and selfishness beginning with Adam and Eve. Jesus, who was God Himself, freely came into the world as a man to perform an act of such intense humility, obedience, and love, that it would obliterate the wall (Clip 6: 1:30:57-1:31:21). The forces of human sin and demonic fury collaborated to hurl at Jesus every possible punishment and torture to turn Him from His mission. But in so doing, they unwittingly proved the perfection of His love and provided Jesus with the cross, the very instrument of salvation.

This is why Jesus remained on the cross, even though the Jewish leaders taunted Him by claiming that if He came down that they would believe in Him. If Jesus had come down from the cross, He would have nullified the very reason for His coming into the world--to save us from our sins and make eternal life in heaven possible for us. He needed to remain on the cross until death in order to offer the sacrificial atonement required to reconcile us with God and break our bondage to sin.

(Clip 7: 1:51:25-1:51:32): When Jesus says, "It is accomplished," He is announcing that His Passion is now complete. He has completed the mission for which He came into the world, namely to save humanity from its sins, to win back that which had been lost. The redemption of man has been accomplished. All men and women now have the opportunity to receive eternal life if they accept His grace and remain faithful until the end.


As horrific as Jesus' death was, we need to appreciate a fundamental truth of human existence: authentic love involves sacrifice. Love involves the total giving of self. Love can even mean "[laying] down one's life for one's friends" (Clip 8: 1:35:00-1:35:23). So there is a transcendent meaning in sacrifice and suffering. If endured for the good of others, it is truly sanctifying and salvific. To a world that tries to avoid discomfort of any sort, this seems ridiculous. Instead, it is just one of countless examples of how the way of Truth runs counter to human expectations. This, by the way, has always been the case. The first people to hear the story of Jesus were just as struck as we are today at the strangeness of it. St. Paul wrote 2000 years ago, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Couldn't God have just declared us forgiven?

Why did God choose such a painful and bloody way to forgive us? If He is all-powerful and loving, couldn't He have just forgiven us, and not worried about the crucifixion of Jesus? In suffering, we actually come to understand more about God's unfathomable love. The idea that God reveals His love for us through the Passion and Death of Christ is stated clearly in the Bible when Jesus (after His resurrection) reveals to His disciples: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:26). Why was suffering necessary? To restore to us what the original humans (Adam and Eve) had lost through disobedience. In their disobedience, they sinned against God's law and began to love themselves and other things more than they loved God--who should be first in every person's heart. They lost the privilege of life with God, and when they lost it, they lost it for us as well.

Love involves self-giving, the sacrificing of our selfish desires for the good of another. After the Fall, human desires became self-seeking and disordered. Christ's redemption for us--His taking on of the burden of sin--not only restored our relationship with God, but also taught us the true meaning of love: sacrifice (Clip 9: 1:12:55-1:13:12). In short, words are cheap. It is through actions that we prove our love. To understand suffering for love is to understand God. To understand God is to understand life.


This also provides a key to understanding where God is in suffering. He is not distant or aloof, but He Himself came and suffered with us.

We want fatherly assurance that there is an order to our painful reality that somehow transcends our problems....This is our cry when we ask "why?" The problem of suffering is not about something; it's about someone. And so it follows that the answer is not something, but someone. And God, like any good daddy, doesn't give answers as much as He gives Himself...

I learned early on in this wheelchair that God owed me no explanations. He did enough explaining on the cross. He didn't provide me with the words I was looking for at the beginning of my paralysis. Instead, He is the Word. The Word made flesh, hands nearly ripped off, nailed to a cross, vomit, spit, smeared, dried blood, hammering hatred, flies buzzing....For one who suffers, I'm so glad Jesus endured a messy death on the cross. I'm so grateful that our God isn't a medicating mystic of a guru who sits on some mountaintop twiddling his thumbs, but is our Saviour who suffered a messy, bloody death that was excruciatingly painful at the hands of vindictive and mean-spirited men.

