Elliott's Muses

Preface  I just finished writing a daily devotional of the book of Matthew with an emphasis on expositing the text and bringing some daily devotional thoughts to the text.  It will be a 40-day journey reading the book of Matthew and the things I wrote within it. Why do it?  Well, first of all, I have loved reading the Scripture for over 50 years now.  I taught the Scriptures on multiple levels from Sunday messages in a Church, to Bible Studies, to Young Adults' discipleship formation, to lectures in a college setting.  I love the Scriptures because it is the Word of God delivered to us from God through human authors, and as Paul reminded Timothy, “it is profitable”. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus, also called Levi, he was not like most of the other disciples. Many of the disciples were middle-class, some commoners, and several were fishermen by trade (which made them middle-class commoners).  We don't know what all of them did, but we do know what Matthew ...

We proclaim together, “He is Risen!”, “He is Risen Indeed”.   The joy of Easter is the seal of the completion of Lent, and the opening of a New Season where all are invited to come to Christ Jesus, and drink of his mercy and grace.   I would like to write a magnificent treatise on Easter, but I will defer to a master who was called “The Golden Mouth” – St. John Chrysostom, from the 4 th century.  He was a Church Father who was considered to be one of the greatest preachers of the early church.  Read this and we realize why: The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Are there any who are grateful servants? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord! Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages! If any have toiled from the first hour, let them receive their due reward; If any have come after the third hour, let him with gratitude join...

  Today is “Holy Saturday”, a day of silence, rest, and prayer.   Christ was laid in the tomb, and all is quiet.   The early church understood that there was a silence that was leading to a new beginning.   An unknown author once wrote of today: “What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.” [1] God concealed himself, as if a Divine Pause was occurring, and our hearts were at rest, awaiting what was next.  It was as if a “new creation” was about to begin.  This Holy Saturday is sort of like the way all Creation in Genesis had begun: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (G...

On Good Friday, the Church solemnly celebrates the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.   Churches around the world set aside time to worship, reflect upon Christ’s words on the cross, and remember that Jesus gave his body and blood as a Paschal sacrifice for our Sin.   We come to Good Friday, and realize that Jesus closed the book on Paschal sacrifices when he declared – “It is finished”.  Yet, the question we should ask is:   What is finished?   What is the “it” that is finished?” Jesus was not declaring his death, as if he were saying, “ I am finished”.   We know from the Gospels that Jesus "gave up his life", it was not taken from him. We also know that Jesus was doing the Father’s work – his focus was not on himself, but on the Father’s purpose for His life to be fulfilled. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). Among one of the most amazing statements any person could try to make was ...

Jesus died on Good Friday, and in between the death and his resurrection, things occurred!   We saw a bit of this in yesterday’s writing, but today, I want us to take a different view.   As Jesus died on the cross, some things were set in motion and made a huge difference. First, Jesus died on Friday at 3:00 p.m.  Almost immediately Matthew’s Gospel records the Temple Curtain torn in two and graves were opened: “…Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53). Jesus’ death was no ordinary death.  It was as if Heaven shook the earth and gave a foretaste of what was to come as many bodies of those who...

The Bible gives us a glimpse of what happened after Christ’s death on the Cross, and what it meant for the Church, and in Heaven.  In Part 1, I want to look at what happened on earth and the netherworld, after his death.  We have some biblical references, and also some creedal statements that the Church confesses.  We learn from this that Jesus’ death wasn’t the “end” as we think of the earthly life we live.  For now, we’ll pass over the resurrection, saving that for Easter Sunday.  There were some immediate physical things, and there were also some mystical things that followed. “Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no on...

Yesterday we began to look at – what I believe – were two simultaneously spoken words of Jesus as his dying words on the cross.   The first of these was from the disciple John, who heard Jesus’ words “It is finished” .   John records that Jesus then “ gave up his Spirit”. Luke, probably in interviews with various people – maybe Mary Magdalen, or Mother Mary - adds to the final words from one of those who was also standing there and connected Jesus' words to a dramatic event that demonstrated the finality of Jesus’ work on the cross. “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,  while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:44-46). In our journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, we witnessed his resolve to finish the work of redemption that His F...

We began last week to look and ponder, Jesus’ final words while he hung on the cross.  Traditionally called “the Seven Words”, these are seven statements Jesus made from the cross. His first words were for various people: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” – to the Jews and Romans who are crucifying him.  “Truly I say unto thee, This day you will be with me in paradise” – to one of the thieves hanging next to him who asks Jesus to remember him in Heaven.  And finally, to his mother, and the disciple John, who Jesus chooses to care for his Mother, Mary – “ Woman, behold thy son! and Behold thy mother!”  Then Jesus’ words express his deep suffering, and he speaks to His Father quoting from Psalm 22, which both expresses his pain, but also speaks of his triumph – “ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”.   He is humanly expressing his suffering and follows that with a simple statement – “I thirst”. It is very near the end of Jesus’ suffer...

On this day of celebrating Christ’s Resurrection, we come back to the beginning of Jesus’ final week, when on this Sunday, we call Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey – a servant’s animal – and as he entered, people began to take palm branches and lay them down on the road, crying out “ Hosanna!  Blessed is He Who Comes In the Name of the Lord”.   In the Gospel of Matthew, we read this: “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,  saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”  This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,  “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal ...

Most people are familiar with the life and work of the famous “Mother Teresa of Calcutta”.   If there’s anything that you need to know about her, it is the words “I thirst”.   The words spoken by Jesus on the Cross come from deep within his pain and suffering.   Mother Teresa felt the pain and suffering of the people she served in Calcutta, India, and when it came to describing to others what she was doing to serve the poorest of the poor, she simply said, “ I thirst ”.   It was her way of describing Mother Teresa’s longing for the Heart of Jesus in reaching out to those who were suffering. Mother Teresa grew up in Macedonia, next to Greece.  At an early age, she felt the heart of Jesus was everything.  By age 12, she knew she wanted to be a missionary.  She joined “the Loreto Sisters” at age 18, and immediately applied to go to their mission in Bengali, India, where she was sent the next year.  In the Loreto community, she was a teacher.  ...

The first three words of Jesus were about individuals.   The last four are personal and directed towards God, the Father.   He begins with a heart-wrenching plea that is like so many who are suffering to the point of death.   “Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:45-46 It is noon, and for the next three hours, Jesus is going through agonizing pain and suffering. Matthew and Mark (written from Peter’s memory) record these words, and both make a point to say that darkness had descended upon the land.  The sky turned a deep, deep grayish black as if a storm was coming.  Jesus, who is Christ, the Messiah, is also the Son of God, and his cry is one of separation – the feeling of being separated from the Father as he takes on the Sin of all mankind. ...

The third words Jesus spoke from the cross give witness to Jesus’ selfless compassion and humble adoration of His Mother, Mary.   While most of Jesus’ followers had scattered amid the fear of their arrest, Mary, along with Apostle John did not flee.   Instead, they came to the cross to be with Jesus as he suffered.   Jesus had spoken words of forgiveness, and words of assurance to the one criminal, and now, amid his suffering, he looked down to see His mother and the Apostle John, and spoke these words of compassion: “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26-27). It might seem strange to refer to his mother Mary as “Woman”.  We might hear that as disrespectful.  It was not the first time Jesus had spoken to his mother that way.  At the wedding of Cana,...