The Way

Have you ever wondered as to why Christ came into Jerusalem triumphantly, riding on a donkey? If Christ was triumphant, why does He not choose a majestic horse and chariot to go into Jerusalem? Why did Christ choose an animal which was considered unclean according to the Law of Moses? Not only that, why did He choose a donkey which was not yet tamed to be that very instrument in which He enters into Jerusalem. Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem while riding on a donkey is a calling for each of us to join Him in His glorious victory. Not as one of those who shouted “Hosanna,” but rather, the calling is for us to become like that chosen donkey.

It is typical for us to think of leadership in non-Christians organizations (businesses, associations, political groups, community agencies, companies, corporations, etc.) and our church community. Maybe we are all willing to admit that it is not the same. The prevailing assumption is that good leadership has certain distinguishing qualities across the board, such as people management, organizational skills, and content knowledge and expertise. However, there is a difference between the two. When we reflect on Christian leadership, there is a clear distinction that must be made; Christian leadership has nothing to do with the prominence of an individual or with achievement or success but has everything to do with influencing others for Christ and His kingdom. To explain this, let me point out two things.

This Gospel account is a prime example of our own prayer life; this is how we should pray. This Canaanite woman exemplifies our struggles in prayer, but more to the point, she shows us how we are to pray. Prayer, and I mean True Prayer, is something that we must struggle with. Very often in our spiritual life, specifically in the context of being in need and praying to God for help, we often feel despondent or disheartened when our prayers are not answered. God does not answer every prayer that we pray to Him in the manner in which we intend. When we pray in our times of need, we do so while looking for a specific solution or a response within a timeframe. It is always hard to accept God’s answer or His response time.

Here, in this famous Christian poem, the origins, and authorship which are in dispute, speak of the presence of Christ in our life when we feel abandoned and alone. When we think that God is not there, the reality is He is ever-present in our lives. He is working out the best for us so that in the end, our life may glorify Him. Humanly speaking, if you think the Hand of God is not present in your life, look again, and you will see that he is indeed present, but in a way that our human eyes cannot understand or perceive.

The Gospel portion for today shows off a strange encounter. For those who have studied Jewish Law, it is also an encounter that went against the Law. For any Old Testament scholar reading this, or for anyone Jew who saw this in person, they would have been reminded of the leprosy laws that are found in Leviticus, specifically Leviticus 13:45-46, which states, “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” Translating this over to the time of Christ, there were leper colonies outside the walls of the city where those who were sick with leprosy were forced to live in squalor.

If we listen closely to the hymns of the Holy Friday service, we will hear a lot of emphasis on how the Jews killed Jesus. In fact, in my opinion, it personifies them as guilty of the crime. Indeed, they are guilty; but so are the Romans, and so are all of us.

Today is the remembrance of all the Faithful Departed which means that next week we will begin our Great Fast. With regards to our fasting, if you hadn’t noticed, in every season there is a fast; and for many of us, we plan to “start-up” our spiritual journey during the fasts. In the preceding days or weeks before the fasts, we typically have the mindset of “I will start my spiritual journey off strong… when the fast begins.” May it never be the case that someone gives the argument saying that “I am young and wish to live life as I see fit.” For in this parable, Jesus explicitly tells us what is asked of us, which is to be prepared for His Second Coming at all times and warns us of how we should never act, which is to live as if tomorrow is a certainty.

Although the Qurbana is not a chronological order of the events of Jesus Christ, it does in some way highlight His birth, the institution of the Eucharist, and close to the end of the service when the Priest presents the Holy Mysteries to the congregation, the second coming. The Priest, before turning around toward the congregation says, “From thy Altar, may there descend pardon for they servants of Son of God, who came for our redemption, and who will come again for our resurrection and for the renewal of our race.” Here, close to the end of Qurbana, people are left with a sense that Jesus is coming again. That is, Christ is coming back to judge the world and to bring his believers to His kingdom. It leaves us with a sense of hope that we will see Jesus and reign with him forever. It also gives us a sense of relief that this world is not the end of our existence; there is more, and what lies ahead is better than what is here in the present.

What was it about that night that drew Nicodemus to Christ? What was so special about that night that gave Nicodemus the courage to go to Christ alone even though he was a Pharisee? Also, was it merely the fact that Nicodemus wanted to hide the fact that a Pharisee was going to meet with Christ? Or is it the fact that Nicodemus desired to have a one on one encounter with the Lord? For throughout the Gospels, Christ was always surrounded by crowds of people, or at the very least His 12 disciples. Therefore, at this moment, Nicodemus found the perfect time to be with the Lord alone, which was in the middle of the night. Nicodemus must have been a follower of Christ for he would have known that this setting is very common with Christ, for Jesus often leaves the crowds and His disciples to be alone to pray to the Father. Christ being alone in prayer is a fairly regular occurrence in the Gospels; for example, the Garden of Gethsemane. Yes, Christ takes Peter, James, and John to the Garden, but He leaves them to pray in seclusion. So, one could assume that Jesus did this often enough throughout His earthly ministry. Therefore, this is why Nicodemus decided that he would visit Jesus when Christ was going off to be alone to pray to the Father.

It is said that in time-eternity, the angels were created by God. They were magnificent and beautiful creatures; yet, they were not created in the image and likeness of God, like that of man and woman. (Genesis 2) Angels were created to minister to God. They were also created to minister to humans, as we see in their appearance in the Bible to various individuals to deliver a message from God.