God allows suffering so that nothing stands between Him and me. You see, when we suffer, we're much more apt to fall on our knees, and when we do, our hearts are open to the Lord. (Joni Eareckson Tada)

He understands the pain we go through as a result of sin. But He also gives us the ability to use our own sufferings for redemptive purposes, by uniting our pain with that of Jesus, as St. Paul talks about in Colossians 1:24: "Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body, which is the Church". God allows us to offer our sufferings to Him in order to participate in our atonement.

Since God is holy and completely righteous, He cannot pass over sin as a small thing. He cannot simply shrug it off. Satisfaction must be made. A proper penalty must be paid, and according to Romans 6:23, that penalty is death. But the same God who is holy and righteous, and whose divine wrath burns toward sin, is also the God of infinite love. It is His love that brings us back to the cross. The cross is the atonement for our sins, bringing restitution and reconciliation through the blood of Christ. This is why Mel Gibson has the scene where Mary cleans up the blood of Christ spilled at His scourging (Clip 10: 1:04:30-1:05:04). By this representation of devotion to the precious blood of Christ, we see that Mary, as a mother, demonstrates more than just a maternal love for her Son; she shows her understanding of the sacredness of His blood. Like the Old Testament sacrificial system, which was a type of Christ's sacrifice, it is His blood that covers sin and washes the sinner clean. God gave the blood, which is life, for the atonement of sins, and without blood there is no remission of sins (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22). Through His blood, Jesus establishes His New Covenant with humanity (Clip 11: 1:18:27-1:18:47), where Jesus meets Mary on the road, and He rises up, saying, "See, I make all things new!" This line is from the Revelation to St. John, and there it is describing the newness of the World at the End, recreated by Christ. Here, it points to the truth that the New World was begun by Christ on the Cross with the New Covenant).

What is the Covenant?

When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He made a covenant with them, saying that He would be their God, and they would be His people. This event, which occurred about 1200 years before the birth of Jesus, is key to understanding Christ's Passion, because the Passion is the fulfilment of the Jewish Passover ritual.

As Scripture tells us, the night the Hebrews were set free from slavery in Egypt, God sent the angel of death to claim the first-born of every household. The Lord promised, however, that death would "pass over" His chosen people if they put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. The blood would save them (Ex 11-12). This event began the relationship of God with the Jewish people, and is the most celebrated and written about event in their history. It defines their faith. After more than 1000 years of the Jewish people commemorating this saving event of Passover, Jesus came as the ultimate Passover offering and revealed its true meaning: by the shedding of His blood--the blood of the spotless, sinless Lamb of God--sin and death are finally conquered; they no longer have power over us.

The Passover event of Exodus is a foreshadowing of Christ's death on the cross. The blood of Jesus, the perfect "Lamb" of God, would be sprinkled on the cross (the doorpost) for His followers. Christ's blood will save all who accept Him and keep His commandments; death "passes over" them, for they have eternal life. That is exactly why Jesus began His own Passion by celebrating the Passover with His disciples and transforming it into the Eucharist, the meal in which we now receive His Body under the form of bread and the cup of His Blood under the form of wine, which saves us from eternal death.

The blood is the key to understanding the sacrifice of the Lamb--Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world. Just as blood is shed by soldiers who lay down their lives for their country or by mothers in childbirth, sacrificial love often involves the shedding of blood. It is no coincidence that the Passion of Christ took place precisely at the time of the Jewish Passover (Clip 12: 0:14:07-0:14:40). Mary asks the question that at every Passover is asked by the youngest child at the table: "What makes this night different from every other?" The response, given by Mary Magdalen is, "Because once we were slaves, and now we are slaves no longer." This question and answer are the traditional lines when celebrating the Passover, in order to reflect on its meaning. Here, they are given new meaning as they are applied to Jesus. It is only one of many fulfilments of Old Testament Prophecy and is fundamental to understanding God's actions throughout history to save the human race.

This is why Mel Gibson flashes back so often to the Last Supper during the scenes where Jesus is being crucified. The way Jesus celebrated the Passover meal (i.e., the Last Supper) with His apostles was meant to fulfil the Old Covenant. He declared that the Passover bread was His own body and the wine was His blood. He required that this new ritual be practised in memory of Him. We know this today as the Eucharist or Holy Communion.

