Day 28, Matthew 28 -
Happy Day of Resurrection!
1st Sunday in LENT!
Today is truly a day to celebrate!! It is the day of the Lord’s rising from the dead! And today is truly the day of our salvation!
Today is also the last chapter in the Gospel according to Matthew!
There is ONE Gospel — Four recordings of it — and all Inspired – meaning “God breathed” — St. Matthew’s is the longest and so what a joy it was to travel and follow with Matthew these past 28 days!
Many congratulations to you for completing and prayerfully joining in everyday! We’ve witnessed many conversions and transformations during these last 28 days!
Please feel free to share what the Lord has done in you during this time! I know we have all been blessed in some way — in the same way and in different ways!
I thank you all for tuning in and being a fan of Jesus Christ — for opening your hearts and making room for Him!
What a huge grace that we can celebrate today — do something special with friends or family and rejoice that you had the grace to complete this! I know I am rejoicing today! God is so good! This is the first leg of the race to complete all four inspired recordings of the Gospel!
And guess where am celebrating today — with many others if you are in Philadelphia — The Holy Shroud of Turin is in town — 5pm tonight — go to www.philashroud.org — it is at the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia!
Now Sunday is not included in the 40 days of Lent… and so there is no fasting today! It is a day of celebration and spiritual nourishment and unity and family! So please go to the blog page today for 30 Day Cleanse day 5 and read a brief detail of the history of the days and exactly how perfectly the church has it all figured out.
Well enough of celebrating… let’s finish the race –we continue with our Gospel marathon/journey…
OK now hold on to you hats now because — and I didn’t plan this –
the Holy Spirit did!!!!-
Guess what?
We will be starting Mark tomorrow on the feast day of the Chair of Peter — we started Matthew on the Feast of Conversion of St. Paul -
- We will complete all of the Gospel of Mark and Luke — and finish Luke on EASTER SUNDAY — is that amazing or what???
And then… We begin the Gospel of John in the Easter season and finish John on the Sunday of World day of Prayer for Vocations — on April 25th!
This is truly the Holy Spirit and so you want to tune in every day because this is incredibly exciting and I know the Lord has many blessing for all who follow =
== tell your friends and anyone who is in need of transformation… that would be everyone!
Speaking of telling — how exciting today that we see the women being told and to go tell the others the exciting event that JESUS IS ALIVE!!!
Now it is time for the Resurrection of Jesus!
In this chapter I find three earth shattering points!
- Dead Man Walking
- The Great Cover up
- The Great Co – Mission
1. Dead Man Walking – It doesn’t matter how many times I read this — I get so fired up to think of the victory and how the women and apostles must have felt when they heard that Jesus was alive — risen from the dead!
I mean after all He went through being accused and then tortured and beaten — and especially after the last scene we just read with all the passer by people who didn’t believe —
But this was truly mind boggling — and why do you think that Jesus didn’t appear to them first? First it was the angel — and I love it —
First again we have an earthquake— another big move of God — having to do with salvation — Jesus going into and returning from the heart of the world and there is an earthquake ….hmmmmm makes you think about earthquakes in a different way!
Let’s talk about the angel for a minute here —
-descends from heaven
- approaches – rolls back the stone and sits upon it
- HIS — so male — appearance was like lightening …. say what?
What does lightening look like? and his clothing was white as snow…
Whatever this looked like — must have been bright — and blinded those guards to death… because the were…
SHAKEN — there is that word again…
Jesus is shaken things up again….
And then the angel speaks to the women — so the guards are like dead men and the angel just speaks to the women —
You see they had a message — and it was for the women –
the angel told them not to be AFRAID
that they knew the women were seeking JESUS THE CRUCIFIED!
Amazing that they call Him that –to be clear that He is the one they are seeking…
Then they confirm that what occurred was exactly what Jesus said would happen! And they invite the women to…
COME AND SEE the place where he lay — what a blessing -
and then they were told to go quickly — and to tell the disciples –
and to go to Galilee where they would see Jesus — and he ends with
“Behold, I have told you”
It was like a send off command!
So quickly they go — and I love this “fearful yet overjoyed”
How can that be possible? To be both at the same time?
Well it is like us when we walk by faith and we have to trust and we have seen God’s glory and we’ve heard a command but we don’t know what is going to happen next –
- so we are thrilled and overjoyed by the move of God and what is happening in the present — but FEAR is for what we can’t see — the unknown –
- and so we must stay in the present — if we let our mind go into the future too much we are tempted to fear!
Jesus knows this — which is why He says do not be afraid a few hundred times in the Gospel –
and so the women, despite their fear — RAN to announce this to His disciples…
Have you noticed that the women in the bible tend to be the heralds — the ones chosen to spread the news fast —like the woman at the well — a woman can be counted on to spread the word and spread it fast– and put the overjoyed together with the fear and you have some high powered women there …
and so what happens?
we see the words And BEHOLD,
–you have to just pause there –
- Jesus meets them on their way and greeted them… so He didn’t make them wait until Galilee — and I love that He meets them on their way –
-the same way that Jesus is with us on our journey — whatever we are going through or whatever He has called us to — he remains with us!!