Jesus' teaching on this subject of being the fulfilment of the Passover, that He was the Lamb whose flesh would be given for our eternal life, didn't start at the Last Supper. All through John's Gospel, Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God, and in John chapter 6, there is a lengthy discussion on how He will give His flesh to be eaten and His blood to be drank. He calls Himself "the Bread of Life." This teaching caused many to turn away from Him, and in the movie, Mel Gibson brings that charge against Him at His trial (Clip 13: 0:25:45-0:26:00).

Jesus meant what He said literally, that He really was going to give His flesh and blood as our spiritual food and drink. In fact, He was so serious about it, that He said that if we eat His flesh and blood, we will have eternal life, but if we do not, we have no life in us! This food, however, would come to us in the humble form of bread and wine. This is what Jesus was doing at the Last Supper, when He called the bread His body, and the wine His blood. He literally transformed the food into His body and blood so that we could eat Him.

At first hearing, this teaching sounds strange, but when we understand the background, it makes more sense. If you've seen The 10 Commandments or Prince of Egypt--or actually read Exodus!--you might remember that the Passover was celebrated because God sent His angel of death during the time of the 10 Plagues to kill the firstborn children in the land of Egypt, but he would "pass over" the homes that had the blood of a lamb on the doorposts. What is not commonly known, however, is that the families who killed the lamb and then sprinkled the lamb's blood also were told to eat the lamb. In order to complete the Passover sacrifice, they had to eat the lamb that was slain.

Jesus is the perfect Lamb. In order to share fully in His sacrifice on the cross, Christians are called to feed on the Lamb of God who is the Bread of Life. Thus, the Last Supper is not some separate event from the Crucifixion, but one and the same event, from beginning to end. Christ's sacrifice began at that meal and continued to the point of His death. This truth is demonstrated in the movie by Gibson's flashing back to the Supper. (Clip 14: 1:34:00-1:34:32 / Clip 15: 1:40:40-1:42:05 / Clip 16: 1:42:30-1:43:10) He established a New Covenant with us, and through His death and resurrection, through Baptism and the Eucharist, we enter that Covenant, and are God's beloved people!

The once-and-for-all sacrifice of His body on the cross is "re-presented" tangibly every Mass by the sacrifice on the altar, the bread and wine that become His Body and Blood. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is presented on the Throne as a slain Lamb, and John tells us this to show us that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is eternal and from a heavenly perspective, is still happening. When we partake of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, we are uniting ourselves to that sacrifice. In a sense, at Mass, heaven and earth meet and we are in God's throne room! In the Jewish religion, their Temple had two main areas: The Holy Place, where the people would worship, and the Holy of Holies, which was where the presence of God dwelt. No one could go in there, except the High Priest, and he could only go once a year to make sacrifices.

When Jesus died, He, who is our true High Priest, and our true sacrifice, opened the way for us to come into the Presence of God. The Gospels tell us that at His death, the veil in the Temple that separated us from God was torn in two from top to bottom (Clip 17: 1:53:18-1:53:23). The book of Hebrews tells us that because of this, we have access to God at any time. In the Mass, we experience the ultimate fulfilment of that promise, because we're not merely entering the holy of holies of an earthly Temple, but are actually in the Presence of Christ as Heaven touches Earth! This is why Jesus died, so we could enter into God's presence as His Covenant people, His sons and daughters!

Think through some of these questions:
-Have you thought about being in Covenant with God? What does that mean to you?
-What do you think when you hear that heaven and earth meet at Mass?
-What about all that suffering in the world? Does Jesus' suffering indicate that your own suffering has a higher purpose? Does the fact that Jesus suffered help you realise that He understands you and knows what you're going through?

At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne.

Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly--not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.

'Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?' snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a concentration camp. 'We endured terror...beatings...torture...death!'

In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. 'What about this?' he demanded, showing and ugly rope burn. 'Lynched...for no crime but being black!'

In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. 'Why should I suffer,' she murmured, 'It wasn't my fault.'

Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.

So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.

Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth--as a man!

'Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.

'At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.'

As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.

And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No-one uttered another word. No-one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence.

--The Long Silence quoted from The Cross of Christ, by John Stott.

God bless!

Who Is Jesus?

As I said below, I'm posting the talks that I'm giving each Sunday during Lent, for those who can't join the meetings for whatever reason, or those who want to be able to reference them in the future. I will include time indices for clips from The Passion so that you can cue them up and follow along. A brief summary will accompany the time index in case you can't. Anyway, on with the show...

We live in a pluralistic society, where people say that there are many paths to God, and that all paths to Him are equally true and valid. In fact, just the other day, I was debating this at a friend's blog, where religion or spirituality was compared to a wheel, and we traveled from the circumference into the hub, who is God. The particular religion we use is the radius to the centre, but no one radius is exclusive in that regard. That would be true if all of these paths, or radii, were man-made. However, as I asked the person who presented this idea, what happens if one of the radii makes the claim that it is the only way to the Hub, among all the others. More, what happens if that radii actually claims that it is the Hub? (To which my witty opponent replied that she would have to reexamine the geometry of the wheel--but isn't that what we all need to do? That's why we're examining this subject!) If one way among all others was actually given by God Himself, then we can't really say that it is on the same level as the others.

Both history and God's Word have revealed that one person among all the others was unique. His name was Jesus Christ. The main difference between Him and, say, Buddha, Confucius, or Muhammad, is that they never claimed or showed themselves to be divine. In fact, these three in particular all emphatically denied their own divinity. They knew they were merely men. Through His preaching and miracles, Jesus, on the other hand, showed that He was indeed the Messiah, the eternal Word of God who, at a specific time in human history, became flesh and dwelt among us.

The best known religious figures (such as Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammad) proclaimed the truth in many real--but partial--ways. Some of them, not all, even proclaimed the truth that there is only one God. But it is one thing to talk about God. Many great and good people have done that. Jesus, though, is different. He claimed to be God.

We cannot simply ignore an audacious claim like that. We must deal with it. [Clip 1: 0:07:10-0:07:50] In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays to the Father to be delivered from the impending crucifixion because, as a man, He suffered terrible anguish anticipating the torture and death He was about to endure. Satan in this scene capitalises on Jesus' fear and agony, trying to plant seeds of doubt in Jesus' mind, and in so doing asks the key questions we must ponder and decide upon: "Who is Your Father?" and "Who are You?"

Jesus was either:

1. A Legend--He never really existed. The New Testament is really just a fable.
2. A Liar--He didn't mean what He said, but was a con artist trying to pull a fast one on the people for His own gain.
3. A Lunatic--His claims were the ranting of a crazy person.
4. A New Age Guru--He was trying to tell us we are all gods.
5. The Lord--He was who He claimed to be: The Son of God, God incarnate.

Now let's examine the possibilities:

1) Jesus was just a Legend.

The problem with calling Jesus a "legend" is that no reputable historian in the world would ever say Jesus never existed. Various secular sources attest to Jesus' existence and corroborate many events in the Bible (Such as early Jewish and Roman historians such as Josephus, Tacitus and Pliny). The Bible, though, is the primary source for information about Jesus. How do we know it's accurate? The earliest books in the New Testament were only written between 10-20 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. These are St. Paul's letters, and he was writing to churches that already knew about the ministry of Jesus. 20 years is not a long time, and there were still many eyewitnesses around to talk about it. St. Paul refers to one instance where the Risen Christ appeared to more than 500 people at one time, and says that most of them were still alive when he was writing. Not to mention that St. Paul himself had seen the risen Christ.

The Gospels were written just a short time later, in the 60's and 70's. Three were eyewitness reports (Matthew, Mark, and John). A close companion of St. Paul wrote Luke. He wrote like an historian, getting eyewitness reports, testimonies, and interviews.