Isn’t this exciting! Even though it appeared as if He wasn’t there — and the orders were to go quickly —-
they approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
OH WOW it is Mary at the feet of JESUS — can you imagine!!
FULL CIRCLE for Mary!!
Can you imagine what she must have been thinking — her emotion!
She was at his feet when she was about to be stoned by Pharisees -
- She was at his feet when she was repenting and washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair….
and now she is embracing the risen Jesus feet — and she is chosen by the Lord to appear to — and to be His messenger –
Jesus says to her…Do not be afraid– again —we see it being said — now right from Jesus — ok so why are you and I afraid?
And He sends them off saying “they will see me”
It is just so amazing — that Jesus is with them — and they are off to do as HE commanded.
2- The Great Cover UP — I can’t even imagine what these guys were thinking – the chief priests and elders — I would have thought that they would realize by now that this was the Son of God and repent!
But no — they continued bribing with money — and dove deeper into lies about what took place….I mean they come up with a whole story and lie to cover up what really happened!
How hard were their hearts? — Just proves that a hard heart can’t accept truth even when it is right in front of it — unless God wills it and they receive the grace…
the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed –the money transaction again…
I mean the hardness of hearts — and it just continues — no wonder Jesus wasn’t going to give them a sign — if they didn’t get this their case was useless —
Just reminds me of not throwing your pearls to swine — these guys were beyond hard hearted — they had gone too far and they were blind with their agenda against Jesus —
So they plot the great cover up! You can cover up — but you can’t hide!
3- the Great Co – Mission —
This is it everyone!!! We are in the last section —and these are probably some of the most important words in the entire Gospel of Matthew let alone all the Gospels — so wake up, snap out of it, and listen up!!!
First we see 11 disciples — even when I read that I know something is missing —it should be 12, anyway — Judas will be replaced soon enough –
Second – I really want you to read this over afterward — what happened between the angel and Mary Magdalene and Mary — and then with Jesus —- was an image of what will happen now when Jesus appears to the disciples—
-it was like a preparation — I mean go back and even read the “beholds”
Go back and read the scene with the Mary’s and then read Jesus and the apostles — to me it really shows us that we are all in the Co-mission —
Jesus’ mission of redemption — so we are co redeemers with the Son –
-the laity and the clergy are represented here — first the Mary scene and then the apostles scene— Mary the Blessed Mother is called co – redemptrix – for this reason — she is our example as the human co-redeeming with the Son….
– They obediently go to the MOUNTAIN to which Jesus had ordered them… now did you realize that they went to meet Jesus on a mountain — I always thought it was in that little room — all huddled together — anyway –
check this out — when they saw him they worshipped HIM … but they DOUBTED!
WHAT???!!!
How can they be with Jesus?
–they see Him — worship Him and Doubt HIM?
OK hadn’t they seen it all? I mean they got to see what we haven’t gotten to see — well that doesn’t say much because we doubt too!
Well this would explain how we can worship our God and then doubt HIM too — not good but we can see that it is exactly what happened!
AND even with fear — and even with doubt…
JESUS gives them the great commission — and he gives it to you and me today too!
First He says ,”ALL POWER in heaven and on earth has been given to me…”
and this is the verse you must know inside and out — as Catholics you must memorize it — because this is our mission given to us by Jesus…
“Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” 19-20
—this is called the “commissioning” because Jesus now formally incorporates the apostles and all of us into the mission — His Mission — and here we have all the roles of the Church…
Jesus is setting up His Church and we see the governing of the church — Jesus saying that all power has been given to HIM in heaven and on earth— and so He can say GO – He can send them off on His behalf –
“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” this is the governing aspect of the Church –
“make disciples of all nations” — we are called to evangelize the world — teach them about Jesus and through Him they are formed into His likeness
- baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
There is the sacrament– necessary to enter in to the faith — it is pretty clear –what is needed is baptism — and this signifies also all the grace contained in the sacraments which are necessary part of the church.
This is a beautiful gift Jesus gives to us — to include us in His Mission — the Mission of Redemption of the whole world — and how is it accomplished?
Just as He said in these last two verses —
Baptize all the nations, teach them all He has commanded — that includes more than what is written in this book — ALL –
– what does observe mean? Follow — they must abide by all that has been commanded!
And behold — Jesus is leading the church — He says He will be with us always — until the end of the age –
- Jesus is and always has been leading the Church — Peter (the pope) is His vicar on earth — He leads through the Chair of Peter — the rock —(we celebrate this feast day tomorrow) Can you belive it? How cool!
As we have just started our Lenten Journey — heading toward Easter — let us be mindful that we are called to baptize — and bring people into the Body of Christ — and that is why we baptize at Easter —
Because this is what Jesus said to do up on the mountain when He first appeared to them — up on the mountain like Moses when He gave the people of God the ten commandments –
Now Jesus stands on the mountain in the new covenant and proclaims the new covenant — baptizing, making disciples, teaching them to follow all He commanded — and He will be with us!
What a great way to end — or should I say …to begin– it is the Good News!!
Many Blessing for you this day! Your are in my prayers and I thank God for you!!!!
Please share — what do you think?