The Gospels were written not long after Christ. They agree remarkably in all major areas, while differing enough to present the different emphases that one would expect of real eyewitness testimony. Thus, they are highly reliable accounts of Christ's ministry, and the telling thing about not only the authors, but also those people who preserved their writings, is how little interest they seem to have had in "adjusting" history in order to create a legend. The apostles are presented as rather slow to grasp Christ's message--not something the leaders of a religion would want to say about themselves, especially if they were making it all up. But these men are presented as kind of slow, overly ambitious, and cowardly. It's obvious that they weren't trying to puff up the story for personal gain! That is not even to mention that most of the apostles died for their beliefs. Had they really just been making it up, would they really have been willing to be killed for their fairy-tale?

They also accurately record Jesus' words, even those more "embarrassing" ones that at first glance seem to contradict the message of His divinity, like, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" or "Why do you call Me good?...No one is good--except God alone." These quotations aren't starting one off on the right foot when one is trying to invent a god.

So if the people who wrote and preserved the Gospels were not religious maniacs, cultists, liars, or historical revisionists, what were they? How about "honest men"? And these honest men tell us something astonishing: Jesus claimed to be God!

2) Jesus was a Liar.

So maybe the disciples weren't the liars, but isn't it possible that Jesus Himself was deceiving the people? Maybe He was in the whole religion-founding thing to make it big-time? L. Ron Hubbard once remarked that the easiest way to get rich was to start a religion. He notably went on to found the Church of Scientology. Was Jesus one such opportunist?

The thing is, Jesus doesn't do what a deceiver or opportunist would. He flees to the desert when the people try to make Him King. He makes speeches that are guaranteed to offend all but the most die-hard grassroots supporters. He repeatedly conceals His miracles. He hangs out with thieves, drunkards, tax collectors, lepers, and prostitutes. This is not the way to gain political favour or respect. He also goes out of His way to inflame the anger of the religious leaders, and gives them plenty of reason and opportunity to want Him dead. When He was on trial for His life, He twice said the very thing that would ensure His horrible execution. If He was after worldly power and riches, He had a strange way of going about it!

3) Jesus was a lunatic.

Consider the Sermon on the Mount, which psychologists have said is the soundest way to live a mentally and emotionally stable life. Does that sound like the ravings of a lunatic? Or what about the times He deftly answered those who would try to catch Him off guard? Note the brilliance and subtlety of His answer to those who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery. This kind of savvy is hardly evidence of madness. No wonder He reduced so many of His critics to silence. His lucidity, sense of perspective, irony, and humour do not indicate madness but great sanity. Even His iron resolve to meet His death doesn't look like madness. He doesn't want to die, but knows He is commanded by God the Father to overcome death by giving His life "as a ransom for many" (Matt 20:28, 1 Tim 2:6).

4) Jesus was some sort of New Age Guru.

Jesus really meant that He was God in a way like the eastern religions or the New Age gurus tell us that we are all gods. He was merely asserting His "god-consciousness" in an attempt to awaken the same consciousness in us.

Jesus' teachings actually contradict this notion. He asserts God's Lordship over creation, and that He is completely other than human, "transcendent". He plainly tells people they are sinners in need of forgiveness and salvation--not that they are somehow gods or part of God. He says apart from faith in God, they are unable to save themselves. He reminds us that we are evil but He is perfect; we are from below, but He is from above. He drives home the fact that the way to life is not by discovering our own divinity, but by placing our faith in His.

Logically, then, if these four opinions don't adequately answer the question of who is Jesus, then there is only one answer left:

5) Jesus is The Lord.

There is only one answer that truly satisfies when all the evidence is considered--Jesus is who He says He is. He is God incarnate, the eternal Son of God, the Messiah, sent to save the world from its sins!

As we go through the movie, we see Mel Gibson presenting this fact by reproducing key scenes from the Gospels that provide evidence for Jesus' divinity as well as presenting it in various symbols. Yet, Gibson is very careful to illustrate the humanity of Jesus as well.

[Clip 2: 0:19:40-0:21:45] In the first flashback sequence, we see Jesus as a carpenter making a table like we would eat at. His Mother, Mary, asks if He is hungry, and then they discuss the style of table, which is quite different from that of Jewish culture at the time. While this scene is one created by Gibson, it demonstrates Jesus' divine knowledge in building a table alien to Jewish culture. But it also shows His humanity in His interactions with His Mother and His being hungry. It's one of my favourite scenes because it says so much, so well.

[Clip 3: 0:23:10-0:28:05] This long scene depicts the trial of Jesus by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court. Various charges are brought against Him, and at the end, they ask whether He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, to which He replies, "I AM, and you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven." At this, the High Priest tears his robe and yells "Blasphemy!" and the court sentences Him to death. Because Jesus claimed to be God, He was accused of blasphemy. He even applies the Divine Name, "I AM," which God revealed to Moses at the Burning Bush, to Himself. This scene is right out of Scripture, and should silence all who say "Jesus never claimed to be God!" Of course, the charge of blasphemy would be true, if Jesus isn't who He says He is!

[Clip 4: 0:41:30-0:42:55] When Pilate questions Jesus, Mel Gibson has Him respond by speaking Latin, rather than Aramaic. As a poor, backwater carpenter, there would be no way for Him to have learned Latin, which is why this produces the shocked looks of Pilate, Abenader, and the servant. It is another subtle indication of His divinity. The scene also makes us ponder with Pilate, "What is Truth?" It is an important question because, as we'll see later, Jesus calls Himself the Truth.

[Clip 5: 0:55:00-0:56:00] Jesus shows His divine strength and resolve during His scourging when, after the first volley of blows, He rises back to His feet, inviting more. This divine strength gets Him all the way to the Hill of Calvary when many prisoners treated like He was would have died on the way.

[Clip 6: 0:57:31-0:57:59] Here we see Mary, Jesus' Mother, asking herself when Jesus will choose to end His suffering. This thoughtful question further emphasises that it really was a choice for Jesus to go through with His crucifixion. The Bible says that He could have called 10,000 angels at any moment to defend Him--but that wasn't why He came.

[Clip 7: 1:17:00-1:18:55] This beautiful scene portrays Mary running to Jesus on His way to Calvary. When she runs to Jesus carrying His Cross, He rises up, saying, "See, I make all things new." This line, which is actually from John's Revelation, shows us how His divine suffering will save and renew the world.

[Clip 8: 1:36:55-1:37:20] During this flashback to the Last Supper, Jesus tells His disciples that He is "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." Moreover, He makes the staggering claim that no one can get to God without Him (John 14:6). If this is true, then it critically distinguishes Christianity from all other religions!

[Clip 9: 1:57:10-1:58:35] The Resurrection, which this final scene depicts, is one of the most important Dogmas of the Catholic Faith. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." It is only in His resurrection that Jesus conquers the power of death and gives us the hope that our own bodies will be raised. Our hope in eternal life depends on our belief in the resurrection of Christ.

Ultimately, it is Jesus' resurrection that proves His divinity once and for all.

If anyone is interested in reading more evidence for Christ and His divinity, I would recommend picking up a copy of either The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, or More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.

Ultimately, the question remains, If Jesus is who He says He is--The Lord--what does that mean for you? Something to think about.

God bless.

Just a note: Much of the information contained in these talks come from A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About The Passion of the Christ, by the editors of Catholic Exchange.

Coming Soon...

Coming soon to St. Andrew's Youth Ministry, and to this blog:

Right now, as sort of an "experiment" to test the waters and build a foundation for the youth ministry at St. Andrew's, each Sunday during Lent, a small (but ever growing) group of us are discussing topics related to Mel Gibson's phenominal movie, "The Passion of the Christ". The Meetings started on the 13th, where 5 kids and I watched the movie in its entirety, after I rambled on about some cool artistic features which I found interesting but I'm sure bored them all to death, and then gave a rundown of the coming weeks. Now, unfortunately for us, I couldn't hold the meetings at the church due to licencing restrictions (ie, at this point we don't have one...things to do, things to do...) we're holding the meetings in private homes. Unfortunately that means that the meetings have to be small :( which is why they weren't publicised in the church bulletin or anything. Terribly sorry about all that, to anyone who otherwise would be interested!

But never fear, there is good news! As we finish a week, I will publish the notes I have from that week's topic here at the blog (as well as doing the same with all future "sermon notes" when the youth group is up and running full tilt)! This past week we discussed "Who is Jesus?" and by Friday those notes will be here for your perusal and comments. I say Friday because my notes are on my office computer, and that won't get internet access until Thursday. But Friday, I assure you, that topic will be up for your intellectual and spiritual consumption. Have fun with that :D
Good News number 2, After Easter, beginning of April, St. Andrew's Youth Ministry is going "Public", meaning regular meetings will begin, open to everyone who wants to come! So please come! Details on the precise nature of the meetings, how often, where, when, and all that are soon to follow here! Probably within the next week or so.

In the meantime, I'm going to give a brief run-down of the topics I intend to cover during Lent, stemming from The Passion.
Week #1, Feb 13, we watched the movie.
Week #2, Feb 20, "Who is Jesus?"
Week #3, Feb 27, "Why did He die?" Focussing on ideas of Covenant and the Eucharist
Week #4, Mar 6, "Sin and the Devil"
Week #5, Mar 13, "Getting our feet wet" What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Week #6, Mar 20, "Mary, Mother of God, Mother of the Church"

Throughout Lent, the Oakville CYO is also having some events at various churches. These include:

YouthFast
When: Friday, March 4, 2005, starting at 6:30 pm until Saturday, March 5, 2005 at 6:30 pm.
Where: St. Michael's Parish, 181 Sewell Dr.
Who: Youth (grade 7 to young adult)
What: 24 hour fast with live Christian music, speakers, Eucharistic adoration, activities (bring overnight gear for sleepover in school gymnasium).

Mustard Seeds Praise and Worship
When: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Where: St. James Parish, 321 Morden Rd.
Who: Everyone, Youth (grade 7 and up) especially
What: Mustard Seeds will provide music ministry during mass, then continue after mass with Praise and Worship.

Mustard Seeds: Growing Young
When: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 from 8:00 – 10:00 pm
Where: St. James Parish, 321 Morden Rd.
Who: Everyone, absolutely any age
What: Musical/Video drama based on the Stations of the Cross, admission is free (there will be a free-will offering).

4th Annual Good Friday Way of the Cross
When: Friday, March 25, 2005 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Where: Start with Good Friday Youth Service at St. Andrew’s Parish (47 Reynolds St.) at 9:00 am, Stations of the Cross along the streets of Oakville, end at St. Dominic Parish (2415 Rebecca St.).
Who: We invite everyone (but it would help if you’re able to walk the 8 or so km across Oakville).
What: An event started for WYD2002, the Good Friday Way of the Cross has become an ecumenical event and has been a powerful experience for youth and adults alike, not only to walk in fellowship with other Christians along the streets of Oakville as a witness to their faith, but to contemplate and in a very physical sense, begin to understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us by suffering and dying on the cross.

If anyone is interested in getting involved in the above events, please let me know as soon as possible!

A few other things to draw your attention to, April 9th is the 13th annual "Lift Jesus Higher" Rally, which is for all ages, but there will be a specifically youth-focussed rally happening. I'm planning on organising a group to go down and be a part. However, I need to know who is interested by the end of Mass, Sunday, March 13th so we can reserve tickets and all that.
On May 21st, it's "Christian Day" at Paramount Canada's Wonderland, meaning that there will be 5 Christian bands playing concerts all day. That's about $43 admission, which includes 5 concerts and full admission to the park. Who's playing? Newsboys, Deliriou5?, Audio Adrenaline, Kutless, and Lucerin Blue. I've never actually heard the last two, though I'm told they're good. The first three are personal favourites, and I'm excited about it!
These events will be announced at the church as the time approaches, so that anyone interested can talk to me and we can get there!

So those are a very few things we're looking at getting going at St. Andrew's Parish, in the Youth Ministry. I hope you're as excited as I am about what God has in store!

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to comment here, or email me at watchman317ca @yahoo.ca (minus the space so the adbots don't get me *shudder* evil adbots!) or phone the church at 905-844-3303 and ask for me. If I'm not in, leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

God bless,
Gregory

Wayward Hearts

Greetings to all reading this. As the intro thingy says just under the title, this blog is sort of the information home base of St. Andrew's Youth Ministry, which takes place, obviously, at St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, in Oakville, Ontario. Right now, at the time of writing, this is a brand new ministry venture begun by the parish, and I'm a brand new youth minister. More, I'm a brand new Catholic! But I'll probably take another post to talk about that!

"Grace for the Wayward Heart" is a song from my favourite band, Jars of Clay, in which they talk about the struggles and failings of trying to live out this thing called Christianity. It despairingly asks, "Is there grace for the wayward heart?" It reminded me (as most of the songs on the album that it comes from, "Who We Are Instead") of the most famous and best written short story of all time (so say scholars and critics who know about such things), one I'm sure you've heard, that of "The Prodigal Son". It was a parable told by Jesus in the 15th Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke. Jesus tells the story of a rather rebellious young man who says to his father one day, "Dad, I hate it here so much, living under your stinking rules [I'm paraphrasing here ;)], that I wish you were dead. I want my portion of the inheritance, and I'm out of here!" Now, this would break any father's heart, but the father gave the son his share of the inheritance, and off the jerk went. Not being too wise (which hopefully is obvious just in the way he treated his father) he squandered his money on what the Bible terms "prodigal living", thus the title of the story. Prodigal means wasteful. So he blew his money, maybe on booze, maybe on women, maybe on "friends", maybe at the track, or maybe (probably?) on a little of each. He's broke, he's stuck feeding pigs (the ultimate disgrace to a Jew), and he's starving to death, wishing he could eat even the pigs' food. Finally, something happens. The Bible says, "He came to his senses" and we say "about time!" He thinks to himself, "You know, back home I had it really good. Roof over my head, good food, a family that loved me. Even the servants lived better than I do here!" So he decided to go back to his father, and beg that he could be just one of the servants, since he didn't deserve to be a son any longer. As he made his way back, get this, the father saw him while he was still a long way off! The father waited daily by the window to see when his son would return. That's love! What's more, this elderly fellow threw off all social convention and dignity, and ran out to greet his son, embracing him in the hugest bear hug you could imagine! The son gets about halfway through his rehearsed apology when he hears his father cry out to his servants to bring out the finest clothes, kill the best livestock and prepare a great feast, "for," he says, "my son who was dead is alive again!"

"Is there grace for the wayward heart?" Jesus tells us "Yes! There is! Just come home to the Heavenly Father, who loves you!" So maybe you're feeling a little wayward, a little distant from God. Realise that He loves you, and waits eagerly for you to turn to Him again. He's not sitting in Heaven waiting to smite you every time you do something wrong. He's not looking for excuses to send you to hell! He's looking for excuses to welcome you into heaven. He's bending over backwards in order to know you personally!

Maybe you're tight with God. Jesus is your best friend, and you're a regular Joe Churchie. Well, Jesus didn't end the story of the Prodigal Son with his return home. See, the punk kid had an older brother, and this older brother was the "good son", never did anything wrong, was always faithful and obedient. When his black sheep of a brother came wandering home, and his father rolled out the red carpet for him, Joe Churchie got a little offended. He goes to his father and says, "All my life I've been a good guy, I've done what you wanted, I've never done anything wrong! And this son of yours, who cursed you out, took his inheritance, and bailed, is getting a party?! What's the deal with that?!" The father said to him, "Why should I not rejoice? You have been faithful and will get your reward! But this, my son, who was dead, has now come back to life! Rejoice with me!"

We need to be careful not to get that kind of attitude. After all, to some degree, we're all a little wayward, we all need the grace of God to get anywhere. Let us be welcoming to all who darken the doors of the Church, and receive them with open arms! In fact, let's go out and invite them ourselves!

That's what the Youth Ministry at St. Andrew's seeks to be, a place where all of us wayward hearts can come and experience the love and the grace of God in our lives.